Episode 16: Debbie Millon

Debbie is head of Wingra School, whose mission is educating the whole child since 1972. Before joining Wingra in 2016, Debbie was the Head of School for 9 years at the Bellwether School, a holistic elementary school in Vermont.

In the late 1990s, she served as the director of the PlayCare Center, a play-based preschool that celebrated children’s sense of wonder and curiosity. While working at the Mathematical Association of America in Washington, DC, Debbie collaborated with university professors to define novel teaching methods to strengthen mathematics achievement in minority high school students.  She also worked in the field of biomechanics, designing prosthetics for children and studying Tai Chi gait in young and elderly adults.

Debbie is committed to using very simple human “technologies”—like listening, speaking from the heart, slowing down, breathing, and connecting to nature—in order to support authentic relationships, a deeper sense of self, an essential shift in consciousness, and aligned living practices. She enjoys exploring new ways to empower and inspire students and adults to gain awareness of themselves, others, and the world around them. Her guiding question: How do we create the conditions for everyone in our community to know that they belong, they matter, they are seen, and their perspectives and gifts are valued?

In this Podcast:

  • The opportunities and challenges as Head of a successful holistic school
  • Developing and sustaining an emergent, whole child curriculum
  • Staff relationships in holistic school
  • Parent relationships in a holistic school

Debbie's profile at Wingra School

Episode 15: Theodore Richards

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Theodore Richards is a philosopher, poet, and novelist. As the founder of The Chicago Wisdom Project, editor of the online magazine Re-imagining: Education, Culture, World, and a board member of Homebound Publications, his work is dedicated to re-imagining education and creating new narratives about our place in the world. He has received degrees from various institutions, including the University of Chicago and The California Institute of Integral Studies, but has learned just as much studying the martial art of Bagua; teaching in various settings and students; and as a traveler from the Far East to the Middle East, from southern Africa to the South Pacific. He is the author of seven books and numerous literary awards, including two Nautilus Book Awards and two Independent Publisher Awards. His most recent book is The Great Re-imagining: Spirituality in an Age of Apocalypse, a Forward Reviews Book of the Year finalist and Nautilus Book Award winner. His next book, A Letter to My Daughters: Remembering the Lost Dimension & the Texture of Life, is slated for release in Fall 2018. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughters.


You can find out more about Theodore by visiting the show notes at Remarkable-Educators.com, and by joining us at Patreon.com/Remarkable Educators as Theodore will be featured in an upcoming newsletter, one of the many rewards available for a small monthly contribution.

Links:

Episode 14: Riane Eisler

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RIANE EISLER, JD is President of the Center for Partnership Studies and internationally known as a systems scientist, attorney working for the human rights of women and children, and author of groundbreaking books such as The Chalice and the Blade, Tomorrow’s Children, and The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. Dr. Eisler has received many honors, including honorary PhDs and peace and human rights awards. She lectures worldwide, with venues including the United Nations General Assembly and Universities.

Episode 13: Nel Noddings

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Nel Noddings worked in many areas of the education system. She spent seventeen years as an elementary and high school mathematics teacher and school administrator, before earning her PhD and beginning work as an academic in the fields of philosophy of education, theory of education and ethics, specifically moral education and ethics of care. She was the Jacks Professor of Child Education at Stanford University from 1992 until 1998., and was the associate dean or acting dean of the School of Education for four years. After leaving Stanford University, she held positions at Columbia University and Colgate University. She is past president of the Philosophy of Education Society and the John Dewey Society. In 2002-2003 she held the John W. Porter Chair in Urban Education at Eastern Michigan University. She has been Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Emerita, at Stanford University since she retired in 1998.

She’s written way too much to chronicle in these show notes. Here are some links to get started on the brilliant educational philosophy of Nel Noddings.

