A Human Values Pathway for Teachers: Developing Silent Sitting and Mindful Practices in Education

This book combines perspectives from psychology, spiritual education and digital teaching pedagogies in a transnational framework to discuss the Education in Human Values Program (EHV) for child development, with a focus on silent sitting, mindfulness, meditation and story-telling as tools in the classroom. Through positive guidance in the early stages of child development using EHV tools, teachers will be better equipped to handle disciplinary issues in primary and secondary schools. These practices are also useful for the higher education community, as teachers and educators from tertiary institutions may adopt these practices in their teaching and become reflective practitioners. Topics such as teacher morale and school climate and its impact on children are discussed in relation to building resilience, reflective capacities, and inner strength (shared values) using an intrinsic and transformational approach. The discussions also include perspectives from the neurosciences. With contributions from teachers and educators from the US, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong and Mauritius, this edited volume addresses the challenges, strengths and weaknesses associated with daily teaching practices in primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions. The content is relevant to policymakers and researchers in child development studies, with a particular focus on the impact of silent sitting, mindful practices, and meditation on children’s self-regulation and resilience. The authors collectively espouse that silent sitting techniques can help a child to grow and discover their hidden potential, thus enhancing their social, emotional, spiritual and physical capacities.

Dr Suma Parahakaran is a researcher in Education in Human Values and member from the Sathya Sai Academy, Malaysia. She also works as a consultant for the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO- RECSAM) Malaysia. Currently, Suma is a visiting Professor for the American University of Sovereign Nations (USA) and her research is on Spiritual Human Values and Bioethics in environmental education. Suma was also an education training consultant for HUMANA Child Aid Society (2014-2016) and has worked with schools in Thailand and Malaysia. She was a resource person for the Human Values based Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (HVWSHE) for the (UNHABITAT) and Society for Preservation of Water (Institute of Sathya Sai Education, Thailand) between 2004 and 2009. The focus of her work is in the integration of education in human values in the curriculum for Education and Environmental Education. Silent-sitting is one of the main teaching pedagogies which Suma is interested in implementing in educational systems. She works as a tutor in the Education faculty for Wawasan Open University, Malaysia
Dr. Stephen Scherer is a research and supervising clinical health psychologist whose research interests lie primarily in the field of emotion and emotion regulation, with a focus on mindfulness as a mediator of emotion regulation. Dr. Scherer has over 20 years of experience in meditative practice and began researching emotion regulation and mindfulness as an undergraduate student. He developed the Personal Factors that Influence Academic Behaviors Assessment (PIABs) which aims to further bring the fields of mindfulness, emotion regulation, and post-secondary education together to help enrich the lives and successes of college and college-bound students. He also teaches mindfulness and emotion regulation strategies to children, adolescents, and adults in his clinical practice and provides Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a mindfulness-based treatment to adolescents and adults.