There was one great teacher, A. S. Neill. He was teaching one day in his classroom, and his students were sitting as they liked.
One Indian teacher visited that day and he was aghast.He couldn’t conceive what type of class this was. One student was smoking a cigarette, one was just lying on the floor with closed eyes, and the class was on and A. S. Neill was teaching.So the Indian teacher said,”This is indiscipline. What are you doing? Stop and first let them sit in a right way with respect toward the teacher.”
Neill reported to have said,”You do not understand What is going on here. They love me so much that they can be at ease with me .And if respect goes against love, then love is to be chosen.What can be more respectful toward me than love ? They are feeling that they are at home, and I am here to teach them–not to make them sit in a proper way . If one student feels that by lying down on the floor with closed eyes he can learn better, then okay. If I make them sit forcibly, and if only because of that they cannot learn, then I am not doing the duty of a teacher.
Osho
The Ultimate Alchemy
