iWe ETHOS
Vision & Values
"To understand life is to understand ourselves,
and that is both the beginning and the end of education."
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~ J. Krishnamurti
iWe envisions students having the opportunity to learn not just about the outer world but the inner world of mind and emotions. We value self-awareness and self-efficacy, autonomy, agency and inner authority as integral to one's peace and to creating effective leaders of integrity.
Why is it important to empower students?
People who feel empowered can -- and want to -- take action, for the betterment of their own lives but also for the betterment of the world. It’s only when people feel empowered that they feel they have something to give.
Disempowered people, in their sense of internal lack, do not believe they have anything of value to offer to anyone, including to themselves. Acting in their own best interests by placing value in themselves is impossible because they lack the requisite self-worth.
When people feel disempowered they inevitably try to empower themselves in ways that can be destructive for themselves and others. We see this reflected in people's treatment of the natural world as a commodity, without a sense of reverence or connection, and in lack of compassionate understanding for their fellow humans.
Empowerment comes naturally when we are in touch with our authentic self. It is not something that can be taught directly but is a direct outcome of people who have self-awareness. Empowered people have agency and know that they have something to give to the world. Living authentically to who they are and the values they hold is the antidote which they can discover through emotional intelligence.
What are the effects of Emotional Intelligence?
Teaching emotional intelligence in schools balances out the current sole focus on educating the intellect. In other words, EQ creates wise people not just smart people. People who are emotionally intelligent live lives that serve their highest, autonomous self rather than a fear-based self molded out of self-protection in their perception of a dangerous world.
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Emotionally intelligent people have a deep understanding of their mental-emotional world. They have seen the cause-and-effect of their own thinking and beliefs experientially so they can work with the mind to create inner homeostasis.
In so doing, emotionally intelligent people serve the world at their highest capacity. They create a kind, just world, wise in their living in such a way that allows humanity to flourish rather than adding to its demise.​
Education is as much about unlearning as it is about learning​
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What we call education is missing something of vital importance: we don’t cultivate a relationship with the self. This results in our sense of self being located in a process of continuous thinking instead of in a broader consciousness or pure awareness. We are being used by thought (the intellect) instead of using it as a tool.
In short, thinking has taken over. We don’t know how to not believe everything we think. We are at the mercy of fearful, stressful thoughts that we assume are true. We need to have a way to identify and question what we are thinking and believing. This is the process called self-inquiry.
We live in a world where we argue over right and wrong, creating conflict and violence, unaware that there is another option: we can source our own innate wisdom as a function of consciousness that is separate from the thinking process. We can look to ourselves and look closely at our need to be right to see what we are attempting to protect and if it actually works.
Self-inquiry gives us a way to see deeply.​