Neohumanist Educational Futures:
Liberating the Pedagogical Intellect
Tamsui and Taipei, Tamkang University, 2006
Neohumanist Educational Futures breaks new ground by
linking neohumanism (the expansion of humanism to include nature and
deep spirituality) with pedagogy and futures thinking.
Inayatullah, Bussey and Milojevic, all educators, theorize the
ethics of inclusion and exclusion; situate neohumanism in Tantric
and transcultural futures; map out issues in neohumanist pedagogy
(including, education for world futures; from information to wisdom;
social cohesion in South Africa; speciesism and vegetarian pedagogy
in Sweden; alternative indicators for neohumanism; integrated
intelligence, peace and non-violence, partnership education; and the
politics of historiography) and provide case studies of neohumanist
educational practice. Interspersed throughout this text are short
pieces by Indian mystic and author, P.R.Sarkar; Gurukul Vice-Chancelor,
Shumbushivananda and an interview with Paulo Freire conducted by
social activist Maheshvarananda.
Along with Inayatullah, Bussey and Milojevic, contributing authors
include Vedaprajinananda Avadhuta, Tobin Hart, Marcus Anthony, Riana
Eisler, Marlene de Beer, Helena Pederson, Vachel Miller, Peter
Hayward, Joseph Voros and Mahajyoti Glassman.
The authors argue that the current paradigms of uni and
multiculturalism have reached their limits (and the tensions between
them) – a new approach, as in neohumanism or transcultural and
transcendental sustainability, is required for humanity to move
forward, and while doing so include those it has pushed aside.
To create this alternative future, a new educational philosophy and
practice is required; one that inspires but does not become yet
another method to be tamed and imitated.
Neohumanism intends to awaken the intellect from its narrow
boundaries (nationalist, religious) toward planetary spirituality.
Education in this future would be holistic – physical, mental and
spiritual; ecologically and technologically driven; global and local
in its orientation, and person based, meeting the changing
evolutionary and developmental needs of each child and adult,
teacher and student-learner.
COMMENTS ON NEOHUMANIST EDUCATIONAL FUTURES
"This wonderful book is timely. It enhances education to include
those things which can be readily understood rationally and those
things we don't necessarily have a rational explanation for, but
nevertheless have an intuitive, often nonlocal relationship with,
such as a new(er) understanding of the convergence of science and
spirituality, the two as integral to each other and not separate
from each other. The authors have shown us that Neohumanism through
educational futures can offer a needed respite for organizations
from their current addiction to consumerism. Neohumanism as a vital
leadership challenge - how to demonstrate performance management
(rational analyses) but at the same time put this into the context
of purpose and meaning attribution (non rational, post rational, non
local). This, from an organizational perspective, permits us to
shift our behaviour from the current hypothesized, but I believe
immature belief, 'that the business of business is business. No
apology required' to behaving as responsible members, responsible
adults, of the global community which brings with it the welfare of
both current and future generations. It brings hope."
Dr Robert Burke, Program Director, Melbourne Business School,
Mt Eliza
Centre for Executive Education, Melbourne, Australia.
"Provides a refreshing new future for global
education. Inspiring and thought provoking."
Dr. Kuo-hua Chen, Dean, Global Research and Development,
Tamkang University, Lanyang Campus, Taiwan.
"Having taught in mainstream education for some
15 years before taking the brave step away from what was safe,
comfortable and for the most part relatively easy. I am excited that
such a resource is available for other educators who might be
questioning current practices within mainstream education.
Neohumanist Educational Futures offers invaluable insight into
both the theoretical and practical elements of a curriculum that
focuses on human potential rather than limited quantitative
learning. In addition, it affirms many teachers existing belief that
there are better ways to educate and live."
Chiray Fitton
Principal, Alcheringa Montessori College, Buderim, Australia
"If we wanted to protect the future for our
children and theirs, how would we do it? First we must imagine
better futures, then work out how to create them. But who would we
entrust with such a task? Whose “better” futures?
There’s no-one I would rather trust with the futures of my children
and theirs than the authors of this amazing book, each of them
enriched by deep scholarship and humanity, and refreshingly free of
attachment to ego or dogma. In a dazzling succession of illuminating
concepts, they offer new ways to think about ourselves and our
global futures. Together, they describe a system of wisdom-centred
education for global citizens that really does have the potential to
save the future."
Jan Lee Martin, Founding Chair, Future Foundation, Sydney
"Neo-humanist Educational Futurescontributes
to the work of creating a
global renaissance in education and culture. I believe that readers
will be
pleasantly surprised to find in neo-humanism the best vision of a
bright
future for the world."
Dada Jyotirupananda, Editor, New Renaissance magazine
(www.ru.org), Mainz,
Germany and London, England.
"If our planetary future is to embody anything
other than a global commodity culture with recurrent technological,
political, environmental, military and social crises, then
consciousness itself, and the acts of thought that flow from it,
must shift radically. Education is a crucial component of any such
"paradigm shift," yet current educational discourse is almost
exclusively concerned with test scores, bureaucratic accountability,
the standardization of knowledge, and the preparation of students
for the global economy. In this arid landscape, Neohumanist
Educational Futures: Liberating the Pedagogical Intellect offers
a deep breath of invigorating intellectual air. These essays,
synthesising ancient and postmodern understandings of compelling
depth and richness, constitute a 'wisdom-centered' paradigm of
educational thought and practice that might turn us away from the
looming dystopian future toward a dynamic new ethical era of peace,
sustainability, social justice, and the cultivation of human
potential."
Dr. Kathleen Kesson, Professor of Urban Childhood Education
at the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University, and author (with
Jim Henderson) of Curriculum Wisdom: Educational Decisions in
Democratic Societies.
"This important book should be read by all those
who care about the future of education. Embracing the enlightenment
of both east and west, the authors of this book offers us a future
worldview that is truly integral--an educational narrative that is
both pragmatic and visionary, both spiritual and rational. "
Roar Bjonnes, Author, columnist, and former editor of
Prout Journal.
"Neohumanist Educational Futures is a
vital new addition to the emergent literature on educational
approaches which honour the inner dimensions of the child. Although
not as well known as the major European spiritually-oriented
educational alternatives, such as those initiated by Rudolf Steiner
and Maria Montessori, the neo-humanist pedagogy developed by Indian
philosopher and mystic P R Sarkar deserves much wider recognition. A
diversity of such integrated approaches are a salve for the global
cultural spirit in these urgent times when the factory model of
mainstream Western education is being insinuated into cultures
everywhere, in spite of its failure to meet the needs of the world's
youth. This significant book elucidates Sarkar's educational
contribution to the world, introducing neo-humanist education to the
largely spiritually-starved contemporary educational discourse. "
Jennifer Gidley, Educational Psychologist, Steiner school
founder and Co-Editor of The University in Transformation and
Youth Futures.
How to order:
Copies can be ordered directly from the editors in our
online bookstore. For
large orders, please contact
info@metafuture.org. Copies are also available from gkpress@gurukul.edu.
Click here to read the
book's foreword
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