Advancing in Baha'i-inspired Education
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Sona Farid-Arbab, Advancing in Baha'i-inspired Education, bahai-library.com.
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Advancing in                                    bahá’íe, nous devons garder à l’esprit cette
vision extraordinaire qu’avait Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá’í-inspired                                 de ce que deviendra l’être humain ici-bas
dans la plénitude des temps. Tout en re-
Education1                                      spectant les réalisations accomplies, sou-
venons-nous que le système d’éducation
actuel n’est pas en mesure d’engendrer un
SONA FARID-ARBAB                                tel être humain. Prenant humblement con-
science de l’ampleur du travail à accomplir,
Abstract                                        nous sommes de plus en plus nombreux à
In order to advance significantly in            collaborer avec d’autres personnes an-
Bahá’í-inspired education, we need to keep      imées des mêmes valeurs et à œuvrer
in mind Bahá’u’lláh’s extraordinary vision      dans divers contextes écologiques et cul-
of the human being who will walk this           turels pour cerner les besoins en matière
earth in the fullness of time. While being      d’éducation, mettre au point les éléments
respectful of accomplishments in the field      d’une pédagogie cohérente et créer une
of education, we need to remember that          série d’expériences d’enseignement/ap-
in its present state, it is incapable of cul-   prentissage qui permettent de concrétiser
tivating such an individual. Humbled by         ces divers éléments. L’expérience du pro-
the realization of the magnitude of the         gramme d’autonomisation spirituelle des
work ahead, a growing number of us, to-         pré-jeunes est présentée comme exemple
gether with other like-minded individuals,      d’une démarche pédagogique d’inspiration
have to labor in diverse cultural and eco-      bahá’íe dans laquelle de modestes contri-
logical settings, identifying educational       butions s’accumulent et mènent finale-
needs, developing elements of a coherent        ment à d’importants progrès.
pedagogy, and creating a series of teach-
ing-learning experiences in which these         Resumen
elements are given practical expression.        Para poder avanzar significativamente
The experience of the Junior Youth Spir-        en la educación de inspiración bahá’í,
itual Empowerment Program is offered            necesitamos mantener en mente la visión
as an example of an endeavor to advance         extraordinaria de Bahá’u’lláh del ser hu-
Bahá’í-inspired education in which modest       mano que caminará sobre esta tierra en
contributions accumulate and lead to sig-       la plenitud del tiempo. Al ser respetuosos
nificant progress.                              de los logros en el campo de la educación,
necesitamos recordar que en su estado ac-
Resumé                                          tual es incapaz de cultivar semejante indi-
Si nous voulons véritablement progresser        viduo. Humillados por la realización de la
dans le domaine de l’éducation d’inspiration    magnitud del trabajo por venir, un número
1 This article is the edited transcript       creciente de nosotros, junto con otros in-
of a talk presented at the 40th annual          dividuos del mismo pensamiento, debemos
conference of the Association for Bahá’í        laborar en entornos cultural y ecológica-
Studies held in Montreal, Quebec, in Au-        mente diversos, identificando necesidades
educativas, desarrollando elementos de
gust 2016.
una pedagogía coherente, y creando una
60                   The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 26.4 2016

serie de experiencias de enseñanza-apren-      education will most probably oc-
dizaje en las cuales se les da expresión       cur as the result of the diverse ac-
práctica a estos elementos. La experiencia     tivities of an increasing number
del Programa para el Empoderamiento            of educators working in varied
Espiritual de Prejóvenes es ofrecido como      cultural and ecological settings
un ejemplo de un esfuerzo por avanzar la
throughout the world. System-
educación de inspiración bahá’í en la cual
atic research and high quality
contribuciones modestas se acumulan y
llevan al progreso significativo.
academic study are called for, not
as isolated activities, but as com-
Bahá’í efforts in education have a             ponents, albeit important ones,
long history, dating back to the early         of a process in which the design
years of the Faith in Iran. Although           of curricula is closely connect-
much has been achieved over the                ed with educational practice and
decades, it has been clear to all who          systematization of educational
have contributed to these efforts that         experience. (Office of Social and
the vision of what may be called               Economic Development 6)
“Bahá’í education” is a distant one. In
a letter written on behalf of Shoghi            A concept that has been of great as-
Effendi, we read that “there is as yet       sistance to those striving to visualize
no such thing as a Bahá’í curriculum”        the gradual evolution of educational
and that “the task of formulating a          effort throughout the Bahá’í world in
system of education which would be           recent decades is that of “Bahá’í-in-
officially recognized by the Cause,          spired education”—a term that is
and enforced as such throughout the          meant to suggest incremental contri-
Bahá’í world, is one which the present-      butions to both theory and practice in
day generation of believers cannot           the field that are inspired by the Bahá’í
obviously undertake, and which has to        teachings. This concept has allowed
be gradually accomplished by Bahá’í          Bahá’ís to become fully involved in
scholars and educationalists of the fu-      hundreds of educational endeavors,
ture” (qtd. in Hornby 212).                  free from the pressure created by the
That the emergence of Bahá’í              expectation that these efforts will, in a
education is a distant goal does not         relatively short span of time, produce
mean, of course, that there is not           the elements, principles, and curricula
a great deal of work to be done at           of a comprehensive Bahá’í education.
present. A statement prepared at the         But even with this evolutionary per-
Bahá’í World Centre in 1993 and ap-          spective, clarity should be sought on
proved by the Universal House of Jus-        what is to be achieved. What—we need
tice suggests that                           to ask—can reasonably be expected
from Bahá’í-inspired endeavors? How
the gradual development of                 can they help us advance toward the
contents and methods of Bahá’í             realization of Bahá’í ideals?
Advancing in Bahá’í-inspired Education                      61

