Holistic education an integral educational model for the 21st century
In this work there is a great treasure on the foundations of Holistic Education created worldwide by Dr. Ramón, when preparing this essay, everything that this new paradigm of holistic Education implies will be summarized in a general way. In these books we find a great wealth of information that guides us and invites us to an internal transformation, to the evolution of our consciousness, to leave suffering out of our lives and find true happiness, it offers us possibilities to become better human beings and in this way to be able to find meaning in our lives and to understand our place in the kosmos. In this work appear the different concepts and the theoretical, philosophical, scientific, pedagogical, etc.that provide the bases that are required to understand that this new paradigm is what our society is really requiring, in all dimensions, social, political, educational, among others.
These holistic books deal with several of the aspects that must be considered in holistic education, and the elements that we need to know to improve not only our lifestyle, but also to be able to discover our true essence, which is our spirituality. On the threshold of the 21st century it is clear that we need a new education, an education according to the new needs and dilemmas of emerging cultures.
Four hundred years ago a vision of the world predominated that we can call dogmatic, and refers to the time that the vision of the Catholic Church dominated the interpretations of the world, from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century approximately. It was a time where explanations of life were based on dogma, the tradition that monopolized knowledge and was assumed as a judge to rule on the validity of ideas.
According to Dr. Ramón Gallegos, the second western paradigm was the scientific one and it was born from a criticism of the dogmatic paradigm, its emergence meant the desecration of life, stripping the existence of all divine or sacred vestige. His guiding metaphor was the machine, the universe was seen as a great clockwork mechanic where it was possible to predict and control its operation. It was a time where explanations about life were based on linear mechanical cause-effect processes, on empirical information through the senses or devices to expand their capacity, it was an activity guided by the philosophical principles of positivism, reductionism, materialism, dualism. The instruction that monopolized knowledge was the university. Science became synonymous with truth, therefore,all mainstream thinkers wanted to be scientists. This paradigm of scientist has predominated from the 17th to the 20th century.
For more than three hundred years, mechanical science imposed a vision of reality shedding light on some aspects of it and leaving others in darkness, in its attempt to overcome the superstition of dogmatic thinking, it threw the dirty water with everything and child For while superstitious thinking was denied, man was also denied his genuine spirituality.
The human being was conceived almost exclusively in instrumental terms, as a robot-man. The success achieved in technological development was accompanied by a profound dehumanization, there was a loss of sense of life and a generalized depredation of the planet's natural resources. The anomalies, its great limitations and the serious problems caused by the scientific paradigm, have recently led to the birth of a new vision of the world, the holistic vision.
This new paradigm has begun to generalize and develop during the last 20 years, although part of its roots are found since the beginning of the century through the development of quantum physics, the ideas that were gestated at that time and that forcefully refuted the Mechanistic science of the time took almost a century to begin to generalize. Holistic education is emerging as a powerful alternative to overcome the dogmatic and scientistic paradigms of the last four hundred years.
We are experiencing a new epochal change without precedent in human history, we are moving from a mechanistic scientific paradigm to a holistic vision. Today as three hundred years ago, when we move from the dogmatic vision to the scientific vision, we are transitioning from the latter to the holistic vision, just as the scientific revolution surpassed the dogmas of the church, in the same way the holistic vision is surpassing the dogmatic theories of mechanical science through a culture of wisdom, as three hundred years ago, the current change faces profound resistance.
