70 episodes

The Conscious Classroom with host Amy Edelstein explores the world of mindfulness in education. Named Top 100 Classroom Podcasts by Feedspot! Amy shares best classroom tools and practices for adolescents, why teaching students about perspectives, worldviews, and context is as important as teaching classic stress reduction tools including breath, body scan, and open awareness mindfulness techniques. We'll look at trauma sensitive approaches, systems thinking, social emotional skills and how to empower teens and support mental wellness. Honored with a Philadelphia Social Innovation Award, Amy's organization Inner Strength Education,  has empowered more than 25,000 Philadelphia teens and 3,000 teachers with mindfulness and systems thinking tools. Visit: www.InnerStrengthEducation.org

The Conscious Classroom Amy Edelstein

    • Education
    • 5.0 • 2 Ratings

The Conscious Classroom with host Amy Edelstein explores the world of mindfulness in education. Named Top 100 Classroom Podcasts by Feedspot! Amy shares best classroom tools and practices for adolescents, why teaching students about perspectives, worldviews, and context is as important as teaching classic stress reduction tools including breath, body scan, and open awareness mindfulness techniques. We'll look at trauma sensitive approaches, systems thinking, social emotional skills and how to empower teens and support mental wellness. Honored with a Philadelphia Social Innovation Award, Amy's organization Inner Strength Education,  has empowered more than 25,000 Philadelphia teens and 3,000 teachers with mindfulness and systems thinking tools. Visit: www.InnerStrengthEducation.org

    Jim Crow's Pink Slip - Dismantling the Education Gap

    Jim Crow's Pink Slip - Dismantling the Education Gap

    Jim Crow's Pink Slip - Dismantling the Education Gap with Amy Edelstein

    In this episode of The conscious Classroom, Amy Edelstein helps illuminate the little-known history and ongoing influence of resistance to de-segregation within America's education system - and how mindfulness, being conscious and aware of our biases, is an important part of our work to redress inequity. Leslie Fenwick's seminal work, Jim Crow's Pink Slip, serves as a guide and compass, unveiling the long shadow left by the  dismissal or demotion of a significant number of black principals and educators after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. 

    This episode offers a deeper understanding of past injustices and their lasting impact and also shows some approaches that can support our efforts to shift the educational landscape. Expect to uncover why representation across racial and cultural lines is more than just a number—it's about students being able to see themselves in the leaders in their learning journey and a call to bring about change in our classrooms for each student and for the benefit of society at large.

    Additional reading related to this episode can be found here:
     Jim Crow's Pink Slip by Leslie Fenwickhttps://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/TCZ/Book%20Reviews%20Collection%202022/July%202022/Jim%20Crow%27s%20Pink%20Slip-1659381190.pdfhttps://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2022/0912/How-the-1954-Brown-decision-still-influences-today-s-teaching-ranksA Diverse Teaching Force Is A Quality Teaching ForceWhy Diversity MattersSupport the show
    The Conscious Classroom was honored by Feedspot in their Top 100 Classroom Podcasts! Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review and share the love and insight with others.

    Visit Inner Strength Education for more on the great work of the Conscious Classroom.

    Want to train to teach mindfulness, compassion, and systems thinking to students? Study anytime virtually or join the next cohort. More information at The Conscious Classroom.

    Read the award-winning, Amazon bestseller about this work The Conscious Classroom: The Inner Strength System for Transforming the Teenage Mind.

    • 32 min
    Awareness & Innovation: The Wings of Tomorrow's Education

    Awareness & Innovation: The Wings of Tomorrow's Education

    Unlock the synergy between mindfulness and innovation as Amy Edelstein explores the relationship between these two orientations in this episode of the Conscious Classroom. Imagine a learning environment where the air is alive with creativity, and students and teachers alike are inspired to view the world through a lens of fresh possibilities. This discussion unearths the possibilities that contemplative practice can reveal, and shows how marrying innovation and inner exploration is working.  In Inner Strength Education's pilot project with 10 student interns explore the XPRIZE Connect innovation curriculum and Inner Strength Education's tools of open awareness and paradigm shifting. Students learn to tap the inner freedom of shedding outdated paradigms, and discover how to loosen their unconscious hold onto fixed reference points. Through contemplative practice and mental habits, they learn to work with a 360-degree perspective that challenges, refines, and enhances their understanding of education and purpose, and their ability to envision a healthy and holistic world we'd all want to live in. 

    Guided by Amy Edelstein, you will practice the transformative exercise of open awareness, a technique that transcends the noise of everyday distractions and brings into focus our own field of awareness. Open awareness is a tool educators can weave  seamlessly into the fabric of school life. Discover how this technique aids in academic pursuits like group work and test preparation and also enriches the teaching experience. By fostering a more conscious learning environment, we lay the groundwork for an educational future that resonates with our highest ideals—a future we can imagine and work to bring to fruition together. 
    Support the show
    The Conscious Classroom was honored by Feedspot in their Top 100 Classroom Podcasts! Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review and share the love and insight with others.

    Visit Inner Strength Education for more on the great work of the Conscious Classroom.

    Want to train to teach mindfulness, compassion, and systems thinking to students? Study anytime virtually or join the next cohort. More information at The Conscious Classroom.

    Read the award-winning, Amazon bestseller about this work The Conscious Classroom: The Inner Strength System for Transforming the Teenage Mind.

    • 30 min
    Mindful Joy: The Secret Sauce in Educational Leadership

    Mindful Joy: The Secret Sauce in Educational Leadership

    In this episode of The Conscious Classroom, Amy Edelstein unpacks the importance of teacher happiness and how to use mindful awareness and perspectives to improve teacher wellbeing and sense of possibility prior to making practical changes, which undoubtedly also need to occur. 