Links:

In this podcast:

  • Holistic ways to teach math
  • Ethics of Care in Education
  • Ending polarization through Education

Episode 12: David Marshak

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David Marshak is the founding President of the SelfDesign Graduate Institute, a low-residency and online graduate school engaging learners in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand in a learning community of care (selfdesigninstitute.org). David is the author of Evolutionary Parenting (evolutionaryparenting.org) and The Common Vision: Parenting and Educating for Wholeness. These books describe the evolutionary insights of Sri Aurobindo, Rudolf Steiner, and Hazrat Inayat Khan in regard to the unfoldment of children and teens from birth to age twenty-one. According to these three teachers, the future of our species depends on our capacity to parent and educate our young in ways that promote the evolution of consciousness and nurture the unfoldment of each individual's potential. 

In this podcast:

  • A comprehensive view of spirituality in Holistic Education, past and present
  • The value of self-directed learning
  • Administering a Holistic Education Graduate Institute

Episode 11: Ron Miller

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Ron Miller has been an educational scholar and activist, teacher, publisher and bookseller, community leader and philanthropist. Originally trained as a Montessori educator, he received a Ph.D. from Boston University in American Studies, focusing on the cultural and historical foundations of education. His research led to several books, including What Are Schools For? Holistic Education in American Culture (1992), Free Schools, Free People: Education and Democracy After the 1960s (2002), and essay collections including Caring for New Life (2000), Creating Learning Communities (2000), and The Self-Organizing Revolution (2008), among others.

Click here for a PDF transcript of the podcast.

Ron founded the journal Holistic Education Review in 1988 and helped organize conferences to build a movement for holistic education. He later published the magazine Paths of Learning, and edited Education Revolution for the Alternative Education Resource Organization. Ron was on the education program faculty at Goddard College, and has also taught at Champlain College. He helped establish the Bellwether School near Burlington, Vermont. Since 2014 he has run a lifelong learning program in Woodstock, Vermont, where he teaches American history and other topics.

In this podcast:

  • Igniting the resurgence in Holistic Education
  • The wisdom at the heart of Holistic Education
  • The importance of the history of Holistic Education in America

Links:

Episode 10: Josette Luvmour

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As a developmental consultant, educator, author, and public speaker, Josette specializes in the fields of human development, adult transformational learning, sustainable family relationships, and how adult and child grow together. She enjoys teaching educators at SelfDesign Graduate Institute.

In this Podcast:

  • How adult and child grow together
  • How Parents and educators access wisdom in relationship with children
  • The importance of knowing holistic child development and how you benefit
  • Interconnectedness of all life

Click here for a transcript of the podcast

Over the years, Josette has delighted in sharing her expertise, knowledge, and understanding with adults, family groups, and professionals seeking to deepen self-awareness, enliven optimal well-being, and develop access to innate wisdom. She is principal producer of the popular podcast series, Meetings with Remarkable Educators.

Josette has authored five eBooks and six print books, including Grow Together, Parenting as a Path to Well-being, Wisdom, and Joy, as well as articles that focus on relationships with children.Grow Together has earned the Mom’s Choice Award and is a finalist for the Foreward Indies Book of the Yearaward.

Together with her husband and collaborator, Ba Luvmour, Josette co-created and developed Natural Learning Relationships, a whole-child understanding of child development that supports optimal well-being in children and families. They have studied and explored consciousness since they met in 1979 and have been using Natural Learning Relationships with children, families, educators; in programs; and with schools since the 1980s. They have been instrumental in reinstituting Rites of Passage in contemporary culture.

Josette and Ba are advisors to public and private schools as well as authors specializing in whole-child development, education, and family dynamics. They live, work, and play together in Portland, Oregon and close to their children and grandchildren.

Episode 9: Sam Crowell

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Sam Crowell is professor emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino. He is the founder of the Masters Program in Holistic and Integrative Education and is also a founding member of the Network in Spirituality and Education. Currently, he serves as a doctoral faculty member at Cal State and is an affiliate faculty of the UNESCO Chair for Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter at the UN chartered University for Peace in Costa Rica. Sam is also a faculty of Self-Design Graduate Institute and an invited adjunct professor at St. Michaels College in Vermont.   

