Real, Relevant or Redundant: Positioning and Re-Positioning Buddhism in Australia as an Education Paradigm

This discussion paper seeks to determine what relevance the Buddha-Dharma might have to contemporary education in Australia, and draws conclusion about how the Buddha Dharma might inspire and progress the agendas of democratic schooling more generally. It is argued that if education is seeking to promote resilient individuals and socially engaged citizens, then these aims warrant specific and targeted teaching of values and that these are predicated upon students having facility to be aware of their actions and able to make choices and consider consequences. The meta-ethics of wisdom and compassion are discussed alongside key commentators who have sought to shape directions in democratic schooling. Finally a model is presented of how some of the key values emphasised in the Buddhist path, the paramitas (Skt.) when coupled with mindfulness exercises, serve to build a more robust pedagogy that has individual resilience and engaged citizenship at its core.