Meetings With Remarkable Educators

Richard Lewis founded The Touchstone Center in 1969. He has been the director of the Center since then, initiating and implementing its various programs. He has edited and written a number of books highlighting the poetic and mythic traditions from diverse cultures, among them Miracles: Poems by Children of the English-speaking World; All of You Was Singing: A Retelling of An Aztec Myth, and The Way of Silence: Prose and Poetry of Basho.

His essays on the imaginative and poetic life of childhood have appeared in journals such as Young Children, Elementary English, Childhood Education, Parabola and Orion, and were collected in his book Living By Wonder: The Imaginative Life of Childhood. His recent books include: Sea Tale, illustrated by Gigi Alvaré, Shaking the Grass for Dew: Poems by Richard Lewis; Each Sky Has Its Words, illustrated by Gigi Alvaré; The Bird of Imagining, illustrated by children from New York City public schools; CAVE: An Evocation of the Beginnings of Art, illustrated by Elizabeth Crawford; A Tree Lives, illustrated by Noah Baen – and In the Space of the Sky, illustrated by Debra Frasier. Forthcoming is From the Sleep of Waters, illustrated by Susan Joy Share – and Taking Flight, Standing Still: Teaching Toward Imaginative and Poetic Understanding – a gathering of essays and reflections which have appeared in Encounter, Teaching Artist Journal and Paths of Learning. A complete listing of his books can be found at Books by Richard Lewis (as PDF).

He has given workshops throughout the United States and Canada, and has taught at the New School for Social Research, Fordham University, Bank Street College of Education, Rutgers University, Western Washington University, Queens College and the Lesley College Graduate School.

Links:

• https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Lewis/e/B001HMLO78/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_6?qid=1543095296&sr=8-6

• http://touchstonecenter.net/

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Fleurette’s focus: Education and learning; the effect of social play and movement on learning; the connection between singing and speaking; economy of place as antidote to globalization; inter-cultural relations.

Fleurette started teaching in 1950 and has spent more than 45 years researching the connection between singing and speaking and the effects of social play on the educative process of children. She collaborated with Mary Helen Richards (1967 to 1985) developing Education Through Music and taught ETM at universities and school districts throughout the US, Canada and Japan. Upon retiring (1996) Fleurette began doctoral studies at UBC. She graduated in 2002. Her dissertation From Sound to Symbol: The Whole Song as Curriculum; The Whole Child as Pedagogue; Observation as Methodology is the basis for her continuing work with children of all abilities, families, and teachers. She founded the Living Language Institute Foundation (1987) under the auspices of which Fleurette and colleagues have developed such projects as: the Singing English Pilot Project (2002-04) to address the needs of teachers and children learning in the multi-lingual classrooms of Metro Vancouver; the Co-lingual Pilot Project (2005) an intergenerational, inter-cultural sharing of folk song-games among neighborhood families living in South Vancouver; and the LLIF Early Childhood Education Training Program (2012). She offers directed studies in Sound to Symbol Praxis at SelfDesign Graduate Institute.

• http://songworkseducatorsassociation.com/

• http://livinglanguageinstitute.org/singing-english-2/

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This is the six sided star that is central to Fleurette’s work as mentioned in the podcast.

Hopefully many of you have listened to the podcast featuring the esteemed holistic Montessori inspired educator Phi Gang for way back in March, 2018. Phil spent many years working in New Zealand. Well, Phil wrote to me the other day with a present. His friend and colleague from New Zealand, Steven Arnold was coming to Portland and did I want to do a podcast with him?

Steven has created the Peace Experiment, one of the most innovative high school opportunities for teen agers in the world. His infectious enthusiasm, his commitment to Montessori ideals without being constrained by formula or history, and his love of adolescents created an atmosphere and delight as talked.

Steven Arnold has received many awards and accolades. You can read all about it his many achievements in the Shownotes on the website www.Remarkable-Educators.com . For now, enjoy and learn from this Remarkable Educator.

Steven is a Montessori trained teacher 0 - 3 (cert); 3 - 6; 6 - 12, 12 - 15, & 15 - 18yr olds (Diplomas); MEd; Dip Tchng (NZ), BA, BSc, PGDipED, LTCL, LSB, ASB, ANZDA (Accred); SCA (Accred).

He is a teacher trainer, principal, teacher, consultant, guest speaker, parent, board and trustee member. With overseas experience in England, Brunei and Australia, he has taught all levels of education from primary to tertiary.

Steven established New Zealand's first Montessori Secondary School in 2002, then principal at Brisbane Montessori School, and has recently been the Senior Lecturer in Montessori Education at AUT University.

Peace Experiment is the only independent Montessori Secondary Education provider in New Zealand.

http://www.peace.school.nz/

http://www.ero.govt.nz/review-reports/peace-experiment-03-05-2018/

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Marcia Osoke is a natural teacher in every sense of the word. She is born to teach; she loves nature. Education is critical; and nature is the best teacher. How to combine them? How to successfully actualize her passions? How to gain public support to do so? Rising to the challenge Marcia and her colleagues created the John Muir Outdoor Charter School in Ashland, OR. 