To answer such questions, it is nec-     hard job to get the average person to
essary to assess today’s educational        do any deep thinking or even a little
theory and practice, analyze the un-        meditation on the problems facing him
derlying assumptions, and understand        and the world at large” (Directives 22).
the forces that determine the direc-           Although much time has passed
tions in which the field of education       since these statements were written,
moves. This is not the place to address     one can hardly argue that today’s
such an enormous challenge, but an          situation is any better. Contempo-
overall picture is apparent. In 1939,       rary educational systems around the
Shoghi Effendi wrote: “Let us be on         world seem just as impotent to nur-
our guard lest we measure too strictly      ture mature minds. While the value
the Divine Plan with the standard of        of the experience and the ideas gen-
men. I am not prepared to state that        erated throughout the years is not
it agrees in principle or in method         being questioned, there are too many
with the prevailing notions now up-         thoughtful analyses of the shortcom-
permost in men’s minds, nor that it         ings of current educational systems
should conform with those imperfect,        and processes for anyone to deny that
precarious, and expedient measures          the crisis of education has continued
feverishly resorted to by agitated hu-      to deepen over the decades.
manity” (Bahá’í Administration 62).            Cognizant of this profound crisis
In this same passage, he asks for an        in education, we need to reflect on the
“uncompromising adherence to that           Bahá’í community’s ability to advance
which we believe is the revealed and        in new directions. The claim I wish to
express will of God, however perplex-       make is that the ability to take signif-
ing it might first appear, however at       icant strides in advancing Bahá’í-in-
variance with the shadowy views, the        spired education does exist, but much
impotent doctrines, the crude theories,     of it depends on our appreciation
the idle imaginings, the fashionable        of the nature and magnitude of the
conceptions of a transient and trou-        work—on how much we expect from
blous age” (62).                            ourselves and how willing we are to do
In the case of education, a letter       the hard work required.
written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi            A Bahá’í-inspired educational en-
indicates that people “tend to be very      deavor could be defined simply as an
superficial in their thinking, and it       effort carried out by a group of Bahá’ís
would seem as if the educational sys-       and other like-minded individuals in-
tems in use are sorely lacking in ability   spired by the vision and teachings of
to produce a mature mind in a person        the Bahá’í Faith. As such, it strives
who has reached supposedly adult life!      to incorporate Bahá’í principles in
All the outside influences that sur-        the content and the approaches of
round the individual seem to have an        its programs, particularly the prin-
intensely distracting effect, and it is a   ciples of the oneness of humankind,
62                     The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 26.4 2016

