Grasp the Golden Thread
How humanitarian innovations are changing education
Presented at October 2023 education conference at Rugby School, UK: “Resonance in Education: Amplifying the Magic of Humanity in the AI Era”
“There is only one subject-matter for education, and that is Life in all its manifestations.” ― Alfred North Whitehead, “The Aims of Education”
Our current world is a maze of challenges. We are experiencing the degradation and collapse of ecosystems, social systems, and personal lives. Navigating this maze requires unprecedented levels of adaptability and novel thinking, because we can’t solve these problems with the same thinking that created them. We know instinctively that we are in a dangerous situation, like Theseus in the Minotaur’s maze. However, beyond the fight for survival is Ariadne’s golden thread, guiding towards a better tomorrow. We also have a guide through this crisis — an inner sense that arises from the evolutionary imperative to be ‘future fit’. By cultivating this inner sense within a dynamic, evolving education system we can navigate towards a humanitarian future and a world of renewal.
Being future fit may include digital technology innovation skills and artificial intelligence, but it is so much more than that. Only the hubris of a mechanistic worldview would advocate these concepts exclusively, pre-supposing human beings as mere sophisticated machines. Like all technology, AI is fundamentally a tool, and how that tool is used arises from our aims and intentions as living, relational beings. There is another tool that is far more important and foundational for humanity: the technology of awareness. Our rapidly changing social and environmental circumstances require us to apply skills and knowledge on many levels of complexity. This means that we must be able to recognize and function beyond the mechanistic perspective of isolating, defining, quantifying, and manipulating. Cultivating a future fit for humanity requires the social technologies of loving connections, the awareness of our relational space, and the understanding of how we co-create in the social field and with the more-than-human world. This capacity arises from a participatory perspective, an expanded awareness of how humanity is interconnected with a greater reality. If education is to cultivate our awareness rather than entrain our abilities for technological innovation, we need to grasp this golden thread.
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. It is paradoxical that in the context of modern life we have begun to worship the servant and defile the divine.” This phrase has been re-attributed and reinterpreted many times, creating great resonance in the education field. It is a phrase that no longer has a single author, as though it is the collective voice of humanity speaking a reminder in the AI era: our experience of wonder, beauty, and truth comes from the creative tension between the intuitive and the rational. Iain McGilchrist (scholar, neuroscience researcher, and psychologist) emphasizes that the greatest strength of the mind is “combining variations” and he reminds us that the evolution of the human being is based upon integration. “True human reason is the product of a life well lived, in which one brings together wisdom from experience with the ability to use logic.”
In every era, inspired educators strive to cultivate this dynamic relationship of the intuitive and the rational. Yet in our current time, the dominant education system has sabotaged this aspiration with the illusions of ‘the divided brain’, the focus on cognition, and entraining patterns of logic that are barren of empathy, love, or feeling. The recent gamification of learning is leading us even deeper into the maze, entangling entertainment with nurturing, and taking us further away from our capacity for wisdom. The control culture of the modern world seeks to condition the rational mind as a taskmaster and the intuitive mind as a tool for fantasy. This narrative enslaves our capacities, turning them into commodities and puts us on the hamster wheel of production. The resulting broken bridge between the intuitive and the rational brings ever-new modern illnesses and overall social decline.
The rational mind is capable of so much more than consumerism and the endless upgrading of mechanistic technology — such as understanding the multifaceted logic of the more-than-human world. And the intuitive mind is a muse connecting us to the promises and possibilities of the mythopoetic world, speaking the language of feelings, sensations, gestures, and metaphors. The integration of these brings us “love as a way of knowing”, the very essence of humanity, as Blake inferred. Only with this empathy will we be able to understand the language and logic of the future. Only with this integration can we have a sense of psychological safety to envision a future worth living in. Arthur Zajonc (physicist, author, and educator) expresses, “An epistemology of love is not a flight from reason to sentiment,” and continues, that “learning to love is also the task of learning to know in its fullest sense…[this] educates for discovery, creativity, and social conscience.” Given the current situation in the education field, how do we cultivate this dynamic relationship of the intuitive and the rational, and educate in a way that allows for love as a way of knowing?
