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Call to identify the real needs of society

PUDUCHERRY: Professor of Psychology at Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany Peter Sedlmeier has stressed the needs for identifying the real need of society and move towards achieving the goal in the field of psychology.

Speaking at the special interactive session held by the Pondicherry Psychology Association (PPA) on Friday, Dr. Sedlmeier said, “Our quest for self knowledge in the West, begins with personality, cognition and behaviour and for the dominant schools in psychology, it stops there.”

The beginning of the development of these first two forces in psychology, which identified and explored in-depth cognition and behaviour, there had been parallel movements that had fought to maintain a more holistic approach, he added.

The forces of different spiritual approaches to psychology were developing various fields such as language and other related disciplines, he said.

Puducherry was the right place to undertake research in the field of psychology. “The Department of Psychology in the Puducherry University may contribute to the integrative nature of philosophy and psychology,” he opined.

President of the PPA Panch. Ramalingam highlighted the objectives of the session such as discussion of the Eastern and Western models of psychology with special reference to education and discussion of various indigenous schools of thought in integral psychology.

He stressed the need for exploring important areas including language development and issues that could bring Eastern Integral Studies to the forefront so that it could become a living force for the future.

He also spoke on the importance of developing practical applications of psychological approaches for language development.

Assistant Professor and Assistant Head of Asian Languages and Culture Group at the National Institute of Education in Singapore A.Ra. Sivakumaran said teaching and learning processes were intertwined with culture and traditions.

Professor of Philosophy in Pondicherry University K. Srinivas highlighted the availability of potential resources of philosophical and psychological sources in India.

Former Education Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said the psychological tradition in India was traced from ‘Vedic’ period.

Chairman of the Paventhar Teacher Training Institute V. Muthu presided over the programme. A total of 78 scholars participated in the session.

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