of equality between men and women,                Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation is “the calling
and of the elimination of prejudice. It           into being of a new race of men” (Ad-
inculcates a sense of world citizenship           vent 17). “A race of men,” according to
and the virtues of an upright char-               Bahá’u’lláh, “incomparable in charac-
acter. However, as far as educational             ter, shall be raised up which, with the
practice per se is concerned, it simply           feet of detachment, will tread under
tries to adhere to the latest educational         all who are in heaven and on earth, and
theories according to the training that           will cast the sleeve of holiness over all
the Bahá’ís involved have received at             that hath been created from water and
any given time—behaviorism a few                  clay” (qtd. in Shoghi Effendi, Advent
decades ago, a combination of com-                32).What is rather obvious in this re-
putationalism and culturalism along               gard is that no matter how far in the
with an emphasis on behavioral objec-             future human beings of such extraor-
tives some time later, more recently a            dinary powers and incomparable char-
curious mixture of constructivism and             acter are to appear, their emergence
outcome-based curricula, and then                 will not be a sudden phenomenon. It
whatever may be coming next.2                     cannot be that for the longest time,
Alternatively, we could be some-               human beings behave more or less the
what more ambitious, and that is the              same as they do today, and then all of
approach being proposed here. In that             a sudden a new humanity comes into
case, we would value insights from es-            being as if by magic. A process has
tablished theories and draw on them               to be set in motion by which notable
when it is appropriate, but at the same           changes in character and powers of a
time we would be engaged in a rigor-              growing number of individuals will
ous search for educational content and            take deeper and deeper root from gen-
methods that would progressively en-              eration to generation. Education—the
dow each successive generation with               concepts, methods, and content of
the characteristics of a human race               which will have to systematically de-
entering the age of maturity.                     velop over time—will be a most signif-
Shoghi Effendi writes that the “su-            icant component of this process.
preme and distinguishing function” of                There are a number of questions
that present themselves the moment
2 For a discussion of computationalism         we place such weighty expectations on
and culturalism, see Jerome Bruner’s The          Bahá’í-inspired education. Is what we
Culture of Education. For an incisive analysis    know about education today, including
of the behavioral objectives model, see Joseph    the knowledge contained in fields such
Dunne’s “Teaching and the Limits of Tech-         as sociology of education, philosophy
nique: An Analysis of the Behavioural-Ob-         of education, psychology, ethics, phi-
jectives Model.” And for an overview of con-      losophy of mind, and neuroscience
structivism, see Denis C. Phillips and Jonas F.   sufficient to enable us to educate souls
Soltis’s Perspectives on Learning.                who will “cast the sleeve of holiness
Advancing in Bahá’í-inspired Education                       63

over all that hath been created from       has envisioned. And we need to refine
water and clay” (Bahá’u’lláh qtd. in       these elements as we learn from expe-
Shoghi Effendi, Advent 32)? The an-        rience, articulate insights, and make
swer is clearly no, far from it.           conceptual advances.
The next question, then, is whether        Everything we do in this complex
there is enough knowledge in these         enterprise will present us with its own
fields to show us a way forward, at        challenges; to meet them, we have to
least to enable us to take the first few   organize and reorganize our process
steps in the desired direction. We can     of action, reflection, study, and con-
give an affirmative response to this       sultation. As we do so, we need to pay
second question, but in order to suc-      special attention to the way we interact
ceed, we must follow the guidance          with existing educational theories and
offered in the statement quoted at the     practices. How should we approach
beginning of this presentation. We         ideas, methods, and content of edu-
should look at Bahá’í-inspired efforts     cational models when we profoundly
as components of a long-term process       disagree with some of their underly-
of action and reflection in the light of   ing assumptions? For example, we do
Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. We should        not believe that the human mind is a
become well-versed in the theories         supercomputer. Yet, there are aspects
and practices of education and those       of the brain’s functioning that lend
fields closely associated with it. We      themselves to its being treated as such.
should be engaged in a rigorous pro-          The computationalism of the cog-
cess to generate new knowledge that        nitive movement, then, does have in-
we can share openly. To advance in         sights to offer us when we are seek-
this process, we should view theories      ing to enhance certain aspects of the
and practices as sources of insight        workings of the mind. We must be
that enrich our own experience.            able, however, to select appropriate
At the same time, we should avoid       aspects of computationalism to be
fads, not make unreasonable claims, be     incorporated into a Bahá’í-inspired
humble, and cling scrupulously to the      educational endeavor for specific pur-
highest standards of honesty and rec-      poses, while avoiding the tendency to
titude of conduct. We need to search       disregard a more holistic encounter
in the rapidly growing river of knowl-     with the human mind—a tendency
edge flowing through the world for         that robs the teaching-learning expe-
clues and indications that would assist    rience of the richness it deserves.
us in solving the innumerable puzzles         The same holds for culturalism,
we will find along the way. We need        to use another example, which is the
to identify one by one the elements        complement to computationalism. Ac-
of an educational process that will—       cording to this perspective, education
incrementally, to be sure—help cul-        should initiate the young into a culture,
tivate the kind of person Bahá’u’lláh      helping them to become participants
64                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 26.4 2016

