The Holistic Learning and Spirituality in
Education Professional Interest Communities of
ASCD
presents
Powerful Conversations
about
the spiritual and soulful
aspects of the whole child
Gary Babiuk
Co-facilitator of PIC
 Assistant Professor
 Faculty of Education
 University of Manitoba
 Winnipeg, Manitoba
Presentation Plan
 Introductions
 Sharing successes and challenges
 What is holistic learning?
 What is spirit and soul in education, the inner life of
students?
 How can we nurture these in our classrooms?
 Examples
 Sharing Ideas / Discussion / Questions / Share Resources
Introduction to the Group
1. Name / Position / School /
Location
2. Why did you choose this session?
Try to keep it to under a minute
Pair and Share
1. What are you currently doing that
seems to be bringing the essence
of spirituality / soulfulness into
the classroom / school?
2. What challenges / issues
/questions / concerns do you
have?
In March 2007, during the annual conference in
Anaheim, California the Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development (ASCD) launched a new
initiative committed to improving the education of
The Whole Child. It also outlined a The Learning
Compact that stated,
“The prevailing question is not about what
children need to succeed. The research is
clear. They need supportive environments
that nurture their social, emotional,
physical, ethical, civic, creative, and
cognitive development.
The question becomes: Who
bears responsibility for creating
this environment? The answer is:
The whole community” (2007, p.
10).
 For further information or to find The Whole Child
Report online visit www.ascd.org/ and choose from the
Initiative and Programs Menu on the left side of the
page The Whole Child.
This initiative and compact certainly moved
beyond the narrow academic achievement
focus of children’s intellectual levels as
measured by standardized tests, under the
influence of the No Child Left Behind
policies. It’s measure of success, academic
achievement, is a short-term goal, a point
in time, measurable and sometimes
fleeting.
On the other hand
a focus on the significance of what is being
learned and its relationship to the whole
child is a long-term goal and harder to
measure. Both are needed as measures of
success. The focus on academic success over
the last few years has left education
unbalanced.
We have sacrificed the long-term goals that
are significant for students such as their
dreams, their gifts to the world, for short
term learning success, higher test scores.
The ASCD initiative did turn the focus
toward the needs of the whole child, an
attempt to balance our success goals, but
there seems to be an aspect of the inner
life of the child, the spiritual or soulful,
that is absent from this wider focus.
It is interesting that ASCD had focused on
spirituality in education in its 1998/1999
edition of Educational Leadership entitled
“The Spirit of Education”.
In that issue a number of authors
explored spirituality and religion in
education. One of the contributors to
that issue, Rachel Kessler (2000),
indicates that although “the fears of
integrating a spiritual dimension into the
classroom have not gone away
… the editors [of Educational Leadership]
received a windfall of unsolicited
manuscripts of outstanding quality and
won a Bronze Excel Award from the
Society for National Association
Publication for the issue. This journal has
begun a long-overdue conversation that
we can no longer postpone-a rare open
moment in ourfield and in our culture to
speak what has been unspeakable for
decades. (p. xiii)
It seems that ASCD has missed this
opportunity to continue the dialogue
about the “unspeakable”, the
spiritual nature of children in The
Whole Child initiative.
Although there is a focus on the emotional
aspect in the ASCD initiative, which according
to Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional
Intelligence, is a crucial component of
determining how well children learn, and
creativity is mentioned, a more expansive view,
which would include the spiritual or “inner”
life of the child is ignored.
For many this area has not been
included in educational discussions
because it is seen as synonymous with
religion, which in the case of the
United States is not allowed through
the separation of church and state in
their constitution.
So how can we fill the gap left in the
ASCD Whole Child initiative?
 How can we help educators and parents see that
dealing with spirituality and inner life in schools
and classrooms does not have to religious?
 Before we look how we can develop classrooms
and schools that create space for students to
connect to their inner life / spirit.
 Lets look at few definitions of what it might
mean to be holistic, spiritual and soulful in our
teaching.