In this podcast:

  • How to create value spaces in an education setting that call forth relationship and sustainability
  • The importance of experiential pedagogy that call for students to embody their own deep self
  • Using ritual to create educational community aware of sustainability and spirituality 
  • Teaching at Peace University in Costa Rica as part of the UN Earth Charter

Click Here for a Transcript.

Sam's personal vision is to live a life of love and service. Through his presentations, teaching, writing, and creative projects he aims to facilitate experiences that help others:

  • Integrate holistic and open systems perspectives of science, learning, and sustainable culture in their lives and organizations;
  • Cultivate practices and perspectives that nourish the inner life and awaken one's personal vision and dreams grounded in loving service;
  • Experience spiritual transformation and engagement in the creative arts, nature, and community. 

Dr. Crowell writes in the field of education, social change, and personal development where he explores the implications of a trans-modernist, holistic worldview. His books include

  • "Emergent Teaching: A Path of Creativity, Significance, and Transformation" with Rowman and Littlefield, 2013.
  • "The Re-Enchantment of Learning" with Corwin Press, 1997, 2001.
  • "Mindshifts" with Chicago Review Press, 1995, 1999, 2002.
  • "Educating Toward a New Cultural Mythology: an Analysis of Three Scientific Metaphors" unpublished.
  • “A Global Ethic for an Interconnected World: Toward a Sustainable Future and the Well-Being of All” in progress.

Sam is part of the Fulbright Specialist Program and is the recipient of both the Outstanding Teaching Award and the Outstanding Professional Accomplishments Award.

 

BOOKS

International Handbook on Holistic Education. Editor, Under contract with Routledge Publishing. Due date 2018.

Lily’s World: A Planetary Vision for a Sustainable Future, In Progress. December, 2018.

E-BOOKS

Earth Charter Pedagogy: Integrating Peace Education and ESD, Book 1 in an series on Earth Charter Pedagogy, ReEnchantment Press, Kindle e-book. March, 2017.

 

CHAPTERS

 “Emergent Teaching and ESD,” in Education for Sustainable Development edited by Carla Sabbatini and Damasia Ezcurra. Published by Aique, Buenos Aires, Argentina, due out 2018.

“Becoming One - - Together: The Visible and Non-Visible Nature of Collaboration in Education in International Conversations of Teacher Educators: Collaborations in Education, edited by Mary Jane Harkins, Zhanna Barchuk, and Rupert Collister, 2017.

PRESENTATIONS

“The Implications of ESD and the Earth Charter for Teacher Education,” Invited Presentation, University deans and department chairs, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

“Shaping the Future: Educating Through ESD,” Invited Workshop, District Administration, Buenos Aires City  School District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

“Emergent Teaching : Discovering the Algo Mas,” Invited Presentation, San Andres University, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

“Integrating the Earth Charter into ESD Curriculum,” Invited Workshop, Professional developers, Esucelas Verdes Program, Buenos Aires School District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October, 2017.

*”Earth Charter Forum,” Round Table discussion, International Conference on Holistic Education, University of Southern Oregon, September, 2017.

“Creating Spaces for Transformation,” (with David Reid-Marr) International Conference on Holistic Education, University of Southern Oregon, September, 2017.

“Mindfulness for Educators,” Principal Facilitator, Mindfulness Institute at St. Michael’s College, Colchester, Vermont, July, 2017,

“Using Emergent Teaching for Teacher Development,” Invited Workshop, at the NIVOZ Institute near Utrecht, Netherlands, May, 2017.

*“Earth Charter Notes on Social Transformation” Invited Presentation at an Earth charter event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 2017.

“The Theory and Practice of Emergent Teaching: Applications for the Classroom,” Invited Workshop, at the NIVOZ Institute near Utrecht, Netherlands, May, 2017.

“Transformative Learning from an ‘Emergent’ Perspective,” Invited Public Presentation, Utrecht, Netherlands, May, 2017.

*“Introduction to the Earth Charter,” Invited Public Presentation to Indivisible Idyllwild, Feb. 2017.

