HANOI CONFERENCE

Slide 1:HANOI CONFERENCE

“THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPIRITUALITY IN IB SCHOOLS … FROM A NON- RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE BUT APPLICABLE FOR ALL SCHOOLS”

Slide 2:OUTLINE

1. INTRODUCTION 2. PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY * RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS * NON RELIGIOUS APPROACHES * NATURALISM 3. DEVELOPMENT OF SPIRITUALITY IN IB SCHOOLS – A PRACTICAL APPROACH 4. DISCUSSION

Slide 3:INTRODUCTION

“The twentieth century has not been good for the soul” Education and the Soul by Jack Miller

Slide 4:INTRODUCTION (cont)

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all truth and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.’ Albert Einstein

Slide 5:INTRODUCTION (cont)

IQ …..EQ …………..SQ

Slide 6:INTRODUCTION (cont)

PERSONAL FOOTNOTE RELIGIOUS TO NON RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS TWILIGHT PERSPECTIVES PERCEIVED GAP BETWEEN MISSION STATEMENTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY PROCEDURES

Slide 7:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY

* RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS * NON RELIGIOUS APPROACHES * NATURALISM

Slide 8:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS CHRISTIANITY BUDDHUIST HINDU SUFI

Slide 9:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

CHRISTIANITY – FOWLERS SIX STAGES OF FAITH 1.Intuitive-Projective 2.Mythical-Literal 3.Synthetic-Conventional 4.Individuative-Reflective 5.Conjunctive 6.Universalizing ”Universalizing Compassion”

Slide 10:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

BUDDHUIST – The Ten Oxherding Pictures 1. Searching for the Ox (mind)

Slide 11:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

BUDDHUIST – The Ten Oxherding Pictures 4. Difficult to tame – the mind wanders

Slide 12:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

BUDDHUIST – The Ten Oxherding Pictures 5. He tames the Ox Colour begins to change

Slide 13:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

BUDDHUIST – The Ten Oxherding Pictures 8. Herder and ox transformed - Disappear

Slide 14:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

BUDDHUIST – The Ten Oxherding Pictures 10 Returning to the world to live.

Slide 15:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

HINDUISM – THE SEVEN CHAKRAS

Slide 16:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

SUFI – LATAIF-E-SITTA (THE SIX SUBTLETIES – Nafs, Qualb, Ruh, Sirr, Khafi and Akhfa) These spiritual centres associated loosely with body organs and colours. Sufic development involves the awakening of these spiritual centers of perception that lie dormant in an individual.

Slide 17:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

A NON RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE THE DALAI LAMA “In the educational field , one has to take care not only of the brain, but also of one’s spiritual development. I say spiritual development not in any religious sense but simply in the sense of developing a righteous and a compassionate heart.

Slide 18:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY (cont)

A NON RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE “Spiritual Development – Outcomes and Indicators’ by Frances Vaughan “Education and the Soul” by John Miller SQ Connecting with our Spiritual Intelligence D. Zohar and I Marshall

Slide 19:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY(cont)

NATURALISM Cf Poem by Robert Frost “THE MOST OF IT” In this poem Frost explores whether nature alone is enough to satisfy human spiritual yearnings

Slide 20:PERSPECTIVES ON SPIRITUALITY(cont)

NATURALISM “Naturalism, strangely enough, may equal traditional faiths in its capacity to inspire spiritual response” “connectedness…mystery…wonder and compassion.” from Spirituality without Faith by Thomas Clark

Slide 21:SPIRITUALITY in IB SCHOOLS

DEVELOPMENT OF * Self Awareness * Awareness of Others * Appreciation of Nature * Connectedness * Compassion * Wisdom * Inner Freedom * Emotional Balance * Healthy Lifestyle Cf LEARNER PROFILES REFLECTIVE CARING WELL BALANCED KNOWLEDGEABLE PRINCIPLED RISK-TAKER

Slide 22:SPIRITUALITY in IB SCHOOLS

A FOUR WAY PROCESS STEP ONE INFUSION INTO THE CURRICULUM ELEMENTS CONDUCIVE TO SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT WORLD RELIGIONS CONQUEST OF IDEAS THEREFORE I AM ASIA ALIVE