    Amy explores the impact of educators who tap into their passion, setting the classroom tone and invigorating their students with a love for learning. In this insightful episode, she dissects how a teacher's zest for their craft can revolutionize the traditional learning space, fostering innovation and a thriving environment for both students and educators. The goal of this is to understand the perspective -- and  to lay out practical steps that will reignite the spark in our educators' eyes, ensuring that their connection to teaching becomes the cornerstone of educational success.

    The role of Assistant Principals takes center stage, revealing their unique ability to steer a school through their own calm and caring leadership. Amid their diverse responsibilities, these unsung school heroes can demonstrate the power of stillness and mindfulness in a nurturing educational ecosystem. Hear a heartwarming description of how a simple, intentional, mindful approach can open up communication with a student, revealing hidden struggles, and helping resolve school conflicts. showcasing the unexpected ways in which leaders can make a real impact. 

    Join Amy for a compelling episode that reimagines the future of education by  emphasizing the essential role of teacher wellbeing and the transformative potential of a mindful approach.
    Support the show
    The Conscious Classroom was honored by Feedspot in their Top 100 Classroom Podcasts! Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review and share the love and insight with others.

    Visit Inner Strength Education for more on the great work of the Conscious Classroom.

    Want to train to teach mindfulness, compassion, and systems thinking to students? Study anytime virtually or join the next cohort. More information at The Conscious Classroom.

    Read the award-winning, Amazon bestseller about this work The Conscious Classroom: The Inner Strength System for Transforming the Teenage Mind.

    • 25 min
    Mindfulness Is Not A Pill, It's a Perspective

    Mindfulness Is Not A Pill, It's a Perspective

    Discover the keys to unlocking our children's potential in an era where education is at a crossroads and technology's influence is undeniable. This enlightening journey through the world of learning reveals how an evolved mindset, coupled with a transformative educational system, is essential for nurturing the curiosity, purpose, wisdom, and respect desperately needed today. Amy delves into the challenges presented by outdated institutions, and the pressures faced by both students and educators as they navigate the fragmented structures of modern society. While mindfulness is a tool, and a valuable one, what it reveals is our choice over how to relate to our own minds, showing us that mindfulness is not another pill but rather a perspective and tool that enriches our experience and gives us a greater sense of autonomy over our lives. This is invaluable for students today and their teachers. 
    Support the show
    The Conscious Classroom was honored by Feedspot in their Top 100 Classroom Podcasts! Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review and share the love and insight with others.

    Visit Inner Strength Education for more on the great work of the Conscious Classroom.

    Want to train to teach mindfulness, compassion, and systems thinking to students? Study anytime virtually or join the next cohort. More information at The Conscious Classroom.

    Read the award-winning, Amazon bestseller about this work The Conscious Classroom: The Inner Strength System for Transforming the Teenage Mind.

    • 21 min
    A Human Relationship to AI

    A Human Relationship to AI

    Discover how the relationship we forge with AI in our classrooms can go beyond mere functionality to touch the very core of our humanity. Join me, Amy Edelstein, as we unveil the transformative potential of AI when approached with the same reverence we approach the great mysteries and subtleties of sentience and life. It's an invitation to infuse our relationship to educational technologies with wonder, respect, and a co-creative spirit that not only advances our learning tools but also shapes the hearts and minds of learners. By instilling these values, we contribute to a learning environment that resonates with life’s mystery and fosters empathy among students, paving the way for a more compassionate and interconnected world.

    This episode isn't just about the integration of AI; it's about how the spirit in which we do so can cultivate sensitivity, awareness, and a move toward a society anchored in love. 

    Thank you for joining me on this reflective and inspiring exploration as we aim to craft a more conscious and caring future.
    Support the show
    The Conscious Classroom was honored by Feedspot in their Top 100 Classroom Podcasts! Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review and share the love and insight with others.

    Visit Inner Strength Education for more on the great work of the Conscious Classroom.

    Want to train to teach mindfulness, compassion, and systems thinking to students? Study anytime virtually or join the next cohort. More information at The Conscious Classroom.

    Read the award-winning, Amazon bestseller about this work The Conscious Classroom: The Inner Strength System for Transforming the Teenage Mind.

    • 24 min
    Scaling Compassion? AI possibilities & Real Life Examples

    Scaling Compassion? AI possibilities & Real Life Examples

    In this episode, Amy Edelstein reflects on a recent trip to India, which raised intriguing and inspiring possibilities as she visiting with the founders of the Happiness Curriculum, that reaches 1.7 million students each day. She also explores AI potential and urgency to train AI on compassion and wisdom and scale that use for the benefit of all. She also shares the value of reflection, retreat, and time to let our minds open up to new ways of seeing as essential to keep our relationship to life and those we teach awake and alive.

    References:
    Happiness Curriculum, Delhi School System
    "Care as a Driver of Intelligence in Humans and AI"
    Sheldrake, Rupert. Dogs that Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home.
    Safina, Carl. Beyond Words


    Support the show
    The Conscious Classroom was honored by Feedspot in their Top 100 Classroom Podcasts! Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review and share the love and insight with others.

    Visit Inner Strength Education for more on the great work of the Conscious Classroom.

    Want to train to teach mindfulness, compassion, and systems thinking to students? Study anytime virtually or join the next cohort. More information at The Conscious Classroom.

    Read the award-winning, Amazon bestseller about this work The Conscious Classroom: The Inner Strength System for Transforming the Teenage Mind.

    • 31 min

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