Meetings With Remarkable Educators

Theodore Richards is a philosopher, poet, and novelist. As the founder of The Chicago Wisdom Project, editor of the online magazine Re-imagining: Education, Culture, World, and a board member of Homebound Publications, his work is dedicated to re-imagining education and creating new narratives about our place in the world. He has received degrees from various institutions, including the University of Chicago and The California Institute of Integral Studies, but has learned just as much studying the martial art of Bagua; teaching in various settings and students; and as a traveler from the Far East to the Middle East, from southern Africa to the South Pacific. He is the author of seven books and numerous literary awards, including two Nautilus Book Awards and two Independent Publisher Awards. His most recent book is The Great Re-imagining: Spirituality in an Age of Apocalypse, a Forward Reviews Book of the Year finalist and Nautilus Book Award winner. His next book, A Letter to My Daughters: Remembering the Lost Dimension & the Texture of Life, is slated for release in Fall 2018. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughters.

You can find out more about Theodore by visiting the show notes at Remarkable-Educators.com, and by joining us at Patreon.com/Remarkable Educators as Theodore will be featured in an upcoming newsletter, one of the many rewards available for a small monthly contribution.

Links:

• https://theodorerichards.com
• https://chicagowisdomproject.org
• http://reimaginingmagazine.com

Click here for a transcript of the podcast.

RIANE EISLER, JD is President of the Center for Partnership Studies and internationally known as a systems scientist, attorney working for the human rights of women and children, and author of groundbreaking books such as The Chalice and the Blade, Tomorrow’s Children, and The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. Dr. Eisler has received many honors, including honorary PhDs and peace and human rights awards. She lectures worldwide, with venues including the United Nations General Assembly and Universities.

•  RianeEisler.com
• https://centerforpartnership.org
• https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=riane+eisler&sprefix=riane%2Caps%2C219&crid=2AJG59V714D5I

Click here for a transcript of the podcast.

Nel Noddings worked in many areas of the education system. She spent seventeen years as an elementary and high school mathematics teacher and school administrator, before earning her PhD and beginning work as an academic in the fields of philosophy of education, theory of education and ethics, specifically moral education and ethics of care. She was the Jacks Professor of Child Education at Stanford University from 1992 until 1998., and was the associate dean or acting dean of the School of Education for four years. After leaving Stanford University, she held positions at Columbia University and Colgate University. She is past president of the Philosophy of Education Society and the John Dewey Society. In 2002-2003 she held the John W. Porter Chair in Urban Education at Eastern Michigan University. She has been Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Emerita, at Stanford University since she retired in 1998.

She’s written way too much to chronicle in these show notes. Here are some links to get started on the brilliant educational philosophy of Nel Noddings.

• https://www.biblio.com/nel-noddings/author/7587
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rVDDot3W7k
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns-XreddOis

• Holistic ways to teach math
• Ethics of Care in Education
• Ending polarization through Education

Click here for a transcript of the podcast.

David Marshak is the founding President of the SelfDesign Graduate Institute, a low-residency and online graduate school engaging learners in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand in a learning community of care (selfdesigninstitute.org). David is the author of Evolutionary Parenting (evolutionaryparenting.org) and The Common Vision: Parenting and Educating for Wholeness. These books describe the evolutionary insights of Sri Aurobindo, Rudolf Steiner, and Hazrat Inayat Khan in regard to the unfoldment of children and teens from birth to age twenty-one. According to these three teachers, the future of our species depends on our capacity to parent and educate our young in ways that promote the evolution of consciousness and nurture the unfoldment of each individual's potential. 

In this podcast:

• A comprehensive view of spirituality in Holistic Education, past and present
• The value of self-directed learning
• Administering a Holistic Education Graduate Institute

Ron Miller has been an educational scholar and activist, teacher, publisher and bookseller, community leader and philanthropist. Originally trained as a Montessori educator, he received a Ph.D. from Boston University in American Studies, focusing on the cultural and historical foundations of education. His research led to several books, including What Are Schools For? Holistic Education in American Culture (1992), Free Schools, Free People: Education and Democracy After the 1960s (2002), and essay collections including Caring for New Life (2000), Creating Learning Communities (2000), and The Self-Organizing Revolution (2008), among others.