Slide 23:SPIRITUALITY in IB SCHOOLS

YOGA AND MEDITATION THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE PYP UNITS OF INQUIRY * Unchartered Waters * Fit for Life? * Rainbows of Feelings * Lifetimes * My Brain Hurts * etc

Slide 24:SPIRITUALITY in IB SCHOOLS

A FOUR WAY PROCESS STEP TWO EDUCATION AND COACHING OF STAFF AND STUDENTS ON THE CONCEPT OF SPIRITUALITY WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON RELATION TO THE MISSION OF THE SCHOOL. THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE THROUGH AN ARTICULATED DEVELOPMENTAL CURRICULUM

Slide 25:SPIRITUALITY in IB SCHOOLS

A FOUR WAY PROCESS STEP THREE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRACTICE AND VALUING OF SERIOUS REFLECTION.

Slide 26:SPIRITUALITY in IB SCHOOLS

A FOUR WAY PROCESS STEP FOUR The recording of each student’s Individual Journey of Reflection on their ongoing development. This is done via an entirely private e-portfolio journal. While the Journal is structured the whole process must be entirely free and without pressure.

Slide 27:THE CENTRAL IDEA

FOR THE TEACHER TO “WORK WITH” THE STUDENT TO CONSCIOUSLY ENCOURAGE AND TO CAREFULLY FACILITATE THE TRACKING AND THE PRIVATE RECORDING OF HIS/HER HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT .

Slide 28:HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT

ACADEMIC LEARNING EMOTIONAL BALANCE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS PHYSICAL HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE COMPASSION

Slide 29:JESSIE FEN - MY CONTINUING STORY JUNE 2006

ACADEMIC PROGRESS EMOTIONAL BALANCE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS PHYSICAL HEALTH COMPASSION

Slide 30:JESSIE FEN - MY CONTINUING STORY JUNE 2006

ACADEMIC PROGRESS I think I am going well in my academic progress. I have only just noticed that depending on my confidence it will affect my grades. When I was having some troubles with friends and was down I didn’t feel like doing much. I would spend lunch times alone without anyone to talk to and it affected my grades LOTE in particular as that what you really need to study. I noticed it mainly when it came to doing tests I had no idea. But after I found new friends and got on with my life I am now getting A average and have found new people to be with. EMOTIONAL BALANCE Looking back I see I have had a very hard emotional time finding real friends. I really feel now that the friends I have are genuine and maybe I owe them my life .I even think I have changed heaps from last year because am not as materialistic as I used to be, I don’t care what clothes or things I own or how I have to be perfect to fit in. I owe this to my best friend from last year We had been best friends for five years and I looked up to her although last year she changed. We would always go shopping and she started loosing heaps of weight and she would make comments if I went to grab a packet of chips ‘Oh I could never eat that its so fatty” Even though she was my best friend I started to become very conscious of what I ate because of her. She left the country at the end of last year and I hate to say it but now I’m a lot more confident within myself and what I can do now she’s gone. She now tells me of how unhappy she is SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AS I already said, I owe the friends I have now everything. A friend of mine has slowly been hanging out with people who are beginning to change and get in with the wrong crowd. I don’t hang out with her at school although she is a very good friend of mine We just see each other in the corridor but after school we are the best of mates. It made me feel really good about myself when she told me that she had been talking to her dad and said that she seems happier and more confident when she is around me. Recently she wrote me a letter telling me how grateful she was for being there for her and she is now trying to find better friends and has been with me a lot lately. I notice many people come to me when they have a problem and I think this tells me that I am going in the direction I should be heading.

Slide 31:JESSIE FEN - MY CONTINUING STORY JUNE 2006

PHYSICAL HEALTH I have to admit I eat a lot of junk food, though I do nearly 15 hours of sport a week. I have been making a big effort to do exercise and eat healthier. I feel healthier and stronger and people who haven’t seen me for a long time tell me I look healthier than I did a couple of years ago. All in all, I think me eating needs a little work though my exercises are on track. I’m just taking it one step at a time. I’ve never done smoking or drugs and never will It is such a sad way to live and a terrible way to give your life away. COMPASSION I have recently taken the quote “live a good honourable life. Then when you get older and think back you will be able to enjoy it a second time” This is from the Dalai Lama and I have taken it to heart and have been doing everything I can to even just do one small thing to help someone out in their day. I’ll probably never be famous, so if I make one small contribution to someone’s life I’ll be remembered as a good person in general. I think I am fairly spiritual. I am always thinking. Thinking about what lies beyond our universe. Will they really be able to bring the people back to life who they cryogenically freeze? Will the water run out? They now believe our generation will live to be 130 years old, though if everything is going to be gone by the year 2050 I don’t want to be here then. Life will suck. Life will be lost. Learning about Buddhism has really affected my life as well. I am living as I go, and am loving everything and everyone at the moment. I am very compassionate about life, about my friends and family, especially Kardinia and about my future.

