Classrooms as Sacred Space: Structures for Holistic Teaching and Learning Practices in Higher Education
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Overall, I believe that this article makes a valuable contribution to the field of teaching and learning. I also find that its focus on indigeneity speaks to the present time and our need to grapple with the colonial past.
Below are some suggestions for improvements:
• On the first page, when discussing the research context of the qualitative study, it would be helpful for the author to detail how data was collected.
• In the section beginning on page 3, ?Spiritual Learning and Sacred Classrooms," I am surprised to see bell hooks omitted. She has written extensively about spirituality in higher education. I would recommend taking a look at her work Teaching to Transgress.
• In the section beginning at the bottom of p. 4, the author describes the use of Waldorf-inspired practices but does not give a brief overview of the history and philosophy of Waldorf education. I think this is essential information for the reader unfamiliar with Waldorf. I also wonder if the author has looked at Montessori education, which also emphasizes spirituality.
• At the top of page 6, the author writes about course design that resist the "cult of efficiency," "school as factory," and "culture of competition." It would be useful to briefly describe each. In the next paragraph manifestation is used twice and does not make sense in the sentence.
• In the "Evaluation" section on page 9, it would strength the paper to have some direct quotes from students.
• There is a change of font on page 10.
• At the bottom of page 11, the author cites the example of Summerhill Schools but doe not describe these institution. Could omit or describe.
One source that was omitted was Red Pedagogy by Sandy Grande. This work might be useful in the overall discussion of indigenous pedagogy.
Again, overall, I think this article makes a valuable contribution to the field.
Author Response
Please see attachment
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This submission argues for involving Indigenous knowledge and rituals in the curriculum and classroom so that learners experience circle and storying work, community building practices, and art-based mindfulness techniques so that they sense their place within the learning community. The essay proposes that Waldorf approaches echo these emphases and thereby support Indigenous ways of teaching. The outcomes reported by students affirm the value of these elements of the curriculum and classroom interaction because all three enrich their learning, particularly as compared with their experiences of didactic classroom settings.
The submission is timely and important. Its critique of the ‘regular’ ways people learn to teach in North America is well deserved.
Some considerations
While I think the submission should be included in Religions at some point, it is not yet ready for that inclusion. Several issues need to be addressed.
In the Abstract, the word compassion is used but not addressed in the main body of the essay, although it is implicit in what is being proposed. I suggest that a more precise outline of the essay should be presented in the abstract and the introduction, i.e., one that refers to circle and storying work, community building and art-based mindfulness techniques. It would then be easier to make connections between Indigenous and Waldorf approaches. Note that at the top of page 6 the idea of building a sense of connection among learners (and teachers) is added to the three elements named above and it may deserve a more intentional inclusion in the introduction of the essay.
On page 10, there is a reference to Foucault and to the term governmentality. I assume it is a reference to French philosopher Michel Foucault’s (1926-1984) essay "Governmentality," in Ideology and Consciousness, Vol. 6, 1979: 5-21. The reference is vague and the association with governmentality is veiled. If this reference is kept in the submission, it needs to be given more support for its role in the proposal that the author puts forward.
Several terms are used to describe classroom practices that could benefit from definition: rituals, ceremonies, protocols, principles, structures, elements, techniques. Are these terms synonyms? Fewer terms that are clearly distinguished from one another would make the essay easier to read.
On page 5 sacred is spelled as scared—an easy mistake. While the term sacred is central, I wondered about how the author understands the term in this context. There are many elements, e.g., compassion, a sense of place, connection, multi-dimensional aspects of the human condition that are mentioned. Would it be helpful to say a bit more about the impacts of the sacred on students and teachers?
There is a good summary on page 6 that could benefit from explaining how the term mindfulness is being used.
Page 6: “The framing of circle and community….” (3rd sentence from the bottom of page 6) Comment: The point seems to be that circle work is often carried out without reference to its Indigenous roots. That point needs to be made clearly. The connection between circle work and the practice of Restorative Justice needs to be spelled out. A reader may be entirely unfamiliar with Restorative Justice circles of support.
Page 9: “Daily class practice of art…and 30 minutes per week.” How can it be daily and yet 30 minutes per week? As it stands, mindfulness art techniques would be used for an average of 6 minutes per day, which seems odd.
In general, there are some issues to be addressed throughout the essay:
· Incomplete sentences
· Exclusion of articles (a, the)
· Noun/verb agreement (e.g., past and present tense confusion, see line 8, page 6)
· Noun/pronoun agreement (e.g., their not her on page 5)
· Consistent capitalization on e.g., Indigenous, Basso
In terms of incomplete sentences and one-word sentences, e.g., Manifestation on page 6, the best way I have found to address incomplete thoughts is to have a colleague read the essay out loud with complete accuracy in terms of the actual words on the page. Incomplete thoughts jump out to an author when he/she hears them read aloud.
The essay is rich with data and classroom experience to support the learning approach proposed by the author, one that I whole heartedly affirm. I hope the author will take these suggestions into account and rework aspects of the essay for resubmission.
Author Response
Please see attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
