Consider article 26 paragraph 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights... "Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and human freedoms". The aim of education, in the fullest and deepest sense of the word, is to provide the conditions to free the human spirit in order to cultivate naturally meaningful human intelligence or 'creative intelligence'. Cultivation of creative intelligence is a function of the integrated development of the person as a whole or 'holistic education'. Holistic education is based on respect for the instinctive motives for growth through learning... not only the basic psychological needs for security, self-esteem and belongingness ('ego-needs') but also the spiritual needs or 'metaneeds' which define the human personality or 'human nature’…a function of the proper development of rational conscience which is is essential for self mastery and intelligent social adaptability.
In the paradigm of holistic education the role of the teacher is defined in terms of the 'facilitation of learning'. As a 'facilitator of learning' the teacher understands the psychological value of creativity and productiveness or 'work' and facilitates the construction of conscience through development of human poten......tial. The facilitative teacher designs learning environments which are compatible with respect for the instinctive motives for human learning behaviour i.e. 'human needs'. These include so-called 'soul needs' for ego-transcendance as well as the ego needs for security, self-esteem and belongingness.
The paradigm of traditional education as 'schooling' is essentially ineffective because it is ultimately based on an intrinsic mistrust of the human personality or 'human nature'. The innaccurate perception of human nature translates into the fallacious assumption that the interests of the individual and those of society are mutually exclusive. This dichotomous view of the social reality perpetuates suffering, oppression and destruction because it creates unresolvable social problems. These 'pseudo-problems' can only be dealt with effectively if approached from a more accurate holistic perspective. So what is human nature? In truth, human nature is a social nature with natural instincts for social adaptability - the 'social instincts' - which must be cultivated through a process of moral or spiritual growth i.e. 'socialization'. Human socialization is a function of awareness or 'consciousness'of the moral values for living or 'human values' ('knowledge' or 'gnosis'of 'spirit')... such as 'empathy' as compassionate wisdom, 'love' as universal unconditonal love or 'lovingkindness', 'truth' as freedom from conditioning, 'justice' as social responsibility, 'peace' as understanding , beauty ... Human values are the core values of moral consciousness or 'morality' of rational conscience of the self beyond persona or 'ego'... i.e. the 'transpersonal self', 'authentic self', 'higher self' or 'Self' . Rational conscience of the Self is the source of personal power or 'self-empowerment' which is prerequisite to the ability to adapt intelligently to changing social conditions And what are the implications for education? In view of the fact that the development of a civilised society depends on development of conscience and therefore rational or 'civilised' human beings, then the needs of the individual and of the society are mutually dependent and interrelated. Consequently the function of education is to provide optimal conditions for the development of each person as a ratioanl and integrated whole through cultivation of their human potentialities - physical, cognitive, intellectual, artistic, psychological, emotional and moral or 'spiritual' . Spiritual development is a function of engagement of the person's instinctive sense of responsiblity for their own development of their human potential. Such education for the person as a whole is 'holistic education'. Holistic education is based on respect for human dignity as manifest in creativity and productiveness or 'work' which is meaningful because it invoilves motivation for growth through learning or 'intrinsic motivation'. It calls for the planning and provision of natural learning environments which are characterised by conditions of freedom to learn. The role of the teacher is described in terms of facilitation for learning i.e. 'facilitator'. The teacher as facilitator is required to understand that human nature as a social nature depends on the cultivation of creative intelligence for responsible, compassionate and therefore intelligent living. Consequently holistic education is effective as the foundation of a peaceful , democratic and humane society.