“ Introduction to the Earth Charter,” Invited Webinar, SDGI faculty, Spring, 2017.

COURSES

Fulbright Specialist Award – “Ethics and Values for a Sustainable Future: Transformative Learning and the Earth Charter,” A week-long intensive course for the Earth Charter Center for ESD at the University for Peace, Costa Rica, July, 2017.

Online course – “Transformative Learning and ESD: A Holistic Pedagogy Grounded in the Neurosciences,” The Earth Charter Center, University for Peace, Costa Rica, Spring, 2017.

Doctoral Course, “Instructional Leadership and Change,” California State University, San Bernardino, Fall, 2017.

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Invited Advisory Board Member, Teachers College, Columbia University “Collaborative for Spiritual Development: Educating For A Democratic and Ecological Society,” a funded research project and national initiative.

OTHER RESEARCH

Participated in an Duo-Ethnography with Dr. Rupert Collister on “A Holistic Approach to Teacher Training” to be published 2018.

Episode 8: Yoshi Nakagawa

This week, Ba speaks with Dr. Yoshiharu Nakagawa, the founder and guiding light of The Asia-Pacific Network of Holistic Education. Yoshi has the amazing ability to speak of contemplative education in a way that allows everyone to not only understand what it is but to use it with children in all educational settings. Find this episode on iTunesGoogle Play or Stitcher, and subscribe to get future episodes automatically. Read the full transcript of Episode 8 here.

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Yoshiharu Nakagawa, PhD., is a professor of education at Doshisha University, in Kyoto, Japan. His current interests include holistic education, spirituality, transpersonal psychology, Eastern philosophy, Indian philosophy, and contemplation. He teaches holistic education and contemplative education at his school, and is active in the Japanese Society for Holistic Education & Care, and the Japanese Association of Transpersonal Psychology & Psychiatry. He is also one of the founding members of the Asia-Pacific Network of Holistic Education. 

He is the author of Education for Awakening: An Eastern Approach to Holistic Education (2000) and the co-editor of Nurturing Our Wholeness: Perspectives on Spirituality in Education (2002), in addition to contributing articles  to many journals and anthologies.

His translator:

Sachiko Gomi, PhD. Is Assistant professor of Social Work at Western New Mexico University. Sachiko practices a holistic approach to social work.

In this Podcast:

  • The importance of Contemplative Practice for educators and students
  • The spread of Holistic Education in the Asian Pacific Rim
  • Education in Japan and the challenges for Holistic Education
  • Bonus: Holistic practices in a New Mexican social service clinic

Click here for a transcript of the podcast.

Episode 7: Four Arrows

This week, Ba sits down with Four Arrows, aka Don Trent Jacobs Ph.D., Ed.D., a prolific author and educator with doctorates in Health Psychology and in Curriculum and Instruction.  Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to get future episodes automatically! Read the full transcript of Episode 7 here.

This episode's discussion touches upon the wisdom of place and belongingness, the structures of power we struggle against in education, and the role of non-ordinary experiences and Rites of Passage in deepening appreciation of one’s self and community.

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Four Arrows is Doctoral Faculty at the School of Leadership Studies, Fielding Graduate University. He is author of 21 books as well as numerous articles and invited book chapters. His most recent publications include:

  • Point of Departure: Returning to Our Authentic Worldview for Education and Survival (2016)
  • Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream (2013)
  • Differing Worldviews in Higher Education: Two Disagreeing Scholars Argue Cooperatively about Justice Education (2011)
  • Critical Neurophilosophy and Indigenous Wisdom (2010)

Four Arrows is affiliated with the American Indian Congress, the National Indian Education Association, and the Alternative Education Resource Organization. His commitment to sustainability, social justice, and the contrast between Indigenous and Western ways of knowing exemplifies the brilliance and bravery this series of interviews exists to celebrate. Indigenous education is one of the most essential efforts being made today with the potential to challenge the dominant approaches, and holistic education would be sorely incomplete without it.

