Group Discussion Summary Tom Scovill 29 September 2000 Revered and Loved Chancellor, Distinguished Educators, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, There were thirty-nine discussion groups which met during a two day period for one hour each day. Delegates participated enthusiastically, in fact, some stayed one and one half hour longer than the designated time, and some continued to meet in the evening. The groups were comprised of educators representing a cross-section of national, regional, and local responsibilities. Many groups were comprised of participants from the same or neighboring countries. Participants agreed that educators must practice what they preach before they teach the children and young people. The simple but powerful maxim given by Bhagavan Baba, "First self, then help" guided the development of individual action plans. Each participant completed the individual plan, noting first the areas of self-improvement committed to in order to strengthen human values within themselves. The participants were not required to share these personal improvement goals; however, most did share them and enriched the group discussions. An example of one groups discussion of the individual plans for self-improvement reads,

"The conference had an influence on a personal, psychological and emotional level. Fifty percent of the group said they wanted to be/ become better persons, to heal their emotions, to bring more heart quality in their lives, to be more in the moment…to know their emotional boundaries, and to improve their concentration."

The other individual improvement goals were designed to either eliminate undesirable qualities, or build good habits. Some comments related to eliminating undesirable qualities were, "Seek to control senses better", "exercise greater restraint in our speech", realize evil is not outside, but inside", "teachers should practice more and preach less". Other comments related to building good habits were, "talk only when necessary", "develop sincerity and purity", "be aware of the inner Divinity in the children".

Groups then discussed the individual actions which would be accomplished once each participant returned home. Given the stature and professional experience and expertise of the distinguished educators here, the action plans covered a wide range of components within the education system. Teacher training programs in human values will be established in Nepal, each Latin American country, Spain, Kenya, Africa, West Indies, Australia, Philippines, Korea, New Zealand, Croatia, Columbia, and Chile. Media outreach is planned for Equador, a television station, Venezuela, and China. Research is planned on the effectiveness of human values education. Government/public schools will be adopted to strengthen human values education in Venezuela, Vienna, Austria, Japan, Germany, and Chile. In Mexico the government has already given permission for classes to be taught on living the spiritual life. In Panama, a school for parent training is planned. Policy development in which importance on human values is moved to the center of policy is planned in Australia and New Zealand. Health Education in human values is planned by a doctor who will place EHV material in the waiting room. A prenatal human values program is planned.

Dare I say it, but two groups have asked for a second conference of this type at Prasanthi Nilayam.

On behalf of all the participants, I pray to Bhagavan Baba to give us courage and clarity of thought to carry out all the action plans.

Sai Ram