in processes that constantly negotiate,    it is required to accommodate every
create, and recreate meaning. That         view in the pursuit of a hazy notion of
culture plays a significant role in how    inclusivity. Clearly, that which works
human beings develop from infancy is       is not equivalent to that which does
an obvious fact with which no one can      not; claims should be supported by
disagree. Yet, we believe that educa-      evidence. But to examine evidence rig-
tional efforts should enable each gen-     orously, it is necessary to reject emo-
eration of youth to contribute more        tivism as a form of social interaction.
decisively than the previous one to           Emotivism—the doctrine that our
the construction of a new culture and      judgments about truth are no more
a new civilization. Insights from the-     than expressions of preference, atti-
ories based on culturalism, therefore,     tude, or feeling—has deeply penetrat-
are bound to be of some help to us.        ed modern culture, and many strands
But no matter how much truth there         of progressive education find affinity
is to the statement that knowledge is      with its underlying premises. The
socially constructed, we cannot totally    resulting “emotivist” self is moved
subscribe to constructivism and deny       only by personal feelings and prefer-
the existence of a reality that is the     ences. For such an individual, it is not
final arbiter determining the validity     the choice between good and evil that
of the knowledge being constructed,        matters, but the free rein given to self
or ignore the fact that this reality has   to choose. Thus, rational arguments
both material and spiritual dimensions.    contribute little to moral judgments;
To be able to meet all such chal-      agreements are to be reached through
lenges, we will have to rely on a ro-      the expression of feelings and the
bust framework for Bahá’í-inspired         force they exert. In the eyes of the
education, which we are only begin-        emotivist, the world is a meeting place
ning to elaborate. Working within          of individuals, all exerting their own
this evolving framework, Bahá’í-in-        will to accommodate their preferenc-
spired efforts should be able to avoid     es, and a stage that presents a series
the extremes of both determinism           of opportunities for their enjoyment
and radical constructivism and nur-        and for the achievement of their own
ture individuals whose constructive        satisfaction.3 This emotivist self is
powers of thought and action are not       nurtured not only by mass media and
governed by vain imaginings but are        advertising, but also by educational ap-
harmonized with reality, with the will     proaches that reduce morality to per-
of God and His purpose for humanity.       sonal preference. In these approach-
Gaining insights from and carefully        es, divine purpose is at best ignored,
modifying elements of existing prac-       and the existence of truth, moral or
tices on the way to discovering new
and more effective ones calls for scien-     3 For an analysis of emotivism, see
tific rigor. Science cannot advance if     Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue.
Advancing in Bahá’í-inspired Education                          65

otherwise, outside the subjective self             In our endeavor to advance Bahá’í-in-
is denied. How different is the emo-            spired education, we find ourselves in
tivist self from the image the Bahá’í           a delicate situation: we have to borrow
Writings give of the human potential:           ideas, methods, and content from cur-
rent educational theories and practices
O my servant!                              and, at the same time, be constantly
Thou art even as a finely tempered            on guard lest we overlook the adverse
sword concealed in the darkness               effects that they can produce in the
of its sheath and its value hidden            psyche of the human being. We can-
from the artificer’s knowledge.               not afford to forget that the concepts,
Wherefore come forth from the                 categories, and principles that the field
sheath of self and desire that thy            of education has so far generated will
worth may be made resplendent                 undergo fundamental transformation,
and manifest unto all the world.              one to which we should contribute.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, Per-              And we must find the courage to elab-
sian no. 72)                                  orate concepts inspired by the Rev-
elation of Bahá’u’lláh that are being
O son of man!                               neglected today.
If thou lovest Me, turn away                     A brief examination of two con-
from thyself; and if thou seekest             cepts, those of “understanding” and
My pleasure, regard not thine                 “spiritual qualities,” will help us appre-
own; that thou mayest die in Me               ciate the enormity of the work before
and I may eternally live in thee.             us as we try to advance in Bahá’í-in-
(Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, Ara-              spired education. Understanding has
bic no. 7)                                    been a central theme in education and
philosophy, but it needs to be recast
This reference to emotivism is meant        in light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation.
only to illustrate the care with which          The notion of spiritual qualities as a
we need to examine current education-           category of the attributes of the hu-
al theories and practices. Emotivism, of        man soul has often been neglected or
course, is just one of many doctrines           lost in muddled narratives of virtues,
that stand in direct opposition to the          which include culture-specific dispo-
kind of system of thought and practice          sitions, social dexterities, and mental,
that will, in the fullness of time, give rise   as well as physical, skills. There is
to those who, “incomparable in charac-          much to be done to clarify the nature
ter, . . . with the feet of detachment,         of these constituent elements of our
will tread under all who are in heaven          being and how they are to be system-
and on earth, and will cast the sleeve of       atically fostered. The concepts of un-
holiness over all that hath been created        derstanding and spiritual qualities are
from water and clay” (Bahá’u’lláh qtd.          intimately connected, and Bahá’ís are
in Shoghi Effendi, Advent 32).                  in a unique position to treat them at
66                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 26.4 2016