Episode 6: Tobin Hart

In our 6th episode, Tobin Hart and host Ba Luvmour explore the overlap of psychology and education, tracing the productive outlines of awareness and social-emotional learning. Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to receive future episodes! Read the full transcript of Episode 5 here. 

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Tobin Hart, Ph.D. serves as Professor of Psychology at the University of West Georgia.  He is co-founder of the ChildSpirit Institute, a nonprofit educational and research hub exploring and nurturing the spirituality of children and adults.  His work explores human consciousness especially at the nexus of psychology, spirituality, and education. His book, The Secret Spiritual World of Children has helped to validate and highlight the innate spiritual life of young people. Two books explicitly on Holistic Education are The Integrative Mind: Transformative Education for a World on Fire and From Information to Transformation: Education for the Evolution of Consciousness.

Episode 5: Philip Snow Gang

Philip Snow Gang shares some of the golden threads from his lifelong journey as a teacher and philosopher. Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to receive future episodes! Read the full transcript of Episode 5 here.

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Phil Gang   started as an engineer working for big corporations. Wanting something for his own children, he turned to Montessori and found his calling. Phil's work focuses on an educational approach and pedagogy that allows children to self-reflect, to wonder, and to appreciate the cosmos through nature. Phil has worked in holistic education for over 45 years, founding institutions ranging from Montessori schools to graduate programs.
We are so excited to share his interview with you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Snow_Gang

Spirituality and Holistic Education

We believe spirituality is integral to Holistic Education. For many, however, spirituality is either consigned to religion or ignored as irrelevant to education. The question naturally arises: Is it possible to include a secular, non-sectarian spirituality in education? And, as spirituality resists exact definition, how can we approach it and bring it into education?

Guests of Meetings with Remarkable Educators tackle these questions directly. Here is a brief sampling of insights that emerged during recording.

Tobin Hart, professor of psychology at West Georgia University, focuses on the challenges of bringing spirituality to education. His interview is a treasure chest of understanding. A brief excerpt:

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It is so tricky, isn’t it [to bring spirituality and education together]. I mean, in a largely secular world to be able to talk about that. I think the thing though that is really common, and that folks can pretty easily get is that we have both moments, and feelings, and also values that are deeply meaningful…. And particularly when there's a spirituality that's really about things like authenticity, and individuality, and creative expression, and then there's a part of a spirituality that's also about interconnection, and receiving, and surrender and that kind of thing.

Tobin goes on to talk about “embodied spirituality,” and how that can be actualized in classrooms for all ages.

Josette and I have had the honor to facilitate Rites of Passage for children, adults, and whole families. We have always wished that they become incorporated in schools. Thankfully, Rachel Kessler led the way with the Mysteries program for high school students in New York City. Rachel has passed away, so you can imagine our delight in finding Shauna Sorce and her work with middle school children and Rites of Passage. She sees this a way to bring spirituality to education. In the interview, she specifies why she does it:

I'm doing it because I didn't have a Rite of Passage as a teenager. I had this deep, heartfelt longing for a mentor or a guide…somebody that I could trust, and put my faith in, and believe in and go to 100%. And I didn't have that… I longed for some kind of an initiation…and a wise elder to guide me. And for lack of having that soul in me nurtured through school, or through home, I sought it out on my own, and it wasn't always in the safest or positive, nurturing ways.

Marni Binder, professor and educator of young children, spent 23 years teaching before she “realized something was missing.” Although she was already profoundly active in social justice, loved by her students, and secure in her profession, she nevertheless experienced an extraordinary transformation. Here’s a brief anecdote from her interview describing a moment of realization:

I remember being in a meeting with my primary teachers and our Ministry of Education in Ontario in Canada stated that we have to teach the whole child. I thought, "Wait a minute." When I asked people if they could tell me, what they thought that meant? Really what they were talking about was integrating. They were talking about some of the domains, but the spirit of the child was missing. And so that to me, that piece of identity and soul, and who that child is, which is so wrapped up in the spirituality of that child, that was the missing piece.

