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    • #4746
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant
      Dear Deep Time Friends,
       
      The DTJN Board and I are excited to share news about upcoming online Professional Development Programs in DEEP TIME EDUCATION for teachers of ages 0 to 18.  Over the coming months we will send more information about these professional development programs which will be given by start in January 2016, offering continuing education units, and given by highly experienced teacher trainers. 
       
      SO WHAT’S DEEP TIME EDUCATION?
       
      Deep Time Education is an approach to education that’s not new.  It has been practiced for decades in many settings at different levels and by different names — Montessori Cosmic Education, Universe Story, Journey of the Universe, Environmental Evolution, Big History, Deep History and others.  Our goal on the DTJNetwork is to explore what is already being done in so many remarkable ways,  connect different efforts in a continuum across all age levels, and to evolve a comprehensive approach.
       
       
      What follows are Principles, some or all of which, are shared by those engaged in this approach to education.  We welcome your thoughts about these Principles on the Forum topic: Principles of Deep Time Education.
       
      Drawing on several pedagogies and many conversations with teacher trainers, we’ve come up with Seven Principles of Deep Time Education so far.  They are:
       
       
      1.  CONTEXT:
      Orienting to a Vast Evolving Universe
       
       
      2.  MATRIX:
      Grounding in Our Earth Community
       
       
      3.  AWE and WONDER: 
      Experiencing Ourselves as Part of a Larger Whole
       
       
      4.  REFLECTION and DISCERNMENT:
      Integrating Understanding and Experience; and Making good choices
       
       
      5.  ACTION and EVALUATION: 
      Participating in Evolution
       
       
      6.  PASSION, PLACE and PURPOSE: 
      Transforming into our Deeper Identities inside an Evolving Cosmos
       
       
      7.  FRAMEWORK and CONTINUUM: 
      Structuring Deep Time Education
       
       
      For a draft of the Principles, which emerged from many conversations and a number of other pedagogies, click here:  Principles of Deep Time Education (Draft)
       
      We would love to hear from you.  Please add your comments.  And if you’re not a Contributing Member yet (you have to be a Contributing Member in order to comment) please do answer the extended profile questions and become one.  It’s free!
       
      As many of you know, professional development for teachers is near and dear to my heart because I’ve been giving school programs and teacher trainings for over ten years, and I’ve personally seen the profound impact that a Deep Time understanding can have on people of all ages.  
       
      I’m thrilled to work with experienced teachers and teacher trainers in order to link our efforts.  We’re looking for your feedback about the kinds of programs you’d like, and, if you have substantial experience in training teachers, and would like to offer a program, please let us know.  
       
      Here are a few of the programs, offered by experienced teacher trainers, that are being scheduled for 2016:
       
      * What is Deep Time Education and why is it so Important?
      * Deep Time Education and the Planes of Development
      *  Montessori Cosmic Education — What is this remarkable Curriculum?  
      *  Using Timelines and Different Scales to See Differently
      *  Secondary Level: Bridging Montessori Cosmic Education and Big History
      *  Deep Time Education and Common Core:  Can you do both?
      *  Myth and Ritual in Deep Time Education
       
       
      Questions for you:
       
       
      1. Of the topics listed above, which ones are most important to you? 
      2. What other topics would you like to see offered?
      3. Many of you are involved in religious education.  Would you like to see professional development in Deep Time Education for religious education.
      4. What do you think of these Principles of Deep Time Education,? What would you add?
       
      We’re looking for FOUNDING SPONSORS to support our first year of professional development programs in 2016 which is sure to be very challenging.  There are considerable technology, promotion, programming, follow up, and administrative hurdles.  It’s a huge undertaking and we need support.  The names of our Founding Sponsors will be shown in a short video with every program, even for years to come as programs are placed in a section of the Network site where subscribers can watch them in the future.  If you are interested in being a Founding Sponsor, please contact us for more information about the Founding Sponsorship program.  
       
       

      If you’re not a Contributing Member yet, simply go through the steps which are outlined on the FAQs page under “About” on the menu bar.  It’s free!  Your feedback is extremely important.

       
      Thank you!
       
      Jennifer
       
      Jennifer Morgan, President, Deep Time Journey Network
    • #4750
      Laura Alary
      Participant

      Jennifer, reading through these principles made me wish I could become a child again and experience this sort of education.

       

      When I was eleven years old my class went on a field trip to a local park, where we sat with children from other schools around a large model of the sun, focused our senses on the earth beneath us, and heard about the “sun-ship journey” we were all experiencing together at that very moment. Awe and wonder were definitely part of that day–I wish they had been a more regular part of my schooling.

       

      As I hear more about the work you and others are doing to create such a rich and expansive way of learning, I am inspired.

       

      And yes, please, help and guidance for religious educators would be great.