the appropriate level of depth both in     of a single approach—whether be-
theory and in practice.                    havioral, cognitive, cultural, empirical,
Even a cursory survey of the Bahá’í     or constructivist. As well, the process
Writings impresses on us that for hu-      of understanding is conceptualized in
man beings to manifest the powers of       light of an explicit or implicit notion
the human spirit such as justice, hum-     of the subject of understanding—for
ble service, pure and goodly deeds,        example, as a highly complex comput-
and love, both the individual and the      er in computationalism, a negotiator
human race as a whole have to reach        of values in culturalism, and so on.
new shores of understanding. To help       For us, the process of understanding
humanity move toward this goal, ed-        will have to correspond to the concep-
ucation is in need of a more accurate      tion of the subject of understanding
depiction of the nature of under-          evoked by Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of the
standing. This is necessary if educa-      “new race of men.” Just as we can-
tors are to transcend the dichotomy        not separate this process from either
between nature and nurture, between        its object or its subject, it would be a
student-centered education and con-        mistake to sharply separate the subject
tent-focused education, and between        from the object of understanding. The
subjective and objective knowledge. It     understanding of a specific set of con-
is time to free our thinking from the      cepts both demands and contributes to
grip of the duality we have inherited      the development of certain relevant
from Locke and Rousseau and from           intellectual and spiritual qualities and
the reductionism of educational fads.      attitudes.
To nurture understanding, we have          Reality is one, and there is continu-
to deal with at least three interrelated   ity between its physical, intellectual,
and inseparable entities: the “subject     and spiritual dimensions. Concepts
of understanding,” the student who         that help us understand this complex
possesses actual and latent intellec-      reality are not isolated and self-con-
tual and moral attributes; the “objects    tained, but closely intertwined and
of understanding,” items of varying        intermingling. So, “understanding” in
degrees of complexity that are to be       this respect cannot be circumscribed;
grasped and acted upon; and the “pro-      there is a boundlessness to it, and nur-
cess of understanding,” the process        turing it requires that we do not view
by which greater insight into reality      it as a point of accomplishment—
and the way it is to be transformed        whether in terms of theory or prac-
is gained. The methods by which the        tice—but as an ongoing engagement
student is helped to advance in un-        of the subject of understanding with
derstanding depend on that which is        its objects.
to be understood; thus, the process of        In a certain sense, understanding
understanding for different objects        is a notion that defies all manner of
cannot be reduced to the application       definition. It is not synonymous with
Advancing in Bahá’í-inspired Education                       67

how the human mind sorts out and                When we examine carefully passag-
processes information; it is not mere-      es in which the word “understanding”
ly a culminating point at which one         is employed in the Bahá’í Writings,
arrives once certain facts are assim-       we see that it is not mentioned only in
ilated; it is not simply the conclusion     the context of truths that we need to
reached after following one procedure       apprehend, but that it is often used as
or another; nor is it reducible to sound,   an adjective to describe the person, to
rational judgments based on one’s be-       refer to an attribute of the soul. Thus,
liefs. Understanding differs from both      understanding is intimately linked to
physical action—say, planting a tree—       our state of being. Like spiritual qual-
and mental occupation—say, think-           ities such as justice, love, generosity
ing about how to plant the tree. It is      and truthfulness, it is a constituent
also distinct from the mental activity      element of who we are.
involved in gathering and sorting in-           Spiritual qualities are reflections
formation. All these contribute to un-      of divine attributes in the mirror of
derstanding, especially when carried        the human heart, and the development
out purposefully, but they do not make      of these qualities defines the capacity
up the process in its entirety. As one      of the human soul to set itself on its
advances in understanding, at least         infinite journey toward God. Under-
in relation to substantive concepts,        standing, too, is a crucial determining
there are significant moments of in-        factor of this capacity. Here, then, ap-
sight and grasp of specific facts and       pears a profound connection between
meanings, but the process is more like      understanding and spiritual qualities,
moving forward along a path that, al-       and in the context of Bahá’í-inspired
though marked by certain milestones,        education, between fostering spiri-
by no means has a predetermined end.4       tual qualities and nurturing under-
According to this vision, in order       standing. This would be an obvious
to nurture understanding, we need           connection if we were to refer only
to appreciate that one advances in his      to the understanding of concepts di-
or her understanding of reality with        rectly associated with specific spiritual
the aid of God’s grace and bestowals.       qualities—to understand, for example,
Understanding is, ultimately, a gift        the notions of selfless giving, of for-
bestowed by God: “First and fore-           giveness, and of sympathy in the de-
most among these favors, which the          velopment of generosity as a spiritual
Almighty hath conferred upon man,”          quality. But the claim being made here
states Bahá’u’lláh, “is the gift of un-     is much greater. Bahá’í-inspired educa-
derstanding” (Gleanings 195).               tional programs are being challenged
to engage simultaneously in fostering
4 For a more extensive exploration of    spiritual qualities and in nurturing
this theme see my book, Moral Empower-      understanding of concepts belonging
ment: In Quest of a Pedagogy.               not only to the spiritual realm, but also
68                    The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 26.4 2016