Click here for a PDF transcript of the podcast.

Ron founded the journal Holistic Education Review in 1988 and helped organize conferences to build a movement for holistic education. He later published the magazine Paths of Learning, and edited Education Revolution for the Alternative Education Resource Organization. Ron was on the education program faculty at Goddard College, and has also taught at Champlain College. He helped establish the Bellwether School near Burlington, Vermont. Since 2014 he has run a lifelong learning program in Woodstock, Vermont, where he teaches American history and other topics.

• Igniting the resurgence in Holistic Education
• The wisdom at the heart of Holistic Education
• The importance of the history of Holistic Education in America

• www.thelearninglabwoodstock.com
•  www.bellwetherschool.org

As a developmental consultant, educator, author, and public speaker, Josette specializes in the fields of human development, adult transformational learning, sustainable family relationships, and how adult and child grow together. She enjoys teaching educators at SelfDesign Graduate Institute.

In this Podcast:

• How adult and child grow together
• How Parents and educators access wisdom in relationship with children
• The importance of knowing holistic child development and how you benefit
• Interconnectedness of all life

Click here for a transcript of the podcast

Over the years, Josette has delighted in sharing her expertise, knowledge, and understanding with adults, family groups, and professionals seeking to deepen self-awareness, enliven optimal well-being, and develop access to innate wisdom. She is principal producer of the popular podcast series, Meetings with Remarkable Educators.

Josette has authored five eBooks and six print books, including Grow Together, Parenting as a Path to Well-being, Wisdom, and Joy, as well as articles that focus on relationships with children.Grow Together has earned the Mom’s Choice Award and is a finalist for the Foreward Indies Book of the Yearaward.

Together with her husband and collaborator, Ba Luvmour, Josette co-created and developed Natural Learning Relationships, a whole-child understanding of child development that supports optimal well-being in children and families. They have studied and explored consciousness since they met in 1979 and have been using Natural Learning Relationships with children, families, educators; in programs; and with schools since the 1980s. They have been instrumental in reinstituting Rites of Passage in contemporary culture.

Josette and Ba are advisors to public and private schools as well as authors specializing in whole-child development, education, and family dynamics. They live, work, and play together in Portland, Oregon and close to their children and grandchildren.

• Grow Together book on Amazon
• Josette Luvmour Author Page
• Natural Learning Relationships

Sam Crowell is professor emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino. He is the founder of the Masters Program in Holistic and Integrative Education and is also a founding member of the Network in Spirituality and Education. Currently, he serves as a doctoral faculty member at Cal State and is an affiliate faculty of the UNESCO Chair for Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter at the UN chartered University for Peace in Costa Rica. Sam is also a faculty of Self-Design Graduate Institute and an invited adjunct professor at St. Michaels College in Vermont.   

In this podcast:

• How to create value spaces in an education setting that call forth relationship and sustainability
• The importance of experiential pedagogy that call for students to embody their own deep self
• Using ritual to create educational community aware of sustainability and spirituality 
• Teaching at Peace University in Costa Rica as part of the UN Earth Charter

Sam's personal vision is to live a life of love and service. Through his presentations, teaching, writing, and creative projects he aims to facilitate experiences that help others:

• Integrate holistic and open systems perspectives of science, learning, and sustainable culture in their lives and organizations;
• Cultivate practices and perspectives that nourish the inner life and awaken one's personal vision and dreams grounded in loving service;
• Experience spiritual transformation and engagement in the creative arts, nature, and community. 

