Devotees who are attracted to spiritual education will find this book to be of immense value.  The authors, Dr Ron Farmer and his wife Su Farmer are both clinical psychologists working in Australia.  They have long been involved in teaching children's classes and running training workshops in the Education in Human Values (EHV) field.

The Handbook for Sai Teachers is well designed for ready reference as well as for in depth reading.  It brings together the best of the material available from international sources into one publication.  The book offers comprehensive guidelines for both training and implementation.  The Handbook connects spiritual teachers to the worldwide development of this unique form of teaching universal spiritual and moral values.

There are twenty one information rich chapters with several hundred key references from Sri Sathya Sai Baba's Divine Discourses in highlighted blocks. 

The first eleven chapters outline the principles of the Sathya Sai Human Values Program and include:

History and philosophy of the program, its aims and objectives, its essential components, in depth exploration of the five Human Values, the unity of faiths, and the role of teachers and parents.

Chapters twelve to twenty one focus on implementing the Sathya Sai Human Values Program beginning with chapters on the five teaching techniques.  These include Silent-Sitting, Story Telling, Prayers and Quotations, Group Singing and Group Activities. 

There is a full chapter on the art of developing Lesson Plans for both Sai Groups and community EHV classes.  These link to the complete syllabus for classes covering the ages from 6 to 15 years that are presented in the Appendices.

The next chapter details how to set up EHV classes connected with Sai Centres as well as those in the community which will usually be multi-denominational.

Chapters are included on "Effective Programming and Teaching" and very importantly "Evaluation in the Human Values Program".  Self evaluation tools for the EHV teacher allow you to rate your teaching effectiveness in areas that include - lesson preparation, creating a positive classroom atmosphere, gaining the attention of students and more.

A range of assessment tools is also given for determining the progress of students in the EHV Program.

The Handbook will be of real value to those spiritual teachers who have not been active as teachers in the past and wish to play a role in this great endeavour.

Experienced teachers will also find the Handbook useful for it serves as a reference on all matters relating to the Sathya Sai Human Values Program.

The Handbook can be used as a set text for all those attending training workshops, regardless of which country is involved.  The Handbook is being translated into Spanish and other languages.

Parents who are interested in creating a home environment that nurtures the flowering of the Human Values in their children and themselves will find the Handbook to be very helpful.