This article outlines five activities that provide an environment conducive to the wholeness of each child and the health of a group: including, attending, embracing, releasing and remaining. Including is hospitality offered to difference, so that each child shows up; attending is a just distribution of attention, so children learn meaningfully;…

The current practice of health education often fails to harmonize with the multidimensional, dynamic, and functional nature of health as generally defined within our profession. As a stepchild of the medical and public health professions, we have inherited a preoccupation with physical health as the most worthy outcome measure for most of our…

This study was designed to quantify indices of spirituality, the directing health dimension, which affects health and life satisfaction. Because college marks a time when life patterns are established, a college population was chosen. A cohort of 524 northeastern U.S. college students completed the 48-item Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R) in…

On April 24, 2008, President George W. Bush convened an array of education and community stakeholders in Washington, D.C. to address the quickening disappearance of faith-based schools in America's cities. The disappearance of these schools, which have played a fundamental role in the American story of religious freedom and tolerance, community…

This is a unique collection of leading examples of education grounded in alternative philosophies and cultures--from initiatives to create more democratic schools, through Quaker, Buddhist, Islamic, Montessori and Steiner/Waldorf schools, to Maori and First Nations education in Canada and Palestinian Jewish schools in Israel. Aimed at educational…

The Catholic Magisterium has made a distinction between homosexual orientation (disordered but not sinful), homosexual activity (sinful, but judged "with prudence"), rights of gay and lesbian people, and the Church's pastoral responsibilities to gay and lesbian people. Both the Vatican and the American bishops have clearly stated that the topic of…

Very few elementary public school teachers in the United States expose their students to religion and spirituality in an in-depth way. Even when they have the necessary knowledge base, they shy away from so dangerous an enterprise. They might fear provoking a challenge from parents who are irreligious and are shocked to find religion being…

The purpose of this study was to explore faculty perspectives about the role spirituality plays in curriculum and pedagogy in preparing student affairs professionals to respond to undergraduates' spiritual searching. Twelve faculty from three college student personnel programs, one at a state university and two at religiously affiliated…

The purpose of this book is to give educators new organizing principles that will lead out from the present day mechanistic-reductionist viewpoint toward a more holistic perspective, one that fosters love and peace. The Foreword, titled "Education and Evolution," deals with an anthropological perspective, the end of the Cenozoic period, and ways…

This paper addresses some theoretical implications regarding the concept of spirituality and offers some practical suggestions for including spiritual health in the health education program. A traditionally accepted model of health (Hettler, 1979), the six dimensions of wellness are the intellectual, emotional, physical, social, occupational, and…

This report presents findings of a study of a variety of factors relating the processes of aging and faith development among adults. Part I is an overview of the entire study. The introduction (chapter 1) provides its setting. Chapter 2 delineates the project's overall structure and its use of two complementary research designs to gather similar…

The author of this book takes up all the main issues confronting those who work with young children in a wide variety of settings. The explanations, case studies and suggestions provide an invaluable resource for all of those who aim to build solid foundations right from the start. This book is organized into the following chapters: (1) Confident…

This descriptive study examined Ananda School (Nevada City, California) grades K-7, or as it is now called, Living Wisdom School (LWS). The specific goal was to examine the model of spiritual development embodied in the LWS program, its interpersonal dynamics, and its curriculum. The study sought to understand how the school operates within the…

Social service programs for children and families have often distanced themselves from issues of religion and spirituality. However, in recent years, children's services and family therapy have gradually moved toward stronger emphases on ecosystemic influences, including those from organized religions. The overlapping and interacting roles of…

Explains the educational movements precipitated by Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner as comprising a pattern of reverse symmetries. Notes the influence of war on their philosophies. Discusses reverse symmetries in curriculum related to mathematics, geography, and history. Maintains that each of these two movements holds the other at its core,…