Dr. Crowell writes in the field of education, social change, and personal development where he explores the implications of a trans-modernist, holistic worldview. His books include

• "Emergent Teaching: A Path of Creativity, Significance, and Transformation" with Rowman and Littlefield, 2013.
• "The Re-Enchantment of Learning" with Corwin Press, 1997, 2001.
• "Mindshifts" with Chicago Review Press, 1995, 1999, 2002.
• "Educating Toward a New Cultural Mythology: an Analysis of Three Scientific Metaphors" unpublished.
• “A Global Ethic for an Interconnected World: Toward a Sustainable Future and the Well-Being of All” in progress.

Sam is part of the Fulbright Specialist Program and is the recipient of both the Outstanding Teaching Award and the Outstanding Professional Accomplishments Award.

BOOKS

International Handbook on Holistic Education. Editor, Under contract with Routledge Publishing. Due date 2018.

Lily’s World: A Planetary Vision for a Sustainable Future, In Progress. December, 2018.

E-BOOKS

Earth Charter Pedagogy: Integrating Peace Education and ESD, Book 1 in an series on Earth Charter Pedagogy, ReEnchantment Press, Kindle e-book. March, 2017.

CHAPTERS

 “Emergent Teaching and ESD,” in Education for Sustainable Development edited by Carla Sabbatini and Damasia Ezcurra. Published by Aique, Buenos Aires, Argentina, due out 2018.

“Becoming One - - Together: The Visible and Non-Visible Nature of Collaboration in Education in International Conversations of Teacher Educators: Collaborations in Education, edited by Mary Jane Harkins, Zhanna Barchuk, and Rupert Collister, 2017.

PRESENTATIONS

“The Implications of ESD and the Earth Charter for Teacher Education,” Invited Presentation, University deans and department chairs, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

“Shaping the Future: Educating Through ESD,” Invited Workshop, District Administration, Buenos Aires City  School District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

“Emergent Teaching : Discovering the Algo Mas,” Invited Presentation, San Andres University, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

“Integrating the Earth Charter into ESD Curriculum,” Invited Workshop, Professional developers, Esucelas Verdes Program, Buenos Aires School District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

*”Earth Charter Forum,” Round Table discussion, International Conference on Holistic Education, University of Southern Oregon, September, 2017.

“Creating Spaces for Transformation,” (with David Reid-Marr) International Conference on Holistic Education, University of Southern Oregon, September, 2017.

“Mindfulness for Educators,” Principal Facilitator, Mindfulness Institute at St. Michael’s College, Colchester, Vermont, July, 2017,

“Using Emergent Teaching for Teacher Development,” Invited Workshop, at the NIVOZ Institute near Utrecht, Netherlands, May, 2017.

*“Earth Charter Notes on Social Transformation” Invited Presentation at an Earth charter event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 2017.

“The Theory and Practice of Emergent Teaching: Applications for the Classroom,” Invited Workshop, at the NIVOZ Institute near Utrecht, Netherlands, May, 2017.

“Transformative Learning from an ‘Emergent’ Perspective,” Invited Public Presentation, Utrecht, Netherlands, May, 2017.

*“Introduction to the Earth Charter,” Invited Public Presentation to Indivisible Idyllwild, Feb. 2017.

“ Introduction to the Earth Charter,” Invited Webinar, SDGI faculty, Spring, 2017.

COURSES

Fulbright Specialist Award – “Ethics and Values for a Sustainable Future: Transformative Learning and the Earth Charter,” A week-long intensive course for the Earth Charter Center for ESD at the University for Peace, Costa Rica, July, 2017.

Online course – “Transformative Learning and ESD: A Holistic Pedagogy Grounded in the Neurosciences,” The Earth Charter Center, University for Peace, Costa Rica, Spring, 2017.

Doctoral Course, “Instructional Leadership and Change,” California State University, San Bernardino, Fall, 2017.

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Invited Advisory Board Member, Teachers College, Columbia University “Collaborative for Spiritual Development: Educating For A Democratic and Ecological Society,” a funded research project and national initiative.

OTHER RESEARCH

Participated in an Duo-Ethnography with Dr. Rupert Collister on “A Holistic Approach to Teacher Training” to be published 2018.

