Integrative Mind

In a world on fire with unprecedented possibility as well as peril, what kind of mind is needed in order to thrive and survive? How can education help develop human potential to be a match for this reality? The Integrative Mind radically updates the vision that we hold for education, the pedagogy that can help us achieve it, and the human consciousness that underlies it all. Consciousness and culture has been thrown out of balance by the neglect of key ways of meeting the world. The solution at the edge of this new episteme is not so much about what we know but instead about how we know.With practical applications and contemporary research, Tobin Hart shows that the way into the future requires a recalibration of mind. Hart explores five “missing minds”: contemplative, empathic, beautiful, embodied, and imaginative. These help open the aperture of consciousness enabling us to move, as Thomas Berry said, from seeing the world as a collection of objects to experiencing it as a communion of subjects. The result is an essential deepening of understanding and our humanity.

In this book Tobin Hart has given an inspiring vision for education with his conception of mind. His vision, rooted in recent research and the wisdom traditions, provides an imaginative path for education in the 21st century. This is an invaluable contribution to the literature on transformative education., I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The readability, clarity, and substance are qualities that will be appreciated by any reader of education.  Tobin Hart is a voice that needs to be heard.  Not only does he name the problem and articulate the essential questions confronting American education today, but he goes on to frame the conversation for a new vision of education.  His "five minds" are eminently practical with examples and applications that every educator can put into practice.  This is essential reading - possibly the best book on education I've read in a long time., Tobin Hart explores and illuminates the richest dimensions of the human body-mind, most of which are misunderstood or disdained by contemporary education. Drawing from ancient to contemporary sources, The Integrative Mind is enhanced by exercises that lead the reader to first-hand understanding of essential domains of deep learning. This book will enrich educational reform efforts that value meaningful and profoundly holistic education., At a time when the understandable desire to bring all students up to a higher level of achievement has become paramount in American education, Tobin Hart reminds us that there are other, equally important dimensions to education that are being neglected.  In this book he explores the many ways in which balance can be restored to the educational process so that we can foster not only a more knowledgeable and skillful population, but also one that is more humane and enlightened.

Tobin Hart, PhD is professor of psychology at the University of West Georgia. He is co-founder of The ChildSpirit Institute, a nonprofit educational and research hub devoted to understanding and nurturing the inner life of children and adults. His work explores consciousness at the nexus of spirituality, psychology and education. His most recent books include: The Four Virtues, The Secret Spiritual World of Children, and From Information to Transformation: Education for the Evolution of Consciousness.