TOWARDS A NEW SOCIETY "Education should lead students to critical thinking and acquisition of values" - said Fr. Felix Koikara, delivering the keynote address at the three day Faculty Enrichment Programme at St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, held recently, with the them "Towards a New Society". Mr. Lucindo Faria, the Managing Director of Lagoa Azul Resort and alumnus of the College, presided as the Chief Guest.
The Principal, Prof. Newman Fernandes welcomed and introduced the Chief Guest and the resource person - Fr. Felix Koikara. He stressed that each one of us is a component of the society and change has to begin with oneself, which can bring about a wholesome change in the society. The Chief Guest recollected his nostalgic memories of College life and said that what students remember of teachers, is not what they taught as subject teachers but their personality and character. The resource person, Fr. Felix Koikara, in his keynote address, stressed that Man is a Mystery and to say that one is expert at any subject concerning human beings, is indeed foolish. He said that the programme schedule would focus on 3 ideas - acquisition of knowledge, acquisition of skills and building new attitudes. He also highlighted that teachers are facilitators in inculcating values in students. The session began with the reflection exercise wherein teachers were given a questionnaire which provided an opportunity for short reflection on one's own values and ideas about value education. The questionnaire also focused on the role of teachers in imparting values and the need for a clear value system for students. The next session saw the introduction of the personal and professional value housie game card. Each teacher was given one value for self and a game card containing 24 professional and personal values. Each teacher had to ask the other teachers with different values to sign in the respective box on the game card. The session was interesting and interactive and was enjoyed by all the participants. The teachers were further asked to identify 10 values from the 24 values on the game card which they considered the most important and rank them on a scale from 1 to 5. The participants were then asked to give reasons for the choice of the first three important values. The teachers were divided into groups of 8 to 9 members and each group was asked to draw a profile of a true professional teacher. The profile made by each group was integrated to have a consensus. The following was the value consensus profile: Belief in God, Character, Self confidence, Love, Dynamism, Cooperation, Justice, Knowledge, Hardwork and Honesty. Each teacher made a self evaluation with respect to each of the 10 profile values on scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is weak and 5 is strong. Each teacher was made to identify their weak points and strengthen them. On the second day Fr. Felix Koikara discussed the value crisis faced by the young generation during adolescence. He made a mention of how media portrays a hypothetical world of infidelity and beauty which leads them to choose undesirable values. He also stressed on the teachers' role in promoting values among students and the various alternative methods like trial and error, reward and punishment, nagging and others were discussed. It was found that each method has its own drawbacks. Hence value clarification approach gained importance. He said that value is a stance that the self takes to the total environment as expressed through its behaviour, ideas, body, feelings and imagination. The process of valuing has 7 criteria which can be divided into 3 categories - choosing, prizing and acting. After the tea break the participants were given a simple appreciation exercise titled "The Gift You Are". Each teacher was made to describe 5 most important characteristics, behaviours and attitudes that their friends and peers would judge were the guiding principles of their lives and from which they drew inspiration and would strive to emulate. The teacher was also asked to identify the underlying values. This exercise stressed that we need to take time to appreciate ourselves and only then can we learn to appreciate others. The afternoon session dealt with an introspective exercise on social justice. This questionnaire highlighted the many evils in society that create gender bias and discrimination. The resource person stressed on the need to be aware of our rights and to be actively involved in preserving them and fighting against the violations. This was followed by another session on 'marriage and the choice of an ideal life partner'. The main objective of this exercise was to decide on the qualities of an ideal life partner (spouse) and to reflect on the qualities the spouse expects from me. Since marriage is fraught with difficulties, uncertainties and demands a continuous process of adjustment, it is important that one choses one's life partner carefully. Our expectations from marriage and marriage partners have to be realistic and not colored or shaped by the values portrayed and exaggerated by the media. The main focus on the third day's session was to show how values influence our moral decisions. Fr. Koikara outlined the 7 steps in moral decision makings: Define the problem, Gather information, Suggest alternatives, Weigh values, Make a decision, Act on the decision, Evaluate the action. These 7 steps were analyzed by a case study approach. He explained that when students come to teachers to seek help one should try to find a solution by using the 7 steps in moral decision making. Then an exercise was conducted which aimed at finding our ideas about God. This was followed by practical session wherein he demonstrated that people can be of 3 types - loners, acquaintances and social. He said that loners miss out on their lives by being alone whereas acquaintances are better off than loners but the social people have a sense of fulfillment and enjoy life and build new relationships and let them grow. In conclusion the resource person emphasized that value education cannot be of 45 minutes. The institution itself should be a symbol of values and that every subject taught should be value based. The valedictory function was held and the Principal stressed on the values of solidarity, concern and generosity towards the poor, hungry and needy people. He said that we may not be able to do much, but whatever little we can do let us do it generously. Ms. Alice D'Cruz and Mr. B. Rajasekhar expressed their views and opinions about the entire programme and expressed the view that the programme was profitable in terms of clarification of values and lessons for life. This programme according to them has renewed our ideas about value education. Ms. Natalia Narang, a Second Year B.Sc. student of the College was also felicitated for being awarded the All India Best Cadet Gold Medal at the hands of the Prime Minister, New Delhi. The participation certificates were distributed department wise. The vote of thanks proposed by Ms. Deepa Dhumatkar marked the end of the programme. The programme was coordinated by Mr. Parmanand Mandrekar with his team.
