Dr Sekar Seenivasan
Ministering.....
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Topic: What is mental conflict? Why educationists are concerned more about it? How it can be minimised.
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Education is that which reduces mental conflict and enhances self confidence.
Teachers and students are both involved in the process. Both should understand each other. Hence the discussion centered on both.
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¶ Participants: Ms. Leena Rai-UNV Leader, Mr. Nahid Raza, Mrs. Archna, Mrs. Sangeetha Tyagarajan, Mrs. Nikita Kothari, Dr. Balasubramanian, Pooma, Mrs. Phani, Mrs. Buvana
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• Mrs. Sangeetha Thyagarajan: Mental conflict is real. In this pandemic everyone is under several conflicts.
There IS NO RIGHT ANSWER OR RIGHT WAY in many of these conflicts. Teachers are learning that all that they thought was right, could actually be wrong. For example all these years teachers forced science and math are the most important subjects. BUT, we have a generation lacking in humane values, decency, respect and commitment. So, mental conflict is real. Answers to these and managing them might differ from person to person, be it student, teacher or parent.
Education has created more entally conflict and stress in the last 2 decades than actually instill knowledge and values in students.
• Mrs. ArchanaUNV: Education can’t evoke conflict- it is the people managing the system they can. Parents, management, teachers - preparing students for competition and very few are genuinely concerned about the well being and holistic growth of the children. That results in mental conflict. Teacher and teacher competing. Teacher and management - insecurities, fears, worries
Student and teacher - concepts, sYllabus, other competitions
Parents and students - oh! Just so many conflicts. Gadgets, communication, comparisons, etc
And many more.
• Mrs. Nikitha Kothari:How true!
True education evokes wisdom !.
Wisdom brings balance in mental peace. If it is balanced, their won't be any conflict.
• Dr. Sekar srinivasan: When we fix the matrix of examination and job oriented or comparative competition it will not lead to real education.
As you have rightly pointed out some forty years back even schooling was not that much tough and examination and marks stress was little. So fearless learning with basic values were available.
But with the modern outreach all-round changes are inevitable. Hence the topic significance of today's discussion.
Most of us think schools or institutional academic programme are education. Right from birth one starts learning from environment and from nature. This goes till last moment. Rig veda says enlightment comes from absolute learning without differences. Gita insists on pariprsna i.e., inquisitive questioning. Western philosophers like Aristotle and even Milton or Shakespeare insists on learning without doubts by questioning.
In learning fine arts when mechanical rote learning has minimum scope and bhavartha realisation becomes essential the learner should eschiew his ignorance by reducing conflicts.
Students, Students-students,teachers, teachers-teachers,students vs teachers and teachers vs students. Actually this is psychological approach to learning. The main sequence inlearning is to know what is right and what is wrong. To decide in what direction to proceed in solving a problem. Whether to accept or not. This is leading to creativity and innovation
• Ms. LeenaUNV: Out of the discussion only let me say one thing and later I will be back onto the valid points of discussion. Well, I think this mental conflict is coined on the context of manipulation in the form of webinars to be conducted(only for those who are indulged in such practices) nowadays where these people have created such an hype over it
Even if there is mental conflict I know and I am agreed but due to pandemic this term is used to convert it into publicity and to show that we too are doing something anyhow
Where Sekar sir is right that education bring confidence and peace instead of mental conflict. To filter out the the strong,steady and confident individuals who can bring changes and work wonders later. Let there be an inch of mental conflict and let the inner clarity comes out let the roots of deep understanding be more deep and strong and let the mind to be explorer. How can we expect the same uniform thinking uniform ideas and uniformity in action otherwise the stagnation would be there so for progress that mental conflict is a part. Even if it's between me and me or between you and me or in between us but the creativity is going to be result or the best of the efforts will emerge then
Conflict is as real as living a life. Conflicts are bound to happen whenever we come across a situation/discussion/opinion which our subconscious mind hasn’t stored in the memory through the past experiences.. confusions, dilemmas and conflicts happen then.
People looking for opportunities to conduct webinar’s are doing so because we don’t pay much attention to mental health even now. Covid and lockdown especially for school and colleges have opened up pandora of unemployment, confusions and insecurity.
People who have done practice of controlling the thoughts and have awareness can deal with mental conflicts- some people can’t. Just simply can’t and that leads to more complications resulting into anxiety, stress and depression.
Hence resolving conflicts - the art and science of it should be taught/learned and practiced by us all so that we can balance our emotional and mental Health.
• Mrs. Archana UNV: Not denying mam. There are many untrained people using webinar’s as platform to SELL out fears because they don’t have competence and competencies.
What I described is genuineness of requirement for Mental Health awareness and solutions.
The need is there let us all concentrate on that- like award selling events these webinar’s will also die down their own slow death.
