Holistic Education as Wholeness and Inner-Unity

Main thrust of Education: implementing an educational model, that builds up community, persons, movements, relationship, attitudes and communion through a holistic growth by forming, guiding, uniting and helping. Therefore, it is no more cramming informations, instead a style of ownership of knowledge, their management through guided animation through interactive learning.

Based on this above mentioned thrust that the holistic education has to be realized, not only within the school setting, because a holistic education would include all settings wherever the youth are found – family, company of friends outside of the school hours, clubs, movements, playground, neighbourhood, coaching centres, oratory and other non-formal settings. Only then can the participatory and communitarian approach to education in a pluralistic society that concerns itself with the integral development of the person, can be complete. This should have a strong spiritual and religious foundation within the multi-religious context, because education is geared towards this ‘wholeness’ through an inner-unity, interrelatedness and inter-dependence between education (in Catholic schools) and religion.

In our schools the target groups are mostly belonging to other religions, so too in the Youth at Risk setting. If so, this holistic education has to take into account this ground reality through dialogue among religions, understanding and appreciating them.

In this regard, an Educative Community, must cater to the integral growth of all the youth that it comesin contact with within a multi-religious context. Therefore, education, cultural development, catechesis and evangelization, social communication etc, have to be programmed and planned within the multi-religious and pluri-cultural context.

The emphasis needs to be on the quality content, tools and skills in the ministry of education at the provincial level, based on a sound theology of education and an inculturised Christian faith experience within the multi-religious context and in the present social reality than mere mental crammings and activities.