Experiential Buddhist Education™

The Abiding Heart Education™️ approach offers a specially made or bespoke Experiential Buddhist Education for Buddhist communities around the world. Over the past past 8 years we developed this Bespoke Experiential Buddhist Curriculum and Teacher Training catering to kindergarten, and primary to early secondary (class 1-8). In this programme, all subjects taught from kindergarten through to class 12 are fully immersed within the Buddhist view, meditation and how that informs everyday life activities and being.

The Abiding Heart Education approach was developed over nearly 3 decades. We devised a method to generate curriculums and teacher education courses that meet the specific needs of any community from any tradition around the world. Each programme is custom made, immersed in the community it is intended for and at the same time celebrating the cultural diversity represented in that society. Such education takes into consideration: sense of place, spiritual heritage, traditional/indigenous knowledge, diversity and inclusivity, as well as specific sociological and governmental requirements. Our Experiential Buddhist Education is an example of one of our tailor made education for Buddhist communities.

Understanding

Abiding Heart's Experiential Buddhist Education

The path chosen here has its roots in the experiential and transformative Buddhist wisdom. It is a process of re-discovering our inner well-being. The path to such determination begins with understanding and deepens through direct experience. In this approach, we learn to apply our insights or heart understanding in everyday life, gradually forming new habits that are motivated by bodhichitta. This style of learning is in common with Steiner’s children’s pedagogy that engages the head, heart and doing, and teaches us to learn about life from life, in the journey towards spiritual awakening.

Our Experiential Buddhist Education™️ approach rests on the understanding that inner development, from the Buddhist perspective, means the spirit of enlightenment motivated by love and compassion for the individual (for oneself and others) or by the power of goodness. This wholesome way of learning through engaging the head (understanding/knowing) and the heart (experiential/meditation), promotes and nurtures healthy habits and ways of being in every aspect of our lives. True transformation occurs when our innate qualities of wisdom and compassion are fully expressed, enabling us to care deeply for ourselves, for each other, and for the world.

A teacher trainee working on a Thangka painting in the Himalayan Buddhist Arts class as part of our 2022-23 teacher training. This forms part of the Abiding Heart's Experiential Buddhist curriculum for primary.

The Four Pillars
of the Abiding Heart's Experiential Buddhist Education Approach

Ground

Worldview

Human Development

Path

Inner Development of the Teacher

Learning Approach

Curriculum

Healing Contemplative Practices

Teacher Training

Experiential Buddhist Foundation Studies

Human Development and Education

Learning Theories and Methodologies

Abiding Heart’s Experiential Buddhist Curriculum

Understanding Children with Additional Needs

Community Building and Working with Parents

School Organisation and Management

The Well-Being of the Child

Meeting Governments Rules and Regulations

Child Study and Assessment

Fruition

Experiential Buddhist Education

Results

Healing and Transformation

With the Abiding Heart Education™️ approach, the teacher is central to the quality and relevance of the education that a child receives. The process by which teachers are being prepared for this task is a critical indicator, not only of the future quality and depth of learning but the potential for self-transformation and healing. In this way, our educational approach encourages accumulating merit with the heart's wish that the right causes and conditions allow children and teachers to remain and progress on the path to liberation. To support this, Abiding Heart’s pedagogical approach and curriculum content encourage a celebration of our common humanity and inspires creativity, curiosity, kindness and contemplation, all in the service of nurturing children’s and teachers' inner awakening.

Trainee teachers at our education courses are engaged in an approach to learning that is situated in the contemplative traditions view, meditation and practices and which has been translated into a unique children’s contemplative pedagogical approach. The needs of the child are considered in relation to each phase of their development and in doing so, the contemplative traditions learning and teaching methodologies are translated through transformative and progressive learning approaches.

A glimpse into Experiential Buddhist Primary Teacher Training Course

Transformational learning approaches include insights into the child’s changing consciousness and how this knowledge is translated into pedagogy and used to nurture the child’s inner development. This is interlinked with holistic children’s pedagogical tools and that aim towards supporting their spiritual development towards inner freedom.

Education can be understood in relation to uncovering the very nature of our mind. Our innate basic goodness is not merely an empty vessel that requires filling with endless information. Rather, our innate goodness, replete with qualities and wisdom, is waiting to be expressed and to shine through the cracks in our (seemingly) solidified sense of self.