Teaching Philosophy

Critical thinking is regularly cited as an essential 21st century skill, the key to success in school and work. Given our propensity to believe fake news, draw incorrect conclusions, and make decisions based on emotion rather than reason, it might even be said that critical thinking is vital to the survival of a democratic society. But what, exactly, is critical thinking? Haber describes the term's origins in such disciplines as philosophy, psychology, and science.

Anger plagues all of us on many levels and can be a formidable emotion to overcome. Yet, we see people, such as the Dalai Lama, who have faced circumstances far worse than many of us have faced—including exile, persecution, and the loss of many loved ones—but do not burn with rage or seek revenge. Using the teachings and advice presented by beloved Buddhist teacher Thubten Chodron, anyone can learn to calm their emotions, sit with and understand their anger, and peacefully move toward resolution and peace.

Far too often, our students attain only a superficial level of knowledge that fails to prepare them for deeper challenges in school and beyond. In Teaching for Deeper Learning, renowned educators and best-selling authors, Jay McTighe and Harvey F. Silver propose a solution: teaching students to make meaning for themselves.

The Life and Teachings of the Buddha is a comprehensive guide to Buddhist philosophy and practice, offering listeners a deep understanding of the key concepts and teachings that have guided millions of people around the world for over 2,500 years.

The teachings of Shunryu Suzuki have served for innumerable people as the gateway to Zen practice and meditation. In Zen Is Right Now, devoted student and biographer David Chadwick sheds new light on Suzuki’s presence and teachings through selected quotes from his lectures and a variety of stories told by his students.

Now more children are attending school while experiencing significant chronic and acute stressors. What can educators do to support students, help them learn, and ensure they reach their full potential? Trauma-informed schools are lauded as one way to address this challenge, but trauma-informed pedagogy can be hard to define and difficult to implement. Trauma-Responsive Pedagogy explores the research and practices around trauma-informed education in an easy-to-digest, actionable text that elevates the healing and wellness of both the children and the adults in our classrooms.

Dr. Peikoff makes a compelling case for a rational system of education by contrasting three approaches to philosophy and the different educational alternatives they propose to replace our present system. He translates the usual abstract discussions in this field into material easily comprehensible to the listener. In the process, he defines a proper methodology and curriculum that will produce thinking high school graduates confident of their ability to achieve their goals.

In the United States, the Prosperity Gospel’s tenets, spread widely by many Protestant preachers, have crept into the Catholic Church. Where did the “Prosperity” Gospel come from? And how has it embedded itself so deeply in this country? In this book, Thomas Storck demonstrates the deep roots that the unrestrained desire for gain has in this country. He argues that the exclusion of serious religious discourse from American public life has led to the public square being emptied of all transcendence, reducing every aspect of social life to material gain.

Among primers on meditation, this audiobook is exceptional in how it guides listeners who treasure inner growth and are looking for reliable direction on how to achieve it in an authentic and sustainable way. The author, a student of the Indian yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, distills the teachings of many other spiritual traditions and religions, including Christianity, into an interfaith perspective that will appeal to all seekers of the divine.

Do you want to learn the fundamentals of Buddhism? Do you want to learn it in a practical manner that actually improves your day-to-day life? Do you want to learn it in an easy-to-understand manner? Buddhism now is more popular than it has been in decades; the Buddha’s incredible teachings are starting to get the recognition they deserve. What has happened recently is a wave of books that only go over the theory of Buddhism and don’t cover the most important aspect - how Buddhism can transform your daily life and revolutionize you as a person.

Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys challenges the widely-held cultural impression that boys are stubbornly resistant to schooling while providing concrete examples of pedagogy and instructional style that have been proven effective in a variety of school settings. This book offers more than 100 detailed examples of lessons that succeed with male students, grouped thematically. Such themes include: Gaming, Motor Activities, Open Inquiry, Competition, Interactive Technology, and Performance/Role Play.

Seneca was dedicated to Stoicism, and in his essays and letters he explained the stoic position on many fundamental issues: pleasure and the problem of desire, happiness, and contentment; anger, fear, living in the present, how to think for yourself, anxiety and tranquillity, goodness, freedom, trusting the universe; courage, opportunity, cruelty and how to deal with it, friendship, love and trust, death and how to live, learning , chance and fate, time, aspirations, wisdom - and more.

Jaimal Singh is a fascinating Shabd Yoga adept, whose spiritual quest to unravel the secret of the five melodies is both deeply moving and legendary. How he finally came upon his guru Shiv Dayal Singh in Agra, India, in the mid-1850s borders on the unbelievable. But find him he did on that obscure back street, now famously known among satsangis worldwide as Panni Gali. Although we have salient details about Jaimal Singh’s life, there is much that remains unknown.

The Upanishads are among the oldest of the Indian wisdom texts, the records of teaching sessions of illumined sages and their students, who were asking the fundamental questions of life. Easwaran's translation of these classic texts has been highly acclaimed, and in these informal talks to close students he draws out the main themes of eleven Upanishads.

A lively and engaging guide to vital habits of mind that can help you think more deeply, write more effectively, and learn more joyfully.

In Teaching White Supremacy, Donald Yacovone shows us the clear and damning evidence of white supremacy’s deep-seated roots in our nation’s education system in a fascinating, in-depth examination of America’s wide assortment of texts, from primary readers to college textbooks and other higher-ed course materials. Sifting through a wealth of materials, from the colonial era to today, Yacovone reveals the systematic ways in which white supremacist ideology has infiltrated American culture and how it has been at the heart of our collective national identity.

In response to educators who are already fans of her best seller Change Your Questions, Change Your Life, Marilee Adams, the originator of Question Thinking, presents a compelling model for creating a classroom environment infused with curiosity, creativity, and caring. Through a moving story of a teacher on the verge of burnout, Adams demonstrates the powerful influence our mind-sets have on how we interact with our students, our colleagues, and ourselves.

Black education was a subversive act from its inception. African Americans pursued education through clandestine means, often in defiance of law and custom, even under threat of violence. They developed what Jarvis Givens calls a tradition of "fugitive pedagogy"—a theory and practice of Black education in America. The enslaved learned to read in spite of widespread prohibitions; newly emancipated people braved the dangers of integrating all-White schools and the hardships of building Black schools.

This is an excerpt from Sister Nivedita's wonderful book, The Master as I Saw Him, which focuses on the life and work of Swami Vivekananda. This excerpt is taken from the last 50 pages of her book and is centered on visions, samadhi, Sri Ramakrishna, and the death of Vivekananda at a young age. Selected and edited by Professor David Lane, PhD.

The Catholic Church has a history that spans over 2,000 years, and it began with none other than Jesus Christ himself. At least, that is what modern popes believe. But at first, there was just one church, and there was no division between Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and other branches of Christianity. Christians all over the known world were united, and together, they made their spirituality bloom. Their religion took over the lives of villagers, nobles, kings, queens, and even newly arrived pagan armies that came to conquer Europe.