The Maharishi Effect - The Power of Group Meditation to Bring Peace

Meditation has the potential to literally transform the world. In 1978, what is known as the “Maharishi Effect” took place when a group of 7000 individuals over the course of 3 weeks were meditating in hopes of positively effecting the surrounding city. They were able to literally transform the collective energy of the city which reduced global crime rates, violence, and casualties during the times of their meditation by an average of 16%. Suicide rates and automobile accidents also were reduced with all variables accounted for. In fact, there was a 72% reduction in terrorist activity during the times at which this group was meditation.

Almost 50 studies have been done further confirming the benefits of global meditation and it’s direct impact on everything in the world, even so far as to have the results published in the Journal of Crime and Justice in 1981. We know meditation has endless health and psychological benefits, but it is now being explored by politics and sociology because of its undeniable energetic impact.

For example, a day-by-day study of a two-month assembly in Israel during August and September of 1983 showed that, on days when the number of participants at a peace-creating assembly was high, the intensity of an ongoing war in neighboring Lebanon decreased sharply. When the number of participants was high, war deaths in Lebanon dropped by 76%.

When the study was repeated in Wales, they got amazing results. In 1987 Merseyside had the third highest crime rate of the eleven largest Metropolitan Areas in England and Wales; by 1992 it had the lowest crime rate. 40% below levels predicted by the previous behaviour of the series. There were 255,000 less crimes in Merseyside from 1988 to 1992 than would have been expected had Merseyside continued to follow the national crime trend.

The secret of the Global Maharishi Effect is the phenomenon known to Physics as the ‘Field Effect’, the effect of coherence and positivity produced from the field of infinite correlation—the self-referral field of least excitation of consciousness—the field of Transcendental Consciousness, which is basic to creation and permeates all life everywhere.  Meditation takes your consciousness to the implicate levels of existence where your intentions have consequential effects on the explicate level that we interact with before it even manifests.  Consciousness gives rise to the material.  The key idea is that all of existence emanates out of a field of universal consciousness, called the Unified Field or Super String Field.

“I think the claim can be plausibly made that the potential impact of this research exceeds that of any other ongoing social or psychological research program. It has survived a broader array of statistical tests than most research in the field of conflict resolution. This work and the theory that informs it deserve the most serious consideration by academics and policy makers alike.” — David Edwards Ph.D., Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin.

Source: http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/proof-that-group-meditation-can-change-the-world/

This effect is still ripe with investigation to this day. The power of ground meditation:

Character and Kindness Education - Lesson Plans

Research shows that students who learn in a positive environment have a better school experience — they enjoy higher test scores, learn new skills at a faster rate, and are overall happier at school. We're in our third year of researching the implementation of our lesson plans in classrooms across two school districts, and we’ve witnessed first-hand that practicing kindness in the classroom transforms not only students, but teachers and entire school cultures as well.

For any educational context, from preschool and elementary through the teen years, in schools large and small as well as home-school, we provide resources to supplement, complement, and support positive behavior goals. You'll find excellent resources like our free lesson plans, kindness project ideas, downloadable calendars and graphics, and more.

Free Lesson Plans

Want to improve classroom climate? Check out our free K-8 lesson plans designed to boost social emotional learning (SEL) and promote skills for healthy decision-making, positive relationships, and problem solving using head and heart. All lesson plans are age-appropriate, evidence-based, aligned with Common Core & Colorado State Standards, and offered in both English and Spanish.
Get started by downloading our new Teacher Guide (PDF)

Kindness Project Ideas

Looking for fun kindness-based activities for your classroom? We've compiled dozens of great ideas to engage your students, start conversations, spur random acts of kindness, and build an overall community of kindness at your school. Visit our kindness project ideas page for details.

Kindness Resources

We offer a variety of other kindness resources that are sure to inspire kindness in you and your students. You can download and share kindness calendars, posters, cards, and videos.

Kindness Clubs

If you really like doing random acts of kindness and don't already have a club in your school, perhaps you should start a RAK Club. Visit our Kindness Clubs page for helpful tips on getting started. Once you get going, we'll list your club on our website.

Kindness Research

Is there science behind kindness? There is evidence that being kind can make a real difference to the well-being and health of individuals who both practice and receive it. Find the latest kindness research here.

