Curious to Learn more?
Here are some Cool (and Innovative) resources for you to check out!
1. Holistic Education: An Approach for 21st Century. (2012.) Written by: Mahmoudi, Sirous. Et. al,
This article asserts that at the hear of holistic education is a concern with “wholeness” and “and it attempts to avoid excluding any significant aspects of the human experience. It is an eclectic and inclusive movement (pg. 178). The article provides a concise synopsis of the roots of holistic education as well. This was very useful for me because although I have always been really interested in this pedagogical approach, I didn't really know much about it. The article also provides a synopsis of the pillars and levels of holistic education – what I found so refreshing was the emphasis on the interconnectedness of the individual to society, the environment and the planet.
Link: (https://query.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/search/q?kw=holistic%20education&scholarly=1&facet[0]=addFacetValueFilters(ContentType,Journal+Article)
2. MindShift – How Emotional Connections Can Trigger Creativity. (2013). Written by: Katrina Schwartz
Like many of the articles from MindShift, this piece concisely overviews the latest research in learning. This article explores the neuroscience behind emotional connections to learning, asserting, “[s]tudents’ social and emotional reactions to learning are imperative to feeling motivated to learn and to their ability to creatively solve problems”. The article also discusses how neuromechanisms are responsible for both physical and social survival. “To make something relevant to a learner, it should inspire an emotional reaction in the person, triggering these survivalist parts of the brain that indicate something is important”. Creativity is linked to the both survivalist parts of the brain. Hence, educators should allow for learning that affords students the opportunities for the interplay between the emotional and cognitive spaces will benefit the long-term learner”.
*All quotations taken directly from article.
Link: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/15/how-emotional-connections-can-trigger-creativity-and-learning/
3. MindShift- How Neighbours Can Grow A Community-Centered School to Teach Kids and Adults (2015). Written by: Luba Vangelova
This article showcases the efforts of a school in Florida who brought an economically depressed urban area to liked through community service, collaboration and a commitment to helping both students and parents alike realize that they could make a difference in the world. An inspiring and heartwarming story about the power education can have on the lives of others.
Link: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/02/20/how-neighbors-can-grow-a-community-centered-school-to-teach-kids-and-adults/
4. Mindshift: How Students Lead the Learning Experience at Democratic Schools (2014). Written By: Luba Vangelova
This article was inspired by the efforts of Mark McCraig and his wife, Kim to find ways of learning that engaged and motivated students. A democratic school called Sudbury Valley, where students are in control of their learning, inspired both McCraig and his wife. Eventually Mark and Kim opened The Fairhaven School “which opened its doors in 1998, has no tests or grades, and no assigned homework. Its goal is to help students develop two core traits: agency and autonomy”. “To foster those traits, the school aims “to strike that balance between freedom and responsibility,” McCraig says, which he sees as two sides of the same coin. The institutional framework — rules and community responsibilities and related meetings — “provides a sense of order that is vital, but around that, students have a lot of liberty to shape their day.”
*All quotations taken directly from article.
Link: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/10/10/students-lead-the-learning-experience-at-democratic-schools/
5. MindShift: Exploring the Idea of ‘Happiness’ As Part of School Work (2014). Written by: Katrina Schwartz
This article introduces the reader the Global Happiness Project, which aims to have ‘students… explore an important life lesson about how to identify and replicate happiness as they’re doing schoolwork? “The driving question behind the project is this: What elements contribute to a happy and healthy society? More than 240 teachers across in 43 states and 11 countries are taking up that challenge”. The article also highlights the variety of ways teachers have implemented this type of project into their curriculum. Overall, the results have been wonderful, as students seem to be authentically engaged in their work around the idea of happiness.
*All quotations taken directly from article.
Link: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/04/29/exploring-the-idea-of-happiness-as-part-of-school-work/
6. Meditating teachers: A qualitative study (2002): Journal of In-service Education. Vol. 28 (1). Written by: John. P. Miller and Aya Nozawa.
An interesting article which discusses a study conducted by Miller and Nozawa aimed at observing the effects of meditation on the personal and professional lives of teachers. The study confirmed that by introducing meditative practices into both facets of their lives, teachers reported feeling less anxiety, more centered and positive. The teachers featured in the study introduced meditation into their classroom practice and found that similar positive outcomes were happening for students.
Link: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13674580200200177
7. Meditation, social change, and undergraduate education. (2006). The Teachers College Record, 108(9), 1775-1786. Written By: Rockefeller, S.
A very concise article which examines Transformative Learning and how Insight Meditation can serve to further develop this educational philosophy. "Preliminary findings suggest that Insight Meditation is a transformational learning process that is holistic in nature. [Furthermore], [t]he Insight Meditation process includes the following elements: readiness factors, withdrawal from external stimuli, observing mind and body, social interaction, and developing anew relationship with self" (n.p.). The article contends that the more attuned one is to the elements of Insight Meditation, a more fulsome sense of self is achieved.
Link: http://www.adulterc.org/Proceedings/2000/healym-final.PDF