Getting children outside to learn directly through interactions with nature brings forth a strong sense of place and belongingness. But Marcia doesn’t stop there. She knows that connection with nature leads to profound appreciation of interconnectedness of all life and all people. More compassionate approach to conflicts and greater academic achievement have resulted in the Oregon Department of Education designating the school “Outstanding” every year since 2012.

http://ashland.k12.or.us/SIB/files/John%20Muir%20Middle%20School%20Brochure%202018.pdf

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When John Creger met his first class of sophomores at American High School in Fremont CA, he had an intuition to give these sophomores what his own high school education had failed to give him: a sense of who he was. That first year  John introduced an experiment he calls the Personal Creed Project. For nearly three decades students have described their experience with the Creed Project and John’s course in thought-provoking terms

John’s classroom research has centered on explaining the widespread, continuing enthusiasm for the project from high school and college classrooms across the country. What he has learned has altered his fundamental understanding of the nature of learning. John has come to regard self-knowledge as the missing region of curriculum—and the missing ingredient we all need if we are to engage more deeply in learning.

John has made over 60 presentations at professional gatherings around the country. In 2015, he launched Thriving at the Core Presentations to share his deepened literacy approach with colleagues in their own districts. In his trainings, colleagues have their own encounter with the Personal Creed Project and learn to redesign and teach their own courses to weave students’ self-discovery alongside their academic learning. In recognition of the Personal Creed Project, the National Council of Teachers of English presented John the James Moffett Memorial Award for Teacher Research.

John’s articles have appeared in California English (2002), Urantia Fellowship Herald (2012), NCTE’s Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning (2015) and The Center for Partnership Studies Newsletter(August 2018). His first book is The Personal Creed Project and a New Vision of Learning (Heinemann 2004).

John lives with his wife of 30 years in Berkeley CA. Beyond the classroom and his presentations, he enjoys traveling with his wife and two daughters. He composes on the guitar, performs with his jazz trio, and reads and writes about life and learning. He has no immediate plans to retire and leave his sophomores behind.

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/personalcreedproject/

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/1150045408445532/

• www.personalcreed.com.

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I, your host Ba Luvmour, am the speaker on the podcast.

With my passion increasing as I engage the 7th decade of my life I am ever more convinced of the critical importance of Holistic Education. And I am convinced of the greatness of the holistic developmental understanding that Josette and I pioneered, articulated, and put into practice more than 30 years ago.

Also, I want you to know more about me, the host of the podcast. I come with a rich history of experience and expertise. Connection with my background will make each podcast more meaningful. I am not an interviewer asking questions as much as I am a colleague engaging in considered dialogue.

We, the team at Meetings with Remarkable Educators, see the need to make some formatting changes. In this podcast I specify the changes and the reasons for them.

As an educator, public speaker, author, seminar leader, and consultant Ba has worked in just about every phase of life with children and families. He enjoys training educators (including administrators) and teaching as faculty in graduate school.

Ba has been a non-profit executive since the beginning of his career and co-founded three schools and a holistic learning center for families and children. He is currently podcast host in the popular series, Meetings with Remarkable Educators.

The foundation for all his work in is an abiding inquiry into the nature of consciousness. This has led him to engage science from physics to brain research, philosophy, meditation practice, and all branches of psychology, education, anthropology, and all contiguous subjects. Ba has authored five eBooks and six print books.

• https://luvmourconsulting.com/natural-learning-relationships/

• https://www.amazon.com/Ba-Luvmour/e/B001K8E2E6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1503934244&sr=8-2

• https://selfdesigninstitute.org/ba-luvmour/

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Renee Owen’s life mission is to bring wellbeing and harmony into education. This is her twelfth year as executive director at Rainbow Community School, a holistic private school in Asheville, NC, that spans preschool through eighth grade. She is also a founder of Rainbow Institute, an adult learning arm of Rainbow Community School, which hosts the More Than Mindfulness Conference each October. Renee Owen is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University Teachers College in an Adult Learning and Leadership program based on transformative learning. Her forthcoming dissertation is about the experience of K12 teachers who imbed spiritual development within their teaching practices.

West has served many roles at Rainbow over the years. From lead teacher of second and third and multiage classrooms, to the professional development coordinator and mentor teacher and now as Rainbow Community School’s curriculum coordinator and development director and Rainbow Institute’s Director of Operations. As a lifelong learner, these varied opportunities have yielded much personal and professional growth, increased enthusiasm and connection to Rainbow’s unique model and philosophy as well as continual interest and motivation to support Rainbow’s growth.

West also brings with her a decade of teaching natural sciences and environmental education to children of all ages. West first became interested in teaching while working with children in environmental education centers and camps. Her own love of the natural world and her joy in sharing this world with children inspired her to pursue a teaching career that used “nature’s theater” as a primary learning environment. Much of West’s own education took place in nature’s classroom where she studied the unique ecosystems of the Appalachian region and the southeastern Barrier Islands, the western United States, and New Zealand.

West’s educational philosophy is anchored in place based and experiential learning. She works to nurture a love of learning by fostering in students deep connections to themselves, their community, and the natural world around them. She strongly believes that direct, authentic and meaningful experience is the primary stepping stone to understanding.

