In Holistic Learning and Spirituality in Education, scholars from around the globe address the theory, practice, and poetics of holistic education. Some of the topics explored include educating the soul; partnership education; nourishing adolescents' spirituality; education and the modern assault on being human; the Eros of teaching; personal creativity as soul work; pedagogies of compassion; and meditation, masculinity, and meaningful life.
With emphasis on preparing students for jobs, standards, and achievement testing, many think that North American education has become inwardly deadening, yet this book provides a counterbalance as it offers a way to nurture the soul in classrooms and schools.
Providing a comprehensive overview of holistic education’s history, conceptions, practices, and research, this Handbook presents an up-to-date, global picture of the field. Organized in five sections, the Handbook lays out the field’s theoretical and historical foundations; offers examples of holistic education in practice with regard to schools, programs, and pedagogies at all levels; presents research methods used in holistic education; outlines the growing effort among holistic educators to connect holistic teaching and learning with research practice; and examines present trends and future areas of interest in program development, inquiry, and research. This volume is a must-have resource for researchers and practitioners and serves as an essential foundational text for courses in the field.
Holistic education is concerned with connections in human experience - connections between mind and body, between linear thinking and intuitive ways of knowing, between individual and community, and between the personal self and the transpersonal self. First published in 1988, The Holistic Curriculum examines the philosophical, psychological, and social foundations of holistic education, outlining its history and discussing practical applications in the classroom. This revised and expanded second edition concisely describes how holistic thinking integrates spiritual and scientific perspectives, drawing on romantic, humanistic, and other radical alternatives to the atomistic worldview of the modern age. The role of the teacher, the issue of accountability, and strategies for implementing the Holistic Curriculum are also discussed.
Forward by Nel Noddings This book includes papers written by teachers and how they engage holistic education in their classrooms. The papers come from a course taught by Jack Miller at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto entitled The Holistic Curriculum. This is a rich and diverse collection of papers showing how holistic education can be brought into public education despite the pressures of testing and other accountability measures. Although most of the teachers teach in public schools there are also examples from teachers working in private and post secondary settings. This book can inspire other teachers who are looking for ways to teach the whole person in a more connected manner. There are very few texts in the field of holistic education that include the voices and practices of teachers, particularly those working in public schools. Many of the examples of holistic education in practice come from Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio Emilia and alternative schools. A unique feature of this book is the many different voices of teachers describing their work in the classroom; they talk about their successes, the challenges and even a few failures.
A particular problem associated with international research in the field of spirituality and education is the reluctance of scholars to agree on what spirituality means, with numerous descriptions increasing ambiguity and reducing the impact of research in the discipline. This book argues that it is important to understand spirituality as a unifying concept that has the potential to be meaningful in its application to the lives of children and young people in areas of learning and wellbeing. Chapters show why and how spiritual learning should be addressed across the curriculum, with implications for the design of learning programs and environments.
Spirituality, Religion, and Peace Education attempts to deeply explore the universal and particular dimensions of education for inner and communal peace. This co-edited book contains fifteen chapters on world spiritual traditions, religions, and their connections and relevance to peacebuilding and peacemaking. This book examines the teachings and practices of Confucius, of Judaism, Islamic Sufism, Christianity, Quakerism, Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, and of Indigenous spirituality. Secondly, it explores teaching and learning processes rooted in self discovery, skill development, and contemplative practices for peace. Topics in various chapters include: the Buddhist practice of tonglen; an indigenous Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono for forgiveness and conflict resolution; pilgrimage and labyrinth walking for right action; Twelve Step Programs for peace; teaching from a religious/spiritual perspective; narrative inquiry, Daoism, and peace curriculum; Gandhi, deep ecology, and multicultural peace education in teacher education; peacemaking and spirituality in undergraduate courses; and wisdom-based learning in teacher education. Peace education practices stemming from wisdom traditions can promote stillness as well as enliven, awaken, and urge reconciliation, connection, wisdom cultivation, and transformation and change in both teachers and students in diverse educational contexts. In various chapters of this book, a critique of competition, consumerism, and materialism undergird the analysis. More than just a critique, some chapters provide both conceptual and practical clarity for deeper engagement in peaceful action and change in society. Cultural awareness and understanding are fostered through a focus on the positive aspects of wisdom traditions rather than the negative aspects and historical complexities of violence and conflict as result of religious hegemony.