    • #4752
      Imogene Drummond
      Participant

      The Principles are absolutely terrific, Jennifer! I like how well thought-out and clear they are, and that there is a “building” motion to them, i.e., from discernment to evaluation to purpose, and from experience to understanding to participation. I think all the topics are compelling, and alas, don’t think my experience as an educator is enough at this time to be useful for you regarding my input about them. However, I can imagine that, sometime down the road, all of these topics will be available in Deep Time Education.

      You’re amazing the way you keep enlarging this community to make Deep Time a more vibrant part of our lives!

    • #4754
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      Thanks so much for your thoughts Laura and Imogene, and your companionship on this journey of developing approaches to education that evoke a deep sense of connection to, and understanding of, an evolving Cosmos and our place within it.  Both of you are doing great work in creation stories, which is so central to this approach to education.  Please add any further thoughts as they occur to you.  I will update the Principles as more feedback comes in.  

    • #4755
      Andrea Lulka
      Participant

      I am so excited to see this developing.

       

      Of the topics listed, the ones of greatest interest to me are:

      * Deep Time Education and the Planes of Development

      *  Montessori Cosmic Education — What is this remarkable Curriculum?  

      *  Secondary Level: Bridging Montessori Cosmic Education and Big History
      *  Myth and Ritual in Deep Time Education
       
      I agree with Imogene Drummond that the principles are very well laid out. I find them to be comprehensive, descriptive and enticing! They very much reflect my own experience with Montessori Cosmic Education as a child and as an adult.
    • #4757
      Orla Hazra
      Participant

      Thank you Jennifer and Imogene, Andrea, and Laura! It feels as if we are starting from scratch in our understanding of ‘pedagogy’, the form of education in schools.  The other forms of education are in family, work and recreation.  Imogene- you and other artists have a huge role as art spans all four educational forms!!!!  I think all of us can reflect back on some moment when we ‘understood’ the truth of existence- its integral nature and how, in our school room, that experience of awe and wonder was oppressed and our fire quelched in favor of another type of knowing …instead of a sense of interconnection, we developed in other ways appropriate to our cartesian culture…..the results surround us in our social injustices, our environmental devestation and our sense of anomie- aka spiritual alienation.

      My aha moment became the fuel of my phd dissertation…finishing it literally 40 years after the experience…sure did a lot of damage along the way!  However, I did manage to put together a skeleton to view cosmology and directly link it to education……So cosmology/education (either cartesian or integral)

      -is our understanding of existence and the practice or action that flows from this understanding),

      – it is operational in four educational forms, family,school, work and recreation,

      – it is intergenerational, interinstitutional, international, and interreligious,

      Jennifer you have done a wonderful job showing the dynamic of cosmology ….understanding and action

      and the experiential flow that goes on each side…one to foster understanding, the response of awe and wonder and then a life of action fueled by this integral understanding.

      My role up until this time with the international field of deep time pedagogy and also the other forms of education seems to be one of advocacy for inclusion of this subject in schools…ie fostering understanding….ie this is our story and it needs to be told and subjects need to be placed in conversation with it.  In India where the results of cartesian pedagogy are seen in the human and ecological devestation it has also meant a lot of figuring out other ways of living to have a light footprint.  I am associated with the Jesuit school system and have had two courses amounting to only 25 classroom hours over four days but the transformations are lifelong.  Unfortunatly the Jesuit Ignatian pedagogical paradigm is also cartesian (why would it not be….these are the waters we swim in) and the integral nature of our existence, let alone an emerging cosmogenesis is still not honoured.  The bureacracy is reluctant to try new things because that would mean changes in curriculum, teachers are already overwhealmed etc etc and in the meantime the students are totally stressed with having to learn subjects and regurgitate them for the exam.  Then the students go on to graduate and enter corporations with cartesian ideals of progress and development consuming Earth.  It is one big eating disorder!

       

       

      It is crucial for us all to be advocates in whatever system we work in……to squeeze in whereever we can into the cartesian curriculum and offer hope to todays young people…….there is so much negativity in the media and hopefull messages, stories and of course, our deep time journey together is not front page news.

      Glad to be with all of you on the journey!!!!!

       

      Orla 

       

      ps i will put up the results of the first course on the dtj later in the week .  the next course finishes on 30th and that will take another few weeks to put together.  