She continues on to describe how she changed her practice based on this insight.

I could go on and on. There’s Jack Miller bringing meditative practices to teachers in training in a way that has influenced literally thousands of educators. And Paul Freedman speaking of spirituality as naturally emerging in children when the school creates the proper nurturing environment. In short, every interview contains insights, practical suggestions, real life stories, and appreciation for integrating spirituality and education.

We look forward to sharing these with you, and for your feedback on these ideas. Meetings with Remarkable Educators is about connection and community, which is vital to our inquiry and appreciation of spirituality in education. We wish you our very best.

- Ba Luvmour

To download episodes of the podcast, visit us on iTunes. Connect with us on FacebookTwitter andInstagram to learn more about Holistic Education and stay updated on our project.

Episode 4: Paul Freedman

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Paul Freedman embodies holistic and progressive education in a way that few do. He is the founder, head administrator and a classroom educator at the Salmonberry School on Orcas Island, Washington, as well as the founder of the Holistic Education Initiative. His work blends warmth and enthusiasm with a profound knowledge of the whole child. Mention Paul’s name and many have a smile and a story. Visit our website to listen to Paul speak about his work with children and to find links to iTunes, Soundbutt, Google Play and more resources on holistic education.

Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to receive future episodes! Find a full transcript of Episode 4 here.

Some additional links for those interested in Paul's work:

The Salmonberry School

The Holistic Education Initiative

Deep Education: Re-visioning Teaching and Learning for today, Paul Freedman's TEDxOrcasIsland talk

Episode 3: Marni Binder

Marni is that rare combination of wisdom and energy that many naturally gravitate towards. Dedication, love of children, and commitment to the life on the planet ring throughout this upbeat, informative interview. This podcast highlights:

  • Art Spiritualty and Elementary School Students
  • How holistic teaching practices have contributed to her self-knowledge.
  • Insights to help others transition to Holistic Education

Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to receive future episodes!

 

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Episode 2: Demetri Young

High school senior Demetri is the sound engineer for Meetings with Remarkable Educators. He became interested in Holistic Education when he compared it with his life in public school. We were chatting while editing and it turned into a spirited inquiry that we each enjoyed. So we did a Podcast as Demetri insisted that many listeners would not be familiar with Holistic Education. This podcast highlights:

  • The principles and practices of Holistic Education
  • The importance of relationship for learning
  • The importance of meaning relevance in curriculum

Link to transcript

Episode 1: Jack Miller

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Episode 1 features Jack Miller, a professor of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto. Considered by many to be the most prominent voice in holistic education, Jack Miller’s work has helped spread holistic practices to countries around the world. In this podcast, Jack and host Ba Luvmour renew their long acquaintanceship, sharing laughter and insight. This episode's highlights include:

  • Jack's success in bringing self-reflective, non-sectarian, spiritual practice to Holistic Education Teacher Training.
  • How life in the frozen North leads to Holistic Education insights.
  • How personal tragedy leads to great creativity.

Click here for a PDF transcript.

Find this episode on iTunes and subscribe to receive future episodes!

Jack Miller is a professor of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto. Learn more about his research.

Jack has recently given talks in Oslo and Bangkok on Holistic Education. He is currently co-editing the International Handbook on Holistic Education(Routledge). Check out Jack's Amazon author page here.

His most recent book: Love and Compassion: Exploring their Role in Education. Love and Compassion is both a practical and conceptual work, and will interest those involved in the study and practise of holistic and contemplative education. In addition to the seven dimensions of love, Miller’s evaluation includes nonviolent action, the love of beauty, and how they are crucial to the practise of teaching.

The Secret of Their Happiness

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As you might expect, Holistic Educators face many challenges in today’s complex educational environment. Yet I didn’t encounter folks stressed or pessimistic about their efforts, their schools, or their future. So where did all the joy and laughter come from during these interviews? Even though we explored many of the challenges, I walked away from each recording feeling light, alive, and unreasonably happy.

