21st Century Ministries Mission Statement
Vision/Mission: To provide students with the insight, knowledge, skills necessary to consciously and deliberately create a vision of the future they desire and to make that vision manifest. Fundamental to this mission is the requirement that students be able to “Learn what they need to learn when they need to learn it.” In short, learning how to learn.
Principles: Holistic education is student-centered, providing students with a variety of options, perspectives and strategies for exploring their unrealized potential for thinking and learning at their individual intellectual and psychological “cutting edge.”
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Educating for human development
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Honoring students as individuals
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The central role of experience
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Holistic Education
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New role of educators
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Freedom of choice
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Educating for a participatory democracy
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Educating for ethnic and cultural diversity and global citizenship
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Educating for earth literacy
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Spirituality and education
We call for wholeness in the educational process, and for the transformation of educational institutions and policies required to attain this aim. Wholeness implies that each academic discipline provides merely a different perspective on the rich, complex, integrated phenomenon of life. Holistic education celebrates and makes constructive use of evolving, alternate views of reality and multiple ways of knowing. It is not only the intellectual and vocational aspects of human development that need guidance and nurturance, but also the physical, social, moral, aesthetic, creative, and -- in a nonsectarian sense -- spiritual aspects. Holistic education takes into account the numinous mystery of life and the universe in addition to the experiential reality.
Holism is a reemerging paradigm, based on a rich heritage from many scholarly fields. Holism affirms the inherent interdependence of evolving theory, research, and practice. Holism is rooted in the assumption that the universe is an integrated whole in which everything is connected. This assumption of wholeness and unity is in direct opposition to the paradigm of separation and fragmentation that prevails in the contemporary world. Holism corrects the imbalance of reductionistic approaches through its emphasis on an expanded conception of science and human possibility. Holism carries significant implications for human and planetary ecology and evolution.
We believe that all people are spiritual beings in human form who express their individuality through their talents, abilities, intuition and intelligence. Just as the individual develops physically, emotionally and intellectually, each person also develops spiritually. Spiritual experience and development manifest as a deep connection to self and others, a sense of meaning and purpose in daily life, an experience of the wholeness and interdependence of life, a respite from the frenetic activity, pressure and over-stimulation of contemporary life, the fullness of creative experience, and a profound respect for the numinous mystery of life. The most important, most valuable part of the person is his or her inner, subjective life--the self or the soul.
The absence of the spiritual dimension is a crucial factor in self-destructive behavior. Drug and alcohol abuse, empty sexuality, crime and family breakdown all spring from a misguided search for connection, mystery and meaning and an escape from the pain of not having a genuine source of fulfillment.
We believe that education must nourish the healthy growth of the spiritual life, not do violence to it through constant evaluation and competition. One of the functions of education is to help individuals become aware of the connectedness of all life. Fundamental to this awareness of wholeness and connectedness is the ethic expressed in all of the world's great traditions: "What I do to others I do to myself." Equally fundamental to the concept of connectedness is the empowerment of the individual. If everyone is connected to everyone and everything else, then the individual can and does make a difference.
By fostering a deep sense of connection to others and to the Earth in all its dimensions, holistic education encourages a sense of responsibility to self, to others and to the planet. We believe that this responsibility is not a burden, but rather arises out of a sense of connection and empowerment. Individual, group and global responsibility is developed by fostering the compassion that causes individuals to want to alleviate the suffering of others, by instilling the conviction that change is possible and by offering the tools to make those changes possible.
In the twenty-first century, many of our institutions and professions are entering a period of profound change. We in education are beginning to recognize that the structure, purposes, and methods of our profession were designed for an historical period that is now coming to a close. The time has come to transform education so as to address the human and environmental challenges that confront us.
We believe that education for this new era must be holistic. The holistic perspective is the recognition that all life on this planet is interconnected in countless profound and subtle ways. The view of Earth suspended alone in the black void of space underscores the importance of a global perspective in dealing with social and educational realities. Education must nurture respect for the global community of humankind.
