Curriculum & Learning Environment
Maharishi School provides a school culture and curriculum created to unfold the full potential of our students, allowing each child to blossom in their unique expression of creativity and intelligence. From our 25 years in primary school education, we know that these qualities are already present in abundance in every child. Our experienced teachers encourage the full outer expression of the children’s inherent inner creativity and intelligence.
It is vital that classrooms are places of intellectual stimulation where the learning process values the development of individuals who can think, plan, create, question and engage independently as learners. Here at Maharishi School we create an ideal learning environment along with a strengths-based approach to education that supports individual growth on the basis of enjoyment and delight in the learning process. This is the true foundation for the growth of self-confidence, which in turn leads to increasing success and fulfilment in the daily lives of our students.
At Maharishi School lessons always commence with culturing receptivity; a process which includes finding out what the students already know and believe so the teacher can keep them enthusiastically engaged while guiding them toward new ideas and encouraging them to probe more deeply into the topic being explored. The inspiration of the teacher enlivens the interest of the students.
Teachers observe each student’s ability to grasp new ideas and explore new concepts using an active and practical approach. It is through the alternation of understanding and direct experience that the students gain complete appreciation of the topic of study.
An essential step in the learning process is expression. Learning is more complete when students can express what they have learned by saying it, telling it, writing it, and teaching it. In developing receptivity, an important approach taken by Maharishi School is to focus on the student’s strengths and good qualities. The basis for our approach is that what we put our attention on grows stronger, so that appreciating the good qualities and abilities of the student improves his or her self-esteem and builds the confidence to take the next step of learning.
Maharishi School currently provides a comprehensive curriculum based on the Foundation (Prep) – Year 10 Victorian Curriculum. Complementing the core learning areas, we also provide specialised instruction in Science, Performing and Visual Arts, Physical Education and Auslan. Our school-based curriculum is integrated with the internationally-accredited Consciousness-Based Education, incorporating Transcendental Meditation. In addition, the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) Principles that are incorporated into our teaching and learning programs contribute to a greater depth of understanding for our students and foster a love of learning that values the development of skills and knowledge with an inquiry-based approach.
Maharishi School also provides further opportunities for students through our co-curricular program. You can expect your child to participate in swimming, gymnastics, indoor sports, school productions, school choir, chess club, chess tournaments, school camp, a range of excursions and incursions and participation in the Sporting Schools Program.
Strengths-Based Education
When we understand and cultivate young people’s character strengths, we enable them to be who they are at their very best and flourish. Our school helps students identify their natural talents and skills and then creates a learning environment to direct these talents.
Our school implements Individual Learning Plans for our students, a collaborative process between teachers, parents and, where appropriate, the student. At Maharishi School we not only broaden the value of the ILP by incorporating academic, emotional, social and physical development but also by integrating areas of strength that have been identified in the student and cultivating these strengths to complement their overall development.
Our curriculum integrates Consciousness-Based Education & the Transcendental Meditation technique
Receptivity to gaining knowledge, which arises naturally through regular practice of Transcendental Meditation and application of Maharishi School’s Principles of Ideal Teaching, is the essential ingredient in our uniquely effective system of education that we refer to as Consciousness–Based Education.
Daily practice of Transcendental Meditation and lessons in the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) and the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health provide a unique means of integrating all aspects of the curriculum.
Maharishi School students develop an integrated, unified vision of all aspects of life through their study of the SCI principles – study of laws of nature which structure and uphold growth and progress in all of nature, including human life. Students discover the inner, more precious values of life that give rise to all of life’s outer expressions.
Many educational institutions around the world are now acknowledging the value of young people learning meditation to complement their lives and to manage the complexities that have now become the norm for our children. Their formative years provide us, as educators/parents/carers, an opportunity to ensure they receive a strong foundation to develop the personal traits, characteristics and qualities that will enable them to navigate their way successfully through these years.