∗This essay is a response to Charles Melchert's essay “ ‘Understanding’ as a Purpose of Religious Education”.

In this article I examine the nature of ecological spirituality as it is discovered within the growing field of holistic education. I introduce holistic education and attempt to describe its chief characteristics by reference to the thought of Dewey and Hegel. Dewey was the ultimate progressive, yet his attachment to scientific progress and disregard for inherited wisdom mean that his work is not suitable for holistic education without adaptation. Hegel was the metaphysical philosopher of wholeness, yet his systematic, totalizing view of democracy which so alarmed Karl Popper similarly means that adaptation is again required. I argue that holistic education takes up a position between the two philosophers, experiential yet enculturated, metaphysical yet fluid and processual. I examine the ideas of both writers in relation to four key elements of holistic education and conclude by showing how they could combine to provide a rationale for the future.

Understanding the place of “understanding”∗

Nurturing Spirituality: A rationale for holistic education

L'A. propose ici un nouveau modele de recherche heuristique en matiere de style d'enseignement religieux. Pour ce faire, il fait une distinction prealable entre le concept d'apprentissage (learning) et celui d'enseignement (teaching). Il les definit comme deux processus differents mais complementaires. Il enumere ensuite les aspects descriptifs de l'enseignement qu'il entend promouvoir. Il rend compte aussi de la contribution fournie par la recherche passee dans la comprehension de cette matiere

Understanding the place of “understanding”∗

Citations

Nurturing Spirituality: A rationale for holistic education

A new paradigm for heuristic research in teaching styles

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