Pre-Conference Workshop – Mind the Gap: Understanding the Distance Between Contemplative and Transformative Education

What is the distance between the contemplative and transformative movements in education? What are the tensions between them? How do we understand this gap? What can each movement teach us that will guide our vision for a K12 education that serves and supports all children in reaching the highest level of academic learning, and understanding of themselves and their world? Through dialogue and reflective practice we will engage these questions, share our personal experiences, and identify how inner and outer work represent a paradox that needs to be creatively held. Participants will identify new and emerging inner- and outer-life skills that prepare contemplative and transformative teachers and administrators to engage in and lead personal and social transformation. Key to such skill development is an intentional connection between contemplative education and the seemingly ever-persistent need for equity and social justice. Together participants will clarify how contemplative and transformative education can combine to create a new vision for education that addresses the increasingly drastic social inequalities that plague our world.