» Articles
Listed below are articles selected by PRH Educators from recent PRH newsletters, the popular press, and scholarly journals, along with references to other sources. Covering a variety of themes, these articles are chosen because they show more evidence of the importance of personal growth work or ways to promote growth. Excerpts from our newsletters are shared first, followed by referenced articles, listed alphabetically by title. These articles are updated periodically.
If you would like to suggest an article or reference for inclusion here, send the article or necessary identifying information along with your reason for recommending it to a PRH Educator. The web site committee will make final selections.
From PRH Newsletters
An Unexpected Teacher, by Marcia Bates, Everett, WA (excerpted from the Western Division, 2010 Issue 1 newsletter)
“Sometimes our teachers come inunexpected sizes. Mine showed upin my Montessori class for 3- to 6-yearolds. The moment he entered the room,Lewis challenged everything I knewabout working with young children. Ihad a room full of child-size furniture,shelves full of attractive materials, andbooks on Montessori and theology. But Lewis seemed to defy all I learned about this quiet method that calls forth children’s natural spirituality through the use of hands-on materials.
When I invited Lewis to join in activities like pouring grains, he refused. When I led the children in movement or singing, he clowned. When my frustration came out in a stern effort to force his cooperation, he ran. Literally. Week after week I failed to engage Lewis. When I gave him space, he made messes. When I stepped in to correct and set limits, he broke materials. I began to dread our class time together; I was growing to fear Lewis and my inability to reach him…” (to finish reading this interview, and read similar articles, visit our Newsletter section)
Sensational Nature, by Ron Spann (excerpted from the Central Division 2009, Issue 2 Newsletter)
“This issue of the Newsletter is timed to appear close to Earth Day 2009. The world of nature, as the source of our material environment, always hovers in the background of the PRH explanatory system, and not infrequently moves into the foreground. Several of our workshops invite you outdoors to an immediate experience of the natural world. In fact, Listening to the Messages of My Body even gives you the chance to bond with a tree of your choice!
These exercises are not a stealth move on the part of PRH to recruit an army of tree huggers. Exercises built on direct exposure to nature are tapping into its extraordinary impact on our sensory, emotional, and spiritual experiences, and into the sensations to which these give rise. This rests on an implicit assumption of PRH that humanity is a part of the rest of creation and owes its wellbeing to it.
Of course, belonging to the natural world does not always mean that we like it or are convinced of its value to our growth…” (to finish reading this and similar articles, visit our Newsletter section)
Value of Reflective Writing
American Psychological Association. (2005) New Research Extends Understanding of the Positive Health Effects of Expressive Writing. APA Online, http://www.apa.org/releases/expressiveC05.html
Kalb, Claudia. (1999) Pen, Paper, Power! Newsweek, April 26, 1999, pp. 75 – 76.
Sloan, Denise M. and Brian P. Marx. (2004) Taking Pen to Hand: Evaluating Theories Underlying the Written Disclosure Paradigm. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11:2, 121-137.