Slide 32: ACADEMIC PROGRESS I am doing quite OK but I think I am working at about 75% My results put me in the top third of year 9s however I don’t think I am dedicated enough to do the IB but I will still think about it. I will do VCE Phys Ed next year. I estimate I average about seven hours of homework each week during term. In the first semester I got 17 grades better than a B and 9 grades less than a B I think this is about the same as last year. I really don’t know what subjects I should concentrate on or what career interests me This time next year I need to know EMOTIONAL BALANCE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS PHYSICAL HEALTH COMPASSION I really enjoyed the 40 hour Famine Project. We had a Japanese exchange student during this time and it was really hard at the Sayonara Party at the Bowling Centre– I was so pleased with myself - I admire David Bowley I think he really wants us to help other less fortunate people. The unit The Journey with Mrs McKinnon really helped me think about life a lot It’s quite scary.

Slide 33:SAM FULLER - MY CONTINUING STORY JUNE 2006

ACADEMIC PROGRESS I think I am going ok but I need to be much neater and work harder. I also now need to stop copying my friends work and ideas. I am always getting a bit side tracked and not getting work done at other times I just can’t be bothered. I have always thought most of our topics were very boring but other times there ok. My student led conference I was very worried about what my parents would think of my work but it was ok. I thought someone was looking at me all the time and I was nervous. I have never been able to tell my strengths because I never had any that I really thought I was good at and I still can’t but there is still a lot of years to come. I wish I could work on my spelling EMOTIONAL BALANCE I gues my feelings are ok but I feel a bit weird like… the colour brown means just so much to me, it just makes me feel so happy and comfortable. I feel a bit odd because I like strange things that no one else would probably feel. That’s why everyone is special. I like the dark, I’m a bit afraid of it but I just like to see all these lights, but I hate being alone in the dark because I feel like I am going to die.

Slide 34:SAM FULLER - MY CONTINUING STORY JUNE 2006

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS I think I am doing much better than last year. I have lots more friends and I like all of them. I now don’t fight much at all with mum and dad but I do to much with my brother and sister One friend I won’t name her but she thinks she is a whole lot better then everyone and it really gets on my nerves but she is getting a bit better and I am roughly very happy and I look forward to the rest of my life. PHYSICAL HEALTH I feel I need to get a lot more exercise but I guess sport is ok but I rather go for a walk. I think I do really do eat well but sometimes I get too hungry and get take away instead of a healthy snack. I don’t really brush my teeth that often because I forget. Sometimes I want to stay up very late on games and I don’t get enough sleep then I am grumpy and I don’t get up in the morning. COMPASSION Here I can improve by thanking my parents for giving me a nice house and everything. I think I should be not so disappointed when things may not go the way I would have liked. When I get to year nine and go to Chang Mi and work with the orphans I would become very happy with what I have.

Slide 35:Max Dodd - MY CONTINUING STORY JUNE 2006

ACADEMIC PROGRESS EMOTIONAL BALANCE I sometimes feel sad that I am being bullied because I seem like a nerd because I am quite smart and wear glasses. I now feel like I am a very bad person. I feel like being a Cancer is suited to my name and personality because I have a real tough exterior from being teased and bullied but on the inside I am quite soft and empathetic. I now try quite different things at lunch times so I can get to know some people better than I originally knew them SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS COMPASSION

Slide 36:CHALLENGES

REQUIRES FULL COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION OF STAFF REQUIRES SPECIAL TYPE OF STAFF REQUIRES A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF COMMON UNDERSTANDINGS AND CONSISTENCY TIME AND TRAINING GENERATING STUDENT CONFIDENCE AND MOTIVATION