       

    • #4758
      Kyle Herman
      Participant

      <p>Jennifer, thank you for serving as the “connective tissue” that joins all of these Great Minds from across so many disciplines together for one Grand Cosmic Conversation.  </p><p>It’s hard to say which of the principles is most important to me, firstly because they are all intertwined, and secondly because Deep Time Education affects me differently when I think about it from my own personal edification versus how it enhances the learning experience for my students in a Montessori setting.</p><p>On a personal level, “Passion, Place, and Purpose” is the most profound and potent element of Deep Time Education because it points the way to an enlightenment that can only be achieved when we transcend the ego-self and discover the Higher Self that has been hiding there all along beyond the range of the ego’s myopic vision. </p><p>As a Montessori educator, I absolutely want my students to experience the same kind of transcendence through Deep Time Education, and I believe that many of them will come to see it, but they have to see it for themselves.</p><p>For that reason, as a Montessori educator, I tend to give primacy to “Awe and Wonder” because in the adolescent plane of development, the individual is asking big questions and searching for meaning that is very hard to find in a commercialized culture in which money and status rule or in a traditional high school setting in which the most important thing about one’s education seems to be getting good grades (a goal that for some, no matter how hard they try or how many tutors they have, just won’t happen).  </p><p>Thus, since adolescents find themselves disoriented in both school and the society in which they’re about to play a bigger role, they end up feeling the opposite of awe and wonder (which we might call indifference and boredom), and then they get stigmatized as lazy, apathetic, jaded, angsty, you name it.  The reality is that they feel awe and wonder quite naturally in this plane of development, but when all they get fed is artificial and bland ingredients (in both school and the larger culture), they lose their appetite pretty quickly. </p><p>Furthermore, I believe that Montessori’s paramount goal of her life’s work was to “reform humanity” and foster a more peaceful world in which all people recognize the interconnectedness of their interests and fates as well as appreciate the full profundity of their power to transform both the physical and the spiritual world for the better (our Cosmic Gift/Task).  </p><p>In my mind, that kind of epiphany begins from Awe and Wonder, from the deeply moving experience of feeling oneself part of a larger whole.  Once we really appreciate that, not only does warfare appear absurd, but interpersonal violence of all scales and forms (emotional, physical, psychological abuse) appears absurd too.</p><p> What I try to impress upon my students is that we can’t get focused on whether or not the whole world will ever be peaceful.  All we can do is make our “local world” (consisting of the people we interact with everyday and all of the choices we make everyday) as kind and helpful and peaceful as we can possibly make it.  And if we make our local world a better place, then we have in fact made the world at large a better place because each person’s “local world” makes up the whole of the larger world.    </p><p>Then, from this experience of feeling themselves part of a larger whole and realizing that in their own way they can change the awesome and wonderful world in which they are lucky enough to live, the “deeper identity” of the Higher Self hiding in each of them appears well within the range of their newly enhanced vision…and they will see it for themselves.  </p>

      • #4760
        Kyle Herman
        Participant

        Orla,

         

        I found your post very interesting, and I’m hoping you would do me the favor of elaborating on “cartesian culture,” as I think I have an idea of what you mean, but I’d like to understand it deeply since it seems to inform so much of the way we think, function, and learn.  

         

        Thanks,

         

        Kyle

        • #4761
          Kyle Herman
          Participant

          Rich,

           

          I would like to hear more about the “elements of transformation” that you have identified and followed in teaching Big History at the college level.  I teach Big History in high school, and I’m very curious to see in what ways our students’ experiences line up.  I’m also eager to see some elements of transformation that I haven’t thought of yet so that I can begin to integrate them into my approach to Big History.  Any further detail or resources you could provide would be much appreciated.  I am interested in hearing some specific examples of our two-way participation in systems across scales (would our contribution to and benefit from society be an example?)  

           

          Thanks,

           

          Kyle

    • #4759
      Dr. Rich Blundell
      Participant

      Hi All,

      Superb work  here Jennifer! Thank you for starting the thread.

      I am much looking forward to participating more deeply in this conversation and the continuing development of these principles. Indeed, the subject of my on-going doctoral research is all about how Big History works as transformative learning at the tertiary level. Over the past few years I have been researching the question of the elements of transformation empirically and phenomenologically.  I am still in the write up of these researches but can already see a lot of wisdom in the principles as described above.

      One concept that I would like to see added is reflexivity. That is, the realization of one’s active, two-way, participation in systems across scales. This is, of course, akin to the idea of ecological-identity or systems-thinking, which I think would either help develop principle 7 “Framework and Continuum” or even constitute its own principle. Reflexivity is not just a research term or a social science concept. Considered fractally, it applies across all scales – form the micro to the macro.

      This is just one a nine “elements of transformation” that I have identified empirically in university students who participated in 13-weeks of college level Big History. Will look forward to exploring this in more detail asap!

      Rich

       

    • #4762
      Andrea Lulka
      Participant

      Kyle, I am inspired by your post. I feel the distinction you make between the adult and adolescent is incredibly important in and of itself, and it is also important for us to recognize it, and ensure that we are continuing the work ourselves. Our own transformations impact our students in ways we can possibly never quite understand. It is related, I think to Rich’s point about reflexivity.

       

      Rich, I agree that reflexivity is key to systems, and especially when working in a phenomenological environment such as a Montessori classroom which is also, when implemented fully, a self-organizing system of its own. I wonder… just looking at the values as laid out, how much reflexivity fits into each and every one of these. Like interrelatedness…

      • #4763
        Kyle Herman
        Participant

        Thanks, Andrea.  I’m glad to now have a word (reflexivity) to describe the interdependent and mutually beneficial relationship of teacher-student.  I can’t wait to hear more about it! 