Principles Holistic Education
Balance
Inclusion
Connection
From “The Holistic Curriculum” by John P. Miller
Balance
 Interdependent / Independent
 Environment / Economy
 Sacred / Material
 Inner / Outer
 Global / Region / Nation
Balance continued
 Female / Male
 Process / content
 Imagination / Knowledge
 Intuitive / Rational
 Quality / Quantity
Inclusiveness
 Transmission
Curriculum ------------------------- Student
 Transaction
Curriculum <------------------------- Student
 Transformation
Curriculum intersects with Student
Connection
 Linear Thinking - Intuition
 Relationship between Mind and Body
 Relationship among domains of knowledge
 Relationship between self and community
 Relationship to the earth
 Relationship to the soul (inner life)
Description of Soul and Spirit
“There was a time when people reflected
deeply in the nature of the “interior life,”
as they called it, and the meaning of the
cosmos. Today we surrender most of this
reflection to scientists. Not having thought
much about their inner lives, people are
often confused when faced with the
traditional distinction between the soul
and the spirit, but distinguishing these two
dimensions of experience can be helpful.”
“We might notice, for instance, how
much we are motivated by the spirit in
our concentration on the future, on
understanding, and on achievement. We
might then see how we neglect the soul,
which has complementary but very
different values, such as slowness, the
past, inaction, feeling, mystery, and
imagination.”
“To suggest a distinction between
soul and spirit is not to advocate
a separation of the two. In the
contrary, it seems best to arrive
at a place where in effect the
two work together, as in a
marriage or partnership.”
From Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul (p32)
From Carl Jung
“Without soul, spirit is as dead
as matter, because both are
artificial abstractions; whereas
man [humans] originally regarded
spirit as a volatile body, and
matter as not lacking in soul.”
From Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul (p33)
From the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
“Soul is at home in the deep, shaded
valleys. Heavy torpid flowers saturated with
black grow there. The rivers flow like warm
syrup. They empty into huge oceans of soul.
Spirit is land of high, white peaks and
glittering jewel-like lakes and flowers. Life
is sparse and sounds travel great
distances….
Desolation is of the depths, as is brooding.
At these heights, spirit leaves soul far
behind.” (p34)
From James Moffett’s Chapter on Spirituality and
Education in The Universal Schoolhouse
Meaning of Spirituality:
 Secular meaning
…the sense of moral or benevolent. In
common parlance, spirited people are
simply full of life and of themselves.”
 Team spirit or “esprit de core”
James Moffett continued
 ‘witty’ or ‘lively’ as well as ‘scared’
 Society has secularized over the
centuries, the sense of spirit and its
cognates has also become more
material and metaphorical.
 We drink spirits and eat ‘soul’ food
Sacred meaning“The common denominator might be of
morality and mind, energy and essence.
Even these material meanings converge on
the immaterial. Morality comes from
mores and or customs and therefore does
not depend on religion. Nor do vitality and
energy, mind and wit. The essence of
something is abstract and may perfectly
well be understood as purely a mental or
psychological category.”
“Morality contrasts with materialism in
the sense of selfishness and meanness.
Mind commonly contrasts with matter,
as does energy in the scientific sense.
Philosophers contrast essence with
existence. So a concept of immateriality
underlies even with secular, material
meanings.”
James Moffett’s The Universal Schoolhouse (p.18-19)
Even were we not to accept any
metaphysical meanings of spirituality,
this convergence of secular meanings
alone warrants spiritualizing
education.
It is intended to include everyone
- it brings out our daily efforts to improve our
life and not just think of our own wellbeing
- it energizes these efforts with a life force
common to everything
- it validates the inner life and sense of
personal well-being
- it calls us back from surfaces to essences
- it invites us to seek commonalities beneath
commonplaces, for the sake of mind
as well as morality
- it’s a toast to wits with spirit
“Even in its most sacred sense,
spirituality does not depend on
religion. Spirituality may be
what all religions share… “ (p22)
Spirituality as attention and
perception of yourself and the
world around you.
In Montgomery Halford (1998) the
author outlines a interview with Nel
Noddings, she states,
“Spirituality is an attitude or a way of life
that recognizes something we might call
spirit. Religion is a specific way of
exercising that spirituality and usually
requires an institutional affiliation.
Spirituality does not require an
institutional connection. (p. 29)
In his book The Element, Sir Ken
Robinson (2009)
describes another aspect of the
inner life, what he calls “the
element”. It is more expansive
than just creativity as he defines
it as ”… the meeting point
between natural aptitude and
personal passion” (p. 21).
He also states that “the element” is
more than just happiness or enjoyment
but is when people
“… connect with something
fundamental to their sense of identity,
purpose, and well-being. Being there
provides a sense of self-revelation, of
defining who they really are and what
they’re really meant to be doing with
their lives” (p. 21).
Why is it so important to include
the spiritual, inner life of the
whole child in classroom and
schools?
