Last School in Auroville is an ongoing educational experiment rooted in Free Progress learning and Integral Education as envisioned by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

A unit of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER), located in Auroville, India, the school emerges from the understanding that education is not merely the transmission of information, but a living process of becoming through inner discovery.

A New Creation

The school offers an environment of beauty, where students ask their own questions and approach learning outside the constraints of traditional academic programs or external standards.

Last School’s aim is the growth of consciousness. It could be described as a place where all adults and young people inhabit a satsanga of learning and evolving together.

Free Progress is the educational philosophy at the heart of Last School — a way of growth that embraces education as self-discovery and conscious learning, guided by inner aspiration rather than external criteria or predetermined outcomes.

A new approach requires a conscious evaluation of the tools and materials used in the educational process. Textbooks have subtle orientations that create mental constructions and psychological types that perpetuate the social, cultural and national order. Many artificial assumptions and prejudices, unnecessary determinisms that limit the being, can be avoided if there is alertness in this regard.

Asked to define what she meant by the term ‘free progress’, The Mother said:

Stepping firmly away from formal diplomas, Last School seeks to develop individuals who are better equipped to address tomorrow’s complex challenges, invent new solutions, and contribute to an evolving society, rather than simply becoming part of the existing one.

Free Progress, a psychological rather than an academic approach

In an age that celebrates individuality and freedom, a certain moral relativism has set in. What is the position that Auroville schools should take? Most social systems approach this aspect of nature as if it can be built upon reason alone. But both the ethical and the aesthetic impulse is either a gut feeling or a sense of wideness that is more intuitional. This is a domain most germane to the developing personality. The power of reflective thought leading to discriminative intelligence, the Indian idea of vichar that arrives at vivek as also an awakened sense of the All Beautiful (satyam shivam sundaram) is an essential element of the educational process.

A school that aspires to be a place of free progress must give the students freedom to grow along their own lines of development, which they have to discover. But what keeps this freedom progress-oriented?

One could argue that it is mainly the presence of a flame of aspiration and progress being a living reality in the teacher-team and, therefore, in the very atmosphere of the school. This would mean that we cannot consider the school a place where teachers find a job in exchange for remuneration.

The measures are subjective, such as the child’s sense of well-being. The gladness with which a child comes to school is one significant measure.

Each instrument of nature – mind, life and body – must be encouraged to grow and manifest its unique capacities. For the body, this is a balanced and stable strength, agility, endurance and beauty. The life spirit, the vital nature of the being, and the seat of its enthusiasm, energy, effort, and courage are also the source of most of the difficulties that vex human nature. This aspect of the instrumental nature is perilous to ignore. Yet, few modern systems address it consciously.

Therefore, as Sri Aurobindo argues, the awakening and development of both the Aesthetic as well as the Ethical personality presided over by a developed Reason are essential for the fullness of self-expression.

The Last School Semester Workshops

Last School Workshops are created to nourish in the students and the teachers a sense of wonder for whatever the chosen theme is. The wish is to shift the objective worldview that humanity presently inhabits towards a more inward, subjective whole-view of all aspects of material manifestation as a living embodiment of the spirit. These workshops, organised to explore myriad themes and approaches to human creativity, provide a unique opportunity for students and teachers to become co-learners in a concentrated atmosphere where the ‘learnings’ happen on numerous levels of the being.

The aim is not to be the best, but rather to find within one’s psychological nature a position of well-being that creates an inwardness of growth and progress. There is no age or limit for such learning. As an example and illustration, here is a short description of one of the previous workshops:

In preparation for the workshop, an environmental installation to stimulate the question was created with an exhibition of images of contemporary glass works which lined the corridor walls. Blue, gold and white paper butterflies fluttered by the hundreds in the school. And haiku punctuated this explosion of life.

Last School is not an ‘art’ school. The intention has been to cultivate a discipline (a tapasya of beauty) among young adults and renew life’s energies through harmony and beauty.

Contents, Methodologies and Instruments of the Free Progress Approach

Last School has no rules, but a few conditions.

1. A full and balanced timetable: Students engage in all aspects of learning that foster a skilled, harmonious, well-developed and grounded psychological nature.
2. A wide range of subjects: Sciences, Mathematics, Languages, Literature, Poetry, Philosophy, History, Geography, Cultural Studies, Filmmaking and Computer Literacy.
3. Creative self-development: Last School gives great importance to creative self-development toward an awakened aesthetic sense with a love of beauty: art, painting, graphic design, clay work, woodwork, metal work.
4. A sense of service: Young persons are encouraged to offer their time and talents to some collective service or action as a measure of self-giving.
5. A structured day: School runs from 8 am to 3:30 pm, followed by a choice of physical activities, sports and more.
6. Assessment: Development is explored through individual interviews and conversations. As a small school, Last School observes each child with conscious intention. Measures are subjective, including the child’s sense of well-being and the gladness with which they come to school.
7. Teacher–student relationships: These are crucial to the learning process. Teachers are encouraged to be wise friends, guides and helpers rather than mere pedagogues.
8. Self-direction and choice: Last School works best for young people who have an awakened sense of self-direction and can make conscious choices. Other options are available for those who prefer a certification-based system.

Within the aim of education in Auroville, The Mother said in a conversation about Auroville:

There are a few directions given to Auroville on the topic of education by The Mother. From the beginning, her guidance came in broad strokes rather than detailed explanations: an approach she referred to as a ‘pressure of consciousness’ which would ‘arrange’ people and things. The onus seemed to be rather on individual choice demanding an effort and a ‘rising up’ of consciousness.

In a free progress approach, the artificial pressures that are generated by the need to be successful in certificate and exam systems are removed. It becomes thus most important to awaken a fundamental commitment to the joy of progress. The key is to create a ‘right road’ that leads the students towards their own perfection. It is not only the head but the enthusiasm of the heart that is required. An academic approach does not work. The need is to take into account the psychological nature of the student.

Each instrument of nature – mind, life and body – must be encouraged to grow and manifest its unique capacities. For the body, this is a balanced and stable strength, agility, endurance and beauty. The life spirit, the vital nature of the being, and the seat of its enthusiasm, energy, effort, and courage are also the source of most of the difficulties that vex human nature. This aspect of the instrumental nature is perilous to ignore.

Yet, few modern systems address it consciously. The awakening and development of both the aesthetic as well as the ethical personality is essential for the fullness of self-expression. The mind in its turn, powered by an awakened and concentrated will, must be capable of wideness and suppleness, expansion and synthesis. And finally, an education aimed at perfection must subtly orient all its impulsions towards the deepest and inmost self as the sun orients the sunflower.

Towards Super School

As we continue to explore what could be the Education of the Future in the Auroville context, it is relevant to start with the sequence of school names that The Mother gave for the Auroville schools:

which we can see as a map left behind for a treasure hunt, a starter kit for our quest for a truer and more integral development of the human being.

What did The Mother imply when she spoke of the education she sought as progress guided by the soul and not subjected to habits, conventions and preconceived ideas?