    • #4764
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      GREAT to have you joining in Kyle, Andrea, Orla and Rich!

       

      Kyle, I’m so inspired too, as is Andrea, with your distinctions re transformation of the teacher vs. student and how students need to come to it themselves in their own way, and the forces in our culture mitigating against awe and wonder.  Orla, you have a lot to say about that and a definition of Cartesian, as you’re using it would be great. 

       

      Orla, I need to bring into the Principles your other points about interreligious, international and interinstitutional. 

       

      Rich, can you share with us your nine points for transformation?  Inner transformation really is the key to education.  Then we can figure out where they should go in the Principles.  I would be delighted to credit you in the Principles.  

       

      J

    • #4792
      Terri MacKenzie
      Participant

      Here is another proof of your inspired leadership, Jennifer! I love the principles and the efforts being made by so many to gather and formulate them! I have also been inspired by points made in each of the comments so far. Thanks to everyone! We all benefit!

       

      Concerning religious education, placing the beginnings and development of each in an evolutionary context is so important and so often neglected. Speaking from my own RC experience, almost always we start with Genesis rather than placing Genesis where it belongs in the big story. No wonder people get disenchanted. Awe and wonder, of course, are the basics for religion and what more awesome that this story?

       

      Realizing how we all began and are evolving together is a solid basis for anything concerned with action for peace, justice, and overall care of our common home. As Pope Francis says in Laudato Si’: “It cannot be emphasized enough how everything is interconnected. Time and space are not independent of one another, and not even atoms or subatomic particles can be considered in isolation.” (par. 138) I, too, like the way the principles develop and also how they weave in and out of each other: truly interconnected in themselves.

       

      Given my experience helping teachers and parents, I am convinced that no matter how excellent a set of principles, they need individuals who are committed to them. And the reverse: those who are committed will be overflowing and find ways to integrate the principles into everything they do. Thus the importance of the work being done to help teachers and parents understand and fall in love with this transformation in consciousness. 

       

      Also the importance of our artists. Leonard Shlain’s Art and Physics presents the hypothesis that artists throughout the world are the first to “get” something new, and that scientists come next and eventually everyone.

    • #4793
      Sam Guarnaccia
      Participant

      Dear Jennifer and all, Here is the draft, with some ‘suggested edits’ from Paula,  followed by some thoughts from me: all respectfully and lovingly submitted in the hope that some words or phrases might be helpful or useful.

       

      Based on: DRAFT (9-18-15)   PRINCIPLES of DEEP TIME EDUCATION Deep Time Education connects us to our primal desire to answer fundamental questions: “Where did we come from?” “Where are we going?”  “What is our purpose?”    “How do we belong?”  It orients us to our largest context, a vast Evolving Universe; grounds us in our Matrix, the Earth Community; evokes a deep experiences of Awe and Wonder; provides a means framework for good decision-making (perhaps the word “framework” rather than “means” would be more accurate for process of discernment? E.g. Understanding our place in the Universe gives us a more accurate framework for discernment.) through Reflection and Discernment; guides us in our Actions; and cultivates Passion and a sense of Place and Purpose. DTE recognizes that the science-based grand narrative of the Universe, infused with the humanities, constitutes a Cosmology (Origin Story) for our time, fulfilling the function that creation stories have served for cultures in the past.   DTE recognizes the importance of deep time Understanding as the basis for Action.   A flourishing future for our planet will be more likely if our Action is informed by an understanding of our Context, Matrix, experiences of Awe and Wonder; and a Reflection and Discernment process.  DTE is not new.  It has been practiced for decades in many settings at different levels and by different names — Montessori Cosmic Education, Universe Story, Journey of the Universe, Environmental Evolution, Big History, Deep History and others.  Our goal on the DTJNetwork is to explore what is already being done in so many remarkable ways, connect different efforts in a continuum across all age levels, and to evolve a comprehensive approach. What follows are Principles, some or all of which, are shared by those engaged in this approach to education.  We welcome your thoughts about these Principles on the Forum topic: Principles of Deep Time Education.

      1. CONTEXT Orienting to a Vast Evolving Universe

      DTE orients us to a Vast Evolving Universe by: *Exploring cosmologies (creation stories) and their value to cultures; how cosmologies serve as a lens for viewing the world, filtering what we see and shaping our concepts of the Universe, Earth, human relationships, personal and cultural identities, and guide our behavior.    *Teaching a scientifically based grand narrative of the Universe by linking together physics, chemistry, geology, biology, anthropology and history. *Exploring artistic expressions of cosmology and their evocative power. *Understanding principles of “Emergence” and patterns of transformation that may serve as templates for understanding evolutionary processes transformation – is understanding “evolutionary processes” better than using the word transformation again? underway today. *Understanding the history of transformation of our Universe characterized by increasing Differentiation (Complexity), Interiority and Communion. Cite Thomas Berry  *Becoming present to the Universe as a single evolving entity that is “unfinished.”

