Jack teaches holistic education and contemplative education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He is the author/editor of 20 books including, The Holistic Curriculum, Love and Compassion: Exploring their Role in Education, and his recent memoir, A Holistic Educator’s Journey.

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Dr. Jack Miller

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DR. JACK MILLER
is a Professor with the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
at the Ontario Institute, University of Toronto, Canada. His interests
focus on holistic education and spirituality in education. Here he is
interviewed by
DR. RANJANI IYER
of the Heartfulness Institute about holistic education: What is it? How
can it be introduced into the curricula of schools? And what are the
benefits to students and teachers?
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Q: Welcome, Professor Miller. A lot of your research and interests
 have centered on exploring holistic education and the various ways it
 can be implemented in the curriculum. Where does the term “holistic
 education” come from and when did it start?



JM: The term holistic education came into being in the1980s. There were two
crucial events that formalized the field. First, in 1988, Ron Miller
started a journal called the Holistic Education Review. Second,
my book, The Holistic Curriculum, was published in the same
year. And that was really the beginning of this as a field of inquiry.
“Holistic” comes from “Holism,” which is the theory that “parts of a
whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist
independently of the whole, or cannot be understood without reference to
the whole (Oxford English Dictionary).”



One of the main features of holistic education is to see that we are not
separate. The first people who taught holistically were the indigenous
people, because they have always focused on how things are
interdependent.



I’ve been connected with the Equinox Holistic Alternative school in
Toronto since 2009. It’s a public school that took my book as a guide
for a holistic curriculum of connectedness.


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Q: What do you think are the advantages of holistic education versus
 a more traditional approach?



JM:
Students become more integrated. When they go to school, they don’t feel
peer pressure to act in a certain way. Holistic schools still must meet
the curriculum guidelines, but the students can also find themselves and
see themselves as whole human beings.



In the holistic curriculum, one principle is Balance, based on the Taoist model, the Tao Te Ching. It
involves the balance of two complementary energies, the Yin and the
Yang, which exist at all levels of the cosmos – the universe, the earth,
cultures, and within us. Our North American culture is very Yang, which
is rational and materialistic. In holistic education, we try to get a
balance in learning that has both Yin and Yang. When they’re in balance,
then there’s harmony and well-being.



Q: What strategies can we deploy in the delivery of holistic
 education?



JM:
The Inclusion idea in holistic education is that a
school should not stereotype children, and that they include in their
teaching strategies three basic approaches –
Transmission, Transaction, and Transformation.
Transmission is the one-way transmission of information to the student,
either from a teacher or from a text. Transaction is more interactive,
where students can think about problems, and interact with the teacher
and other students. There is more dialogue and problem solving.
Transformation recognizes the inner life, the soul of the child, which
needs to be nurtured through the arts, contemplative practices, and the
loving presence of the teacher. In the holistic classroom we use all
three approaches to reach the whole child.


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Q: We’ve talked about how the holistic education model benefits
 students. Do you think it holds any benefits for teachers as
 well?



JM: It is important that teachers feel whole. If a teacher is in touch with
their whole being, including their soul, then that will radiate to the
students and ignite that inner place in the student. This deeper place
is the source of creativity and compassion.



Central to holistic education is that the student sees the
connectedness, that they’re in relationship with the Earth, with other
human beings, and with all forms of life. When this happens, students
can be well and whole.



A holistic, contemplative education includes being in touch with that
deeper part of ourselves by using various practices to nurture the soul,
the divine spark, our Buddha nature. These include meditation and
mindfulness practices, which allow us to experience that inner
connection at different levels, particularly the spiritual level. It is
also about love. When we are in that contemplative space, we can feel
the loving connection. It helps us to be more of a loving presence to
our students.


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A holistic, contemplative education includes being in touch
 with that deeper part of ourselves by using various practices to
 nurture the soul, the divine spark, our Buddha nature.

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Q: As we’ve been talking, I notice that a lot of the theoretical
 framework around holistic education seems very similar to
 Heartfulness. Do you see any similarities between the two?



JM:
Yes. Both emphasize the importance of the heart and the soul. Both focus
on developing a deep acceptance of ourselves and our place in the
universe.



Holistic education enables connections at various levels. Examples of
connections that are internal to the individual include
the thinking connections (intuitive and rational
thinking), and the body-mind connection – learning to
be at home in our bodies and loving our bodies. Yoga, Qi Gong and Tai
Chi help us get in touch with our bodies. Lastly, we have
soul or heart connections, which I mentioned earlier.



Then there are external connections, which include
subject, community, and Earth connections.
Subject connections focus on showing the relationship
between various domains of knowledge. Students can see how subjects are
connected. Next are community connections, where the
classroom and the school form a loving community. The idea is that
students are in this loving place where they’re learning and growing.
Finally, there are Earth connections, getting a sense
of our place on the Earth and caring for it. For example, in Japan and
South Korea, there is the school forest movement in which some schools
have a small forest on school grounds. The students care for the trees
and they can go there to sit and relax in a quiet outdoor space.


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I mentioned the importance of love. In my book,
Love and Compassion: Exploring their Role in Education, I
discuss eight forms of love,and how these dimensions of love have the
potential to improve education. The first is self-love, which is deeper than self-esteem and involves developing our
sense of who we are in relation to the universe. Then there’s
personal love and its different forms, including
friendship. There’s impartial love, which is the love
for all beings, which people like the Dalai Lama talk about. Another
important form is love of learning and developing
curiosity. Love of beauty is another form. Seeing
beauty in nature and in our lives is just such an important and
wonderful thing. Then there is non-violence. Martin
Luther King Jr. and Gandhi saw non-violence as a way of love in action.
Being present is another form of love. For example,
sometimes another person is so present to us that we feel loved. The
teacher’s presence is a vital to holistic education. And finally,
there’s cosmic love, where we feel connection
with the universe.


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Self-love, which is deeper than self-esteem and
 involves developing our sense of who we are in relation to
 the universe.

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Q: Fascinating, thank you for sharing your thoughts to aspiring
 educators like myself, with your framework of inclusiveness and
 connectedness for holistic education. Do you have any final thoughts
 you’d like to share?



JM: Holistic education includes inquiry, as both science and spirituality
involve inquiry into the nature of things. While
science uses more formal ways of investigation, meditation is also a
form of inquiry – an inquiry into our body-mind experience. It’s very
important that spirituality is seen as an inquiry into who we are,
investigating our place on the Earth.


Finally, this work should be joyful and come from a place of joy.


Q: Thank you once again, for taking the time to share your work with
 us.


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Interview by DR. RANJANI IYER
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