FUTURE SCHOOL

Holistic education is the practice of freedom to grow through learning and to engage in work which is meaningful because it engages personal development and is therefore creative, productive and adaptive. Holistic education is natural education which is foundational to a culture of peace and true democracy because it is based on the understanding that in order to resolve our human problems we must set ourselves free, open our minds and trust our human personality or 'human nature'."We must learn to trust human nature and educate children in such a way that they can develop their human potential. This is the only way we can bring real peace to the world. There is only one problem, and it is human development in its totality; once this is achieved in any unit - child or nation - everything else follows spontaneously and harmoniously.'' (Maria Montessori. To Educate the Human Potential )

Future Schools and Education as the Practice of Freedom

for Growth through Learning: 'Holistic Education'

HOLISTIC EDUCATION : A NEW PARADIGM FOR TEACHING

Freedom in education means freedom to engage in learning which is meaningful because it involves motivation by spiritual needs or 'metaneeds'.... involves development of character and cultivation of the potential for excellence. "Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and human freedoms". (Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 26 paragraph 2)

Today there is urgent need for positive social change as a result of competition and conflict as symptoms of adult immaturity. We need to create a better world through mature cooperation and collaboration. The problem with our world is that human development is arrested at the level of identification with the self or 'ego' . Arrested psychological development translates into the ignorance of egocentricity. Egocentric perception creates thought patterns which are limited and distorted because they contradict the interests of human development and devalue one's own humanity as well as that of others. The unbalanced value systems of egocentric adults inflict grave harm on our species and our planet. Consequently we need to understand our social and political problems in terms of the ill effects of egocentric thinking which inhibits complete psychological development. Physical growth to adulthood without complete psychological and spiritual development generates irrational fears and negative emotions leading to beliefs which inhibit the cultivation of moral intuition of natural intelligence i.e. intuitive, moral, spiritual or 'creative intelligence'. It is the lack of creative intelligence which results in non-adaptive and destructive human behaviour or 'evil'. For this reason we must set ourselves free, inwardly free, free from the social conditioning which creates fear and inner conflict and prevents us from perceiving a reality which extends beyond the limits of personal desires... beyond our ignorance of egocentric perception. With 'holistic perception' which generates empathy, compassion, open-mindedness, desire for understanding and see the wholeness of reality... the 'holistic reality'. It is only then that we can understand the perception of the 'other' and allow for the positive, creative and therefore peaceful and adaptive approach to the intelligent resolution of our human problems and conflicts of interest. However holistic perception of inner freedom depends on providing children with the 'right' education... one which ensures complete psychological development and allows children's freedom to grow through learning to become integrated human beings with the human attributes of empathy and compassion or ‘integrity’. Right education does not try to educate children to be what the adults would like them to be, does not condition them for mediocrity but trusts them to trust themselves, to trust their own sense of responsibility to themselves and their needs for the development of their own human personality and potential.... engages the development of morality and creative intelligence Right education provides them with those conditions which are conducive to growth through learning... to personal fulfillment. Right education respects children for who they really are - spiritual beings with the potential of becoming integrated, intelligent, ethical and therefore mature, responsible and civilized adults able to cooperate peacefully and effectively in their efforts to resolve their human problems.This is their natural human right. Consequently we must provide universal education which fosters the complete development of the person as a whole... self-actualisation and 'self-transcendance'... the development of human potential i.e. 'holistic education'. Holistic education for human excellence engages the psychological value of motivation by spiritual needs or 'metaneeds' ('metamotivation'). Metamotivation results in creativity which is positive and meaningful.

"Holistic education is more concerned with drawing forth the latent capacities and sensitivities of the soul than with stuffing passive young minds full of predigested information. It is an education that prepares young people to live purposefully, creatively, and morally in a complex world." (Ron Miller ed. The Renewal of Meaning in Education: Responses to the Cultural and Ecological Crisis of our Times)

The paradigm of traditional education as 'schooling' is essentially ineffective because it is ultimately based on the intrinsic mistrust of the human personality or 'human nature'. So what is human nature?