 
Source: http://www.randomactsofkindness.org

The Benefits of Kindness Education

Happy Children

Kindness is a natural anti depressant because it causes a release of serotonin in our brain. Serotonin plays an important part in learning, memory, mood, sleep, health and digestion. It heightens our sense of well being, increases energy and gives a wonderful feeling of positivity and self worth.

In a famous study undertaken by Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky, Professor, University of California, students were asked to commit five random acts of kindness a week for six weeks. They showed a 41.66% increase in happiness.

The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, overseen by Harvard University researchers found those who volunteered time or money to help others were 42 per cent more likely to describe themselves as happy.

Better Concentration

When children are happy and feel good about themselves, they have a positive outlook which allows them greater attention spans and enables more creative thinking.

Increased Self Esteem

Fewer Disruptions

Kind, happy children get along better with others and are less likely to disrupt the class to gain attention.

More Time

When children are getting along, they’re able to work together in a calm and sensible way which means you can spend more time teaching and less time on discipline.

Less Bullying

Kind children know that making others feel good also makes them happy. They want to be around those who treat them with respect and know what it means to be a good friend. Kind children are well liked, have more friends, are more included, feel better about themselves and are therefore less likely to bully.

Less Stress

When you have happy, co-operative children, you have a peaceful, productive classroom. You won’t need to discipline your children as much which means they’ll also like you more.
Better Results

When children have less to worry about and feel more positive about themselves, their friends and their environment, they’re able to concentrate on learning to achieve better results.
Greater Attendance

Positive School Culture

Happy children means positive, capable children, which in turn creates happy, relaxed teachers and a positive school culture.

Incorporating Ripple Kindness Project into your classroom doesn’t need to be stressful and your initial investment of time can create huge benefits for not just your students, but for the whole school and it’s community.

Source: http://ripplekindness.org/school-curriculum/the-benefits-of-kindness/


Comprehensive character education addresses many tough issues in education while developing a positive school climate. It can be effective in any school setting, as our National Schools of Character demonstrate. Educators from this diverse array of schools have transformed their school cultures, reduced discipline referrals, increased academic achievement for all learners, developed global citizens, and improved job satisfaction and retention among teachers.

Character education includes and complements a broad range of educational approaches such as whole child education, service learning, social-emotional learning, and civic education. All share a commitment to helping young people become responsible, caring, and contributing citizens.
Because students spend so much time in school, our schools offer a critically important opportunity to ensure that all students get the support and help they need to reach their full potential. Schools that embrace character education become places people want to be because they bring out the best in everyone.

To be effective in schools, character education must involve everyone—school staff, parents, students, and community members—and be part of every school day. It must be integrated into the curriculum as well as school culture. When this happens and school communities unite around developing character, schools see amazing results.

Character education is not new—and it is something we can all agree on. It was an important objective for the first U.S. public schools and today it is mandated or encouraged in most states. The current movement is simply a reminder of education’s long history of stressing shared values and character.

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Effective character education takes time, as Aaron Chalker, of 2011 National School of Character Pierce Elementary School, can attest. But the results are well worth it. Watch this video to learn more about effective character education.

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The 11 Principles of Effective Character Education are the cornerstone of CEP’s philosophy on effective character education. Each principle outlines vital aspects of character education initiatives that should not be overlooked in program implementation. From curriculum integration to extra-curricular activities, from parent and community partnerships to staff development – the 11 Principles of Effective Character Education offer fundamental guidance for educators and community leaders to maximize their character education outcomes.
Learn more about the criteria CEP uses to determine its National Schools of Character by downloading our 11 Principles of Effective Character Education.

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Additional resources to learn more about character education:

• The Rebirth and Retooling of Character Education in America – Teaching Children to Do Their Best and Be Their Best—An Expanded Approach to Character Education
• What Works in Character Education – A Report for Policy Makers & Opinion Leaders
• What Works in Character Education – A Research-driven Guide for Educators

Browse NSOC Lesson Plans

Each lesson plan relates to CEP's 11 Principles of Effective Character Education. Download our framework to learn more.

Elementary School Middle School High School Mixed

Source: http://www.character.org

Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity

Full Planet, Empty Plates Slideshow Presentation from Earth Policy Institute

 

With food scarcity driven by falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures, control of arable land and water resources is moving to center stage in the global struggle for food security. “In this era of tightening world food supplies, the ability to grow food is fast becoming a new form of geopolitical leverage. Food is the new oil,” Lester R. Brown writes.