So as I listened to the recordings of our conversations while editing, I selected comments that might reveal the secret to the joy that they shared. In the end I believe I caught a glimpse of the secret.

Debbie Millon and Marni Binder told of knowing that something was missing and that something *needed to be found. They went back to school, sought Holistic Education colleagues, risked money and job status and seniority. I find it compellingly interesting that their fields of engagement are so different. Debbie is Head of School at Wingra; Marnie is both a professor at Ryerson University and teaches art through holistic practices.

That diversity of interest and expression can be seen everywhere in Holistic Education. Most see the importance of parents and parenting. Our very own Josette has taken this as her vocation. Like Debbie and Marni, she knew she had to reshape the understanding of the possibilities in parenting.  Amazingly, parents who engage holistic child development can access greater cognitive and emotional understanding. The surprise: beyond that, they can also access wisdom. Wisdom-based relationships in families—amazing.

There there’s Jack Miller telling us of his 12 years working with students and administrators in the frozen north of Canada as a laboratory in which the need and possibility of Holistic Education appeared. Phil Gang credits the inspiration and much of the material for his film Educating Eco-Sapiens with creative revelations that came to him as he grieved the passing of his adored wife.

As for me, this sense of knowledge and its attendant joy have been in my bones for the whole of my life. Circumstances eroded the barriers; expression instantly followed.  

This is just a taste of some of the educators you will meet when listening to Meetings with Remarkable Educators.

And the secret? I guess my italics have given it away. There is great joy in connecting to a feeling of deeper knowledge of what is needed. That joy somehow includes a willingness to engage challenges as opportunities and the courage to fully live life.

Who the Heck Are Ba and Josette Luvmour?

At this point you may be wondering: Who the heck are Ba and Josette Luvmour….and why should we care?

Josette and Ba Luvmour have lived and worked together since 1984. They are each educators who later started several Holistic education schools, a holistic learning center for families and children, and many whole-family immersion programs (in both California and Oregon).  Teachers of children and parents, they are also teachers of other teachers (undergrad and graduate master’s students)—many of whom went on to start their own schools in the USA and Canada using Natural Learning Relationships child development and holistic approaches in their teaching practice.

Two energies born into different physical lives, they each began their particular journeys learning and preparing through diverse experiences. Their life paths intersected to become a third entity—a loving relationship. Continuing together, knowledge and wisdom availed themselves through life experiences, reflection, meditation, and spiritual connection. Their life’s work emerged weaving in and out of a joint venture.

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Together, Josette Luvmour, PhD and Ba Luvmour, MA co-created and developed Natural Learning Relationships (NLR) – a holistic understanding of child development that supports optimal well-being in children and families. NLR was the basis and philosophical foundation of the schools, learning center, programs they founded, and in their writings. They created and executed Rites of Passage programs for youth that incorporate developmental sensitivity and whole family transitions. Moreover, they founded two non-profit organizations which have been dedicated to awaking the greatness in humanity since 1985. They built a 35 acre retreat center and school in Northern California, before moving to Portland, Oregon in 2003.

They each have extensive independent school experience from all vantage points: as parents, program directors, facilitators and teachers, administrators, teacher-training courses and on-site support, parent-educators, founders of learning centers and schools, and board members (e.g., vice-president and board secretary).

In addition to publishing six books together that focus on building positive relationships with children, their writing has been published in NW Kids Magazine, ENCOUNTER: Education for meaning and social justice, Paths of Learning, Journal of Adult Development, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Parenting Matters, Family Post, Holistic Education Review, Mothering Magazine, and Naturopathic Doctor News, and other popular magazines and publications.

Josette received her doctorate in human development in 2009. She is a writer, and consultant in human development, educator, and public speaker. She specializes in how adult and child develop together, and adult transformational learning.

Ba with his granddaughter Naomi

Ba with his granddaughter Naomi

Ba is a master educator with an MA in psychology and education. He has dedicated his life to discovering how to restore and deepen optimal well-being in society and the world. He is a mentor to professionals in all matters relating to children, families, and education, meditation facilitator, family consultant, educator, writer, and podcast host about holistic education.