      1. MATRIX Grounding in the Earth Community.

      DTE grounds us in the Earth Community by: * Situating the Earth Story inside the larger narrative of the Cosmos * Restoring a central value of nature for its own sake, and in sustaining humans and shaping cultures. * Weaving humans into the vibrant processes of Cosmos and Earth.  * Taking a systems approach to our interdependent Earth Community. * Understanding the need for balance and reciprocity, relational resonance, or mutually enhancing relationships (cite Thomas Berry) with others and the Earth as a whole.

      1. AWE and WONDER Experiencing ourselves as part of the larger whole.

      DTE recognizes that profound experiences of Awe and Wonder are primary to education leading to intense engagement, respect, humility, gratitude, love, sense of purpose, compassion, cooperation, and caring for the future.  Experiences of Awe and Wonder happen when we: *Realize our dependence upon a spectacular sequence of thresholds that preceded the evolution of humans, and our interdependence with the ongoing processes of Earth.   *Become present to the unfathomable mystery of existence. *Overcome feelings of separation, loss, and suffering, and know that we belong. *Know who we are, where we come from, and our purpose (or “ how we fit” Rather than “purpose” which is a more loaded word). *Experience the Universe/Earth as a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects cite Thomas Berry. * We make the connection between the creativity in the Universe and our own creativity.

      1. REFLECTION and DISCERNMENT Integrating Understanding and Experience; and Making good choices.

      Reflection and Discernment are processes in Deep Time Education for integrating Context, Matrix, and experiences of Awe and Wonder.  This integration can serve as a basis for intention setting and making good choices.  It’s based on an understanding that we can intentionally enter into—and help direct— “Emergence,” the creative process of the cosmos for bringing forth the new.  There’s an understanding that Emergence exists in the Universe as a whole and humans are part of a larger creative process.  *Reflection is a process of integrating different ways of knowing derived from understanding Context and Matrix, and experiences of Awe and Wonder. *Discernment is a process developed in contemplative traditions and cultivated in Mindfulness for being fully present to what is “trying to emerge” right now.  It involves deep listening to the heart and asking questions such as “What’s dying away?”  “What’s trying to be born?”  A heart-based practice is different than the practice of Mindfulness. For a practice of connecting to the heart the work of the Institute of HeartMath on heart/brain coherence should be included. (www.heartmath.com)   *Discernment can also be an intellectually rigorous process used for assessing different options with regard to: (1) their alignment with “Emergence” and the three governing themes of differentiation, interiority and communion; and (2) the scope of beneficial outcomes (individual, family, community, bio-region, planetary).   * Discernment can be used at individual and collective levels, and is now being used more widely in global networks for collective intention setting thus creating fields of connectivity.  There’s an understanding in DTE that human organization and collective intention itself is evolving and will influence our future. 

      1. ACTION and EVALUATION Participating in Evolution

      DTE recognizes that an understanding of Context, Matrix, experiences of Awe and Wonder, and a process of Reflection and Discernment can lead to beneficial Action. *There’s an understanding that a flourishing future depends on our cosmology—our understanding of our origin, and right relationship with Earth/Cosmos and each other. *Action in “alignment with the grain of cosmic evolution” furthering the three governing themes of the universe — increasing differentiation (complexity), interiority and communion — will generally lead to better outcomes.   *The Earth Charter principles are consistent with Deep Time Education goals for Action: 1) Respect and Care for the Community of Life, 2) Ecological Integrity, 3) Social and Economic Justice, 4) Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace.  * Evaluation has to do with ongoing assessment of Action in the light of Context, Matrix, Experience, Reflection and Discernment. 

      1. PASSION, PLACE, and PURPOSE Transforming into our deeper identities inside an Evolving Cosmos.

      DTE recognizes that Passion and yearnings for a sense of Place and Purpose are core human desires and have a place in education. Orienting to an Evolving Universe, grounding in the Earth Community, experiencing Awe and Wonder; and Reflection and Discernment powerfully and naturally lead to Passion for life and an understanding of Place and Purpose. These are core human needs: belonging, significance, to be understood, to be heard.  DTE should help to meet those core needs. *We transform our small selves into our greater Selves as part of the flow of cosmic evolution, Earth’s ecosystems, and human societies. * We experience Passion as a zest for life that motivates, sustains and guides us. *We understand chaos and destruction inside the larger context of transformation.  Individuals and communities can live more easily with uncertainty and pain. *We see humans not as accidental beings in a vast alien universe but as part of a 14 billion year process of Emergence; we see that we are embedded in, and draw nurturance from, the Cosmos and Earth communities. *DTE recognizes that Passion and a sense of Place and Purpose flowing out of Context, Matrix, and experiences of Awe and Wonder, can have profound therapeutic affects. *The Universe/Nature/Humans/Ourselves become inherently valuable. We feel an innate and inescapable responsibility to make something valuable of our lives.