What will the geopolitics of food look like in a new era dominated by scarcity and food nationalism? Brown outlines the political implications of land acquisitions by grain-importing countries in Africa and elsewhere as well as the world’s shrinking buffers against poor harvests. With wisdom accumulated over decades of tracking agricultural issues, Brown exposes the increasingly volatile food situation the world is facing.

Table of Contents (Chapters available in PDF and html)

Free Download of Book (PDF)

Complete Data Sets
Full Planet Slideshow Presentations
Full Planet, Empty Plates Team
(People who have purchased five or more copies.)
International Publishers
Fact Sheet (PDF)
10 Things to Know About Food on World Food Day (PDF) (Persian)
Press Release

10 Things to Know About Food on World Food Day

October 16 is World Food Day. It offers the opportunity to strengthen national and international solidarity in the fight to end hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. With falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures making it difficult to feed growing populations, control of arable land and water resources is moving to center stage in the global struggle for food security. Here are some facts to consider:

1. There will be 219,000 people at the dinner table tonight who were not there last night—many of them with empty plates.
Ensuring adequate food supplies was once a rather simple matter, the sole responsibility of the ministry of agriculture. When governments wanted to accelerate growth in the grain harvest, they simply raised the support price paid to farmers. Now that is changing. Securing future food supplies has become incredibly complex. It may now depend more on policies in the ministry of health and family planning or of energy than in the ministry of agriculture itself.

2. Today, with incomes rising fast in emerging economies, there are at least 3 billion people moving up the food chain, consuming more grain-intensive livestock and poultry products.
Today, the growth in world grain consumption is concentrated in China. It is adding over 8 million people per year, but the big driver is the rising affluence of its nearly 1.4 billion people. As incomes go up, people tend to eat more meat. China’s meat consumption per person is still only half that of the United States, leaving a huge potential for future demand growth.

3. In India some 190 million people are being fed with grain produced by overpumping groundwater. For China, there are 130 million in the same boat.
Aquifer depletion now threatens harvests in the big three grain producers—China, India, and the United States—that together produce half of the world’s grain. The question is not whether water shortages will affect future harvests in these countries, but rather when they will do so.

4. In Nigeria, 27 percent of families experience foodless days. In India it is 24 percent, in Peru 14 percent.
The world is in transition from an era dominated by surpluses to one defined by scarcity. Not eating at all on some days is how the world’s poorest are coping with the doubling of world grain prices since 2006. But even as we face new constraints on future production, the world population is growing by 80 million people each year.

5. Water supply is now the principal constraint on efforts to expand world food production.
During the last half of the twentieth century, the world’s irrigated area expanded from some 250 million acres in 1950 to roughly 700 million in 2000. This near tripling of world irrigation within 50 years was historically unique. Since then the growth in irrigation has come to a near standstill, expanding only 10 percent between 2000 and 2010.

6. Nearly a third of the world’s cropland is losing topsoil faster than new soil is forming, reducing the land’s inherent fertility.
Future food production is also threatened by soil erosion. The thin layer of topsoil that covers the earth’s land surface was formed over long stretches of geological time as new soil formation exceeded the natural rate of erosion. Sometime within the last century, the situation was reversed as soil erosion began to exceed new soil formation. Now, nearly a third of the world’s cropland is losing topsoil faster than new soil is forming, reducing the land’s inherent fertility. Soil that was formed on a geological time scale is being lost on a human time scale. Peak soil is now history.

7. The generation of farmers now on the land is the first to face manmade climate change.
In addition to wells going dry and soils eroding, both at an unprecedented pace, the generation of farmers now on the land is the first to face manmade climate change. Agriculture as it exists today developed over 11,000 years of rather remarkable climate stability. It has evolved to maximize production within that climate system. Now, suddenly, the climate is changing. With each passing year, the agricultural system is more and more out of sync with the climate system.

8. At no time since agriculture began has the world faced such a predictably massive threat to food production as that posed by the melting mountain glaciers of Asia.
Mountain glaciers are melting in the Andes, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, and elsewhere, but nowhere does melting threaten world food security more than in the glaciers of the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau that feed the major rivers of India and China. Ice melt helps sustain these rivers during the dry season. In the Indus, Ganges, Yellow, and Yangtze river basins, where irrigated agriculture depends heavily on rivers, the loss of glacial-fed, dry-season flow will shrink harvests and could create potentially unmanageable food shortages.

