Soulful Teaching: 40 Ways to Nurture Spirit in the Classroom is a book co-authored by educators Jane Dalton and Lyn Fairchild. This book of lessons encourages teachers to pursue soulful teaching, which unifies the principles of holistic education with the goals of spiritual literacy. Each entry supports a teacher in creating a classroom where respect, reflection, creative expression, and silence are valued.
Classrooms can become places that promote human rights principles, ecological thinking and emotional intelligence, where students can celebrate through ritual and explore philosophies and beliefs. Here students may examine and develop a personal spirituality or philosophy that is empathetic, mindful and compassionate. Everyone is invited to look through the many doors of world wisdom traditions. Teachers can encourage and nurture the student's individual search for a path.
The following lessons excerpted here show teachers how to build a moral foundation in the classroom during the first weeks of school, in order to foster the kind of emotional safety necessary for "soulful teaching." Questions at the beginning and end of each lesson encourage reflection on the part of the teacher.
We're All in This Together
Autumn
Morality
How do I establish the moral foundation of my classroom?
All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God. Voltaire
The Golden Rule, stated so powerfully across time and place in many cultures, appeared during a diversity workshop I once attended. The facilitator asked us to claim our "identities" with one or more affinity groups. Each of us stood whenever the facilitator listed a race, ethnicity, religious belief, economic status or birth order that represented us.
Then we grouped ourselves according to other descriptions that we felt had not yet been recognized: as parents of adopted children, as artists, as singles, as African-American mothers. Each gathering developed a list: What We Never Want Said About Our Group and What We Do Want Said About Our Group. As we moved in and out of various clusters for discussion, the underlying truth shone like a golden thread linking us across our differences: we all wanted to be heard, and we all wanted to be respected.
As students pour into my classroom at the beginning of the year, many of them could recite to me The Golden Rule. Perhaps some of them have heard it growing up in particular spiritual tradition in any one of the diverse cultural groups reflected in today's schools:
African (Traditional Religions, Yoruba Proverb, Nigeria): One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.
Buddhist: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.
Udanavarga 5:18
Christian: As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
St. Luke, 6:31, St. James version
Hindu: Do not to others what ye do not wish done to yourself. This is the whole Dharma; heed it well.
The Song Celestial, 2:65
Jainist: A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated.
Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
Jewish: What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; that is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary; go learn it.
Babylonian talmud, Shabbat 31a
Muslim: No one of you is a believer until you desire for another that which you desire for yourself.
The Sunnah (from the hadith)
Many of my students also enter with defenses that could spark conflict. During the first days of school, I try to make a symbolic statement about my expectation of respect. I ask students to participate in the dialogue to encourage their ownership in building a community based on the Golden Rule. I tell my students how our class cannot be emotionally or physically safe unless we constantly practice respect. I state how crucial it is to be conscious of our smallest acts because they can make all the difference.
Display the list of quotations for all to read, without the religious and cultural affiliations included. Ask students to read each statement aloud and then guess which religion or culture might have expressed such a thought. Sometimes students can guess, and many times they cannot. Once their ideas are exhausted, reveal each affiliation.
Ask students, "What is the point or theme reflected in all of these quotations?" They will see how the same idea - the Golden Rule - has emerged in multiple cultures. If you have access to a copy of American artist Norman Rockwell's 1961 painting, "The Golden Rule," it is an excellent visual to accompany these quotations. It depicts Christians and Hindus, Muslims and Jews, Buddhists and Shintoists gathered around the words, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Ask students to make a list of the specific ways they want to be treated as well as the specific ways they would like to treat others. You can model with an example of your own. Perhaps you want others to use "please" and "thank you" in your classroom. Perhaps you wish yourself to be more patient with certain student behaviors. Begin statements with the phrase, "I would like to Å " and follow with a second statement, "I would like others toÅ " Students may write these wishes anonymously on index cards at home or within the classroom, depending on the comfort level of your group.
One particular time I asked my students to decorate pockets (formerly library cardholders that had been discarded) to serve as receptacles for the cards. I attached the pockets to a poster reading "The Golden Rule" and depicting a ruler. The poster remained on the wall so anyone could read the cards throughout the year. This lesson is only a beginning in the process of cultivating respect. See "Think Before You Act," another lesson with suggestions on how to maintain a climate of compassion throughout the year. Some of my students wrote:
I like other people to respect my decisions and opinions.
I would like everyone to not judge people by their appearance.
When someone is commenting or asking a question, I should pay attention.
