YOGA AND EDUCATION

SRADDHALU RANADE
Scientist, Educationist and Scholar, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, India

Modern education is largely based on an Industrial mindset which views schools as factories and students as raw material. This has led to a mechanization of human society and the gradual decline in emphasis on creativity and real experiential learning. India's approach to education has always based itself on its deeper yogic insights into human psychology. It founded itself on the perception that every child is a soul in evolution. It looked upon the apparatus of human nature and recognized the essential principles and processes by which the human personality develops, learns and grows. Some of these insights of yogic psychology are discussed as well as the mechanism of their result in education.

EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS

MEENA VENKATESH, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Asst. Prof. [Hon.], Division of Yoga & Life Sciences,
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, India

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of yoga on the personality development of students. The participants for this quasi-experimental study were drawn from two co-educational schools in Bangalore that were from different socioeconomic levels. Four hundred and three children participated in this study. In each school, two classes were randomly assigned to the 'yoga' group and two classes to the 'control' group. The 'yoga' groups were given yoga training by qualified yoga teachers whereas the 'control' groups went on with their routine schoolwork. The yoga training was given for 45 minutes, 5 days a week for one academic year. All the groups were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the academic year by administering the Grip Strength Test and Dexterity Test to assess the physical development, the Personality Inventory, the School and Home Inventories, GASC, Anxiety test and EQ test to assess the emotional and behavioral development, the Concentration and Structure of Abilities tests to assess the primary mental functions and intellectual abilities development. The contrast of the post test scores of the 'Yoga' vs. 'Control' using Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) with the pretest scores as covariates followed by Gain score analysis (posttest-pretest, independent 't' test). Results revealed significant increases in Grip strength, Dexterity, Confidence, Self-sufficiency, Mental Health, Creativity, Concentration, Memory and Intellectual abilities of students who practiced yoga. Findings also revealed significant reduction in Neurotic Tendency, General anxiety, Physiological anxiety and Sleep disturbance in the Yoga group. The results suggest that regular practice of yoga techniques had a beneficial effect on the development of personality on the physical, mental, emotional and intellectual levels of students of the experimental groups compared to the control groups. In conclusion, going by the results of the present study, yoga techniques may prove to be an effective means for producing positive personality growth in adolescent students.