Josette and Ba are continually inspired by all those who learn with children and Grow Together to access greater self-knowledge and ultimately access wisdom. Among these can be counted other remarkable educators (as featured in their podcasts)—as well as parents at the schools they started and worked in, other teachers who have incorporated Natural Learning Relationships into the way they now teach in other school settings, and their colleagues.

Josette and Ba live and work together in Portland, Oregon. They feel graced to reside near their children and grandchildren with whom they enjoy close relationships.

Introducing "Meetings with Remarkable Educators"

It is a great pleasure to present the podcast Meetings with Remarkable Educators. My wife, Josette, and I have always had a deep commitment to children, to the evolution of consciousness, and to education that brings forth success in every endeavor of life—academic, social, career, relationship, emotional competence, relational confidence, and greater knowledge of self and our world. We are proud to announce our latest expression…the launch of Meetings with Remarkable Educators in January 2018 that will showcase the inspiring life work of experts who are committed to holistic education.

Each episode of MWRE will treat you to an in-depth conversation between me, Ba Luvmour, and leaders in the field of holistic education. My lifelong passion is education and conscientious relationships with children. These are the stories and big ideas that often get missed in the crush of the unrelenting one-size-fits-all educational approaches. Episodes highlight one remarkable educator’s life’s work and personal inspiration. The entire series of bi-monthly podcasts is meant to be a resource, a guide, and an inspiration that we hope will become a useful and integral part of your life.

We are honored to introduce you to remarkable educators such as Dr. Tobin Hart, author, teacher, and co-founder of the Childspirit Institute, dedicated to understanding and nurturing the spiritual world of children; Dr. Jack Miller, leading practitioner and teacher trainer in Holistic education; Philip Snow Gang, creator the Film: To Educate Eco-Sapines; Paul Freedman, Co-Director of the Holistic Education Initiative; Marni Binder, creative artist and teaching chair in early childhood studies — to name just a few. We trust you will find every one of them worthy of your time and attention.

These remarkable educators shift paradigms of learning. Their schools call forth greatness in their students. Their pedagogy brings clarity to the way humans learn. Their philosophy of life lends clarity to our own. They present a beacon of light; a way to actualize each of our potential while respecting family, heritage, culture, planet, science, each child, and the (non-sectarian) essence of spirituality. Their schools can found in cities, in woodlands, in farmlands, and in most countries. These educators understand that meaningful relationships among all the people within any school (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) are the foundation for successful learning. They are remarkable because they leave nothing out; and know there is always something greater. Humble, inquisitive, caring, and committed to all life, these remarkable educators are jewels in our communities and in our culture. In short, meaningful educators are inspired people who inspire others. Their aspiration is for well-being to emerge everywhere and spiral up and up—a natural emergence as breathtaking as it is unpretentious. Academic excellence blossoms; social and emotional development ripens.

We hope these podcasts act as an important convergence of voices in this field and a central hub of an emerging community, connecting and inspiring parents, academics, and educators. Our excitement to embark on this journey with you is increasing as our 2018 launch date approaches. We invite you to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Patreon to receive updates on the podcast’s launch and to participate in giveaways of exclusive materials, eBooks, posters, personal connection, and more.

This is education as it ought to be—a natural fulfillment of our birthright to self-actualize, to know ourselves as whole and worthwhile in every creative endeavor engaged. Wisdom cannot be taught but it can be inspired. The remarkable educators in these podcasts offer keys to connection with children in such a way that each student develops personal integrity, authenticity, and dignity to hold themselves and others with respect, honesty, and wholeness—and to access wisdom. No other educational approach is as relevant to meet the needs of today’s troubled world—for each student to access purpose and personal fulfillment in a meaningful and satisfying future.

Our hope is to inspire and ignite your heart’s passion to invite meaningful relationships with the children in your life. We look forward to your participation and are grateful for your interaction with us going forward. Stay tuned for updates and episodes in the near future!