I have found that observing the present moment with clear, non-judging attention gives the space to explore the mind’s natural balance and discernment which have been there waiting to unfold. In life, where learning cannot be separated from the environment, connecting all life experiences with curiosity could transform this curiosity into insightful creative learning experiences, in which one might find something unique to contribute to the world.
Newsletter
Tammy Oesting – Montessorian
It was one of those long-shot ideas formulated in an online conversation with my dear friend Andy Lulka. Did she think her mentor, Dr. Philip Snow Gang, might be interested in speaking to the greater Montessori community through an online conference? She wondered...
Reflection on Adolescent Symposium
For two weeks in late November, a “Symposium” – a gathering of learned scholars, assembled around the relatively contemporary phenomenon of adolescence. Skillfully and heartfully guided by TIES faculty Steven Arnold and Julie Haagenson, two hundred registered...
Adolescents and The Natural World
(A post by TIES alumna Kasey Errico) I recently returned from a fall overnight experience with 17 adolescent learners. On our way from our campsite to the morning harvest, with the students in front of me, descending the hill toward the garden house of the Community...
Empathy, Compassion and Healing Our Planet
Empathy, Compassion and Healing Our Planet As a teacher for 23 years, I have learned that one's capacity for empathy and compassion provides a platform for love, life and making a difference in our fragile world. When guiding students to fall in love with the Earth, I...
Join us fireside for upcoming adolescent symposium
What is a TIES symposium? I was recently asked, "What is a TIES symposium?" Being on the inside, I think it’s easy for me to forget that our online gatherings are unique in their simplicity, and yet profound in their outcomes. A newcomer could easily pass, thinking...
Listening to Adolescents
We approach adolescents in a different way, for our benefit and theirs. It is not that we, the adults, should invite adolescents to the table, and share our plan of the future with them. It is that we should hang out in their space, and hope to be invited to watch...
Adolescents as Guides
Mentors and apprentices are partners in an ancient human dance, and one of teaching’s great rewards is the daily chance it gives us to get back on the dance floor. It is the dance of the spiraling generations, in which the old empower the young with their experience...
Food Eros
From Kate Hofstetter, TIES Alumna My recent learning and teaching projects have brought me into communion with natural food production. Lying in the prickly, three-inch, match weed (Phyla Nodiflora) that mats a swath of earth outside my boat, observing bees...