9. After several decades of raising grain yields, farmers in the more agriculturally advanced countries have recently hit a glass ceiling, one imposed by the limits of photosynthesis itself.
In Japan, the longtime leader in raising cropland productivity, the rise in the yield of rice that began in the 1880s essentially came to a halt in 1996. Having maximized productivity, farmers ran into the inherent limits of photosynthesis and could no longer increase the amount they could harvest from a given plot. In China, rice yields are now just 4 percent below Japan’s. Unless China can raise its yields above those in Japan, which seems unlikely, it, too, is facing a plateauing of rice yields. Yields of wheat, the world’s other food staple, are also plateauing in the more agriculturally advanced countries. For example, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—Europe’s leading wheat producers—had been raising wheat yields for several decades, but roughly a decade ago, all three hit plateaus. Corn yields in the United States, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world corn harvest, are starting to level off. Yields in some other corn-growing countries such as Argentina, France, and Italy also appear to be stagnating.

10. To state the obvious, we are in a situation both difficult and dangerous.
The world today desperately needs leadership on the food security issue to help the world understand both the enormity of the challenge we face and the extraordinary scope of a response, one that, among other things, requires a total restructuring of the energy economy. The scale of this economic restructuring is matched only by the urgency of doing so. Political leaders talk about cutting carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050, but if we stay on the current trajectory the game will be over long before then. If we want to stabilize climate, we need to cut carbon emissions far more rapidly. President Obama needs to understand both the gravity and urgency of the tightening food situation and the consequences of leaving it unattended. We are not looking at 2030 or 2050. We are looking at an abrupt disruption in the world food supply that could be just one poor harvest away.

What makes Lester Brown an expert on the global food situation? Check out his new memoir Breaking New Ground: A Personal History to find out. To learn more about global food security see Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity (W.W. Norton, 2012) by Lester R. Brown.

When is education 'holistic'?

(Document for discussion on list)

Can one say that a particular teacher, classroom or school is 'holistic'? If we say that a school is 'holistic' do we mean the educational experience is holistic for some students, or all students, or some of the time, or all the time?

Perhaps it makes more sense to talk about a school or program being more holistic or less holistic... 

The following are some questions we might ask to see how holistic a school might be. For a whole school to be considered 'very holistic' perhaps strong positive responses would be required to most of these questions.

The 'possible programs' are given as examples only and are not meant to indicate that these are necessarily holistic - only that it may be easier to have an holistic educational program if it includes programs such as these. For example, 'Philosophy for Children' can be a very useful program to engage students more deeply in meaningful issues about their lives but if taught from a materialistic, positivistic stance this same program can be soul-destroying leaving students with an impoverished world view. 'Ecological Literacy' can be very helpful in helping students understand connectedness, wholeness and systemic thinking but if it is reduced to technicist thinking involving simplistic views on recycling it could not be considered to be a very useful part of 'holistic' learning.

'Possible programs' are illustrative only and are not meant to be exhaustive. Nor do they have to be necessarily included for a school to be considered holistic - provided that the holistic principles and practice these programs incorporate are included in some other way.

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Is there recognition, engagement and expression of the whole person?
(students and teachers)  

Body/mind/soul Physical/emotional/cognitive/social/aesthetic/spiritual Multiple pedagogies to support the diversity of individual learning styles Multiple intelligences Creative expression of the whole person Possible programs: Literacy Quantitative Literacy (Numeracy) Learning to learn,  meta-cognition Emotional Literacy Aesthetic Literacy (Arts Literacy) Spiritual Literacy

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Is connectedness and wholeness made explicit?  

Relationships between self and other, self and subjects, self and community, self and Self Mind/body, mind/spirit wholeness and harmony Contexts in time/space and community Systems thinking Holistic/Organicist world views made explicit Collaborative Learning Integrated curriculum Possible programs:  Integrated Studies/Themes Ecological Literacy (Ecoliteracy) - also Landcare/Wildcare Indigenous Education Whole-brain learning Community Based Learning Preparing and sharing food

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Does it involve an experiential life journey?  