While on one level of our complex experience there are broken bridges and surmounting crises, with a shift in perspective we can see how we are already overcoming these challenges and accomplishing renewal. We have a choice as to whether we will see ourselves as the source of destruction, or as the wellspring of renewal. Zak Stein (scholar, educator, and futurist) reminds us, “As school systems continue to falter under the strain of unbearable complexities, we must be ready to abandon these older forms in the interest of education itself. This is the key to understanding education at the edge of history: new forms are coming into being.” The golden thread guiding us towards a humanitarian future of enhanced awareness and loving connection is an education that is evolving. It is important in this time to recognize that the solutions are not outside of us — we are the solution. Rather than passing on patterns of the past, schools and education programs must now support students in learning to navigate the future. Rather than upping the game of learning, we need to be cultivating awareness. Rather than the implementation of static standards and buying into the techno-education franchise, we can encourage personal and collective resilience through evolutionary adaptability. These are ways in which we are already becoming future fit by “combining variations” and co-creating humanitarian innovation in education.
Cultivating Curiosity: When we aim to give students a lived experience of learning, we are offering an intuitive experience and then applying rational exercises. This is being accomplished through project-based learning. Many educators are finding agency by shifting static curriculum into project-based, experiential learning.
Cultivating Compassion: With the participatory perspective that relations are primary, value arises from our interconnections rather than production. This is being realized with the wide variety of teaming practices, coaching practices, and mentoring. Value can be gauged through reflective practices: portfolios of experience honor each student’s unique expression of learning and becoming. Testing and grading then become secondary and a reflective exercise rather than a tool for conformity.
Cultivating Courage: Approaching education as a co-created journey encourages resilience and adaptability. This is being accomplished through the co-creative process of designing personalized learning with Individualized Learning Plans (ILP) or Education Plans (EP). Personalized Learning is a route through the education terrain and for navigating a school’s offerings of classes, projects, teams, and teaching styles. These are adaptable to each individual and to the local learning community and are co-created by student, parent, teacher, and education specialist or advisor.
Bildung: These aspects together impart an integral perspective rather than constructing a static mental framework. This cultivates a student’s ability to navigate an ever-widening terrain of social interactions, community offerings, potential jobs, and career possibilities. As well as the vision, understanding, clarity, and agility for dealing with disruption.
This is the powerful potential of participatory learning, giving us the capacity for recognizing a complex reality and cultivating our ability to navigate towards ever-greater future possibilities. With this approach, a school becomes a community of practice that is generating participatory culture. In his essay, “Envisioning an Ecological Civilization”, Jeremy Lent encourages us that “Education would be re-envisioned…from preparing students for the corporate marketplace to cultivating the wisdom, discernment, and emotional maturity that are required for each student to embark on a lifetime of pursuing their own wellbeing as valued members of society.” With the participatory practices of a humanitarian education, this future is beginning now.
We have a choice as to whether we will see ourselves as the source of destruction or as the wellspring of renewal.
This visual thesis of Participatory Learning (below), based on Theory U by Otto Scharmer, is a map to help us grasp what a learning journey can be. It is a guide to help recognize the threshold between conquest-based education in contrast to our participatory nature. With a bildung of curiosity, compassion, and courage, we can navigate out of the maze of dominant education and the experience of the rational mind as a dictator. This guides us towards the participatory perspective, where the intuitive mind and the rational mind are co-creative partners. (See full thesis description HERE)
As we grasp this golden thread of evolutionary awareness, we become a part of a greater movement that is shifting the education system from the inside out. To illustrate how this system change is already happening, here are three examples of humanitarian innovation in education. Each of these programs is a unique combination of curiosity, compassion, and courage; developed by listening to the needs of the students, adapting personalized offerings, and cultivating a relational community.