The emerging holistic vision includes a new science and a new spirituality both based on a new understanding of the universe we inhabit and who we are. The new vision no longer confuses science and spirituality as the dogmatic paradigm, nor separates them as the scientific paradigm, but integrates it into an expanded framework of human experience. The new holistic vision is leading us to a process of restoration, innovation and abandonment of social, political and economic structures. All of this is the consequence of the end of a model of civilization that can no longer lead human experience to adequate goals. The problems that are no longer regional or national, but planetary, with which we are facing at this time are evident. The old structuresInstead of being a solution, they have become a strong problem to regulate social life, therefore there is a legitimate and urgent need to find ways of survival that allow us to overcome our dilemmas as well as deploy our resources. Deep changes in the rationality of the human being are emerging rapidly and surprising traditional thinkers, at the base of which is a profound revolution in knowledge that is causing a global cultural change, new visions about the nature of the universe, the planet and of the human being.Deep changes in the rationality of the human being are emerging rapidly and surprising traditional thinkers, at the base of which is a profound revolution in knowledge that is causing a global cultural change, new visions about the nature of the universe, the planet and of the human being.Deep changes in the rationality of the human being are emerging rapidly and surprising traditional thinkers, at the base of which is a profound revolution in knowledge that is causing a global cultural change, new visions about the nature of the universe, the planet and of the human being.
Holistic education is a pedagogy of universal love, a call to consciously live in unconditional compassion, a process to nurture the best of the human spirit, a comprehensive learning of the different levels of reality, a conduit for the evolution of consciousness, a education of the Self.
The education that predominates in most educational institutions is based on science and the mechanistic philosophy of the 18th and 19th centuries, it reproduces a vision of reality based on four fictions: objectivism, reductionism, positivism, determinism.
The paradigm shift from mechanistic education to holistic education has a radically different set of principles. Holistic education is interested in an integral formation of the human being, attending not only the intellectual aspect but also the emotional, physical, social, aesthetic and spiritual. Part of new assumptions of what is intelligence, learning and knowledge, the human being, consciousness, human communities, the school, the curriculum, among others. Holistic education is not reduced to being an educational method, it is characterized by being an integral vision of education.
Holistic Education is the largest educational megatrend today, it represents a new comprehensive paradigm that allows us to overcome traditional mechanistic visions based on fragmentation, scientism and dehumanization. Holistic education is a pedagogy of universal love that takes into account all dimensions and levels of the human being, its models and principles are unique and are based on epistemological Integralism, it allows us to insert our life in a broader context of meaning. Education is defined as a process of evolution of consciousness, it is a process of dialogue, of mutual understanding to build individual and shared meanings.
Holistic education is a process of becoming aware that the world is a unit, an interdependent whole, it is based on a deep devotion to life and the inherent potential of human nature. Holistic education restores dignity to the human being, recognizing their true nature and an interrelated worldview.
Spirituality is the deployment of universal values that arises from the awakening of consciousness through spirituality we awaken to our true nature. Holistic education is based on new principles that create a coherent learning environment, it points out that in the new education learning and teaching do not have the same importance, learning is much more important than teaching, which is carried out within the framework of learn, therefore it is not possible to continue talking about a teaching-learning process, but rather about holistic learning.
Educating with the heart means first cultivating and then spreading from within the heart itself, making affection the main weapon and forming an affective and effective closeness among young people, of participation, accompaniment and encouragement, betting on the positive resources of each young person. even the most devastated by life committing fully to their education.
How wonderful to have a space within school hours to discover and develop personal and interpersonal feelings, to be able to tell what happens to us, what makes us happy or what worries us. Reflecting on your own personality allows you to form a clearer image of yourself and develop self-esteem; Putting feelings and emotions into words allows us to become aware of them, to be able to express them and to dominate them. It favors the development of strategies to control anger, overcome fear or apathy, reach agreements to resolve conflicts in a positive way and build more positive bonds with others.
Knowing yourself is a good start to getting to know others. Accept yourself to be able to accept others.
Giving room to diversity, valuing both individual contributions and group agreements, the formation of personality occurs through a complex process of identifications, therefore, the study of identity and social identifications aims to develop the capacity of the person to self-develop as an individual subject and recognize their belonging to a community with which they share common history, values and projects. To ensure that students can develop a critical spirit in the face of the models and stereotypes proposed by society and can build a better model, it is necessary to create in the school an environment conducive to reflection and analysis of them, discussing the problems that the students concern and proposing alternative models,both in the nature of interpersonal relationships and in the creative and peaceful solution of conflicts, learning social dynamics, learning to know and respect others, to reach agreements, to listen, to make our claims heard, to find solutions agreed upon by non-violent methods.