Students and teachers learning and growing together Listening to, and telling stories Sense of purpose and place in time/space and community Inquiry, mystery, paradox Promotes individual quests for philosophical/spiritual meaning Adventures and challenges Acknowledge the lived experience of students   Spontaneity, play and humour Just-in-time leaning  Possible programs:  Communities of Inquiry Peer Counselling Indigenous Education Story telling Outdoor and Adventure Education

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Does it recognise stages of development and continuing growth for all students? (and teachers)  

Goals/ideals/visions   Individualised learning Students have opportunities and the freedom to make real choices and accept responsibility appropriate to their stage of development and continuing growth Celebration of achievement and life  Joy, praise Encourage personal and collective responsibility Challenge students   Possible programs:  Individual Learning Programs Exhibitions, festivals Student council/government

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Is it participative?  

Action and service Creative expression Social justice Creation of preferred futures Enterprise skills Possible programs:  Enterprise Learning Student Council/Government Wild Care Land Care Service Learning

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Is it authentic?  

The authentic presence of the teacher (and students) Values and principles made explicit and lived Congruence between inner and outer life Real tasks/projects   Real audiences, clients Possible programs:  Community Based Learning

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Is it soulful?  

Contemplation Caring/love Mindfulness   Insight and wisdom Awe, wonder, reverence Balance, harmony, peace Depth Possible programs:  Service Learning Contemplative Practice Dream Interpretation

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Is there appropriate 'in the moment' use of:  

Reductionistic and systemic thinking Transmission, transaction and transformational pedagogies Linear and non-linear thinking Rational and intuitive thinking (head and heart) Thinking and doing (head and hands) Analysis and synthesis Answers and questions   Work and play Planning ad spontaneity Masculine and feminine ways of knowing Possible programs:  Enterprise Learning Philosophy for Children

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Does the educational process involve dialogue, reflection, inquiry and questioning?  

Nurtures curiosity Critical inquiry Critical approach to cultural, moral, political contexts Possible programs:  Philosophy for Children Reflective Assessment

True for:  Some students  Many students  All students   1            2               3             4             5 Occurs:  Hardly ever        Sometimes       Frequently   1            2               3             4             5

Is it meaningful?  

• Use of symbology and metaphor
• Meta-cognition  
• Making the ordinary meaningful
• Richness and depth
• Sense of purpose and place
• Sense of vocation

Possible programs: 

• Vocational Education and Training
• Storying

  Source: http://www.hent.org/when_holistic.htm

Fundamental Principles and Key Concepts of Holistic Education

Holistic Education is a multi-levelled experiential journey of discovery, expression and mastery where all students and teachers learn and grow together.

It is a quest for understanding and meaning. Its aim is to nurture healthy, whole, curious persons who can learn whatever they need to know in any new context. By introducing students to a holistic view of the planet, life on Earth, and the emerging world community, holistic strategies enable students to perceive and understand the various contexts that shape and give meaning to life.

Holistic education recognises the innate potential of EVERY student for intelligent, creative, systemic thinking.

Holistic Curriculum is inquiry driven, interdisciplinary and integrated, and is based on explicit assumptions of interconnectedness, wholeness and multi-dimensional being.

It recognises that all knowledge is created within a cultural context and that the "facts" are seldom more than shared points of view. It encourages the transfer of learning across academic disciplines. An holistic curriculum encourages learners to critically approach the cultural, moral and political contexts of their lives.

Holistic Learning is organised around relationships within and between learners and their environment while empowering learners to live fully in the present and to co-create preferred futures.

It is concerned with the growth of every person's intellectual, emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials. It actively engages students in the teaching/learning process and encourages personal and collective discernment and responsibility. It seeks to open the mind, warm the heart and awaken the spirit.

Holistic Education ...

• is concerned with the growth of every person's intellectual, emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials. It actively engages students in the teaching/learning process and encourages personal and collective responsibility.
• is a quest for understanding and meaning. Its aim is to nurture healthy, whole, curious persons who can learn whatever they need to know in any new context. By introducing students to a holistic view of the planet, life on Earth, and the emerging world community, holistic strategies enable students to perceive and understand the various contexts which shape and give meaning to life.
• recognises the innate potential of EVERY student for intelligent, creative, systemic thinking. This includes so-called "students-at-risk", most of whom have severe difficulties learning within a mechanistic reductionistic paradigm which emphasises linear, sequential processes.
• recognises that all knowledge is created within a cultural context and that the "facts" are seldom more than shared points of view. It encourages the transfer of learning across the chasms that have separated academic disciplines in the past. Holistic education encourages learners to critically approach the cultural, moral and political contexts of their lives.
• values spiritual knowledge (in a non-sectarian sense). Spirituality is a state of connectedness to all life, honouring diversity in unity. It is an experience of being, belonging and caring. It is sensitivity and compassion, joy and hope. It is the harmony between the inner life and the outer life. It is the sense of wonder and reverence for the mysteries of the universe and a feeling of the purposefulness of life. It is moving towards the highest aspirations of the human spirit.