Private School - St. Mary’s School of Medford, Oregon, USA
- St. Mary’s School is an international, award winning college prep school which holds the aim of teaching students how to think, not what to think. Founded in 1865, St. Mary’s School has a rich history of infusing intellectual curiosity, academic excellence, and democratic values while providing an inspirational atmosphere that propels students into responsible citizenship — locally, nationally, and globally. “St. Mary’s School teaches students to lead purposeful lives in service to others and is devoted to the pursuit of excellence in character and scholarship. A nurturing, internationally diverse community that encourages students and adults to respect and learn from one another, St. Mary’s School values all persons and encourages students to seek truth and meaning in their lives while integrating what they learn with how they live.” To continue their commitment to excellence, in 2017 St. Mary’s shifted to the module system which provides students with a hands-on approach to their own education as they choose from a vast array of intriguing courses and have personal, adult-like choices in designing their own education, while guided by experienced and caring counselors and teachers. These courses have been designed by teachers who are treated as individuals and intellectuals and who get to offer their own specialties, not ‘teach to the test’ or fulfil the stultifying Common Core rubrics. Along with a 14:1 student-teacher ratio, this makes for an education that is fresh and always engaging, cultivating the unique passions and academic needs of each student. St. Mary’s School strives for a balance of technology and humanitarian skills by teaching digital citizenship — how to use technology responsibly to avoid digital distraction and addiction, especially in the context of post-pandemic civil skills. The school empowers teachers, students, and parents to establish trust in their learning partnerships and to be highly intentional with digital tools used only for enhancing learning experiences. Most importantly, all levels of the school culture are based in a relational focus of hope, joy, engagement, and inspiration.
Independent Learning — South Sutter Charter School
- South Sutter Charter School is an IEM K-12 Independent Learning Charter School in northern California, USA. Charter Schools are the growing edge of innovation in the education system, where the public school structure is adapted to the local needs and interests of a community. An ‘Independent Learning Charter School’ is a further adaptation specializing in personalized learning, offering charter school support and funding for homeschooling or independent learning families. These specialized charter programs were developed to honor individual education choices, and to support students, parents, and teachers in the freedom to make responsible and effective decisions to implement education plans. “Parents work with a credentialed teacher to develop individualized learning opportunities by: choosing from a variety of home based and community based instruction, selecting individualized curriculum based on learning style and functioning grade level, providing materials, resources and supportive instruction, promoting real life context-based learning. The Educational Specialists are highly trained, credentialed professionals available as needed in home based and independent study learning environments. By providing multiple tools, resources and programs, students, their parents, and teachers are empowered to create learning opportunities which develop responsible and contributing members of society.” With hundreds of these charter schools providing adaptable learning opportunities, the result is a living network that connects homeschoolers together with other families, a variety of educators, and diverse community opportunities. All IEM schools place a high value on the families’ relationship with the Educational Specialists, as this determines the quality of the learning experience. While digital technology tools help lower the barrier of entry and connect students with a variety of experts and programs, it can never replace the human guide through the education experience.
Digital Learning— FiddleQuest: online to offline experiential learning for violin and fiddle.
- FiddleQuest.com is a website featuring interactive music curriculum for violin and fiddle students. It is a process oriented design for cultivating intrinsic motivation and supporting students through the stages of development so that they feel capable, connected, and have a choice in their own music development. FiddleQuest was created by teachers to make lessons easier and more fun, and to build an active community of students and families enjoying music together. With the combination of individual lessons, an interactive online curriculum, and group events, students develop practice skills which are vital for recreational music. Online to Offline Design: Students learn music by ear and practice skills at an in-person individual lesson, and then continue practice at home with the online features of each song — such as reduced speed, small segments, and full accompaniment. With a fully interactive curriculum, students can explore new material of interest, review a variety of skills, see performances of professional folk musicians, and see the accomplishments of fellow students. Individual lessons are accompanied by group offerings that immerse beginners with higher level musicians, giving a lived experience of the music. This encourages progress in the current song of focus, exposure to and exploration of new music, as well as meaningful community connections. A variety of offerings reach a diversity of students: monthly group jams in-house or at a local restaurant, summer music camps, afterschool groups, school orchestra, and performing at community events. This design is an adaptation of the traditional approach to learning folk music and is based on the concept that music is a valuable social activity, not a static commodity for performance. Therefore, the digital technology of the online curriculum is a support for remote learning and doesn’t replace the power of human connection.