West holds a Bachelors Degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies from the University of the South, a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Education from the Teton Science Schools, a Master’s of Education from Montana State University, a school administration license from Appalachian State University, and a graduate certificate in non-profit management from Duke University. She also won WNC’s Best of the Best Teacher – 2nd place in 2012 and 1st place in 2013!

West is also an avid rock climber and travels nationally and internationally with her dog, Willow to climb. West is also a competitive bodybuilder and loves to trail run, cycle, paddle board and backpack.

Links:

• http://rainbowcommunityschool.org/more-than-mindfulness-conference/
• http://rainbowcommunityschool.org/heart-of-the-matter/
• http://rainbowcommunityschool.org/news/rainbow-institute-blog/

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It is a goal of this podcast to extend understanding of Holistic Education beyond schools—holistic, alternative, homeschooling, or others. To that end our podcast today centers on a remarkable organization dedicated to Rites of Passage, a great and mostly ignored holistic learning opportunity. Pete Young is the designer of the Raven weekend, a Rite of Passage for children between 9 and 12. In existence for 10 years, Pete has recently pioneered a coed Rite of Passage using the Raven format. It is, to our knowledge, the first intensive coed Rite of Passage.

Pete has travelled an unusual path to becoming one of the most creative leaders in the field. Of course it starts and is continually nourished by Pete’s intense desire for self-knowledge and the awakening of consciousness. The led to two critical engagements—the Mankind project and Natural Learning Relationships. Mankind put Pete in touch with coming-of-age Rites of Passage for young men as well as a community dedicated to self-growth. Natural Learning Relationships gave Pete the understanding of how children organize their world and the structure and dynamics of Rites of Passage.

There are those people who engage Natural Learning Relationships and just get it. The appreciation of a child’s consciousness—of how they see and organize their world—clicks with their intuitive and experiential knowledge of themselves and the children in their lives. Often they become Natural Learning Relationships enthusiasts and apply it in their homes, life and schools. Pete became a Natural Learning Relationships enthusiast.

He applied it to his family and saw excellent results. He facillitated Rites of Passage for male teens with the Mankind project and saw the many ways Natural Learning Relationships accurately described how teens organize their world. And then he created the Raven Training, a Rite of Passage for males, at first, and then for males and females together under the umbrella organization Alliance of Generations. Pete added follow up meetings so that the learning of the Raven weekend could grow in all participants.

If that was all Pete did he should be celebrated near and far. But Pete became a leader in Restorative Justice in his home county and regularly works with adjudicated youth in the Oregon penal system.

Pete Young lives holistic insight and practice. That he brings to diverse venues is simply an extension of his life and practice.

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The author of The Tao of Teenagers : A Guide to Teen Health, Happiness & Empowerment and the founder of YouthTransformations.com and Education Transformation, is a board certified holistic health and mental health coach, a teacher, educational administrator, community organizer, educational consultant, school developer, national trainer and an expert in and an advocate for alternative and integrated education. He has written extensively on alternative, holistic, integrated educational theory and techniques and has founded and co-founded non-profit community and environmental-based organizations.

Peter received his Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies and Education from Antioch University and his Doctorate in Education at Walden University, exploring the ties between school leadership and progressive and holistic education.

Peter maintains partnerships and affiliations with organizations who promote sustainability, social and environmental justice, human rights and holistic health. Often this work entails bringing these organizations together to form partnerships and exchange ideas. Peter has consulted on various start-up schools throughout the country and continues to offer consultations to national and international organizations, schools and individuals.

Links:

• email: [email protected]
• http://www.youthtransformations.com/
• http://www.educationrevolution.org/store/
• Tao of Teenagers Book

Click here for a transcript of the podcast

Debbie is head of Wingra School, whose mission is educating the whole child since 1972. Before joining Wingra in 2016, Debbie was the Head of School for 9 years at the Bellwether School, a holistic elementary school in Vermont.

In the late 1990s, she served as the director of the PlayCare Center, a play-based preschool that celebrated children’s sense of wonder and curiosity. While working at the Mathematical Association of America in Washington, DC, Debbie collaborated with university professors to define novel teaching methods to strengthen mathematics achievement in minority high school students.  She also worked in the field of biomechanics, designing prosthetics for children and studying Tai Chi gait in young and elderly adults.

Debbie is committed to using very simple human “technologies”—like listening, speaking from the heart, slowing down, breathing, and connecting to nature—in order to support authentic relationships, a deeper sense of self, an essential shift in consciousness, and aligned living practices. She enjoys exploring new ways to empower and inspire students and adults to gain awareness of themselves, others, and the world around them. Her guiding question: How do we create the conditions for everyone in our community to know that they belong, they matter, they are seen, and their perspectives and gifts are valued?

In this Podcast:

• The opportunities and challenges as Head of a successful holistic school
• Developing and sustaining an emergent, whole child curriculum
• Staff relationships in holistic school
• Parent relationships in a holistic school

Debbie's profile at Wingra School

Click here for a transcript on this podcast