Holistic Education is not any one technique or curriculum.

The following can emphasise the development of the whole person.

Whole-Brain Learning

Multiple Intelligences

Cooperative Learning

Knowledge of Whole Systems

Emotional Literacy

Meta-cognition

Individual learning styles  

Making the ordinary meaningful

 

 

Fundamental Principles	Connectedness	Wholeness	Being
Key Concepts	Interdependence Interrelationship Participatory Non-linearity	Whole systems Multiple perspectives Independence Multiple levels	Fully human Creative expression Growth Responsibility
Key Values	Compassion Community Ecosystems	Diversity within unity Sustainability Cultural identity	Love Responsibility Discernment Spirituality Wisdom
Social Issues	Cultural identity Globalisation Loneliness	Inclusion Ecosystems Poverty	Equity & equality Ethics Change
Curriculum	Inter-disciplinary Interaction	Integrated	Inquiry Identity Choice
Process	Dialogical Relationships Collaborative Co-creative Co-operative Sharing Celebrative	Whole person Whole community Whole of life Systems thinking Meta-cognitive Multi-levelled Integrative	Experiential Reflective Questioning Imaginative Inspirational Transformative Journeying
Perspectives	Critical constructivism Contextual	Multi-faceted Multiple intelligences Cosmic	Constructive postmodernist Evolutionary Epic Metaphoric
Outcomes	Meaningful Positive relationships Friendly Trusting Belonging Serving	Healthy Whole Happy Caring Empathic Confident Independent	Expressive Curious Preferred futures Participation Resilience Competence Purposeful Participation
Needs	Belonging	Self transcendence	Love Self actualisation
Teaching & Learning Strategies	Service learning IT&T integration Paradox & enigma Community based learning Play	Whole language Project based learning Experiential learning Open learning Whole brain   Integrated Studies	Meaning quests Vocational education Enterprise learning Indigenous education Storying Visualization
Contexts	Ecosystem   Community	Whole space/time Objective	Subjective Symbolic

 

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Fundamental Principles and Key Concepts

Connectedness

The concept of an interconnected reality which originated in the philosophy of holism and was further developed through ecology, quantum physics and systems theory.

• Interdependence - The function of each part of a system is mutually dependent on the functioning of other parts and the system as a whole.
• Interrelationship - A complex network of relationships exists among the parts of a system and with other systems.
• Participatory - The observer is always intimately connected to their environment, creating the reality they "observe".
• Non-linearity - Complex patterns of interaction, described through feedback loops, self-organising systems or chaos theory, are more common than simple linear cause-and-effect interactions.

Wholeness

The concept that "the whole is more than the sum of its parts". Whole systems have emergent properties that can't be deduced by studying their components.

• Whole systems - Thinking about whole systems involves shifting our attention from the parts to the whole, from objects to relationships, from structures to processes, from hierarchies to networks. It also includes shifts of emphasis from the rational to the intuitive, from analysis to synthesis, from linear to non-linear thinking.
• Multiple perspectives - Complex systems interact in complex ways and can be seen from many different points of view. There is no "one answer".
• Independence - Systems can operate as largely independent autonomous wholes  - that can be far from equilibrium with their environment.
• Multiple levels - Systems often include a network or holarchy of sub-systems that interact in complex ways.

Being

Being is about fully experiencing the present moment; it is about inner peace, wisdom and insight; it is about being honest and authentic.

• Fully human - A recognition of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions of being human.
• Creative expression - A recognition of the importance of opportunities for creative expression of individuals ad communities.
• Growth - Transformation and growth allow each person to reach for the highest aspirations of the human spirit.
• Responsibility - Personal and collective discernment and responsibility for choices and actions at local, global and cosmic levels.  
  
  Source: http://www.hent.org/hent/fundamental.htm