Parker Palmer (1998) indicates
that “spirituality – the human
quest for connectedness-is not
something that needs to be
‘brought into’ or ‘added onto’
the curriculum. It is at the
heart of every subject we
teach, where it waits to be
brought forth” (p. 8).
Douglas Sloan (2005) suggests that
“ … our modern educational
assumptions and practices imply
images of the child and of the adult as
essentially other than human - merely
an animal to be socialized, a computer
to be programmed, a unit of
production to be harnessed and
utilized, a consumer to be won…”
(p. 27).
He advocates that we can still turn this
modern trend around and assist our
students to develop
“… a being of body, soul, and spirit; a
being of interwoven intelligence,
emotion, intention, and perception, all
capable of infinite growth and
development.
This, our full human being, contains
within itself the resources for
countering and transforming all the
forces that would reduce the human to
nonhuman”.
(pp. 43-44)
All of these authors are considering our
inner life. This is the place that we think,
dream, and try to understand our place
in the world and universe. These aspects
of the human condition are not always
addressed in schools, as there is a fear of
bringing religion into a secular public
school. But no matter what we do, our
children bring this inner life with them
into our classrooms, just as they bring
their emotions, thoughts, and physical
needs.
How can we nurture soulfulness
and spirituality?
What can we do in our schools
and classrooms to provide space
for students to connect their
inner lives with their
educational lives?
From Parker J. Palmer’s To Know
As We Are Known. Education as a
Spiritual Journey (p. 71-75, 1993)
A learning space has three
major characteristics,
three essential
dimensions:
Openness It is more than the commonsense
meaning of space. To create space is to
remove the impediments to learning
that we find around and within us, to
set aside the barriers behind which we
hide so that truth cannot seek us out.
So creating a learning space means
resisting our own tendency to clutter
up our consciousness and our
classrooms.
Boundaries –
The openness of a space is created by
the firmness of its boundaries. The
teacher that wants to create an open
learning space must define and defend
its boundaries with care. Not only will
this keep the space open, it will also
keep the students from fleeing that
space.
Hospitality means receiving each other, our
struggles, our newborn ideas, with
openness and care. It means creating an
ethos in which the community of troth
can form, the pain of truth’s
transformations be borne.
How do we create a learning space
with these qualities?
- physical arrangement such as a
discussion circle with the teacher in
the circle (or Circle of Voices)
- Conceptual space through assigned
readings and lecturing to set the
stage for critical discussion and the
need for student attention and
critical questioning, drama, silence,
and making space for feelings.
From John P. Miller’s Education and the
soul. Toward a Spiritual Curriculum (2000)
A soulful curriculum recognizes and gives
priority to the inner life. It seeks a
balance and connection between our
inner and outer lives. Traditionally,
schools have ignored the child’s inner
life: in fact, our whole culture tends to
ignore the inner life.
Elements:
- Visualization / Guided Imagery
- Creative Writing / Poetry
- Storytelling
- Autobiography / Journal Writing
- Visual Arts
- Drama / Improvisation
- Music / Dance
- Integrating subjects through the
Arts
- Meditation
- Relaxation
- Skill Development
( Intra and Interpersonal Skills)
- Connecting Subject Matter with
Student’s Inner Life
- Connection to Earth – gardening,
outdoor experiences, etc
Soulful School –
There are no recipes for developing a
sanctuary: or a soulful school.
However we can begin to create
conditions that allow for the
development of soul. Some things
school staffs can do include:
1. Recognize the importance of the
nonverbal / silence
2. Pay attention to the aesthetic
environment of the school and classroom
3. Tell stories about the school
4. Have celebrations and rituals
5. Truth and authenticity
6. Nourishing Voices
Soulful Teacher
– How we can nurture the teacher’s
soul in ways that will make teaching
richer and more fulfilling. This is a
radical departure from traditional
professional development but does not
displace PD but helps ground and
balance the teacher.
* Contemplation - regular practice
in yoga, tai chi, meditation, walking
*Living Contemplatively
Soulful Learning
The principles are:
1. The sacred and secular cannot be
separated
2. The dominance of the secular has
led to a repression of our spiritual life.
3. An awareness of soul can restore a
balance to our educational vision.
4. We can nourish the student’s soul
through various curriculum approaches
and teaching / learning strategies.
5. The authentic and caring presence of
the teacher can nourish the student’s
soul.