Holism emphasizes the challenge of creating a sustainable, just, and peaceful society in harmony with the Earth and its life. It involves an ecological sensitivity - a deep respect for both indigenous and modern cultures as well as the diversity of life forms on the planet. Holism seeks to expand the way we look at ourselves and our relationship to the world by celebrating our innate human potentials - the intuitive, emotional, physical, imaginative, and creative, as well as the rational, logical, and verbal.
Holistic education recognizes that human beings seek meaning, not just fact or skills, as an intrinsic aspect of their full and healthy development. We believe that only healthy, fulfilled human beings create a healthy society. Holistic education nurtures the highest aspirations of the human spirit.
Holistic education is not one particular curriculum or methodology; it is a set of working assumptions that include the following:
u Education is a dynamic, open human relationship.
u Education cultivates a critical awareness of the many contexts of learners’ lives - moral, cultural, ecological, economic, technological, political.
u All persons hold vast multi-faceted potentials which we are only beginning to understand. Human intelligence is expressed through diverse styles and capacities, all of which we need to respect.
u Holistic thinking involves contextual, intuitive, creative, and physical ways of knowing.
u Learning is a lifelong process. All life situations may facilitate learning.
u Learning is both an inner process of self-discovery and a cooperative activity.
u Learning is active, self-motivated, supportive, and encouraging of the human spirit.
u A holistic curriculum is interdisciplinary, integrating both community and global perspectives
We believe holism can be classified by using an all quadrant foundation. We believe in Integral Theory as proposed by Integral Institute and Integral theory based on Ken Wilber's Integralist approaches to world history and the states, levels, stages of human consciousness. The following represents our holistic approach in education, religion and spirituality.
Some representative instances of the major colors:
Infrared (archaic—a proto 1st-person perspective): infrared Altitude signifies a degree of development that is in many ways imbedded in nature, body, and the gross realm in general. Infrared Altitude exhibits an archaic worldview, physiological needs (food, water, shelter, etc.), a self-sense that is minimally differentiated from its environment, and is in nearly all ways oriented towards physical survival. Although present in infants, infrared is rarely seen in adults except in cases of famine, natural disasters, or other catastrophic events. infrared is also used as a kind of catch-all term for all earlier evolutionary stages and drives.
Magenta (egocentric—able to take a 1st-person perspective): Magenta Altitude tends to be the home of egocentric drives, a magical worldview, and impulsiveness. It is expressed through magic/animism, kin-spirits, and such. Young children primarily operate with a magenta worldview. Magenta in any line of development is fundamental, or "square one" for any and all new tasks. Magenta emotions and cognition can be seen driving cultural phenomena such as Burning Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or superhero-themed comic books or movies.
Red (ego-to-ethnocentric—able to take a 1st- to 2nd-person perspective): Red Altitude is the marker of egocentric drives based on power, where "might makes right," where aggression rules, and where there is a limited capacity to take the role of an "other." Red impulses are classically seen in grade school and early high school, where bullying, teasing, and the like are the norm. Red motivations can be seen culturally in Ultimate Fighting contests, which have no fixed rules (fixed rules come into being at the next Altitude, amber), teenage rebellion and the movies that cater to it (The Fast and the Furious), gang dynamics (where the stronger rule the weaker), and the like.
Amber (ethnocentric—able to take a 2nd-person perspective): Amber Altitude indicates a worldview that is mythic, and mythic worldviews are always held as absolute (this stage of development is often called absolutistic). Instead of "might makes right," amber ethics are more oriented to the group, but one that extends only to "my" group. Grade school and high school kids usually exhibit amber motivations to "fit in." Amber ethics help to control the impulsiveness and narcissism of red. Culturally, amber worldviews can be seen in fundamentalism (my God is right no matter what); extreme patriotism (my country is right no matter what); and ethnocentrism (my people are right no matter what).
Orange (worldcentric—able to take a 3rd-person perspective): In an orange worldview, the individual begins to move away from the amber conformity that reifies the views of one's religion, nation, or tribe. The orange worldview often begins to emerge in late high school, college, or adulthood. Culturally, the orange worldview realizes that "truth is not delivered; it is discovered," spurring the great advances of science and formal rationality. Orange ethics begin to embrace all people, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...." Ayn Rand's Objectivism, the US Bill of Rights, and many of the laws written to protect individual freedom all flow from an orange worldview.
