Programme 359, Thomas Moore on Spirituality Education (27-3-19)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney

Theme tune by David Vesey

This week my guest is Thomas Moore who gave a talk on "The Inner Landscape of the Educator in Difficult Times" in Marino Institute of Education earlier this year. Among the topics we discussed are:

• How as a culture we prefer training to education and the differences between them
• Where he would like education to take place
• Why the colours, sounds, images and textures around you matter when you learn
• Source of curriculum: What does it mean to be an educated person?
• What it requires of each of us to be human, to be good citizens
• The spiritual nature of humans in our search for meaning
• Having students go on a “pilgrimage” back to their childhood to get in touch with their essential selves
• Aspects of spirituality religions have traditionally ignored in their emphases on dogmatism and moralism
• Exploring basic questions through literature and the arts

He referred to Homer’s Odyssey, Horton Foote's play The Trip to Bountiful, and the poets Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens and John Keats.