      1. FRAMEWORK and CONTINUUM Structuring Deep Time Education.

      Deep Time Education works as a continuum across all levels, tied to planes of development over our lifetimes.  It flows from level to level like a spiral moving toward higher levels of Understanding, Experience and Action.  It’s a model for lifelong education. DTE is a trans-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach that passes from whole to detail, relating all subjects to the larger context of an Evolving Universe and to each other.  Narratives of the largest context, the Universe, are followed by successively nested narratives.  DTE is intergenerational in that each generation inherits a shared cosmology from the previous generation, incorporates new discoveries, and shares it with the next generation.  DTE understands that education happens in all parts of life—family, school, work and recreation. More Coming with your input . . .

       

        Sam Guarnaccia -Notes: Education–from the Latin educere, meaning “to draw or lead out”… is NOT the accumulation of information, though flow of quality ‘information’ is necessary for living systems……but should be understood as a transformative process that enables us (children and adults) to be attuned and aligned with our local ecosystems and the wider cosmic story. This makes possible creative  and affirming interaction with the entire Earth community.

       

      Shift from ‘knowledge as power’ to ‘knowledge as love’. True knowledge as ‘wisdom’, is not taught, but ‘caught’!….and absorbed into our being. Children ‘naturally’ have this ‘animistic quality’ or ‘ecological ego’ of holistic being, a form of consciousness which needs e-ducation to persist into puberty, adolescence, and adulthood.

       

      Mimetic learning, a cognition integrated with the whole body, is based on “participatory consciousness” rather than having a ‘detached mind’, a purely analytical tool. Learning with the hands, crafts, music, theatre….produces emotional identification with others and the world. We become the other.

       

      Exploring new ways of learning, including ‘intuition’, a holistic form of cognition that is different from ‘discursive/analytical/reductionist’ thinking. It is NOT irrational, but a direct learning of what is implicit. Most of what we perceive never becomes fully conscious, and ‘intuition’ embraces these diffuse perceptions and helps us integrate them……a process similar to ‘emergence’.

       

      Thomas Berry’s sketches of the backbone of a ‘new curriculum’ for the university, give a phenomenal format for understanding the categories of ‘education’ that must form a true COSMIC orientation/education. The ART/Music department: include the beauty and celebration of the natural world. Economics: Concept of the ‘Earth Deficit’…..See Chap.6  , Animal, Vegetable, Miracle– Barbara Kingsolver, superb American writer. This chapter could form a gorgeous pathway for young children into economics, if appropriately sampled.

      Law: Protection of ‘Earth rights’, Water rights, etc. The LAW is not just a subject for adults, but is the way we have codified our relationships from the beginning. It is a living and beautiful thing…..and should be introduced from the beginning as ‘the way things work’.

      Psychology: Dreams……and Religion: Cosmologies The Sciences: co-operation in evolution; symbiosis; ‘communion’ (Thomas Berry).

      Philosophy: Aesthetics: All these great ‘domains’ of ‘knowledge’ can and need to be translated for the various learning gradients of younger to adolescent children, and for a truly Cosmic higher educational experience.

       

      Finally: the Media needs to operate like a living system. The lies, disinformation and misinformation that form so much of the flow of ‘information’ in the public and social media sphere, in a ‘living system’ are called……POISON. All ages can and should learn from the beginning, how everything from atoms and galaxies, to people and cultures, develop and share data and relationship.  

    • #4794
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      Hello Everyone,

       

      I just got back from a Montessori in the Mountains Retreat in Estes Park, Colorado where I gave a program in Cosmic Education.  So inspiring to see what’s happening in the Montessori world with the deepening of this approach to education.

       

      In addition to you all I have gotten terrific feedback from Ursula Goodenough, Michael and D’Neil Duffy, Karen Kudebeh, and others.  I should have a revised version posted on the Network soon.  Just this process of integrating the wisdom of this Network has been pretty amazing.

       

      Thanks Terri for joining in and giving your perspective about religious education.  You can see how the principles can easily be tweaked for religious education. 