Human nature can be characterised in terms of an understanding of the the human species (homo sapiens) as a social species and the human organism as a social organism. Human nature is a moral, spiritual or social nature with instincts (‘social instincts’) for effective adaptation to changing social conditions. Positive or creative socialisation depends on cultivation of core human values which result from complete moral or ‘spiritual’ development …. social values, moral values, spiritual values or 'virtues'. Awareness of one’s human nature (self-knowledge) is awareness of the self beyond the persona or 'ego' i.e. 'transpersonal self', 'authentic self', 'higher self' or 'Self'. Creative or positive socialisation depends on the intuition and critical thinking skills … moral reasoning of moral consciousness or morality of 'rational' or 'mature' 'conscience' i.e. moral intelligence , 'creative intelligence' or 'social intelligence'. Social intelligence is required for accurate evaluation of the social environment, intelligent decision-making, creative socialization, solidarity, peaceful cooperation, creative adaptation, self-preservation and survival. Social intelligence is a function of understanding and social responsibility, compassionate wisdom or 'empathy', universal unconditonal love or 'lovingkindness' (agape love), knowledge as 'truth', 'freedom' as freedom from conditioning, freedom from fear or ‘inner freedom’, 'justice' as moral justice, beauty as essence… In a complex process of normal moral or ‘spiritual’ growth and development, instinctive value choices or ‘operative values’ are built into the biological constitution of the organism in the form of inherent tendencies or motives for learning behaviour … preferences of behaviour which operate in the complete integration of the personality as a whole and are implicated in the unfolding of human powers in a process of complete psychological development leading to the achievement of human potential (fulfillment or ‘self-actualization’). This intrinsic organismic valuing process includes instinctive yearnings, aspirations, capacities and talents which make up the inner core of human nature. The individual makes value choices and decisions in accordance with these natural developmmental laws. If development is hindered, the result is irrational conscience and socialisation which is negative because it is destructive ...asocial behaviour.

Creative intellligence of rational conscience is developed and cultivated naturally as a result of educating children in conditions which respect their needs (human needs) and provide for freedom for growth through learning.

The human needs can be characterised... described... in terms of their varying degrees of urgency or 'prepotency' depending on whether or not they inhibit motivation by other needs... According to Abraham Maslow they range from the most to least prepotent on a 'scale of sufficiency' 'or 'hierarchy of needs'. The most prepotent needs are the physiological and physical needs for survival and safety such as food, water, shelter ('survival needs'); next are the basic psychological needs for security ('security needs'); next are the basic psychological needs for care and affection or unconditional love ('belongingness needs'); next are the basic psychological needs for self-respect and self-esteem ... persona or 'ego' ('ego needs'). Then there are the so-called ‘higher’ psychological needs for moral development and personality integration which is essential for responsible socialisation. These are the subconscious needs for living being beyond desires of the ego i.e. self-transcendance ( 'Being-needs', 'spiritual needs' or 'metaneeds '). Metaneeds are subconscious needs for awareness of the human values for living... needs for needs for truth, morality, goodness, beauty, justice, perfection, kindness, happiness, serenity, wisdom, love, simplicity, lawfulnes etc. ... 'social values' or 'human values'. In the process of normal spiritual growth the subconscious metaneeds rise to the conscious level of awareness. At the highest level of consciousness (transcendental realm), the being needs become the 'being-values' each of which represents a different facet of the human conscience. The function of the human conscience is to maintain personality integration while adapting to changes in the social environment. Effective adaptation depends on perception of the socal reality as a whole.... 'holistic perception' iwhich is independent of the distortions resulting from egocentric fears and desires. Spiritual growth is a function of motivation by the metaneeds i.e. growth motivation or 'metamotivation'.

Denial or frustration of the metaneeds leads to unbalanced psychological development which translates into psychopathological thought and behaviour patterns and the wickedness of human behaviour or ‘evil’.

