Education

Education/Graduation

Doctor of Philosophy, Human Development (2008)

• Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA
• School of Human Development and Organizational Systems
• Dissertation: Developing Together: A study of the developmental experiences of adults who actively work to meet their child’s developmental imperatives

Master of Arts, Human Development (2006)

• Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA
• Thesis: A study of adult transformational learning

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology (2003)

• Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, NJ
• Psychology, child development, and educational practices
• Arnold Fletcher Award for exceptional achievement in academic learning, and achievement as a self-directed learner.

Additional

Child development; adult development; family dynamics; humanistic and transpersonal development; holistic and spiritual education; applications of whole-family experiential learning; dialogue, process, and collaboration in parent-teacher relationships; strategies of parent education; putting theory to practice.

Area

Main Interest/Focus areas

• Natural Learning Relationships whole child development
• The consciousness of the developing child
• Child’s influence on adult development
• Adult transformation
• Emergent wisdom in the family context
• Creating School Culture of meaning and inspiration

Residency Presentations

• Self-Design through Speaking and Listening
• Essentials of the Appreciative Inquiry
• World Café: Creating a Learning Community

Courses

TLF Professional Development Courses

Natural Learning Relationships: Evolution of consciousness in childhood and beyond

What is the child’s consciousness and how does learning emerge in relationship to the child’s consciousness? This question must be central to any educational process. Greater awareness of children’s innate developmental capacities gives us a greater ability to support children’s social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual development.

Adult Development and Accessing Wisdom with Children

Everyone accepts that the adult influences the child but few realize how much the child influences change in the adult. This course is a focus on how nurturing development in the child leads to the emergence of new-meaning and self-knowledge in the adult. This course delves deeply into the difference between change and transformation (epistemological change). Based on the principle that capacities are innate and development occurs in relationship, we will examine the kinds of relationships that bring forth optimal well-being in children and transformation in adults.

Positive Development in Children:

Applications for Academic Excellence, Resolving Conflict, and Promoting Social Justice

This course delves deeply into how children organize their world at different ages of their lives. Based on the principle that capacities are innate and development occurs in relationship, this course uses evidence based practices to examine the kinds of relationships that bring forth optimal well-being in children. This allows powerful opportunities to heal dysfunction, to support academic excellence, and to improve social relationships. Specific attention will be given to successful character development and behavior in school.

Child and Adolescent Development

Part I: An overview of developmental theories including underlying paradigm assumptions, history, context, comparison of theories, differences between approaches (e.g., pathology vs well-being), and the antecedents to the holistic view of development.

Part II: Natural Learning Relationships—emergent developmental contextual view of holistic child development in optimal well-being.

Part III: theory to practice – applications of developmental knowledge to positive communication, community relationships, education, academic excellence, and family relationships. Contributions of children to school, community and social well-being; how to recognize and support these contributions; the effect of such support on the children.

Rites of Passage in Our Times

Rites of Passage (ROP) have historically been very prominent in cultures. In our times, many people feel there are only vestiges left that are more of a celebration rather than a true passage. This loss is a catastrophe for humanity. When carefully and correctly executed, ROP can be a response to the lack of meaning and purpose that pervades the post-modern world.

Learners in this course will discover how the structure of Rites of Passage provides opportunity for a face to face meeting with the unknown. This responds to the question of how we, as individuals, can experientially know ourselves as open-ended and whole. Done well, ROP create opportunity to touch the very depths of human possibility including the emergence of greater self-knowledge.

Directed Study

Creating School Culture: Natural Learning Relationships holistic child development, School Culture, and Working with Parents

School Culture is not easy to create. We explore the foundations of creating and maintaining a school culture that is imbued with meaning and inspiration.

The school culture is part of our student’s learning experience. An educational culture of meaning is one that supports sustainable relationships by providing respect, integrity, connection, and authentic relationships. Trust and collaboration are mutually reinforcing. We will explore how to create educational environments that support healthy psychological, emotional, and spiritual growth.

Adult Development

Adult development involves systematic, qualitative changes in consciousness, human abilities, and behaviors as a result of interactions between internal and external environments. This course will look at constancy and change in ways of knowing self and the world (e.g., social, cognition, emotion, and physical development across ages and stages). We will review the literature on developmentally related change in perspective-taking, meaning-making, self-knowledge, action theory, and transformational learning. From reductionist-deterministic, through organismic, contextualist, holistic, on through phenomenological-existential perspectives, to integral.

Working with families: What every educator needs to know

All parents are a part of their child’s education. So, Holistic Educators must know how to engage parents and work with their needs. When there is a synergy among these key relationships children’s educational experiences grow exponentially. We will discuss the importance of collaboration with our students’ families that is mutually respectful with shared power and decision-making.

Personal Statement

I love working with people in all areas related to consciousness and relationships with children.

Children bring the opportunity to engage life with authenticity and in-the-moment spontaneity that draws us into great opportunities to grow together.

As an educator, writer, developmental consultant, and public speaker, I specialize in the fields of child and adult development, adult transformational learning, sustainable family relationships, and how adult and child grow together. I have worked with children, parents, teachers, and whole families in seminars, family programs, and in schools since 1985.

