Holistic Educator Workshops  2013 - 2014


Dates for 2013 - 2014 Workshops:
Speakers and topics
Room Number 5-260

November Meeting - November 16 - Room 5-260
Understanding the Mystery of "Me" - A Psychosynthesis Perspective - Dr. Anne Mulvaney
 
Understanding the Mystery of "Me" - A Psychosynthesis Perspective - a 2 hour presentation/experience where participants learn first-hand how Psychosynthesis can improve the quality of their lives and those of their students.  Through guided imagery, free drawing and one-to-one sharing you gain new insights to accept yourself and others with compassion and humor.  As Winnie the Pooh said: “Life is too important to be taken seriously.”
Anne Mulvaney Ed.D. (O.I.S.E.1994) teaches meditation through her website: http://www.one-to-one-meditation.com. A retired high school teacher, she is now a facilitator of Psychosynthesis and a Spiritual Director (Haden Inst. 2004). She has several writing projects on the go including poetry and short stories. Psychosynthesis is a transpersonal psychology dear to her heart since 1983.   It has been an invaluable tool to help her understand and support herself and others, especially teen- age students, and now, her clients.  (See #3 blog on her website)


January Meeting -  January 18 - Room 5-260
Equinox Holistic Alternative School - Mark Lasso
Roger White Academy - Farzaneh Peterson

Equinox Holistic Alternative School - The growing pains of Toronto's largest public holistic / alternative school and Canada's first full-day outdoor kindergarten, what the program looks like right now and where we are headed. "In a society facing complex cultural, environmental, economic, political, health and scarcity issues, the same ways of approaching problems will no longer suffice.  What will be required is a new set of aptitudes that include imagination, inventiveness, collaboration, openness, adaptability and flexibility.  Education has always played a fundamental role in preparing our children to become engaged citizens of the world and there is no better way to make change happen than to begin rethinking how we teach and engage our future generations." http://equinoxschool.ca/
Mark Lasso (B.A., B.Ed, OCT) - Principal - has been an educator for almost twenty years as a teacher, consultant and administrator, integrating his background in children's mental health and gifted education into his current role as principal of two K to Gr. 8 public schools, Roden P.S. and the newly founded Equinox Holistic Alternative in the culturally diverse Little India neighbourhood in east-end Toronto.

Roger White Academy - The Academy has common challenges (with Equinox) and some specific challenges. Probably our successes are quite similar. I have thought of asking our students to come and have a repeat performance of their presentation for the 9th International Holistic Learning Conference, which was attended mostly by professors from oversees. The students described their education from their perspective and did well in replying to questions. I think it is crucial to hear our recipients and see the work from their perspective. I am happy to meet with Mark and go over what the curriculum looks like and where it could go. In fact, this would be a reality check for me as a past member of the Advisory Board. It might provide us with an opportunity to reflect on our vision and where it has taken flight. We are in a very exciting time and we are too close even to see our paradigm shift.
Farzaneh Peterson (B. Arch. MA) Principal - draws on exceptional and diverse academic accomplishments together with over twenty-five years of teaching, curriculum development and administration in avenues of alternative education in five countries. Excelling in math and sciences, her analytical ability has served her well in assessing and re-evaluating knowledge theory, methods of education and cultural contributions. Impelled by the challenges of bringing up her own gifted daughter within the framework of current priorities and understandings in education, she found that every child is an individual with specific gifts and abilities, often responding to widely varying methods of learning. Her experience has been augmented by completing graduate studies combining women’s studies, education and history and philosophy of religion with emphasis on qualitative methods of research. Farzaneh was a member of the advisory board for Whole Child School. She owns and operates Roger White Academy, a private holistic school for kindergarten to grade eight in Newmarket, Ontario.

 Top of Page


February Meeting -  February 22, 2014 -  Room 5-260
Jim Brown - Bridging the gap with boys
Joanna Krop  -The Teacher Stress Code

Bridging the Gap with Boys
Among the many serious issues that parents, teachers, and all of society are facing today is that of the underachievement of boys in the education system. But how can this issue be addressed? Where can those concerned find the best solutions to this problem? This presentation will examine the role that a holistic approach to education plays in allowing all children, including boys, to achieve to their maximum potential in school.
Dr. James S. Brown (BA, BEd, BEd, MA, MEd, EdD) is a Canadian parent, grandparent, teacher, educational leader, academic and researcher who is now retired after a 40-year career in education. He currently pursues his interest in equality in education, especially for those disadvantaged by the education system as it presently functions. He has five children (three sons and two daughters) and nine grandchildren (six granddaughters and three grandsons).

The Teacher Stress Code
Mother? Hero? Savior? Sage? Good Cop Bad Cop? Friend? Who are we when we teach? By the end of this workshop you will understand how your main stress type influences your teaching, marking, classroom management,  prep time and even your lunch time!    You will know how to recognize, stop it, and give it a healthier expression in your life – so you can teach with less stress, guilt, worry, and overwhelm…and find joy in your job
Joanna Krop is a former teacher  now working in holistic health, burnout prevention and environmental health. Joanna has transformed teachers’ experiences with unique approaches to stress and burnout prevention. Visit her at http://www.teachingwellbeing.com



March meeting -  March 29, 2014- Room 5-260
Kyeong Min- Holistic Arts-Integrated Curriculum
Kathryn Jefferies - Experiencing the Truth of Oneself

Holistic Arts-Integrated Curriculum
Holistic Educators are expected to play an inspector’s role to rightly appreciate our teaching and learning practices as well as an architect’s role to creatively rebuild our home of education where children are nurtured as whole beings. Based on the presenter’s doctoral thesis entitled “Toward Holistic Pedagogy of Art Integration,” this workshop intends to discuss some current arts-integrated curricula and suggest how to remedy their shortcomings from an angle of the holistic ways of the arts. Some vignettes from teachers and parents on the values of the arts will be shared, and participants will be engaged in mini activities.
Kyeong Min - recently finished her doctoral program at OISE under the supervision of Professor Jack Miller. Her academic and research interest includes whole child education through the arts, holistic arts-integrated education for children, and mindful parenting with the arts. Kyeong had worked as a kindergarten teacher many years in South Korea and immigrated to Canada in 2007.

Experiencing the Truth of Oneself: Krishnamurti and The Work of Byron Katie in Education
In this workshop, I will introduce people to The Work of Byron Katie, a simple method of personal inquiry that I refer to as experiential learning. People will have the opportunity to witness me facilitate someone in The Work as well as, time permitting, experience it for themselves. I have found The Work to be a simple but profound way of experiencing what Krishnamurti claims is the only way to transform outer reality, which is through understanding the self. My intention is for people to get a taste of this--of their true selves--in this workshop.
Kathryn Jefferies - did her PhD research on the nature of awakening, or, enlightenment, and non-conceptual or unmediated ways of knowing which provide us with true intelligence and creativity. Her research focused on the work of Krishnamurti and Byron Katie. Her interests also include the nature of intuition and consciousness, and experiential learning that facilitates awakening experiences. She currently teaches education at Lakehead University in Orillia and facilitates people in The Work of Byron Katie in private practice. She also is working on a book from her PhD dissertation, and is a mom.

Top of Page