Holistic Educator Workshops 2010-2011

Saturday September 11, 2010 - 10am - 12 noon   Room 5-280

Educating for Wisdom - Jack Miller
In this workshop Jack Miller will share his understanding of what constitutes wisdom and then explore ways that we can develop a wisdom-based approach to teaching and learning.  The workshop is based on a chapter in book that has just been published that Jack co-edited entitled Spirituality, Religion and Peace Education.

Jack Miller teaches courses at OISE in Holistic Education and Spirituality in Education and is author/editor of more than a dozen books in these fields. His most recent books include the aforementioned and Whole Child Education, which being published this September by U of  Toronto Press.


November 6, 2010 -  Room 5-280 – 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Panel Presentation by Three New Alternative Schools in Toronto
In September 2009 three new alternative schools were opened within the Toronto District School Board. These included: Although each school has it own unique focus, all incorporate a holistic perspective in their vision.  On Nov. 6 the Holistic Educators group will feature a panel with representatives from each of the schools talking about the schools.  There will also be an opportunity for questions and interaction with the panel.

Workshops 2011

January 15, 2011   Room 5-280  10 am - 12 noon
To Be a Friend: The Key to Friendship in Our Lives - Dave Hunt
In today's busy world, we may fail to realize that our need for friendship is as vital and important as our basic needs for food, air, and water. However, thanks to the high-stress environments people currently live in, they are now starting to realize how important friendship is to a healthy and full life.

To Be a Friend: The Key to Friendship in Our Lives shows readers how to open the flow of friendship in their lives by learning to be friends. It offers activities that have proven helpful to participants in the author's workshops, exercises that prompt readers to examine their personal beliefs about friendship and apply them in daily life. By following these activities, readers discover how to be friends with themselves, how to be friends with others, and how to strengthen existing friendships. Author David Hunt also describes his experiences with learning how to be a friend, including his successes and failures. In this workshop, Dave will lead us in examples taken from this recently published book. In this workshop, Dave leads us in a variety of activities taken from his writings.

Professor Emeritis Dave Hunt is a psychologist who taught at Yale and Syracuse Universities and who now teaches at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Previous books are Beginning with Ourselves and The Renewal of Personal Energy.

NOTE: Copies of To Be a Friend will be available for purchase from Dave for $15 a copy. You may also order the book from Amazon.ca

February 26, 2011  Two workshops: 1.Trust Children - Carlo Ricci    2. Educating with H.E.A.R.T - Paul Royes

Trust Children
As a society we need to do a much better job of trusting children. Through love, trust, compassion, and respect we can begin to create learner centered democratic spaces and places for young people. In this presentation Carlo will share how unschooling (also known as natural learning, life learning, organic learning, holistic learning, and open source learning), and free schools (like the Albany Free School and Sudbury Schools) are creating environments that trust children.

Carlo will also inform as to how even those without secondary school diplomas and school transcripts can be admitted to post secondary institutions, a concern to many new to unschooling. The session encourages participation and dialogue about these and other alternative ways that people have imagined, created, and are living.

Carlo Ricci is an associate professor at the Schulich School of Education, Nipissing University where he teaches in the Graduate Studies Program. He is the founder and editor of The Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning, a peer reviewed publication. He also founded the Unschooling Channel on YouTube that has received over 25,000 total upload views. He has two children: one has decided to attend school and the other to be unschooled. He is an educational consultant for a group that is planning to open a Sudbury School in the Greater Toronto Area: The Reach Sudbury School of Toronto is scheduled to open in September 2011.

EDUCATING WITH H.E.A.R.T.  (Holistic Educators Association for Resources &Teaching)
H.E.A.R.T. was born on Saturday, November 6th,2010, out of a vision for the following:
1) providing "bridging" support for holistic teachers within their relationships with school administrators and boards of education;
2) creating, maintaining, and providing access to a bank of holistic education resources to be shared by all holistic educators and holistic-based schools.
3) documenting the reimagination of all education through the heart of holistic principles,

The workshop today will be an interactive lesson planning session geared towards creating a set of lessons plans for use in a holistic classroom setting.

Paul E. Royes is Professor, New Media, George Brown College,Toronto, ON.  In 2005, Paul founded THE NOTHING SCHOOL as a vehicle for holistic research, teaching and learning.  Paul is currently working on a book with 10 holistic educators on the POWER OF LOVE IN HOLISTIC EDUCATION: SHARING THE FRUITS OF OUR PRACTICE. (Looking for a few more chapter authors if you are so inclined! Email me: proyes@goodmedia.com). Paul recently envisioned H.E.A.R.T. (Holistic Educators Association for Resources & Teaching), re-imagining all teaching and learning through the heart of holistic principles.

Two Workshops: April 16, 2011

Presentation: The Flow and Pulse of Learning
Kelli Nigh was a drama teacher for a group of young people that remained in a community drama class from the time they were young children to the time they left for university. Meditation techniques, for example, breathing, visualization, tai chi, yoga and various movement activities were explored in this class. The recent issues surrounding global climate change initiated a new curiosity. What would happen if we applied a similar mind/body gentling process while we attend to nature? Kelli will present the findings of this research inquiry with the aim to make a contribution to body/mind curricular approaches in holistic education. Two activities from this gentling process will be explored.

Kelli Nigh is a PhD student at OISE in the field of holistic education. She is also currently an instructor for the Holistic Teaching and Learning Course in the Initial Teacher Education program. While teaching for the past twenty years in various school and community settings, Kelli implemented mind/body awareness and various meditation techniques in the drama classroom. Kelli hopes to continue her research on ways to attend to nature with an energetic aliveness and an active imagination.

Presentation:  Mindful Teaching & Teaching Mindfulness
Mindfulness meditation has seen continued growth into the field of health care over the past 30 years.  This foundation and the mounting research agenda exploring the benefits of mindfulness with students and teachers are creating more opportunities for integrating mindfulness-based practices into education.

Geoffrey Soloway has been teaching and researching a program called Mindfulness-Based Wellness Education (MBWE) in the initial teacher education at OISE/UT over the past 5 years.  Geoff will discuss the core findings of his dissertation illuminating the relationships between the experiences of teacher candidates going through MBWE to priorities of teacher education.   Teaching mindfulness within higher education and professional preparation is also a unique context.  Key curricular and pedagogical components of the MBWE program that supported student engagement will be presented and experienced in our time together.   Participants will take away strategies for practicing mindful teaching and teaching mindfulness. Geoffrey was trained in a classical approach to hatha yoga at Yashodhara Ashram in British Columbia in 2003 and regularly attends mindfulness meditation retreats; recently completing a month-long retreat at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA.  He has attended the Mind & Life Summer Research Institute over the past three years, a forum investigating the emerging field of contemplative neuroscience.  Geoff’s doctoral research received SSHRC funding in 2010/11.

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