• Mr. Nahid Raza: Schooling was tougher earlier. Board results used to be between 30 to 40%. Failures were more whereas today it is easy to pass that too with high percentile.
• Dr Sekar Seenivasan: Kindly don't mistake me for one example. Earlier in language learning you have to write in full a letter of the given topic.
But now you are only filling the blanks . That too out of seven choices you have to choose five and put them in order.
• Ms. LeenaUNV: Oh exploration in the subject is almost removed sir I am agreed. And where there is the need of mental conflict to come to the right answer or to express own views on certain topic is thus deleted. Without diversions we need more skimming of the topic with intrinsic and introgative analysis
• Mr. Nahid Raza: Earlier essential points were emphasized. Today everything has become essential. Hence confusion is too much.
Buvana: Absolutely right...what to do what not to do no clear picture in front of learners.
• Ms. Leena UNV: But subject experts at that time were subject experts now every other person with a degree calls himself or herself there subject master. I do remember when we were in the middle years of school our English teacher used to mark our articles with circles and correcting there and then with the right form of grammar. Imagine I still remember him rather we do remember our all subject teachers and especially those the language teachers all superb. More of the objective questions have increased the habit of non seriousness among students as students don't understand the concept but choose the best option out of 1-2-3 randomly
• Mrs. Phani: Parents role is very important to mould and nurture life values like compassion, truthfulness, humbleness, cooperation, family bondage and many more good virtues by simply making them 7nderstand the essence of Bhavathgeeta, where Sri krishna has given solution for all the problems that we create. Like 'What to do and what not to do no clear picture in front of learners' . We as educators have to completely orient our mind set of traditional inputs that we were giving to children.
• Pooma: When we hear the meaning of mental conflict, it is defined as ....Failure of adequate adjustment to the social environment is the cause of mental conflict.
One of the key funcrions of education is socialisation and its integration. Education and causes of mentak conflicts are no where connected directly. One could say how education serves in removing social conflicts, but not in mental conflict. The source of mental conflict is social setup and our coordination with it.
• Dr. Balasubramanian UNV: Our edcuation system and paretns should spend time and should teach thinking than conventional edcuation methodology and scoring marks. Even parents involve in forgery and sadly still seeing bribe amd donation for higher studies .
• Pooma: Again when we see the source of mental conflicts, they all are from family conflicts, relationship conflicts.....all are social roots. The best word which can replace mental conflict by internal conflict. Some solid reasons for internal conflict are...
• Lackness of faith, and its symptom is boasting self.
• Desires of flesh and its symptom is serving self..selfishness
• Unlawful deeds....symptoms are reatlessness
• Dr Sekar Seenivasan: In the higher levels of self realisation also conflict arises with the quest for body mind budhi and Atma. Further the link between the creator, creation also this evolves as a major setback. When the doubter doubts his own self as maaya where will the essence of doubt go? So only the highest form of our religions talks about kasta mounam. The upadesha goes like this. " sollaru summairu " speak not and be inert.
The ultimate Anandalahari can be realised only without conflicts
• Pooma: Hear to know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ Breaking these certainly leads to inner conflicts.
• Dr Sekar Seenivasan: Educational psychological process also tells about the triangular relationship between experience, behaviour and mental processes. Emotions and thinking evolves out of conflicts
• Pooma: Nothing can cause for the conflict and nothing can minimize it...neither education nor knowledge or wisdom.
It is we, self, already programmed within what is right and wrong. What is good and what us not....
In order to discriminate right things from wrong, Is education required? Wisdom required?..
Some more points please:
We are not limited, believing that we are limited is what causes suffering from internal conflicts.
The highest, most important knowledge is self-knowledge, because it is the only permanent knowledge.
If a person does not seek this permanence, then of what value is intellectual knowledge. If this knowledge does not provide a lasting experience, what good is it? This is another cause for conflict.
Working for rewards results in an inferior form of work than does working to help, a more perfect attitude.
So even if we do good work but expect some reward in return, that work becomes inferior owing to our lesser intent.
The latent curriculum for attaining internal conflict.
¶ How to minimise internal conflict?
Solution:
One wonderful idea is, ‘do your best’ to do good. That is all a person needs to do. Success is in God’s hands — so just try your best, but do not try to make something happen. Otherwise, the ego gets in the way and proclaims itself; The Doer.
The value of doing your best, or stated another way, act out of love, removes fear and guilt of failure from the picture.
It freeds you from all conflicts and help us to rest in peace in here and here after.
• Dr. Balasubramanian UNV: Past - present - future. And past cannot be changed and future cannot expect what to drive, So do maximum workout today, if you repeat same like yesterday and perhaps tomoor is too like today , today repeats for conventional , since they keep on repeat past and today same like yesterday and tomoor mow won’t have a changes. So certainly do maximum effort in each and every minute given to us, Change today so easily tomoor shall change.
