Can Schools Teach our Children to be ‘Mental Wealth Creators and NOT Hoarders of Wealth’? How could Schools, Founders, Principals, and Administrators, teach our children to be mental wealth creators? The answers lie in our intent to bring values in action through curriculum changes.
What is Hoarding?
“When stockpiling objects or money provides sense of safety, security and relief of anxiety.” - Psychology Today
On 8th November 2016, we have witnessed the biggest move against hoarders of money in India, through enforcement of the law. It will change the way we will start spending and receiving money to some extent.
The big question is why do we need so much of money and how could we make behavioral shifts in children towards looking at money? As a foundation for life skill inculcation and mental wealth creator, schools can play a very active role in breaking the deep-rooted behavior of hoarding wealth in India. For this, it is important to understand why and how it is affecting us in totality.
“The solution to most of the value based problems in our society has answers in building right framework to understand prevailing challenges and swiftly translating it in the curriculum.” –NexSchools.com
Why are we hoarding wealth?
When asked this question to some of the neighbours and friends they answered and said, “it makes our future secure, it makes my children’s future secure and my aging grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and next generations to come maybe.”
All the people named in the list are also in the process of accumulating wealth. It leads to a vicious cycle of wealth accumulators.
Average humans spend about 60% of their life in working for livelihood and for earning in the form of money. Therefore, the question that arises is:
“How much money you will take when you die?”
Surprisingly
when I searched in Google- how much money you will take when you die? My guess was it would be ‘NOTHING’ you can take to your graveyard or when you are cremated. The search results surprised me. They were not in conformity with my thoughts. It was about life insurance policies, insurance claims, death benefits etc. It is not about me here. It is about my family, children and my near and dear ones for whom after my death it is all about my wealth and not about me.
So the question - is why are we hoarding wealth?
The downside of cash hoarding
We are witnessing extensive impact of cash hoarding in the society both economically and in the form of societal and psychological disorders. The combine effect of both these factors is shaking the foundation of the human values in India.
Wealth hoarders affect economy
The economy has negative repercussions due to lack of cash is a well-known fact. It leads to large and exacerbate levels of income inequality.
Hoarding has affected our society and personality
Hoarding of cash relates to unethical means of acquiring money prevalent in the world.
Nefarious means are adopted to accumulate the vast wealth – contrary to the popular myths that it is accomplished with just hard work and/or a great idea.
The deteriorating human values in society are enough proof to know the ill effects of hoarding wealth.
It has led to solipsism.
“The psychologists have related GREED to hoarding, which is also on rise.”
Role of School
Schools can play a crucial Role in Educating and Creating Awareness as foundation builders for our Children.
It is time for a change in our attitude. It is time for paving way for the introduction of a new style and concept of learning in our Schools. It is time to change the approach of inculcating human values.
Schools have the power to influence thousands of children and in turn, indirect participants in the education process such as parents, educators, etc. Schools are the most powerful institutions in the society, instilling a foundation for social change and fostering an outlook towards value based living amongst children as a life skill development.
As present stakeholders in running school - founders, principals and administrators of schools should revisit the curriculum and make a generous space for the human values inculcation through pragmatic learning, contrary to prevalent abstract learning methods. The decades old curriculum and teaching practices must be replaced with new and urgent needs of milieu systematically.
What are the immediate measures required to develop the human values in children:
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The moral values list needs to be re-conceptualized for the new ways and challenges.
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Greed, unethical behaviour, nefarious means, deteriorating values must be linked to new list and new real life examples.
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SOLIPSISM is explained in the Oxford Dictionary as, “quality of being self-centred and selfish.” Psychologists see it as a disorder hampering the character and personality, giving rise to greed, inhuman and insensitiveness to events happening in our surroundings, giving minimal or no importance to shared effort and responsibility.
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Environmental awareness in light of a new lifestyle.
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Introducing methods and practices to become good digital citizens.
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Waste management education with enough practical insights to become actual contributors to the process.
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Create an environment for shared values, collective interest and intent to pursue them.
All the old human values still play very important role, but if we explain them in present context with some ‘DO IT’ exercises it will add to an enjoyable learning time and rendezvous to learn more.
“The prevailing milieu around millennial kids changes every two-five years, understanding and adapting fast is imperative for schools to keep pace and outwit the gap.” – NexSchools.com
Look around for the genuine problems and build life lessons around them with an urgent need to address it. In present circumstances, correlate problems to the importance of values building habits to make children understand them as life long lessons. Schools can opt for a curriculum that is inclined heavily towards inculcating the right values, contrary to the current curriculum for the development of numeracy and writing skills in the elementary level of schools. We will be able to sow the right seeds from early years amongst children.
Although schools share a greater responsibility in building our eco-system of inculcating right human values, yet the role of parents and society as a whole cannot be negated in the process.
Let us take a step forward to build awesome future for our children.
