This study was a phenomenological inquiry into the concrete and lived experiences of educators in a holistic school in Ecuador and from the founder of a creativity methodology program in Vietnam. These educators embarked on the remarkable journey from realizing the importance of holistic worldview to bringing about holistic education. The purpose of the study was to explore the significance of holistic worldview for education through investigating life-world stories. Using in-depth phenomenological interviews, the study explored these educators' past experiences, their present experiences and the integration of their past experiences with their present experiences. From a cross-case synthesis the salient themes and patterns evolved and unfolded into an interwoven web of knowing, doing, being and becoming. When this web is displayed in a two dimensional form it depicts the four most important dimensions of holistic educators: (1) the integrated knowing of the self, the subject, the students and the world; (2) the harmonious doing to create nurturing learning environments; (3) the genuine being to serve as authentic modeling; and (4) the ever-evolving becoming that seeks deeper meaning and larger purpose of life. When transform this web to a three-dimensional spiral, it portrays the dynamic, evolving, uplifting and transcending nature of the journey of holistic educators, where the four elements merge into an ultimate oneness that represents the essence of holistic educators. As Mario Solís suggests in my interview with him, “in a deep sense, my capacity as an educator comes from my choice to allow life to unfold through me and to demonstrate from my entire being.” The study manifests that when educators' entire being lives through their knowing and strives for becoming, namely, a higher purpose and deeper meaning of life, their vision and mission are not empty words on paper but rather a reality of life that they have created as the result of drawing from energy and resources from the creative, implicate order of life. The major insight of the journeys of these holistic educators is about touching the higher values of themselves, allowing themselves to manifest the excellence from within, and in turn, allowing others to manifest their inner resources, creativity and excellence. The study demonstrates how the holistic educators have successfully created a caring, nurturing, and nourishing learning environment where loving for life, appreciating relationship, learning to live and to create, living to transcend, and educating for peace are modeled and fostered.

A comparative case study was used to explored the orientations to teaching of three college teachers. The educational conceptions about teaching and classroom learning environments were investigated to determine how ideal orientations to teaching matched the reality of classroom practice. Each of the teachers was observed for the duration of eight class sessions (introductory level and upper level). Participants were interviewed on four occasions using a semi-structured interview format consisting of open-ended questions that focused on their conceptions of teaching and learning. Teachers' identified influences that affected their orientations to teaching and discussed their academic discipline, design and use of course syllabi, and their conceptions of students. Interpretation of the data revealed that the participants' ideal teaching orientation was based on their experience as a student and conceptions of the requirements of their academic discipline. Ideal teaching orientations were compromised based on a variety of contextual influences. The study builds theory on teaching orientations and forms a foundation for further research to investigate the influences of professional development, academic discipline, and gender on teaching orientation.

This dissertation is based on a field study of an alternative schooling program, CHOLEN, in Bangladesh. The purpose was to seek a clearer understanding of an alternative education model known as 'accelerated learning', where the time required for learning is much shorter than in conventional models, and is used where learners are unable to attend normal schooling due to poverty, cultural barriers, or conflict. CHOLEN used innovative strategies to enhance learning for tribal/indigenous children who were marginalized and bypassed by mainstream education. Key among the strategies used by CHOLEN was 'activity-based learning' that allowed learning to be organized around activities, rather than relying solely on the textbook, expanding learning outside the classroom to the learner's life and environment, creating a friendly learning environment, and using varied materials and methods to deepen the learning experience. Teacher training helped to develop teachers as facilitators with creativity and openness to shift from conventional methods to learner-centered ones. The training used a 'reconstruction approach' which taught teachers how to create their own learning activities. The study also looked at the policy context of CHOLEN. As a non-governmental or NGO program, what were the possibilities and challenges it faced. It looked particularly at the kinds of training and support systems that were essential to effective implementation of this approach. The study employed qualitative methods, using interviews with teachers and trainers, classroom observations of learners, and discussions with parents and community members. The schools studied included both community and government schools so that comparisons could be made as to how the training was applied by teachers in these two systems. The major findings were that CHOLEN promoted 'accelerated learning' by creating a 'culture of learning'. This involved changing beliefs and assumptions of teachers, trainers, and supervisors about learning, learners, the role of teachers, and building a new vision. Changing beliefs went hand-in-hand with practicing new ways of teaching-learning where learners took active role in learning, group and peer-learning were the norm, and learning was often in the form of games and fun. Community members actively participated in supporting this changed environment of learning.