Spirituality, education and society: An integrated approach argues the value of spirituality in education as a way to address the lived experiences and personal knowledge of students, with the goal of creating a more holistic, transformative educational process. This edited volume has a wide array of viewpoints which all point to the importance of spirituality in the authors’ personal lives, their communities and society at large. Spirituality is conceptualised as a base from which to challenge dominant forms of knowing, while in the process being able to center and engage with an important aspect of the student that has been missing from current evaluations – their spiritual selves.Within the diversity of this volume it becomes evident that spirituality cannot be confined to a singular definition and that educators must be willing to create spaces to foster spiritual growth and exploration if we are to break away from the commoditized, disempowering system that is so dominant today. This edited collection is a valuable resource for students, practitioners, educators and administrators who wish to engage in transformational schooling. Its multidisciplinary approach engages ideas around critical pedagogy, sociology of education, and inclusive schooling. There is an increasing need for exploring novel paradigms of studying education in the context of the dynamics that straddle social, economic and technological processes that have come to characterize the world in recent years. This book is a timely contribution in this respect as its focus transcends hitherto applied approaches that depend largely on western orientation. The book breaks new grounds in studying education and society that find significant relevance in societies that are marginalized by the dominant western understanding. The authors draw from the rich heritage of spirituality that is akin to the non-western social paradigms to develop a rigorous but creative concept of schooling. I am sure practitioners, researchers and students of education will find it a valuable source of practical and theoretical information that would widen their horizon of understanding of sociology of education. - Tom Mongare Ndege, PhD, Moi University, Kenya The editors have compiled a brilliant collection of essays. Each piece of scholarly work shows how spirituality is a paramount part of our everyday lives and is connected to teaching, learning, living and healing. This is a timely and most relevant work that is sure to spur critical dialogue and discussion. This collection shows that while the spirit may be wounded it can never be broken. - Erica Neeganagwedgin, PhD, University of Toronto
Transcendental Learning discusses the work of five figures associated with transcendentalism concerning their views on education. Alcott, Emerson, Fuller, Peabody and Thoreau all taught at one time and held definite views about education. The book explores these conceptions with chapters on each of the five individuals and then focuses the main features of transcendental learning and its legacy today. A central thesis of the book is that transcendental learning is essentially holistic in nature and provides rich educational vision that is in many ways a tonic to today’s factory like approach to schooling. In contrast to the narrow vision of education that is promoted by governments and the media, the Transcendentalists offer a redemptive vision of education that includes: -educating the whole child-body, mind, and soul, -happiness as a goal of education. -educating students so they see the interconnectedness of nature, -recognizing the inner wisdom of the child as something to be honored and nurtured, - a blueprint for environmental education through the work of Thoreau, - an inspiring vision for educating women of all ages through the work of Margaret Fuller, - an experimental approach to pedagogy that continually seeks for more effective ways of educating children, - a recognition of the importance of the presence of teacher and encouraging teachers to be aware and conscious of their own behavior. -a vision of multicultural and bilingual education through the work of Elizabeth Peabody The Transcendentalists, particularly Emerson and Thoreau, sewed the seeds for the environmental movement and for non-violent change. Their work eventually influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and it continues to resonate today in the thinking of Aung Sang Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama. The Transcendentalists’ vision of education is worth examining as well given the dissatisfaction with the current educational scene. Endorsements: "A Transcendental Education provides a powerfully hopeful, integrative, and holistic vision that can help guide education out of its current vacuum. The book is thoughtfully explicated, expertly synthesized and completely relevant for anyone interesting in helping education find itself. Like the transcendentalists themselves, this is both down-to-earth and soaring in its potential implications." Tobin Hart author of "The Secret Spiritual World of Children" and "From Information to Transformation: Education for the Evolution of Consciousness." "The secret to a vital, renewed America lies in the life and writings of the Transcendentalist community of Concord, Massachusetts in the 19th century. Jack Miller, who I know has been devoted to a new, living form of education throughout his career, has written a book that could inspire a revolution in teaching. It goes against the tide, as do Emerson and Thoreau. But it offers a blueprint and a hope for our children." Thomas Moore, author of "Care of the Soul." "A timely account of great thinking on genuine education. Reading this, today's beleaguered teachers should experience a renewal of spirit and commitment." Nel Noddings, author of "Happiness and Education."