6. Soulful Education must be
accountable
7. Teachers need to nourish their own
souls.
8. Parents can do much to nourish their
children’s souls.
From John P. Miller’s Education for
Wisdom and Compassion. Creating
Conditions for Timeless Learning.
(2006)
- Work on Yourself
- Be Fully Present
- Recognize the Importance of the
Nonverbal
- Honor Silence
- Develop a Rhythm
- Integrated Timeless Learning with
other forms of Learning
- Balancing Spontaneity and Planning
- Don’t Forget the Body
- Live your own truth
- Acknowledge the Mystery
- Let Your Humanity Come Through
How do we bring about the holistic
curriculum in schools?
We must realize that change is inherent is
the life of school and that it is
interdependent and dynamic. We must no
longer try to resist or impose something
artificial on the students and ourselves;
instead, we give something that is lifesustaining and vital. Here are a few
principles that are part of an organic
approach to change (p.195-97)
1. Vision is an important catalyst for
change
2. Vision is organic
3. Have a focus, but avoid detailed
plans
4. Change occurs at the most basic level
from inside out, in other words, deep
change occurs when it arises from
within the teacher’s being.
5. Accept conflict
6. Change is not linear
7. Acknowledge the non-verbal
dimension
8. See the school as a living organism,
not a factory
From Rachael Kessler’s Nourishing
Adolescents’ Spirituality in Holistic Learning
and Spirituality in Education (2006)
“To achieve the safety and openness required
for meaningful exploration of spiritual
development, students and I work together
carefully for weeks and months. We create
ground rules – conditions that students name
as essential for speaking about what matters
most to them.” (p.102) The teacher also has
to be willing to nurture their own spiritual
development.
The following are the domains of adolescent spiritual
development:
1. Search for Meaning and Purpose.
2. Longing for Silence and Solitude
3. Hunger for Joy and Delight
4. Creative Drive
5. Call for Initiation
6. Deep Connection
- to self
- to one other person or to a meaningful group
- to nature, to their lineage or to a higher power
Teaching “about” Spirituality
Teaching “for” Spirituality
Teaching “with” Spirituality
Creativity as an entry point into
the education of the spirit / soul
through drama / art / dance /
music
Practical Examples
1. Reggio Emilia (Fu et al, 2002)
2. “Big Picture” Schools (Littky & Grabelle,
2004)
3. Jubilee School (Babiuk, 2000)
4. Meditation in Grade 8 classroom (MEd thesis
in progress)
5. Touching Hearts, Educating Minds School
(Njus, 2009)
More examples
6. Finding Soul in Schools – (Kessler, 2000)
7. A public school community in Toronto, The
Whole Child School, in 2007 created a
school based on the ASCD Whole Child
initiative and a holistic curriculum (JP
Miller, Whole Child Education, 2010, pp.
117-127).
- Finally, in keeping with a long American tradition of
pragmatism and with the strategy of the seventeenthcentury mathematician Blaise Pascal, why not assume that
the spiritual view is true? Give it the benefit of the doubt?
People who do so tend to feel better, treat others better,
and fare better in their endeavors. If both the secular and
sacred understandings of spirituality would bring to
educational reform just what has been missing, what is there
to lose? Even if you understand spirituality only as metaphor
or myth, it can help you to think big and see deep when
contemplating education and societal transformation. You
don’t have to convert to benefit. Since an education that
accommodates all possibilities for everybody is desirable
anyway, it does not depend on believing in Spirit. But if a
metaphysical framework helps us learn to save either our
hides or our souls, regenerate society and nature, why not
bet on life being more rather than less.” (p32)
Palmer (1998) indicates that he is not
an advocate for state-sanctioned
religion or any imposition of religion in
public school but does advocate for
the exploration of the spiritual
dimension. As he states so eloquently
“But I am equally passionate about not
violating the deepest needs of the
human soul, which education does
with some regularity.
As a teacher, I have seen the price we
pay for a system of education so fearful
of things spiritual that it fails to address
the real issues of our lives - dispensing
facts at the expense of meaning,
information at the expense of wisdom.
The price is a school system that
alienates and dulls us, that graduates
young people who have had no
mentoring in the questions that both
enliven and vex the human spirit. (p. 6)
In our efforts to improve the
achievement of our students let us
not forget the spiritual dimension.
Let us all work together to ensure
that our students learn in a
“spirited” learning community that
provides time and space for them
to connect their inner lives to their
educational lives.
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