In this post, I focus on the holistic framework as a source for informing and promoting teacher transformation, especially within an environment that aggressively repels spiritual consciousness and denies the multiple, fundamental interconnnectedness of life phenomena.
I have been deeply moved by Miller's work, his tone, his presentation of holism, and the objectives that appear to steer his studies. Holism can inform and assist in teacher transformation -- in the most profound of ways. At a time in history when it is taboo and can be construed as illegal to make references to religious beliefs, holism prods teachers to reconsider the importance of such themes as divinity, moral responsibility, and mortality. When technical, reductionistic epistemologies have stifled spiritual evolution (Miller, 2000, p. 12), holism offers us a chance to evaluate education against the standard of human decency and sustainability, not scientific rationalism or economic success.
In many ways, Miller's work reminds me of David Orr's speech What is Education for? (1991) in which he states:
"In most respects the Germans were the best educated people on Earth, but their education did not serve as an adequate barrier to barbarity. What was wrong with their education? In Wiesel's words: 'It emphasized theories instead of values, concepts rather than human beings, abstraction rather than consciousness, answers instead of questions, ideology and efficiency rather than conscience.' "
Holism seems to say that the part is inextricably tied to the whole, and that successful education must have an underlying theme of decency and sustainability. This can serve as a bright guiding light to teachers lost in the madness of trying to meet state/provincial standards and pass standardized tests. Holism offers a chance to weave meaningful themes through the often scattered and poorly related topics taught in schools. It also has the potential to invigorate teachers towards a new sense of purpose. This purpose is not to churn out industrious workers, but to cultivate spiritually conscious, moral beings.
References:
Miller, R. (2000). Caring for new life: Essays on holistic education. Brandon, VT: Foundation for Educational Renewal.
Orr, D. (1991).What is education for? In InContext: A Quarterly of Human Sustainable Culture. Retreived from http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC27/Orr.htm
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