The innaccurate perception of human nature translates into the fallacious assumption that the interests of the individual and those of society are mutually exclusive. This dichotomous view of the social reality perpetuates suffering, oppression and destruction because it creates social problems which are in fact unresolvable 'pseudo-problems' which must be approached from the more accurate holistic perception of human nature as a social nature. Cultivation of human sociability depends on humane education based on the respect for children's instinctive drive to grow through learning which is creative because it engages the intuition of moral intelligence ('spiritual intelligence' or 'social intelligence')... moral consciousness or 'conscience' i.e. their natural intuitive intelligence... potentialS for creativity or 'creative intelligence'. Creative intelligence of rational conscience is prerequisite to human socialisation or 'peace'. Peace is a function of respect for human motives or human needs - for human development (complete development of the moral or 'spiritual' dimension of human nature) - 'holistic education' or 'peace education' depends on conditions of freedom - moral freedom, inner freedom, responsible freedom or 'true freedom' - and allows for the discovery of human potential. It is thus the source of self-control as 'self-mastery' or 'self-empowerment'. Self-empowerment is a function of guidance for living by the so-called 'higher' values ('human values')... universal love, truth, justice and so on. Problem in education is described in terms of lack of drive for learning or 'problem of motivation'. The highest function of education is to bring about an integrated individual who is capable of dealing with life as a whole." (Jiddu Krishnamurti Education and the Significance of Life)

For children growing up in the complex world of the global village effective educational practice depends on an appropriate philosophical framework or 'paradigm' . Educational theory is logical and reasonable if it is based on natural law and guided by the 'morality' of rational conscience. The formulation of natural principles can be translated into informed and effective moral practice or 'praxis'. (The practice of theory which is not based on natural principles results in the perception of false dichotomies and unresolvable 'pseudoproblems'). Effective educational praxis is based on the understanding of learning ('experiential learning' or 'natural learning') as a natural function of the human brain, a social brain which is specialised for understanding of the significance... meaning... of experience. Experiential learning is meaningful because it engages the individual’s instinctive responsibility to themselves for their own growth and development. Children are natural learner s and they all have the right to educational experiences offered in conditions which allow them to enjoy the freedom to exercise their responsibility for active participation in the planning of learning environments. The practice of freedom in education... freedom to work and freedom to learn. Freedom in school is true freedom as 'inner freedom' based on natural biological principles is 'responsible freedom'.... as the practice of theory which is informed and effective because it is based on natural law and guided by rational conscience. Freedom in education is responsible freedom because it aims to provide the right conditions required to free the human spirit in order to develop conscience as rational conscience or 'free conscience'... freedom to think, freedom to learn, freedom to engage in personal growth and development of one's human potential for creativity and productiveness or ‘work allows children to build their self-confidence, self-respect, creative intelligence and moral courage thus fostering their natural growth into mature and responsible adults living by the universal human values. .. depends on education which allows for fulfillment of the needs for spiritual development ... 'spiritual emergence'. Spiritual emergence is the natural function of human nature. "In the most general terms, spiritual emergence can be defined as the movement of an individual to a more expanded way of being that involves enhanced emotional and psychosomatic health, greater freedom of personal choices, and a sense of deeper connection with other people, nature and the cosmos. An important part of this development is an increasing awareness of the spiritual dimension in one's life and in the universal scheme of things. Spiritual development is an innate evolutionary capacity of all human beings. It is a movement towards wholeness or 'holotropic state', the discovery of one's true potential." (Stanislav Grof)

What are the implications for education? Meaningful education is based on trust of human nature and recognition of the conditions required for development of human potential....the integration of learning with life.... 'peace education'. In view of the fact that the development of a civilised society depends on rational or 'civilised' human beings, then the needs of the individual and of the society are mutually dependent and interrelated. Consequently the function of education is to provide optimal conditions for the development of each person as a rational and integrated whole through cultivation of their human potentialities - physical, cognitive, intellectual, artistic, psychological, emotional and moral or 'spiritual' . Spiritual development is a function of engagement of the person's instinctive sense of responsiblity for their own development of their human potential.... conscience. Development of conscience depends on education for the development of the whole person as a moral or 'spiritual' and therefore rational and peaceful human being i.e. 'holistic peace education' or 'holistic education'. Holistic education is the practice of freedom for creativity and productivity or 'work' which is meaningful because it involves motivation for growth through learning or 'intrinsic motivation'. (Holistic education is motivating at all ages because the learner is asked to engage in meaningful work.) Holistic education is therefore based on respect for human dignity as manifest in meaningful work. It calls for the planning and provision of natural learning environments characterised by conditions which enhance the learner's freedom to learn. The role of the teacher is described in terms of facilitation for learning. The teacher as 'facilitator' understands the nature of human nature as a function of the cultivation of creative intelligence and development of rational conscience. Holistic education is meaningful education because it involves the creation of opportunites of which integrate learning with life and allow for personal growth through learning... development of human potential and human empowerment as self-determination ... complete human development and the production of compassionate and responsible adults with a rational or 'peaceful' approach to the resolution of their human problems... i.e. 'freedom ' as 'responsible freedom'... freedom from the tyranny of dogma 'spiritual freedom', freedom of thought', 'inner freedom', freedom from fear and conflict, freedom to work ... freedom for personal development and growth through learning, freedom for guidance through life by the human values and the moral freedom of 'self-transcendance' i.e. 'true freedom' or 'real freedom' foundational to social understanding and social responsibility required for peace, cooperation and real democracy....

