His Holiness Underlines Infusing Human Values into Education SystemFriday, 9 October 2009, 9:57 a.m.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama meets with Sen. John Kerry (2nd R) (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, during a meeting at the US Capitol on 7 October 2009 in Washington, DC/Getty Images

Washington, DC: Deliberating during a session on Educating World Citizens for the 21st Century at the 19th conference of Mind and Life on Thursday, His Holiness the Dalai Lama underscored the importance of reforming the education system to include education on compassion and warm-heartedness.His Holiness also emphasised the importance of teacher-student relationship and the need for proper attitude on the part of the teacher. His Holiness quoted the Buddhist master Aryadeva about the need for teachers to adopt a sense of concern and caring for their students, very much in the way parents show concern over their children.The conference began with introductory remarks by R. Adam Engle, Chairman and co-founder of the Mind and Life Institute, who spoke on the  historical development of the conference, from the first one held in Dharamsala in 1987.  The first session was focussed on Envisioning the World Citizen, which was moderated by Daniel Goleman who covers behavioral science and health for the New York Times. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), made the initial presentation. His Holiness talked about the importance of reforming the education system to include education on compassion and warm-heartedness.Among the panelists were Dr. Jacquelynne S. Eccles (McKeachie/Pintrich Distinquished University Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Michigan (UM) and Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research at the UM), Linda Darling-Hammond, Professor of Education at Stanford University where she has launched the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute and the School Redesign Network,  and Ven. Matthieu Ricard, a French Buddhist monk at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.This session involved these experts in education, moral  philosophy, secular ethics and contemplative practice, and development science discussing a renewed vision of public education – one that draws upon both the wisdom of contemplative traditions and their associated practices as well as the cutting edge ideas in education and the sciences of human learning and development. His Holiness shared anecdotes from his childhood that reflected the importance of a wholesome education. His Holiness participated in the second session of the conference, which was on Attention, Emotion Regulation and Learning.   It was moderated by Daniel Goleman.  The initial presentation was made by Richard J. Davidson, William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The panelists were Anne Carolyn Klein, Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University and a founding director and resident teacher of Dawn Mountain, a center for contemplative study and practice in Houston, Ronald E. Dahl, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, and Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh,  Kathleen McCartney, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, and Mark Greenberg, the Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development.In his remarks in this session, His Holiness touched on the importance of teacher-student relationship and the need for proper attitude on the part of the teacher.  In the afternoon, His Holiness gave an interview to Wolf Blitzer of CNN, which was broadcast later in the evening on his Situation Room program. When asked when he would be meeting President Obama. His Holiness said either at the end of the year or the beginning of next year. When asked about the possibility of a new round of dialogue between his envoys and the Chinese leadership, His Holiness said he felt that there could be talks either at the end of the year or the beginning of next year.  He also gave reasons why sometimes rather than merely meeting symbolically other substantive action may be appropriate.