Education for the Heart-Mind

     Effective physicians know how to genuinely connect with their patients on a human-to-human level. How much the physician genuinely cares for the patient's well-being is clearly felt by the patient. This therapeutic alliance in turn positively affects the patient's hope & expectancy.
     Educators have a very similar high calling. Educators have a great influence - positive or negative - on their students.
     We all must take the influence we have on each other very, very seriously.

First Day of School   by   Sheree Fitch

Here, take my child.
He has a fistful of crayons,
Is ready to begin
To enter the halls that smell of chalk dust and lemon oil.
He wants to colour a picture.
Help him to see that the colour he chooses,
The pictures he makes, are beautiful…..
Before you ask him to paint the Sistine Chapel.
Here, take my child.
She knows one and one makes two.
I want her to learn to add,
Without being subtracted from.
I want her to multiply her abilities,
But not if it divides her against herself.
Here, take my child.
He has a book he wants to read.
Let him read it first,
Tell you why he likes it,
Before you ask him to read a book
You think he should read…..
To be up to “the level”.
Here, take my child.
She has written a poem:
“dandy lions are golden buttons in the grass”
Smell those dandelions, see the image,
Before you tell her dandelions are weeds or
Dandelions is not spelled correctly.
Here, take my child
but... TAKE CARE.

http://www.shereefitch.com/blog/2015/9/8/first-day-of-school-poem.html

Spiritual Capital & a Meaningful Life

     "Spiritual capital is the wealth or power an individual or organization has, based on their deepest meanings, values, and purposes. It is reflected in what that individual or organization exists for, believes in, aspires to, and takes responsibility for. We build spiritual capital by asking spiritually-intelligent questions, such as why do I exist, what is the purpose of my life, what do I really want to achieve? If the spiritual capital of a collaboration is high, that is, if a group has a common aspiration for its existence that they take responsibility for, then their collaboration will be an organic synthesis of the people participating. 
     If the spiritual capital is low, it means you either don't know what you aspire to or you don't aspire to anything very high. It means you don't know why you exist or you just exist to make a profit. It means you don't think about what you take responsibility for because you're caught up in your immediate goal, your short-term thinking. 
     Spiritual capital, if it's low, can tear a collaboration to pieces. Spiritual capital, if it's high, is the glue that holds it together."                                                       Danah Zohar

See also: http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/07/connections-interbeing-oneness.html

Sculptor: Marcel Gagnon, Sainte-Flavie en Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

Today's Universities & Humbolt's 19th Century Ideas

     “Metaphysical views, ... had not been retired from the curricula of universities because they had somehow been proven false but because Humbolt’s scientific model had been over-applied to all human concerns, including those of philosophy and the humanities. Looking through the lens of science, Humbolt could see no legitimacy or necessity for metaphysical theories; however, Huston believed this was confusing ‘an absence of evidence for an evidence of absence.’ … like looking at the world through blue sunglasses and denying the existence of the color yellow on the grounds that it couldn’t be seen through them.

     [Humbolt’s continuing hold on universities] appears to serve logical sensibilities admirably, but onto transcendence, the sacred, the meaning of life and humanity’s potentials it opens no vistas.
     Who [today is] working with students whose sensibilities and concerns lie in these directions? Are we to say that these concerns are unimportant? Spawned by neuroses? Intangible to the life of the mind?” 

       Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014.

Poppies of France

The Extraordinary Teacher

     "... an extraordinary teacher can teach not just the content of experience, but can point us back to our own knowing.   ...   The transmission from a spiritual teacher points us to the mystery of incarnation, to awaken from the small sense of self, to shift our identity from what is called 'the body of fear', the limited sense of ideas & thoughts we have about ourself, and to remember that we can manifest as wisdom, spaciousness, understanding, compassion, that we each have our own Buddha-nature, and that we can embody this in this life, and in this world." 

       Jack Kornfield "Transmission - Receiving the Living Wisdom of Spiritual Teachers - In-depth reflections and teachings on the student-teacher relationship."           www.soundstrue.com
 

Mindfulness Enhances Multiple Dimensions of Critical Thinking

     David Sable PhD taught university students "mindfulness practice(s) extend(ing) into journal writing, listening, inquiry, and dialogue. Taken together, this set of practices became contemplative interaction. 
     Qualitative results showed increased self-confidence, engagement with multiple points of view, and an unexpected sense of connectedness that was stronger between students who disagreed with each other than between students who found easy agreement in their interaction. 
     Quantitative results showed statistically significant gains in the average number of indicators for critical thinking dispositions appearing in student journals. 
     Students’ sense of connectedness was based on taking an uncertain journey together and risking the suspension of beliefs long enough to be challenged. Connectedness supports critical thinking that is more focused on deeper and broader understanding than winning an argument. It opens the door to respect, empathy, and compassion: reason in service of the heart."