"Real freedom is a consequence of development; it is the consequence of latent guides, aided by education. It is the construction of the personality, reached by effort and one's own experiences; it is the long road which every child must take to reach maturity". (Maria MontessoriTo Educate for Human Potential)

The aim of education, in the fullest and deepest sense of the word, is to provide the conditions to free the human spirit in order to cultivate naturally meaningful human intelligence i.e. intuitive intelligence for creativity or 'creative intelligence'. Creative intelligence is a function of the integrated development of the person as a whole... natural education based on principles of human development hence 'integral education' or 'integrative education' also known as 'free education', 'libertarian education', 'libratory education', 'progressive education', 'new education', 'open education', 'cosmic education', 'child-centered education', 'person-centered education', 'problem-centered education', 'humanistic education', 'humane education', 'confluent education', 'peace education', 'transformative education', 'soul education', 'democratic education' and 'holistic education'. Holistic education is the practice of freedom for the the pursuit of 'knowledge' as 'truth' and engages the instinctive motives for growth through learning... is a natural truth finding process which is active because it engages the so-called 'higher' soul needs , spiritual needs or 'metaneeds' and thereby cultivates intelligence... not only mechanical intelligence of conditioned learning but also intuitive intelligence (spiritual intelligence) or 'creative intelligence' which allows for social cooperation and the creation of humane societies. Holistic education is 'humanistic' because it is true to the social nature of the human personality or 'human nature'. Holistic education is education for human development and therefore education with conscience... education for responsible freedom or 'self-empowerment' as the pre-condition for creative and effective adaptation to changes in the social environment i. e. 'adaptability'. Human adaptability depends on 'true freedom'... the freedom to interact with the environment... to inquire, to discover, to think... to make personal meaning of experience or 'learn', the freedom to understand the realities of nature and human nature while attaining the highest levels of awareness or 'self-knowledge', the freedom to engage in meaningful creativity and productiveness or 'work'. Meaningful work is a function of curiosity, cognition and the wisdom of 'compassion'... engages development of 'moral consciousness' or 'conscience' - the human 'soul'. Holistic education is for development of rational conscience which is required for the mastery of life and respect for the lives of others. It is 'education for life through life' (Ovide Decroly). The cultivation of creative intelligence depends on the freedom to engage in active experiential learning motivated by the natural curiosity of inquiry and understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying the natural learning process ('biology of learning' ) ... engages the intrinsic drive (intrinsic motivation) for creativity and productiveness or 'work'. Work is meaningful when it engages the person's development as an integrated whole... engages development of moral consciousness or 'morality' of rational 'conscience'. Conscience is the source of guiding values or 'human values' required for accurate evaluation of changing environmental conditions, effective decision-making ... and behaviour which is adaptive because it is creative.

“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” (Robert M. Hutchins)

The paradigm of holistic education has larger scope than the traditional paradigm of authoritarian education for control of the individual with its view of the learner as passive receptacle motivated by external factors... 'extrinsic 'motivation'... 'teacher as instructor'. In fact, the learner is an active participant who is motivated by the intrinsic drive to grow through learning... 'intrinsic motivation'... which is understood and respected by the teacher as facilitator. Effective learning is a function of the learner's active engagement in a process of adaptation to the environment. Human adaptability is a function of the capacity to create meaning from experience or 'learn'. Natural 'experiential learning' is a function of the brain’s capacity for perception of connections between systems of wholes and the parts which make them up i.e. 'holistic perception'. Holistic perception actively engages the person as a whole in their instinctive striving for mature growth or 'self-actualisation'. Self-actualisation depends on natural education which engages the individual's sense of responsibility for their own growth i.e. 'intrinsic motivation'. Intrinsically motivated learning depends on the provision of conditions which integrate learning with life and allow for development of human potential and human empowerment as self-determination or 'freedom'. Freedom in education is freedom from dogma, freeedom from ignorance, freedom from from conflict... 'inner freedom', 'spiritual freedom', 'moral freedom' or 'true freedom'. True freedom is obedience to rational conscience... a function of human development as 'moral development'. Freedom in education engages children's integrated development in harmony with their instinctive sense of responsibility for their own spiritual growth and development i.e. 'human nature'. Natural principles of human nature are foundational to education of the person as a whole or 'holistic education'. Methods, techniques, teaching methods of the mechanistic model have become completely obsolete. The holistic paradigm.offers learners the flexibility they need to engage their personal growth and development.