This week, Ba speaks with Dr. Yoshiharu Nakagawa, the founder and guiding light of The Asia-Pacific Network of Holistic Education. Yoshi has the amazing ability to speak of contemplative education in a way that allows everyone to not only understand what it is but to use it with children in all educational settings. Find this episode on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher, and subscribe to get future episodes automatically. Read the full transcript of Episode 8 here.

Yoshiharu Nakagawa, PhD., is a professor of education at Doshisha University, in Kyoto, Japan. His current interests include holistic education, spirituality, transpersonal psychology, Eastern philosophy, Indian philosophy, and contemplation. He teaches holistic education and contemplative education at his school, and is active in the Japanese Society for Holistic Education & Care, and the Japanese Association of Transpersonal Psychology & Psychiatry. He is also one of the founding members of the Asia-Pacific Network of Holistic Education. 

He is the author of Education for Awakening: An Eastern Approach to Holistic Education (2000) and the co-editor of Nurturing Our Wholeness: Perspectives on Spirituality in Education (2002), in addition to contributing articles  to many journals and anthologies.

Sachiko Gomi, PhD. Is Assistant professor of Social Work at Western New Mexico University. Sachiko practices a holistic approach to social work.

• The importance of Contemplative Practice for educators and students
• The spread of Holistic Education in the Asian Pacific Rim
• Education in Japan and the challenges for Holistic Education
• Bonus: Holistic practices in a New Mexican social service clinic

Click here for a transcript of the podcast.

This week, Ba sits down with Four Arrows, aka Don Trent Jacobs Ph.D., Ed.D., a prolific author and educator with doctorates in Health Psychology and in Curriculum and Instruction.  Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to get future episodes automatically! Read the full transcript of Episode 7 here.

This episode's discussion touches upon the wisdom of place and belongingness, the structures of power we struggle against in education, and the role of non-ordinary experiences and Rites of Passage in deepening appreciation of one’s self and community.

Four Arrows is Doctoral Faculty at the School of Leadership Studies, Fielding Graduate University. He is author of 21 books as well as numerous articles and invited book chapters. His most recent publications include:

• Point of Departure: Returning to Our Authentic Worldview for Education and Survival (2016)
• Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream (2013)
• Differing Worldviews in Higher Education: Two Disagreeing Scholars Argue Cooperatively about Justice Education (2011)
• Critical Neurophilosophy and Indigenous Wisdom (2010)

Four Arrows is affiliated with the American Indian Congress, the National Indian Education Association, and the Alternative Education Resource Organization. His commitment to sustainability, social justice, and the contrast between Indigenous and Western ways of knowing exemplifies the brilliance and bravery this series of interviews exists to celebrate. Indigenous education is one of the most essential efforts being made today with the potential to challenge the dominant approaches, and holistic education would be sorely incomplete without it.

In our 6th episode, Tobin Hart and host Ba Luvmour explore the overlap of psychology and education, tracing the productive outlines of awareness and social-emotional learning. Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to receive future episodes! Read the full transcript of Episode 5 here. 

Tobin Hart, Ph.D. serves as Professor of Psychology at the University of West Georgia.  He is co-founder of the ChildSpirit Institute, a nonprofit educational and research hub exploring and nurturing the spirituality of children and adults.  His work explores human consciousness especially at the nexus of psychology, spirituality, and education. His book, The Secret Spiritual World of Children has helped to validate and highlight the innate spiritual life of young people. Two books explicitly on Holistic Education are The Integrative Mind: Transformative Education for a World on Fire and From Information to Transformation: Education for the Evolution of Consciousness.

• http://childspirit.org/
• http://thefourvirtues.com/ serves as a kind of field guide to growing the inner life. It includes a spiritual assessment matrix.
• https://www.westga.edu/academics/coss/psychology50.php is one of the most radical and integrative Psychology departments in the country, having a fifty-year tradition beginning with humanistic and transpersonal psychologies and extending into critical psychology and more.