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TOUGH QUESTIONS - WINTER 1993

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EDUCATING FOR THE WHOLE : MIND, BODY, AND SOUL
BY JOSE CAMBEROS

     Despite efforts at reform, modern society  remains a frag-
mented structure with deep social, political, and economic divi-
sions.  Because of its important role as a conduit for intellec-
tual, social and cultural values, educational reform is often
considered a means for addressing these divisions.  As a result,
we are presently focusing a great deal of attention on the need
for education reform and improvement, usually by proposing spe-
cific changes in curricula, particular educational strategies,
or various models for teacher-student interaction.  However,
without the proper foundation, these reforms will not resolve
the social crisis.

     A fundamental flaw of our educational system is the perva-
sive utilitarian (and materialistic) view that education is the
means to a specific end, namely, the production of individuals
capable of holding a career or profession that will provide eco-
nomic and material security.  Instead, a proper educational
foundation ought to be concerned with cultivation of complete,
whole human beings capable of productive, creative, and respon-
sible action within society.  In order to cultivate such indi-
viduals it will be necessary to adopt a categorical model for a
holistic education which aims directly at the spiritual ideal of
a unified mind and body.

     When refering to holism in education, the multi-talented
individual or the Renaissance ideal of a talented polyglot is
often evoked.  However, the essential features of these views
reflect a hidden, special kind of humanity in which all our men-
tal, spiritual, and physical capacities are developed to func-
tion as a dynamic whole.  Thus, the foundations for an holistic
education are built upon three unifying principles that are im-
plicit in all humanity regardless of race, gender, or culture.
They are mind, body, and soul.  Therefore, the model for a
holistic education contains three essential components, aesthet-
ics, athletics, and apologetics,  which aim at developing the
capacities of the mind, body, and soul, respectively.

     Aesthetics is a form or rubric for intellectual activity
designed to develop fully the formal and creative capacities of
the mind.  It emphasizes unleashing fully the imaginative, cre-
ative, and intuitive powers of humanity through the cultivation
of the capacities of the intellect.  This includes the tradi-
tional academic disciplines, with one fundamental and crucial
distinction - all disciplines should be taught within their
proper contextual, formal, and creative dimensions.  Hence, the
history, philosophy, and technical mastery of the discipline
should be included as part of the normal curriculum.
Development of critical reasoning abilities and an interdisci-
plinary approach are an integral component of these ideals.

     Athletics refers to conditioning of the body.  It requires
an understanding of its anatomy, capacities, and fundamental
needs.  This component should promote an appreciation  and re-
spect for the beauty of the human body through physical condi-
tioning, current knowledge about health, nutrition, biological
reproduction, and human sexuality.  Today, this important cate-
gory is not taken seriously enough and is lumped together with
other extracurricular activities instead of being given its
rightful position on par with the aesthetic category.  Simply
put, a healthy body is a healthy mind and attitude.
Appreciation and respect for the unique beauty of the human body
increases the potential for the appreciation and respect for hu-
man diversity.

     Apologetics is a special category which seeks to address
the need for communication, which lies at the heart of our spir-
itual needs.  We come to know our own soul only through the re-
flection we see in others.  This is only possible if we can com-
municate with them.  It seems that our present age has confused
communication (verbal or otherwise) with the intellectual equiv-
alent of war.  Everything from intellectual discussions to ev-
eryday social discourse tends to become battlefields of argumen-
tation as if we were bent on humiliating our peers or loved ones
by proving them wrong.  This is an extremely destructive pro-
cess.  Respect for an opposing view is the beginning of mutual
understanding and true community.

     Education is capable of setting people free to enjoy life
as well as derive a feeling of personal satisfaction by con-
tributing to the social whole.  Because holistic education is
not a means to an end, but rather a dynamic process of lifelong
growth, it promotes the ideal of continued cultivation and devo-
tion to the learning process.  Such devotion to the ideals of
holistic education and constant critical concern for their prac-
tical implementation provides the necessary disciplined frame of
mind to maintain unity of self and society.  Only when we under-
stand that society needs and values us do we impose the neces-
sary personal constraints to function properly within a commu-
nity.  Hence, a holistic education satisfies our spiritual need
for individual integrity by imparting on us devotion to the
unity achieved, of both self and society.

     Vocation provides us with the proper selfless nonmaterial-
istic motivation for a personal contribution to human survival,
growth, and maturation.  When we undertake a particular journey
of life, we manifest our creative and imaginative potential to
their greatest extent when we feel that we are called to such a
journey, which appeals to our power of volition.  Vocation does
not tell us what we must do for materialistic survival as indi-
viduals.  Rather it grants us a more noble role in the survival
of our species and hence satisfies our spiritual need to feel
valuable within social communities.

     The model for a holistic education originates from the uni-
versal constituents of humanity:  mind, body, and soul.  The in-
tent is not engineering particular human products for the pur-
pose of material progress or worldly utility, but instead to
catalyze what can only be called an awakening of the human
spirit.  The message here is that we need to transform the way
we think and feel about ourselves and the world from utilitar-
ian, materialistic, selfish concerns to a foundation of love--
love for life, for ourselves as part of the greater whole, and
for the world.  The mind and body are one spirit.  We are nature
and nature is us.  The next step in our evolutionary development
must constitute such a transformation and fundamental change.
Consciousness is both a great and terrible gift.  What we do
with this gift is entirely a matter of our own choosing.  Let us
choose with hope, honor, and dignity in our hearts.


     Jose Camberos received his Bachelor of Science degree in
Mechanical Engineering/Materials Science and Engineering from
the University of California, Berkeley, his Master of Science in
Aeronautical Engineering and Master of Arts in the History and
Philosophy of Science from Stanford University, and is currently
a Doctoral candidate in Aeronautical and Astronautical
Engineering at Stanford.  As a participant in SPUSA`s Seventh
International Conference, Visions for a Sustainable World, Jose
attended the working group on Educating for the Socially
Responsible Use of Technology, contributing a research paper en-
titled `Implicit Gender Bias and Discrimination in the
Intellectual Socialization of 20th Century Scientists and
Engineers.`