Peace and non-violence : Sathya Sai education in human values in British schools

Abstract

Not only is peace one of the values at the heart of Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV), it is also presented as one of the programme's outcomes. The SSEHV programme seeks to promote 'human values' in British schools, also with regard to educating pupils from different social, cultural or ethnic backgrounds towards greater tolerance and understanding. The programme aims to achieve this as part of the statutory provision of physical, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship education as well provision for the social, moral, cultural and spiritual (SMCS) development of pupils in community schools. This article reports on an ethnographic study of SSEHV in the UK, which was conducted by members of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the University of Warwick. The research reported here focused on the development of the programme, its contents (including the value of 'non-violence' and the practice of 'silent sitting'), its application in the classroom, and its reception by pupils and teachers. Further, this article seeks to embed SSEHV in the wider theoretical context of peace education and suggests theoretical discussions to which this investigation contributes