Maitreya School boys in the school yard. Photo by Donna Brown.

By Donna Lynn Brown

Last year, I wrote an article describing how Maitreya Universal Education School, operated by Root Institute in Bodhgaya, India, is implementing child-focused, trauma-informed methods. That process is proceeding well. Its main leaders, volunteers Kabir and Duffer, staff member Neelashi, and Principal Sanjeev Kumar, continue to train teachers, upgrade curricula, and oversee improvements in interactions with children, lesson plans, and the use of hands-on activities that boost academic learning and integration of the 16 Guidelines. I spoke with Kabir and Duffer in February, and they emphasized the positive effects of these methods, particularly on the younger children. Children in the primary grades—lower and upper kindergarten through Grade Three—make up about half the school, which now has a total of 285 students, mostly from very poor families.

Morning prayers at assembly at Maitreya School. Photo by Donna Brown.

“Whenever I see the primary kids, I feel good,” says Kabir, the longtime Dharma teacher and educator who oversees spiritual aspects of the school. “They are really making progress. That’s because their teachers are more skilled and confident thanks to the training they are receiving from Neelashi and Duffer. And the children feel safe … Everything is working.”

Duffer, an American teacher and librarian in her third year of volunteering at the school, agrees. “The primary students are doing especially well. Kindergarten kids get universal education lessons every day by hearing stories suited to their age. Then, in ‘circle time,’ which we’ve implemented in the last couple of years, they talk about the stories and how they would feel if they were the crocodile or the goat, whatever the story is about. Primary students do all sorts of things in ‘circle time’: check-in, relationship-building games, short plays, creative time, discussion, settling down when they goof off or get rambunctious … They also do simple meditations. Being here for several months at a time, I can see their social and emotional skills developing, and also their curiosity and interest in learning. The 16 Guidelines are gaining equal importance to the academic curriculum and are having a major impact. So are the improved ways of teaching: Hindi reading and writing through stories like Jataka Tales; math using hands-on activities and games; Waldorf activities; arts and crafts where the kids really break free. As well, primary classes now all have single-teacher classrooms, instead of teachers moving around. This helps the kids, who’ve often experienced trauma, to trust their teachers. It gives them a safer environment. So they are now more comfortable around their teachers and more comfortable with learning. They’ve begun to find learning joyful too. It’s wonderful to see!”

Wall of the Maitreya School art room. Photo by Donna Brown.

Some of the improvements discussed in last year’s article are evident. The classrooms are more inspiring: colorfully decorated with pictures, math games, and other work by students. Kabir and Ven. Anshu supplement classroom teachers in teaching meditation, 16 Guidelines, and Buddhist topics. The new library, now staffed by a local woman, is well-stocked and well-used. It even contains books made by the children themselves. Regular library usage is helping to improve students’ Hindi reading and writing, which used to be below standard. And better reading and writing in Hindi helps them learn English. Students’ English is now coming along, partly due to the library and partly to curriculum improvements, new games and activities, and some helpful volunteers.

Another factor now helps the children learn: breakfast. Donors have started funding a morning snack of peanuts, bananas, and/or hard-boiled eggs. That has a visible impact, reports Duffer. “When the kids are hungry, we notice: they get restless or unresponsive. The food makes a difference to their learning. We are SO grateful to the donors.”

Improvement is now continuous. Kabir, Duffer, Neelashi, and Nidi, another highly qualified Indian teacher, work steadily on curriculum improvements and training the teachers in more effective and child-centered methods. The teachers also have new salary incentives that encourage them to improve their lesson planning, incorporate 16 Guidelines in more activities, and engage in team projects that benefit the children. The impact is most visible on the younger children, but the older ones are doing well too. All in all, Maitreya School continues to reflect the love and inspiration of Rinpoche.

 Written by Donna Lynn Brown. Donna is a former Associate Editor of Mandala magazine. She first encountered Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT at a November course at Kopan Monastery in 1996. Donna completed a Ph.D in which she researched and wrote about FPMT’s social engagement and its intersection with traditional Buddhist teachings.

You can read about the Maitreya School’s recent utilization of a grant offered by the FPMT Social Services Fund. 

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Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.