"For too long the inner world of children has been suppressed or denied, and this is a serious flaw in our educational thinking that holistic educators seek to remedy". (Kathleen Kesson. Critical Theory and Holistic Education: Carrying on the Conversation in Ron Miller (Ed.) The Renewal of Meaning in Education: Responses to the Cultural and Ecological Crisis of our Times Brandon, Vermont, USA: Holistic Education Press (1993).

In the paradigm of holistic education the role of the teacher is defined in terms of the 'facilitation of learning'. The teacher's function is to understand the psychological value of creativity and productiveness or 'work'... to facilitate the construction of conscience through development of human potential. The teacher is a 'facilitator of learning'. The facilitative teacher designs learning environments which are compatible with respect for the instinctive motives for human learning behaviour i.e. 'human needs'. These include basic 'lower' psychological needs for security and self-esteem ('ego needs') and the so-called 'higher' psychological needs for spiritual growth beyond the 'ego' level of consciousness or 'self-transcendance'. Human needs for self-transcendance are the spiritual needs, soul needs or 'metaneeds'. Motivation by the metaneeds or 'metamotivation' engages growth through learning and personal development in terms of the interrelated aspects of the complete human personality - physical, emotional, intellectual, psychological, social, political, creative, artistic, philosophical and spiritual i.e. 'holistic growth' and therefore the development of the human potential for creative intelligence. The cultivation of creative intelligence depends on the freedom to engage in active experiential learning motivated by natural curiosity of inquiry. "It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiostiy of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to rack and ruin without fail." (Albert Einstein) i

Holistic education for children means a future of peace for humanity. The only means to a world of peace and understanding is through the proper education of children into emotionally and intellectually mature and thinking adults, respectful and tolerant of other cultures" (Norman Goble. The Function of Teaching UNESCO Paris 1977) "The organization of human communities and the establishment of freedom and peace are not only intellectual achievements but spiritual and moral achievements as well, demanding a cherishing of the wholeness of the human personality." (Ivan Ilich, Deschooling Society)

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"Present-day Western materialist culture and schooling exaggerate the importance of the physical at the expense of the spiritual and thus tend to suffocate individual initiative and personal responsibility in favour of docile compliance with external authority vested in ever-larger political bureaucracies. This de-humanising trend can be reversed only by the voluntary combination of well-balanced individuals who have taken the trouble to explore their own potential and are ready to live freely in harmony with natural law rather than as slaves to a political system". ( www.ardue.org)

"An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life." ~ anonymous

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has". (Margaret Mead)

Interactive Book: A Scientific* Rationale for Holistic Education (*in the sense of holistic science)

1. abstract 2. introduction 3. site map: topics... titles of texts

4. outline (texts in context) and chapters 5. glossary 6. quotation references

7. alphabetic index: (keywords) 8. bibliography (books and articles)

9. dedication 10. biographical statement

Holistic education on the world wide web

related links

What is holistic education? see Introduction to Holistic Education www.infed.org/biblio/holisticeducation.htm

Articles by Dr. Ron Miller: wwwpathsoflearningnet/articles.php

schools organizations articles and pdf files books, journals, newsletters

European Public Consultation Document on Education European Transpersonal Association

Spiritualizing Pedagogy: Education as the Art of Working with the Human Spirit (PhD thesis, University of Sunderland in 2003 by Dr Roger Prentice - Director of the Holistic Education Institute and Developer of the SunWALK model of Holistic Education.) http://sunwalked.wordpress.com/holistic-ed

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