I wish I couldÅ be more gentle with those who are having hard times.
I want to be more understanding of other people.
Being all fashioned of the self-same dust,
Let us be merciful as well as just.
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
What is the moral foundation of my classroom?
Respect Others
Winter
Human Rights
How can I increase my students1 human rights awareness?
Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the worldÅ Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Eleanor Roosevelt, The Great Question
I once spent four days learning about human rights education with thirty-five activists from around the world. Each person represented a unique background both socio-economically and culturally. Our life experiences were tremendously diverse, ranging from the woman who shared her experiences in Palestine dodging bullets to the man who shared the way his Native American nation prayed. Educators, attorneys, and activists - all with different specialties such as women's rights, the environment, migrant workers, and youth - came from all corners of the world: the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the United States, Asia, and Central and South America.
This newly formed group unified easily in order to work for change. We set a goal to promote the Declaration and what it embodies. Article 1 states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood." There was something tremendously empowering in our realization that our individual dreams and efforts are shared on a global scale. To learn that we are part of a universal body of fellow humans striving after the same goals was inspiring.
December 10th is International Human Rights Day, which is the anniversary of the United Nations1 1948 signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document of 30 articles outlines the fundamental rights to which each person is entitled, such as dignity, equality and freedom of religious beliefs. More than 150 countries signed this document, and each nation is continually challenged to live out its principles. The Declaration of Human Rights is an important educational tool: it can be approached in a creative manner that builds awareness of human needs in a global context.
In fact, the General Assembly of the United Nations not only proclaimed this Declaration but asked all member countries to make the document known and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories" (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Discussions and activities that raise human rights awareness can be easily integrated into multiple subject areas such as English, history, foreign language and the arts.
Begin by exploring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with your students, available online. The Declaration is also available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian if students prefer to copy their articles in another language. Discuss the various articles, noting that discrimination can occur in many areas of a person's life, such as socio-ecomomic status, race and ethnicity, religion, gender and nationality.
Focus on the positive qualities of the articles, noting not only the atrocities that have historically violated human rights but also the advances that have resulted from someone's tireless efforts to seek justice. Ask students what questions they have about these articles.
Gather students around a map of the world. Examine it to identify areas where students believe that human rights violations are occurring. See if students identify the United States as a violator of human rights and how aware they are of current events.
Depending on your subject area, assign projects that challenge your students to explore the principles of the Declaration in more depth.
Art: Students can make a tribute to the articles of the Declaration in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags. These flags hang in the mountain passes, carrying blessings and supplications in the wind. Printed on each flag are prayers for long life, prosperity, and good luck as well as a windhorse, or lung-ta, to carry the message to the deities.
Have each student draw an illustration depicting the text of an article, whether realistically or symbolically, and transfer this idea to a ten-inch square of cotton fabric. Use the colors of white, green, yellow, red and blue, each representing the 5 elements: yellow for earth, red for fire, green for water, blue for air and white for ether.
Students can decorate with markers on fabric or with block print stamps. If fabric is not available, use construction paper with collages or decorative writing. Attach these flags in chain so they can flutter in the wind outside your school or hang them across a hallway or walls.
English, history, and foreign language: As you study a particular novel, country and/or period of history, ask your students to scour the text for actions and incidents that specifically violate one or more articles of the Declaration. Ask each student to research a region of interest where human rights violations or advances are occurring.
Each can present her findings in a two-minute report to the class. During the unit, the class can draw inspiration from watching the PBS special, A Force More Powerful, that chronicles the use of non-violence in fighting injustice through the historical work of leaders such as Gandhi and American civil rights activists. See the Appendix for a list of texts that would work well with this unit.
There are many other ways to support human rights consciousness, such as starting a local chapter of Amnesty International at your school, holding a commemoration ceremony for Human Rights day, or creating a school display or mural. By surfing the Internet for the Universal Declaration or Amnesty International sites, you will find a wealth of resources on this topic. See our Resource list for more suggestions.
When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are. Cesar Chavez
How can I increase my own human rights awareness?
Jane Dalton is an arts educator, with experience K-college, yet still finds the time to further her own art career (and write books) often working with ceramics, weaving, and textiles.
Lyn Fairchild teaches English in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina and travels the world collecting eclectic teaching materials and tropical diseases.
For more information about 40 Ways to Nurture Spirit in the Classroom contact Lyn Fairchild or Jane Dalton who is also available for consulting and guest residencies. Please do not reprint without permission from the authors. |