Green (worldcentric—able to take a 4th-person perspective): Green worldviews are marked by pluralism, or the ability to see that there are multiple ways of seeing reality. If orange sees universal truths ("All men are created equal"), green sees multiple universal truths—different ones for different cultures. Green ethics continue, and radically broaden, the movement to embrace all people. A green statement might read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, regardless of race, gender, class...." Green ethics have given birth to the civil rights, feminist, and gay rights movements, as well as environmentalism.
The green worldview's multiple perspectives give it room for greater compassion, idealism, and involvement, in its healthy form. Such qualities are seen by organizations such as the Sierra Club, Amnesty International, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Doctors Without Borders. In its unhealthy form green worldviews can lead to extreme relativism, where all beliefs are seen as relative and equally true, which can in turn lead to the nihilism, narcissism, irony, and meaninglessness exhibited by many of today's intellectuals, academics, and trend-setters.... Not to mention another "lost" generation in students.
Teal (worldcentric to kosmocentric—able to take a 4th/5th-person perspective): Teal Altitude marks the beginning of an integral worldview, where pluralism and relativism are transcended and included into a more systematic whole. The teal worldview honors the insights of the green worldview, but places it into a larger context that allows for healthy hierarchies, and healthy value distinctions.
Perhaps most important, a teal worldview begins to see the process of development itself, acknowledging that each one of the previous stages (magenta through green) has an important role to play in the human experience. Teal consciousness sees that each of the previous stages reveals an important truth, and pulls them all together and integrates them without trying to change them to “be more like me,” and without resorting to cultural relativism (“all are equal”).
Teal worldviews do more than just see all points of view (that’s a green worldview)—it can see and honor them, but also critically evaluate them.
Turquoise (kosmocentric—able to take a 5th-person perspective): Turquoise is a mature integral view, one that sees not only healthy hierarchy but also the various quadrants of humans knowledge, expression, and inquiry (at the minimum: I, we, and it). While teal worldviews tend to be secular, turquoise is the first to begin to integrate Spirit as a living force in the world (manifested through any or all of the 3 Faces of God: “I”—the “No self” or “witness” of Buddhism; “we/thou”—the “great other” of Christianity, Judaism, Hindusm, Islam, etc.; or “it”—the “Web of Life” seen in Taoism, Pantheism, etc.).
Indigo (continues and deepens kosmocentric—able to take 6th-person perspective and higher): Evolution and development continues growing, and we have no reason to believe it will stop with the stage that we are at now. We have indicated all of these higher possibilities with the next color in the rainbow after turquoise, which is indigo.
My Vision: To create a 21st Century Learning Center on the world-wide Internet. 21st Century Ministries is already partnering with the University of Metaphysics and University of Sedona in Sedona, AZ for distance learning. 21st Century Ministries is co-creating partnerships with other major players in the field of Integral Theory with Integral Institute, an Internet based website, based on the writing and teachings of Ken Wilber. 21st Century Ministries is also partnering with Centerpointe Research, Noetic Sciences, The Association for Global New Thought, Crossings (books), New Leaf Distributing (books) and others yet to be determined.
21st Century Ministries will conduct one-on-one counseling, group counseling on integral and holistic principles. These sessions will take place at the home of 21st Century Ministries, 12208 Mount Olive Road, Coker, AL 35452. Spiritual services will be held as determined by the Board of Directors.
21st Century Ministries has a website doing business as a not-for-profit corporation. The website is: www.21stcenturyministries.com Ebooks, reference material and holistic educational opportunities are offered on this website owned by John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. Holistic Health columns appear in the Northport Gazette and West Alabama Gazette weekly. The Hoover Gazette in Hoover, AL has been publishing these columns also. Syndication is being applied for.
The other foundations for 21st Century Ministries are literary publishing and pastoral counseling. The non-profit corporation will also solicit grants from the federal government in an effort to research integral theory as it relates to prayer and meditation and how prayer and meditation improves a person holistically (mind, body, Spirit).
JC
33° 13' N 87° 37' W