to the realms of the physical and so-          actions, directing moral purpose to-
cial sciences, to literature and the arts,     ward that which has permanence.
to history and political thought. This            The comprehensive account of
is a call to scale the walls that tend to      spiritual qualities to be elaborated over
separate education centered on the             time should address their autonomous
material and social aspects of human           character and offer insights into the
existence from education focused on a          dynamics of interaction among them.
moral and spiritual life. It is a call for a   Further, it should not lose sight of
level of integration that has not been         their non-exhaustive, eternal nature,
achieved before.                               although it must explain evolutionary
To meet the challenge of such in-          changes in their meanings as humani-
tegration, Bahá’í-inspired education           ty advances from childhood to matu-
needs a rich account of spiritual qual-        rity. Spiritual qualities are not bound
ities in a language sufficiently clear to      to their expressions in finite contexts,
allow for the design and evaluation of         no matter how much our capacity to
educational activity. This language            manifest them expands. They exist on
must embrace an expanded rationality,          a transcendent plane, vital structures
drawing on the discourses of religion,         in that dimension of reality we call
science, the arts, and philosophy. In          spiritual.
developing such a language, we need               Ponder for a moment these words
to avoid relativism and moral equiva-          of Bahá’u’lláh describing how one
lency. The language has to set a path          day, in the Garden of Ridván, He
toward the higher ground but avoid             “gazed on one of the Beauties of the
moralizing. There is a qualitative vari-       Most Sublime Paradise, standing on a
ance between nobility and baseness             pillar of light, and calling aloud say-
that should not be blurred. The de-            ing: ‘O inmates of earth and heaven!
sired language must be able to express         Behold ye My beauty, and My radi-
sensitivity to this contrast, motivating       ance, and My revelation, and My ef-
us to aspire to lofty goals and to keep        fulgence. By God, the True One! I am
away from unworthy pursuits.                   Trustworthiness and the revelation
Moreover, a language that is to            thereof, and the beauty thereof. I will
serve as a vehicle for exploring spiri-        recompense whosoever will cleave
tual qualities and for cultivating sus-        unto Me, and recognize My rank and
ceptibility to the contrast between the        station, and hold fast unto My hem. I
noble and the base must convey a vi-           am the most great ornament of the
sion of human existence that extends           people of Bahá, and the vesture of
beyond the requirements of day-to-             glory unto all who are in the kingdom
day life. The understanding achieved           of creation. I am the supreme instru-
with its aid should enhance the abil-          ment for the prosperity of the world,
ity to distinguish between superficial         and the horizon of assurance unto all
and lasting results of one’s words and         beings’” (Tablets 38).
Advancing in Bahá’í-inspired Education                       69

Although spiritual qualities are          transform the relationships that shape
to express themselves in action, our         it. Service changes selfish grumble to
account of them cannot be limited            selfless joy in giving, greedy exploita-
to observable behavior. Yet, it is nec-      tion to reciprocity and fairness, and
essary to have at least some qualita-        arrogant knowing to a humble posture
tive measures of how we advance in           of learning. Although it is manifested
their acquisition. This is where the         through action, service is inseparable
concept of service takes center stage.       from one’s state of being. It unites do-
Service refers to acts that are directed     ing and being. At a most fundamental
by the twofold purpose of pursuing           level, it is a requirement of what it
one’s own spiritual and intellectual         is to be human: “That one indeed is a
growth and contributing to the civi-         man who, today, dedicateth himself to
lization-building process, acts seeking      the service of the entire human race”
the transformation of some aspect of         (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings 250).
the essential relationships that define          The argument presented so far may
human existence. In this connection,         be summarized as follows: In order to
the image of a path is being increas-        advance significantly in Bahá’í-inspired
ingly used in the Bahá’í community to        education, we need to keep in mind
visualize effort and movement as well        Bahá’u’lláh’s extraordinary vision of
as resilience in the face of difficul-       the human being who will walk this
ties and the ability to turn stumbling       earth in the fullness of time; and while
blocks into stepping stones. A path          being respectful of accomplishments
of service invites participation, and        in the field of education, we need to
participants advance along it at dif-        remember that in its present state it is
ferent paces and strides. One does not       incapable of cultivating such an indi-
walk the path alone; there is faith in       vidual. Humbled by the realization of
the capacity of others and joy in their      the magnitude of the work ahead, a
accomplishments.                             growing number of us, together with
In addition, the efficacy of service is   other like-minded individuals, have to
not to be evaluated merely by the per-       labor in diverse cultural and ecologi-
ceived success or failure of an enter-       cal settings, identifying educational
prise; the extent to which understand-       needs, developing elements of a co-
ing has advanced and the necessary           herent pedagogy, and creating a series
spiritual qualities have been devel-         of teaching-learning experiences in
oped is a more important factor to be        which these elements are given prac-
considered. This is not an evaluation        tical expression. Each group would
carried out by external observers, but       see itself engaged in a systematic
by every single participant. Further,        process that involves action—namely,
the reality of service is not confined       carrying out educational activities and
to specific actions, for service infuses     evaluating them—reflection on action,
the environment with the potency to          consultation, and analysis of progress
70                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 26.4 2016