These three examples show us just a few of the many ways of balancing digital technology and humanitarian education. While these are from my local ecosystem, they are a fractal of what is emerging worldwide. By cherishing our interconnections, we can offer digital tools that support diverse learning without replacing human connection, and we can motivate learners without leaching their vitality to gamification. As we hold space for students to co-create and find their unique way of “combining variations”, we are allowing new and evolving forms of value to arise through their choices.
If we want a humanitarian future, we need to begin now with education that supports students to open their minds to possibilities, connect their hearts with diversity, and orient their will towards a ‘technology of awareness’. Perhaps the future will need some AI and digital technology innovation skills, it will most certainly require co-creative capacities and a logic that includes the more-than-human world. Therefore, we must demand a shift away from being identified as consumers of the techno-education franchise and the gamification of learning, and see ourselves as co-creators of our future world. As citizens, rather than cheering for digital technology upgrades in the classroom, we need to advocate for the social innovation of Personalized Learning in every school for every student. As parents, rather than getting caught up in the propaganda of academic success, we need to be able to choose schools and community offerings that match the qualities of our child. As educators, we need to be empowered to transform static curriculum into any and all forms of participatory learning. Let us grasp the golden thread of growing awareness so that we might navigate this maze of complex challenges towards a brighter future of ecological, social, and personal, inner regeneration.
Additional examples of humanitarian innovation in education
- Margret Rasfeld: teacher, headmistress, and activist for a transformative school in Germany
- Valley New School: project-based, personalized learning with unique culture
- Johnston Center for Integrative Studies — personalized learning for undergraduate studies
- Schumacher College — progressive college for ecological studies
- Presencing Institute and U-school — action research for awareness-based systems change
Lauren Elizabeth Clare is a poet, educator, and Theory U practitioner. She is the co-founder and lead facilitator of Regen Collective, and a u.lab hub host for the Presencing Institute. Lauren studied holistic education, holistic land management, and lived in an old growth forest for many years. She has a deep interest in eco-wisdom for articulating and cultivating the shift towards the participatory paradigm. With a foundation in the performing arts, Lauren enjoys cultivating dynamic teams and participatory learning experiences.
References
California’s Charter Schools Story — Founders Library. (n.d.). National Charter Schools Founders Library. Retrieved 2023, from https://charterlibrary.org/library/californias-charter-schools-story/
Einstein, Albert. “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used to create them.”
Iain McGilchrist in Dialogue at the PCC Forum. (2022, October 16). YouTube. Retrieved 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knFbTu8UtTE
Innovative Education Management: Home. Retrieved 2023, from https://ieminc.org/
The Intuitive Mind Is a Sacred Gift and the Rational Mind Is a Faithful Servant — Quote Investigator®. (2013, September 18). Quote Investigator. Retrieved 2023, from https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/18/intuitive-mind/
Lent, J. (2021). “Envisioning an Ecological Civilization”. In The New Possible: Visions of Our World Beyond Crisis. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
McGilchrist, I. (2011, October 21). RSA ANIMATE: The Divided Brain. YouTube. Retrieved 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFs9WO2B8uI
Scharmer, Otto. 2016. Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
South Sutter Charter School. Retrieved 2023, from https://southsuttercs.org/ss-about/ss-aboutus/about-us
Stein, Z. (2021). “Education at the Edge of History”. In The New Possible: Visions of Our World Beyond Crisis. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
St. Mary’s School: About Best private school in southern Oregon. (n.d.). St. Mary’s School (Medford, Oregon). Retrieved 2023, from https://www.smschool.us/about
Whitcomb, D. (n.d.). Foundational Ideas. FiddleQuest. Retrieved 2023, from https://www.fiddlequest.com/foundational-ideas
Zajonc, A. (2006). Love and Knowledge: Recovering the Heart of Learning through Contemplation. Teachers College Record, 108(9), 1742–1759. https://www2.clarku.edu/difficultdialogues/pdfs/zajonc_love_and_knowledge.pdf
https://www.margret-rasfeld.de/wirken/