       

      Will be in touch again very soon,

       

      Jennifer

    • #4808
      Michael Duffy
      Participant

      Jennifer,

      Your principles of deep time education are perfectly compatible with the philosophy of Montessori’s cosmic education, and they help articulate the implications of our program of education. I agree with everything you have on the list of principles.
      1) orienting to an evolving universe – this is the basis of cosmic education.
      2) matrix – grounding in the Earth community is a major theme of cosmic ed
      3) awe and wonder – this is the aim of our impressionistic lessons
      4) reflection and discernment – if knowledge of the universe story and the earth matrix doesn’t lead to good choices, it has no purpose
      5) action and evaluation – this seems to just give more detail and specificity to #4
      6) passion, place and purpose – I misread “place” as “peace,” which betrays my orientation to the aim of cosmic ed, to create an environment of peace and determine the human / personal cosmic task
      7) framework and continuum – we look upon our cosmic ed curriculum as the foundation for a deeper and broader understanding as our students climb the spiral of further education. For example, differentiation, interiority and communion are concepts addressed in our curriculum only at an introductory level, to be explored at later levels of education to get a fuller appreciation of their place in the big picture. It would be helpful to us in Montessori to be aware of those elements in our teaching.
      Thanks for what you are doing.

      Michael

    • #4810
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      Thanks a million Sam and Michael for your feedback!  I’m revising the Priniciples . . . incorporating your feedback and feedback from others.  Getting better and better!

    • #4811

      Hi Everyone,  This post is a test to see if posts are working in the back end as they should.  Jennifer 

    • #4843
      Orla Hazra
      Participant

      Greetings all!  I just tried to upload my document on Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm in the Context of an Evolutionary Universe but it would not ‘take’.  Will try again tomorrow.  IPP is the pedagogy associated with Jesuit schools internationally and was developed reflecting the integral spirituality of St Ignatius of Loyola.  Unfortunatly, the practice of the pedagogy is no longer integral because the mindsets of many teaching are not integral…they are cartesian The Ignatian process is context, experience, reflection, action and evaluation. Currently ‘issues’ in Jesuit schools are dissected anthropocentrically so context is interpreted as the ‘issue’ in the students environment (meaning life situation but devoid of overall context).  

      When I wrote my dissertation I was tracing the narratives of the patterns of body/Earth/Cosmos alienation, awakening, and connection through the fourfold wisdom conversation (science, religion, women and indigenous peoples). In religious terminology that movement, that story,  is called ‘conversion’, awakening, metanoia….each tradition has a name for it…..the great epics of the west and some of the East also reflect stories of ‘homecoming’ .  That research was completed in 2009..then I thought for a while.  

      I know pedagogy needs to be grounded in an evolutionary universe to foster integral understanding.  that is what humanity needs.  I routed out some materials and then began to read articles on Jesuit Pedagogy because I had received my PhD from a Jesuit School , in the department of Religion and Religious Education,  but was unaware of IPP…so far has the fundamental vision of Ignatius gone astray, perhaps like the vision of Montessori.!!  Then it struck me one day ……how perfect the IPP was for the work we do….we are following IPP itself…we start with context, but the fundamental context…of which is still being ignored by the teachers in most Jesuit schools.

      We’ve been given the task to redesign the ‘environment course’ a mandatory course all freshmen take.  We did it this semester and clumsily inserted the Story, we have no texts etc etc.  They are not going to buy a text even if there was one available.  I am looking for some pdf’s i can distribute so if any of you have any you want to forward please do so!  I have downloaded much of the material on dtj and will use some of it for the next mandatory course on ‘giving voice to values’…it is a perfect combination when we redesign the curriculum..the first semester is the integral story and then the next one would be ‘giving voice to integral values’….identifying them and then putting them into practice in community service (they now have mandatory community service (ie social work) so now with an expanded notion of what the term ‘social’ means with ‘all our relations’ we are asking that environment issues be added to the choice students have of service education. 

      Lyle, you had asked about cartesian cosmology…the best thing to do is to read my article on the web ‘awakening the Cartesian Dreamer’ and it is on page 153.  It is a good article summing up the work we do, and putting it into a framework of ‘education/cosmology and understanding/practice.  At the time i wrote it I was not as articulate as i am now with IPP.  Tomorrow, hopefully, you will see the beauty of the IPP model to describe the work we do when i can upload that document !!

      Rich….I would be interested in how your research model can be applied to the narratives in the IPP document.  I divide the narratives according to the shift in perspective etc..because my research style is narrative and I am showing the ‘religious’ (ie integral) shift.  It would be good to somehow quantify the data as well but I do not know the methodology.  I have a pre and post course survey students take but I don’t know how to make sense of the data collectively.    

      I have not digested the materials yet from our dtj artist community, but will by tomorrow.  We have an annual student event at Xaviers called Malhad which is arts based.  This year we asked the environment class to observe (when they were developing their projects and events etc) how ‘green ‘ were the activities, how green was the intention behind the project, what were the social justice issues….how could they take what they were learning in class out into the festival itself.  They came back and put on a debate on banning plastics on campus!!

      Jennifer:  Now that I am ‘out’ with Jesuit Pedagogy you will need to add Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm to the framework choice of reading selections along with Montessori.  Hopefully others will come along! 