both conceptual and practical, lead-        of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation is gained.
ing to repeated modification of ideas,      The search for a proper conception of
methods, and materials. In this way,        understanding and a corresponding
through a series of approximations,         account of spiritual qualities is but
curricular elements would emerge            one among the multitude of tasks to
that could be shared with others en-        be addressed in the effort to advance
gaged in similar endeavors. What is         Bahá’í-inspired education.
being suggested is that such a process,        It seems reasonable at this point to
which is in fact already in place in sev-   ask for some indication of the efficacy
eral settings throughout the world-         of the approach being described here.
wide Bahá’í community, will advance         Why should we be so confident that
the theory and practice of education        adopting it will actually enable us to
as long as action is carried out with-      advance in Bahá’í-inspired education?
in an evolving conceptual framework,        There is clearly no decisive evidence
the knowledge being generated from          to cite this early in the process. Yet the
various experiences is synthesized in       impressive accomplishments of en-
a coherent manner, and models and           deavors in the Bahá’í community that
theories are considered sources of          have followed this approach is a source
insight and not truths to be adhered        of confidence. The number of such
to at all costs. It is to be expected, of   undertakings is not large, but wit-
course, that in the pursuit of the dis-     nessing the transformation they have
tant goal of Bahá’í education, formi-       achieved in a diversity of settings is
dable challenges will have to be met.       reassuring. The Junior Youth Spiritual
The earlier discussion of emotivism         Empowerment Program, now estab-
illustrates the kind of capacity that       lished in thousands of clusters around
is needed if we are to identify and         the world, is a clear example.
analyze the false doctrines that tend          Many years ago, in Colombia, it
to invade educational theory and            was noticed that the Bahá’í Faith was
practice. As is evident from the brief      attracting large numbers of youth be-
mention of the cognitive and other          tween the ages of twelve and fifteen.
movements, valuable insights can be         They tended to form a very special
gained from various educational theo-       kind of attachment to the Bahá’í Faith
ries, even when we disagree with some       and its ideals. Over the years, through
of their basic assumptions. But our         a systematic process of action and
interactions with existing theory and       reflection on action, a program for
practice constitutes only one compo-        the spiritual empowerment of junior
nent of our Bahá’í-inspired endeavors.      youth was developed and implemented
Many fundamental ideas in education         in an increasing number of regions.
have to be transformed and new ideas        Reflection on the results made it clear
have to be elaborated as an ever-deep-      that much of the literature on the
er understanding of the implications        characteristics of individuals in this
Advancing in Bahá’í-inspired Education                      71

