Dec 12, 2017

A View of Frontmatter, Contents, and Introductory Comments for the December 2017 Edition of >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< for Blog Readers


Volume IV, No. 6                     December 2017

 

Journal of the K-12 Revolution:

Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota

                                                                 

A Publication of the New Salem Educational Initiative

Gary Marvin Davison, Editor

                               

Essays on Ethical and Psychological Principles:

Implications for K-12 Education                

 

A Five-Article Series         

                                                                                                                                                                         

Gary Marvin Davison, Ph. D.

Director, New Salem Educational Initiative

 

New Salem Educational Initiative

Minneapolis, Minnesota                               

 

Essays on Ethical and Psychological Principles:

Implications for K-12 Education         

     

A Five-Article Series         

 

Copyright © 2017 by Gary Marvin Davison

New Salem Educational Initiative

 

Contents

 
Article #1     Introductory Comments                            1

 
Article #2       Navel-Gazing is the Paramount                      2

                         Impediment to Human Progress---   


                         With Implications for the


                         Overhaul of K-12 Education


                                               
Article #3        Spirituality as One of the Defining               5

                          Characteristics of the Happy Person-----


                          with Implications for the


                          Impartation of Knowledge and the


                          Discussion of Ethical Conduct in


                          K-12 Education


 


Article #4         Reflections on Thanksgiving as an               8


                           Expression of Theological Conviction,


                           or  >>>>>  What More Would You Want


                           Than a Little Red Wagon?


 

Article #5          Sharing with My Readers a Most      11                          

                           Treasured Parting with My Mom----- 

                           from a  Midweek Missive to My Son, Ryan

 

Article #1

 

Introductory Comments

 

In this edition of Journal of the K-12 Revolution:  Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota, I share with readers my insights into ethical and psychological principles, gained from wide reading in psychology and religious texts, from my own reflections upon these texts, and from my personal experiences. 

 

In Article #2, I synthesize the very different ideas of the great psychologists Sigmund Freud and B. F. Skinner, relating these to the psychological foundations of a system of K-12 excellence. 

 

In Article #3, I discuss the matter of human happiness, drawing especially from the works of psychologist David G. Myers;  I then argue that since spirituality is a key defining trait of the happy person, a system of K-12 excellence will impart to students great knowledge of world religious systems, full as those systems are of ideas concerning  meaning, ethics, and spirituality.

 

In Article #4, I discuss the spirit of gratitude that is at the core of my personal theology, my love accordingly of the Thanksgiving holiday, and my personal emphasis on prayer as an expression of gratefulness to the Divine.  This article is adapted from a reply that I made to one of my most thoughtful readers, who asked me if optimism for the future is a realistic stance in a troubled world.  I detail how gratitude for experiences both pleasant and aversive gives one appreciation for life at all times and abets the development of perseverance in working for a better future and an outlook on life that is both realistic and optimistic---  relating this stance to my own advancement of the K-12 Revolution.

 

In Article 5, I share with you my readers a Midweek Missive to my son, Ryan Davison-Reed, in which I relate the loving, serendipitous last moments that I had with my mother.  I include this reflection in this edition of the journal in my conviction that the manner in which a teacher approaches important matters of life and death conveys important messages to students that can abet their own spiritual development.

 

Excellent education involves adults imparting knowledge and ethics to young people, in the manner that adults throughout the world have historically transmitted knowledge and wisdom to their young.  This edition of Journal of the K-12 Revolution:  Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota is replete with ideas pertinent to those principles of knowledge and ethics most likely to promote abiding happiness in young people on this one earthly sojourn.

 

Advancing these thoughts in the December edition of the journal may be taken as my seasonal expression of love for you all, sent with my best wishes for that spiritual sustenance that comes from brains teaming with knowledge and ethical standards embedded at the core of one’s being.                      

 

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