Rathnam Anbananthan

The Whole Teacher Rathnam Anbananthan

The purpose of this book, which utilizes a phenomenological inquiry methodology, inquired into the awareness of what it means to be a whole teacher. This empirical research on Whole Teachers' is the first of its kind to focus on six important aspects of teachers that will be the foundation in their transformational journey that includes: Teachers' Thinking, Teachers' Lives, Teachers' Inner Lives, Teachers' Contemplative Practices, Teachers' Calling and Teachers' Pedagogy/Curriculum Design. This concept of wholeness was traced from Jiddu Krishnamurti's notion of Awareness, Deepak Chopra's Shadow Effect and Parker Palmer's Hidden Wholeness. A whole teacher needs to be in the journey of transforming themselves before attempting to transform their students. In the absence of wholeness, there will be fragmentation in the way we think, feel and act. In the absence of wholeness, the fragmented teacher will stuff the pupil with information just to pass examination that will deny the flowering of student's innate potential. It takes a whole teacher to bring out the natural talent in our students. It takes a whole teacher to nurture a whole child.