age range was bound to specific cul-         for example, that words do not float
tures and historical circumstances and       around arbitrarily; the meaning of a
did not offer sufficient insight into the    concept comes partly from the con-
reality of a human being during early        nections it has with other concepts.
adolescence.                                 These connections help us understand
It could be said that in the history      the meaning of words, phrases, sen-
of the Heroic Age of the Bahá’í Dis-         tences, and paragraphs. Some of the
pensation, the story of the life of one      connections, such as the one between
stalwart youth, Rúhu’lláh Varqá, had         the noun “chair” and the verb “to sit,”
already falsified predominant theories       are obvious.
about this age group. A different de-           But not all connections are so im-
scription of a junior youth gradually        mediate. Bahá’í-inspired educational
emerged from action, reflection, study,      endeavors can be guided by the wealth
and consultation and was recorded in         of meaning enshrined in the Sacred
Book 5 of the curriculum developed           Writings to discover and create con-
by the Ruhi Institute. The degree of         nections among words and concepts
transformation of tens of thousands          that go beyond the obvious and the
of youngsters who have benefited             immediate. The objective would be to
from the program is a testimony to the       open channels in the mind and heart
efficacy of its content and the spiritual    of a young person that would gener-
and social concepts that underlie it.        ate profound insights into reality and
Two sets of ideas that have contrib-      the ways it can be transformed. Focus
uted to the accomplishments of the           would be on the intimate relationship
program are worth mentioning. One            between language structure and moral
addresses the relationship between the       structure. The Human Temple, a text-
structure of language and the mind’s         book inspired by Bahá’u’lláh’s Súriy-i-
moral structure, and the other deals         Haykal,5 is a modest attempt to address
with the all-important question of           such an objective in the program. For
spiritual perception. As to the first, re-   instance, that which is closely asso-
peated reference in the Writings to the      ciated in the language structure of a
influence of utterance confirms the          junior youth with a verb as common as
vital role language plays in cultivating     “to see” is assumed to have noteworthy
the moral as well as the intellectual        effects on the moral structure govern-
powers of the individual. Language           ing his or her thought and behavior.
structure is extremely complex and           Thus the deliberate effort in that text
cannot be discussed in any depth here.       to connect in a natural way the verb
Consideration of a few simple facts,      “to see” with words such as “knowl-
however, leads to valuable insights          edge,” “mind,” “observing,” “thinking,”
into the relationship between the way
words are organized in one’s mind and          5 See Bahá’u’lláh, The Summons of the
one’s moral structure. It is evident,        Lord of Hosts.
72                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 26.4 2016

and “understanding”: seeing with the        spiritual qualities tend to be divided:
light of the sun, seeing with the light     we love with the heart, and we exer-
of knowledge, seeing with our mind,         cise justice through the power of the
seeing friends not strangers, and           mind. This rift between feelings and
thinking of unity.                          thoughts reduces our understanding
As to the question of spiritual          of both and creates an artificial pic-
perception, at least two interrelated       ture of the interacting faculties of
ideas need to be carefully examined.        the human soul. We must realize that
The first idea is that the enhancement      sentiments such as love and respect,
of spiritual perception requires the        which transcend the self, are vitalized
removal of veils covering the inner         by appropriate thoughts, just as noble
eye: the veils of passion and desire;       thoughts are empowered by appropri-
of covetousness, greed, and envy; of        ate self-transcending emotions such as
vain imagining and idle fancy; and of       passion for truth, yearning for justice,
egotism. The challenge before us is         and attraction to beauty.
not just the suppression of inordinate         In refusing to make an artificially
passions and desires, curbing greed         sharp distinction between thoughts
and envy and restricting the operation      and sentiments, we acknowledge that
of the ego in order to promote civility.    there is a spiritual as well as an in-
We would not be mistaken in assuming        tellectual dimension to perception in
that the human being Bahá’u’lláh envi-      which both thinking and feeling take
sions walking this earth in the future      part. In this respect, it is noteworthy
will have succeeded in burning away         how even a small effort to cultivate the
these veils. Bahá’í-inspired education,     perception of forces that emanate in
then, must enable the individual to         the realm of the spirit, such as divine
rend asunder the veils that cover the       confirmation and hope, and to set aside
inner eye.                                  the duality between heart and mind in
The second idea is that the en-          treating a theme such as excellence
hancement of spiritual perception           has appealed to so many junior youth
requires setting aside the duality be-      and has exerted such a transformative
tween mind and heart. Some schools          influence on their lives.
of thought believe that emotions and           The intention of this reference to
sentiments hinder the operation of          some of the ideas that have helped
rational thinking. Others recommend         define the Junior Youth Spiritual Em-
suspending reason and objectivity so        powerment Program is to illustrate
that emotions such as care and sym-         how we can make incremental advanc-
pathy can manifest themselves.6 Even        es in Bahá’í-inspired education. The
assertion being made is that modest
6 See, for example, Nel Noddings’s        achievements of this nature will ac-
Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and   cumulate and lead to significant prog-
Moral Education.                            ress. What is required is for more and
Advancing in Bahá’í-inspired Education                       73

more of us to fix our eyes on the vision of the human being and the future
civilization revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, to gain a more profound understanding of
the attributes of that human being, and, through a systematic process of action,
reflection, study, and consultation, move toward the goal of Bahá’í education. In
this endeavor, we should not attach ourselves to fashionable educational models.
We should create a culture that does not favor fads or the dominance of technique
over substance. We must do our best to integrate spiritual insights gained from
the study of the Bahá’í teachings and from our experience in applying them to
the life of humanity with knowledge generated through painstaking scientific
research.

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-- Advancing in Baha'i-inspired Education (Used by permission of the curator)