       Sable D. "Reason in the Service of the Heart: The Impacts of Contemplative Practices on Critical Thinking." The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry 2014; 1(1): 1-22.

Peet J van Eeden, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

Noticing & Letting Go of Hindrances to Relationship Building

     Social work "students identified the 3 most prominent 'bad habits' that hindered active listening as 'mind wandering', 'multi-tasking' while listening & 'thinking ahead'. The mindfulness and reflection exercises appeared to bring the usually-unnoticed 'bad habits' into awareness so that a conscious effort could be channeled into preventing them from interfering with relationship building. This expanded awareness facilitated the strengthening of ability to observe oneself in interactions."

       Goh ECL. Integrating mindfulness and reflection in the teaching and learning of listening skills for undergraduate social work students in Singapore. Social Work Education. 2012;31(5):587-604.

Rudy Pohl   http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudypohl/sets/

Choice, Freedom, Responsibility - Beyond Automatic Self-centeredness

     "Choosing to do the work of somehow altering or getting free of my natural, hard-wired default setting which is to be deeply and literally self-centered."                  David Foster Wallace

 

Spiritual, but not Religious

     "... some thirty million Americans - maintain some type of spiritual belief and practice, even though they no longer feel at home in a church, synagogue, or mosque.
     These are the famous 'spiritual but not religious,' philosophically the fastest-growing demographic in the US. Generally, they're educated, liberal, and open-minded, with a deep sense of connection to the Earth and a belief that there's more to life than what appears on the surface.
     ... contemplatives of different faiths often have more in common with each other than they do with practitioners of their own religion. It comes down to how much we personify or solidify the absolute - whether it's a supreme being who passes judgment on us or an open expanse of love and awareness. In their experience of God, Thomas Merton, Rumi, and Martin Buber had more in common with the Buddha (and each other) than with most practitioners of their own faith.
     The difference is that meditation is the very essence of Buddhism, not just the practice of a rarified elite of mystics. It's fair to say that Buddhism is the most contemplative of the world's major religions, which is a reflection of its basic nontheism.
     Buddhism is about realization and experience, not institutions or divine authority. This makes it especially suited to those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious."               Melvin McCleod, Shambhala Sun, November 2013

See "Psychospiritual Technologies": http://www.johnlovas.com/2012/04/psychospiritual-technologies.html

Mindfulness Practice - an Iterative Process

     Iteration, according to Wikipedia, is "the act of repeating a process usually with the aim of approaching a desired goal or target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an 'iteration,' and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration." 
     The stepwise, cumulative learning that occurs with longstanding mindfulness practice seems to be iterative in nature.
     See: http://www.johnlovas.com/2012/04/perception-and-gaining-mind.html

Photo: Valentino 67   www.dpreview.com

Returning Home

     “Who we are and what we do to one another is shaped most deeply by how we know the other. Knowing in isolation or illusory objectivity creates distance from the other and this makes violence easier to imagine and justify. On the other hand, understanding or heartfulness builds connections and closes the distance between the self and other. Understanding serves as the centerpoint, the axis, of an education that turns the tide of radical disconnection. Character involves the development of wholeness, a self undivided, which includes the integration of the knowing heart.”

       Hart T. "From information to transformation. Education for the evolution of consciousness." Peter Lang Publishing, NY, 2009. 

Photo: David A. Lovas

Teaching for ... Wisdom ?!?

     "... intelligence is the flexible capacity to learn from experience and to adapt to one’s environment (using the skills required by and acquired through a specific cultural and social context). ... intelligence can be developed, whether through formal explicit instruction or in informal educational situations (depending on the types of abilities considered). ... everyone has some initial abilities, and these can be honed into expertise. ... these initial abilities depend in part on genetic heritage, but the manner and degree to which this genetic endowment is realized depends on the individual’s environment. ... the key to success in the classroom – and in life more broadly – lies in a combination of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom ...

      ... there is an urgent need to teach to all abilities, and to match the assessment of achievement to such broad teaching. The time has come to capitalize on the variety of human resources because students’ talents do not happen to correspond to the skills that schools traditionally have emphasized. Creativity and practical abilities are certainly as important in life as are memory and analytical abilities, and they can be as important in school if a school chooses to emphasize these abilities.”

       Sternberg RJ, Grigorenko E, Jarvin L. “Teaching for Wisdom, Intelligence, Creativity, and Success.” Corwin Press Inc, 2009.