With emphasis on preparing students for jobs, standards, and achievement testing, many think that North American education has become inwardly deadening, yet this book provides a counterbalance as it offers a way to nurture the soul in classrooms and schools.

The Soul of Higher Education: Contemplative Pedagogy, Research and Institutional Life for the Twenty-first Century contributes to an understanding of the importance and implications of a contemplative grounding for higher education. It is the sixth in a series entitled Advances in Workplace Spirituality: Theory, Research and Application, which is intended to be an authoritative and comprehensive series in the field. This volume consists of chapters written by noted scholars from both Eastern and Western traditions that shed light on the following questions: • What is an appropriate epistemological grounding for contemplative higher education? How dues the current dominant epistemology in higher education mitigate against contemplative teaching, learning, and research? What alternatives can be offered? • How can a contemplative culture be nurtured in the classroom? What difference does that culture make in teaching and learning? What is the role of individual and institutional leadership in creating and sustaining this culture? • What is contemplative research? How can the emerging field of contemplative studies fit into the twenty-first-century university? • What can faculty and students learn from contemplative practices about how to find peace of mind in a world of higher education characterized by increasing complexity, financial pressures, and conflicts? • What does a contemplative organizational structure look like in higher education? How can committees, faculty meetings, and administrative teams use contemplative practices to work more effectively together? • How can contemplative decision-making processes be used in higher education? Given hierarchies, turf wars, and academics’ propensity for using argument as a weapon, is it possible to introduce contemplative practices into decision-making situations in appropriate ways?

The professor and historian delivers a major critique of how political and financial attacks on the academy are undermining our system of higher education. Making a provocative foray into the public debates over higher education, acclaimed historian Ellen Schrecker argues that the American university is under attack from two fronts. On the one hand, outside pressure groups have staged massive challenges to academic freedom, beginning in the 1960s with attacks on faculty who opposed the Vietnam War, and resurfacing more recently with well-funded campaigns against Middle Eastern Studies scholars. Connecting these dots, Schrecker reveals a distinct pattern of efforts to undermine the legitimacy of any scholarly study that threatens the status quo. At the same time, Schrecker deftly chronicles the erosion of university budgets and the encroachment of private-sector influence into academic life. From the dwindling numbers of full-time faculty to the collapse of library budgets, The Lost Soul of Higher Education depicts a system increasingly beholden to corporate America and starved of the resources it needs to educate the new generation of citizens. A sharp riposte to the conservative critics of the academy by the leading historian of the McCarthy-era witch hunts, The Lost Soul of Higher Education, reveals a system in peril—and defends the vital role of higher education in our democracy.

Explores the spiritual dimension of education, and discusses ways to nourish the spiritual development of adolescents in public schools without violating anyone's legal rights.

"In SOUL! Fulfilling the Promise of Your Professional Life as a Teacher and Leader, author Timothy D. Kanold shares his own reflections and anecdotes, as well as wisdom and research from various teachers and leaders, to inspire and guide K-12 educators through their professional journeys. SOUL! is a follow-up to the bestselling book HEART! Fully Forming Your Professional Life as a Teacher and Leader. Whereas the goal of HEART! is to support educators in living a balanced professional life, the aim of SOUL! is to continue the work started in HEART! by reflecting on and taking daily actions that generate healthy responses to the obstacles educators face. No matter where readers find themselves in their teaching and leading careers, SOUL! will help them lead a fulfilling work life and ensure their students and colleagues flourish"--

In Struggling for the Soul, author Thomas Popkewitz tackles the persistent concern about unequal educational opportunities in the United States. He extends the theory of social epistemology argued in A Political Sociology of Educational Reform> through an ethnographic study of a national reform program that recruited teacher interns for urban and rural schools throughout the U.S.

* How can educators and parents of diverse backgrounds come together to find ways to invite soul into schools? * How do educators address ''soul'' in education without violating the separation of church and state or the deeply held beliefs of families and students? In this book, Rachael Kessler shows how. Based on the deeply moving stories and profound questions of students themselves, each chapter responds to the yearnings young people express: Deep Connection, Meaning and Purpose, Silence, Joy, Creativity, Transcendence, and Initiation--each evokes a gateway to inviting soul into the clas.