Educating for Wisdom and Compassion: Creating Conditions for Timeless Learning [Paperback]

John P. Miller (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1412917042 | ISBN-13: 978-1412917049 | Publication Date: July 20, 2005

Essential principles of timeless learning include attention, contemplation, connection, participation, and responsibility; helping students achieve a sense of purpose; and improving alertness and mental health.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Educating for Wisdom and Compassion: Creating Conditions for Timeless Learning, John Miller creates the category of timeless learning and describes its qualities and aspects. For someone new to this perspective, the book provides an enormously rich introduction to these insights and offers ready access to a set of detailed and wide ranging resources, including many activities the reader can experience at once. For those who are more knowledgeable, the book offers an opportunity for significant deepening of their understanding about the value and enactment of timeless learning. Educating for Wisdom and Compassion: Creating Conditions for Timeless Learning is clear and direct. It’s a book that provokes reflection, engagement, and a deeper vision." (David Marshak )

"Fills a vacuum in the education literature, a vacuum for an approach to teaching and learning anchored in the insights of various wisdom traditions and spiritually-oriented educational innovators. . . .It is a clearly written, concise, and inspired book which will be of great value to many of us in the education field." (Lourdes Arguelles )

"...the vignettes and stories, the suggested practices, the invocation of a fundamentally better way of being and of being in school, the focus on wisdom and compassion as outcomes of education.  Much of the material is wonderful, as is the message." (Geoffrey Caine )

"This is a timely, thoughtful, and very important book. In emphasizing the contemplative mind, it elaborates a key dimension of a new vision of education that is grounded in the wisdom traditions and essential in today’s classrooms. In a sensible, mature, and down-to-earth fashion, this work offers a philosophical context, an intimate understanding of the processes of consciousness, and a wide range of tested practical means to integrate the contemplative mind in the classroom." (Tobin Hart )

"This is a timely and valuable resource for educators concerned with integrating a spiritual perspective in their work...The book is written in a very reader friendly manner, using no or very little terminology unfamiliar to most readers." (Robert London, Professor )

"What this book offers that this country and others could benefit from is a different version of what our children need...The book’s major strength is the stimulation of a different point of view in a climate that may need some remediation. The quotes and anecdotes are very good." (Pearl Solomon )

"In this engaging book, John Miller has effectively distilled the essence of holistic education, providing parents, teachers and researchers with a solid foundation for understanding its key ideals and characteristic practices. Miller explains how a pedagogy rooted in caring, compassion, mindfulness and meaning truly makes a difference in in our lives. I will recommend this book to my students as a core reading on holistic education." (Ron Miller, Goddard College, Vermont )

"At a time of high-stakes testing and increasing emphasis on standards, Education for Wisdom and Compassion presents the value of a more holistic education. Author John P. Miller argues that a holistic approach allows students to gain a greater sense of purpose; reduce stress; and improve memory, alertness, and attention. Through meditation, contemplation, and reflection, Miller shows how students can find joy in learning and develop true wisdom." (Ed. - The Magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education )

"Like a precious opal, examination from multiple angles and perspectives reveals the beauty of this magnificent work."

(PsycCRITIQUES, February 15, 2006, Issue 7, Volume 51 )

"Well-conceived and brilliantly brought to life, this valuable introduction will be useful to teachers, parents, administrators, and researchers interested in holistic education for diverse students of all ages." (PsycCRITIQUES, February 15, 2006, Issue 7, Volume 51 )

About the Author

John P. (Jack) Miller, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto and Head of OISE’s Centre for Teacher Development. He has also been Visiting Professor at Shinwa Women’s University in Kobe, Japan, and at Rietsumeiken University in Kyoto, Japan. Professor Miller teaches courses in holistic education and spirituality in education. He has also led workshops and given keynote addresses on those topics at conferences around the world.  Notable among his many books, chapters, and journal articles are Holistic Learning and Spirituality in Education: Breaking New Ground (2005), Education and the Soul: Toward a Spiritual Curriculum (2000), The Contemplative Practitioner (1994), Holistic Learning: The Teacher’s Guide to Integrated Studies (1990), The Holistic Curriculum (1988), The Compassionate Teacher (1981), and Humanizing the Classroom (1976). His writing has been translated into seven languages.  

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Corwin Press (July 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412917042
• ISBN-13: 978-1412917049
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John (Jack) P. Miller has been working in the field of holistic education for over 30 years. He is author/editor of more than a dozen books on holistic learning and contemplative practices in education which include Education and the Soul, The Holistic Curriculum and Educating for Wisdom and Compassion. His latest book Whole Child Education will be published in 2010. His writing has been translated into eight languages. The Holistic Curriculum has provided the framework for the curriculum at the Whole Child School in Toronto where Jack has served on the Advisory Board. Jack has worked extensively with holistic educators in Japan and Korea for the past decade and has been visiting professor at two universities in Japan. Jack was one of 24 scholars invited to Bhutan in 2009 to help that country develop its educational system to support the country's goal of Gross National Happiness. He teaches courses on holistic education and spirituality in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto where he is Professor.