What People Say
"This work is a vehicle for building something more profound in education, a fundamental approach. Learning is only possible in an open and free, 'here and now' environment."
--Johan Hamstra, National Institute for School Improvement

"The paradigm of integrative education through Five Wisdoms is powerful and effective. It helps to ground the education process deeply in a meditative model that brings out the whole person. The Five Wisdoms model encourages us to at see that meditative intelligence is not an "add on" to the education process, but is its very core."
--Ashok Gangadean, Haverford College philosophy professor, co-founder of Global Dialogue Institute

"I find it easier to coach people. Principles like honesty, straightforwardness, opening up, and compassion are increasingly important to me."
--Anke de Graaf, National Institute for School Improvement

Contemplative Education
Contemplative education, an integration of contemplative understanding with contemporary fields of knowledge, is inspired by the world's traditions of meditative disciplines, contemplative inquiry, and sacred view. It focuses on process and on a sense of journey, as much as on content, or a particular body of knowledge. Through mindfulness practice and other self-reflective disciplines, learning is infused with the experience of awareness, insight, and friendliness to self and others. There is an emphasis on being as much as on doing; an embodiment of knowledge as much as an accumulation of knowledge. Contemplative education is curious about the uniqueness of each person's learning journey. It aspires to educate a full human being, and for this reason can be enhanced by work with the five qualities of an educated person.

The five qualities of an educated person are:

Openness and respect for immediate experience. This quality acknowledges our direct perception of the present moment, including ambiguity and uncertainty, chaos and confusion, both in ourselves and in the environment. It involves developing a clear, accurate, and open-ended relationship to experience. In order to act with intelligence and confidence, we must proceed from a foundation of ongoing awareness and curiosity.

Intellect and insight. This has to do with passion and curiosity for learning. Intelligence includes critical thinking, analysis, and sharpening insight. It facilitates understanding the world and ourselves and enables us to articulate it in precise and creative ways. This quality involves proficiency in understanding principles, structures, logic, and relationships. It is the willingness to maintain a larger view and to regard situations beyond our own self-interest, including being able to take another's perspective.

Resourcefulness and appreciation of the richness of the world. By increasing our knowledge and appreciation of the world in its diversity, creativity and resourcefulness are evoked. We can tap the resources we have and cultivate hidden inner talents-intellectual, emotional, and pragmatic. This quality involves developing our ability to respect the many modes of human expression, experiences, creativity, and cultural backgrounds.

Interpersonal and communication skills. This is the ability to relate and communicate effectively with people. It begins with valuing the experiences of others and allowing them to teach us about themselves. From this follows work on the various modes of interpersonal communication-effective reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. It includes communication through nonverbal artistic media like music, movement, and visual arts. This quality also includes an ability to connect with others empathetically, and an interest and curiosity about other people's lives. It is the ability to give and receive feedback skillfully.

Effective action. This is the ability to apply our learning and insight effectively in the world, putting openness, insights, knowledge, and communicative capacities into action. It involves becoming organized, responding effectively to demands, sustaining interest, and being committed to carrying projects through to completion.

The five qualities enhance an educational setting in the following ways:

• administrators have better understanding of the energetic make-up of their employees
   
• administrators are able to create a more harmoniously functioning educational environment
   
• teachers are more sensitive to how they manifest, present material, and relate to students
   
• teachers are able to move more freely in and out of the various energy styles, making them more available and giving them greater understanding of their students
   
• teachers can evaluate students and guide them in their educational journey
   
• students find each quality of energy is a necessary ingredient of the learning process and the foundation for ongoing learning, understanding, and creativity throughout life