       

    • #4874
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      Hi Everyone,

       

      Here is the link to Orla’s paper about Ignatian Pedagogy in an Evolving Universe in connection with class she recently taught at St. Xavier’s in Mumbai, India.  She just uploaded it today.

       

      https://dtnetwork.org/resource/report-of-honours-course-be-the-dream/

       

      You will see right away Ignatian thread that’s represented in the Principles of Deep Time Education, thanks to Orla!  And yes Orla, I will add a credit line in the bibliography.  I’ve gotten some great feedback about the Seven Principles of Deep Time Education and will post a revised version next week. 

       

      We’re doing some work in the back end of the site and have a little trouble with notifications.  You should be receiving notifications in your personal in boxes each time someone makes a new post.  If you could just drop me a note, can be to my personal email at [email protected] to say that you’re receiving them that would be fabulous . . . thanks so much!

       

      Love to all!

       

      Jennifer

       

       

    • #4989
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      Hello Everyone,

       

      So sorry it’s taken me this long to revise the Seven Principles of Deep Time Education.  There’s a lot happening behind the scenes right now with computer programming and organizing of the upcoming professional development programs which will start in January.  Super excited about what’s coming and their potential.  Please find the revised version here which has integrated the suggestions I’ve received thus far. 

      https://dtnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Principles-of-DTE-10-21-15PDF.pdf

       

      Again, this is a new version is certainly not the last.  I always like the phrase “provisional but not arbitrary” . . . that’s what this new version is . . . provisional but not arbitrary.  Feel free to send any further suggestions. 

       

      Enjoying a beautiful golden fall day here in Princeton.

       

      Sending all my best,

       

      Jennifer

    • #5006
      Imogene Drummond
      Participant

      Jennifer,

       

      The clarity of your vision, and the depth of your synthesizing information with wisdom is phenomenal. What breath-takingly impressive, important, and exciting work. Well Done!

       

      Imogene

    • #5032
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      Thanks Imogene.  My pleasure, and thanks to you too Terri.  And thank Kyle for noticing the repetition.   I did a minor revision and yes Terri I did add my books (thank you!) and re-posted.  It’s the same link as before, but here it is again: 

      https://dtnetwork.org/resource/principles-of-deep-time-education/

       

      Looking forward to spreading the principles along with descriptions of the upcoming professional development programs.  Step by step. 

       

      If you notice anything else, be sure to make a comment.   Afterall, it’s an unfinished Universe!  We’ll just keep on revising . . . just as the Universe does.  The 7th principle re structure and continuum will be the most important area of development as we link together the levels into a continuum, drawing on the wisdom of so many teachers and teacher trainers who are already doing it!

       

      Love to all,

       

      Jennifer

    • #5812
      Mike Bell
      Participant

      Jennifer,
      Thomas Berry, in his Foreward to Ann Marie Dalton’s book A Theology For the Earth, noted that he was not a theologian and “my intent has been simply to present and to leave to the reader to respond out of whatever background the reader might have. This transformation from his ideas to our situations was what he meant by a functional cosmology—telling the Great Story in our different contexts.

      This curriculum for teachers is, I think, the best example of a functional cosmology I’ve ever seen. Most of us simply repeat what Thomas said in different language. We fail to make the transition from one context to another context—in this case the classroom context and the minds of students. Further, this project, to use the old term,”has legs.” Training the teacher ensures that this fundamental knowledge will be passed on to succeeding classes of students.

      Thanks for organizing this. Great Work

    • #5814
      Jennifer Morgan
      Participant

      Thanks so much Mike. I really appreciate your comments. The Principles of Deep Time Education are very much still evolving. I was wondering what you think of the use of the word “Love.” Love makes some people squeamish or dismissive. What better word could there be? I have dinner with Claire Durand, another Network member, last night and we tried on the word “Reverence” which is such a powerful word and describes very much I think we’re hoping for here in the sense that reverence for the Earth and Universe is crucial for entering into the the larger creativity of the Universe to bring about a flourishing future. Other words I’ve used scientists use are “Cherish” and “Devotion,” a word that Teilhard used. Does reverence sound to churchy? It says more than the word “Respect” which feels more distant. Any thoughts would be most helpful! Thanks for your on-going contribution Mike!

    • #5825
      Mike Bell
      Participant

      Jennifer,

      The word “love” sometimes evokes the idea that you cannot love a ‘thing”– and of course Earth is not a thing but many people think of it as a “thing out there” . The word “reverence”, though it sometimes suggest “religion” is a bit more general and all-embracing (for me at least) and literally means “awe and wonder”. I think when most people see a beautiful painting or landscape of a natural scene they might say it evokes “reverence” before “love.” I prefer “reverence” but this might just be one of those “de gustibus” things.

    • #13386
      Di Shearer
      Participant

      I’m searching for the recorded Q&A of Unrolling the Scroll of Life. Does this exist or have I imagined it?

    • #228747
      Mohit Sharma
      Keymaster

      testing by mohit!

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