Approaching a more holistic education
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Colleen P. McNickle (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- H. Svi Shapiro
Abstract: The following dissertation argues that our current educational system should be improved for the benefit of the individual and society through the addition of what may be referred to as aspects of holistic education. Holistic Education for the purpose of this paper is defined as an approach, as well as a curriculum style, applied to our general education that integrates matters pertaining to our existential affairs with our educational material. Some topics that are applicable to this approach, and that will be discussed in this dissertation, include mindfulness, critical consciousness, communication techniques, and conflict resolution. The purpose for the addition of these matters to our curriculum are to enhance our abilities to function with a greater understanding of our lives outside of the classroom and to approach the classroom materials with less ambiguity as to education's goals. Within this dissertation I assert that students and educators sense a distance between the current mandated curriculum and its applicability to their lives. I discuss in detail how I believe that by creating our curriculum to be more meaningful to our daily existence that we may ameliorate what some may call our existential vacuum. This dissertation will include an example of a current alternative education process through the use of semi-structured structured interviews with some of this program's participants. The interviews will provide a deeper sense of a holistic educational experience while a sample course structure will also be detailed in order to exemplify how such a class could operate within our public education.
Approaching a more holistic education
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Created on 12/1/2014
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2014
- Keywords
- Communication, Conflict Resolution, Critical Thinking, Education, Holistic, Mindfulness
- Subjects
- Education, Humanistic $z United States
- Education $x Social aspects $z United States
- Conflict management $x Study and teaching $z United States
- Critical thinking $x Study and teaching $z United States
- Educational change $z United States