It is here that the school is called to promote a kind of "counterculture" and to begin to practice, in each of the educational instances, respect for the other, different, sometimes antagonistic, promoting common projects and non-violent solutions to conflicts.
Holistic education is an educational proposal, which is applicable at all educational levels, this educational option consists of making internal changes, slowly but surely, it is applied little by little, through simple activities to develop awareness first in the educator and then in the children, then in their peers, the community, the country, the continent and the planet.
Holistic education is the tool that we can use to get out of the current problems worldwide, it is the only one that integrates the bases to find the answer to the inner emptiness of human beings.
conclusion
Our education is currently based on the mechanism, determinism and materialism of the eighteenth century, which has lasted during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was an education based on the assembly line model of the factories of that society, the objective was to form citizens for mechanical work with a strong instrumental rationality, the vision of nature was that of something fundamentally dead, the predominant values were control, consumption, competition, speed, material success. Today this vision of the world generates more problems than solutions, which is why a paradigm shift is essential that allows us to educate in a different way, for a sustainable and comprehensive society, with a holistic vision of the 21st century human being.
We are understanding that education has failed because it has been based on false assumptions about the nature of learning, intelligence, school and the human being. All these antecedents make a change in the educational model essential, practically all sectors of society agree on the need for a change, the problem that arises is where. Holistic education is a comprehensive strategy for restructuring education in all its aspects: the nature and content of the curriculum, the role of the teacher, students and school administrators, the way the learning process is approached, the strategy for restructuring completely the educational system, the importance of values and the nature of intelligence.
Carrying out this essay made me remember moments that happened during the stay in the master's degree and the reading of the different books, it was comforting to reaffirm some concepts that were still unclear and to fill myself with that knowledge again, the proposal of Dr. Ramón Gallegos seems to me very interesting because it is inclusive, liberating and spiritual.
Dr. Ramón Gallegos Nava, educator, writer and philosopher, is a doctor of education, founder of the International Foundation for holistic education aimed at disseminating his work on holistic education and development of consciousness, is an internationally recognized author. He has published 25 books on holistic education, which makes him the author worldwide who has written the most on the subject, among which stand out: "Holistic Education" internationally awarded with the Book of the year 2001 and "The spirit of education ”Considered a global milestone by holistic educators.
His work presents a comprehensive vision of holistic education in its relationship with the new emerging culture and sustainable development. His work is an inspiring work that has spread to all continents. This essay shows a taste of twelve books written by Dr. Ramón Gallegos Nava, about the different integrating aspects of human beings with the universe.
The work of Dr. Ramón Gallegos is unique in the world, he makes a great contribution so that education everywhere becomes more human and more comprehensive, he has several phrases referring to the holistic education movement, this movement is universal and they are elementary to understand this new philosophy of education. He says:
Holistic education is the recognition of Universal Love as a fundamental educational reality. Holistic education is a path of wisdom, love and compassion, it is the art of becoming aware of our true nature.
Ramon Gallegos
Bibliography
- Gallegos Nava Ramón (2000) The spirit of education. Integrity and importance in holistic education. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) The education of the heart. Twelve principles for holistic schools. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) Holistic Education. Pedagogy of universal love. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) A comprehensive vision of education. The heart of holistic education. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) Holistic Dialogues. Holistic education and perennial philosophy I. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2003) Aprender a ser.The birth of a new spiritual awareness. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2003) Learning Communities. Transforming schools into learning communities. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2003) Pedagogy of universal love. A holistic view of the world. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2004) Wisdom, love and compassion. Holistic education and perennial philosophy II. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2004) The Path of Perennial Philosophy. Holistic education and perennial philosophy III. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2005) Education and spirituality. Education as a spiritual practice.International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2007) Spiritual intelligence. Beyond the multiple and emotional intelligence. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.