In the Media 

• Amazon Author page: http://goo.gl/WyAJYt
• Parenting and Adult Development: https://goo.gl/pVmQJD
• Parenting and Adult Well-Being: https://goo.gl/P0qFL7
• Parenting and the Development of Wisdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN7jAq8GZ94&t=3s

Projects

Publications/Presentations/Professional Projects

Books:

• Luvmour, B., & Luvmour, J. (2019). Everyone wins!: Cooperative games and activities (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.
• Natural Learning Relationships Series (2018, Vol. 1-5) by Luvmour J. & Luvmour B.

1. Brain Development and The Natural Learning Relationships of children</i, (2018). (Vol. 5). Portland, OR: Luvmour Consulting, LLC.
2. Compendium of writings: The work and ideas of Luvmour & Luvmour 2010 – 2016, (2018). (Vol. 4). Portland, OR: Luvmour Consulting, LLC.
3. Freedom in Education: Talks at the Brockwood Park Krishnamurti School 30th Anniversary (2018). (Vol. 3). Portland, OR: Luvmour Consulting, LLC.
4. Effective Boundaries with children: Creating and maintaining healthy boundaries with all age children (2018). (Vol. 2). Portland, OR: Luvmour Consulting, LLC.
5. Natural Learning Relationships: An introduction to whole-child development (Vol. 1). Portland, OR: Luvmour Consulting, LLC.

• Luvmour, J. (2017). Grow Together: Parenting as a path to well-being, wisdom, and joy. Portland, OR: Create Space. (Mom’s Choice Award Recipient;
  Finalist, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award, of the best books in 2017)
• Luvmour, B. (2011). Beyond Metaphor: Dialogue from the realm of self-knowledge. Portland, OR: self-published.
• Luvmour, J. (2010). Adult development: Emergent wisdom in the family context. Saarbrücken, Germany: Lambert Academic.
• Luvmour, B. (2006). Optimal parenting: Using Natural Learning Rhythms to nurture the whole child. Boulder, CO: Sentient.
• Luvmour, J., & Luvmour, B. (1998). Tiger by the Tail: Essays on the inherent spirituality of Natural Learning Rhythms. Nevada City, CA: EnCompass Press.
• Luvmour, J., & Luvmour, B. (1993). Natural Learning Rhythms: How and when children learn. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts.

Books on cooperative games and activities:

• Luvmour, B., & Luvmour, J. (2019). Everyone wins!: Cooperative games and activities (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.
• Luvmour, J., & Luvmour, B. (2002). Win-Win games for all ages: Cooperative activities for building social skills. Canada: New Society Publishers.
• Luvmour, B., & Luvmour, J. (1990). Everyone wins!: Cooperative games and activities. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.
• Luvmour, B., & Luvmour, J. (1989). Towards Peace: Cooperative Games & Activities. Nevada City, CA: Center for Educational Guidance Press. (Parent’s Choice Award Recipient)

Audio CD Set:

• Luvmour, B., & Luvmour, J. (2005). Optimal Parenting CD Set: The Natural Learning Rhythms approach to family well-being. Portland, OR.
  Write to: [email protected] to order

Articles:

• Luvmour, J. (2011). Education and the consciousness of the developing child. ENCOUNTER: Education for meaning and social justice, 24(4), 15-23.
• Luvmour, J. (2011). Developing together: Parents meeting children’s developmental imperatives. Journal of Adult Development, 18(4), 164-171.
• Luvmour, J. (2011). Nurturing children’s well-being: A developmental response to trends of over-diagnosis and overmedication. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 51(3), 350-368.
• Luvmour, J., & Loomis, M. (2009). Nurturing the child’s well-being: Key markers to support well-being in physiological and psycho-emotional development. Naturopathic Doctor News & Review, 5(9), 1-4.
• Luvmour, J. (2001). Families Learning Together. Family Post, p. 2.
• Luvmour, J. (2001). Rites of Passage in Our Times. Nevada City, CA.
• Luvmour, J. (2000). A Mother’s Humble View. EnCompass Newsletter, p. 2.
• Luvmour, J., & Luvmour, B. (1999). Confluence: Synthesizing the insights of Joseph Chilton Pearce and Natural Learning Rhythms, Paths of Learning (pp. 15).
• Luvmour, J., & Luvmour, B. (1999). Freedom in Education (Vol. October 10th, 1998). Bramdean, Hampshire, UK: 30th Anniversary Educational Conference of the Brockwood Park Krishnamurti Educational Center.
• Luvmour, J., & Luvmour, B. (1999c). Spirituality and Human Rights (Vol. 1995, pp. 9). San Francisco, CA: Convention on Spirit and Human Rights by the Fetzer Foundation.
• Luvmour, B. a. J. (1995, March, 1995). Teenagers and the Shadow. Holistic Education Review, Volume 8, 13.

Websites of interest

• https://www.remarkable-educators.com/

Writing Sample

Chapter 11 (excerpt from Grow Together: Parenting as a Path to Wisdom)
Applications for Professionals: beyond the parent and child

Professionals who work with children or families are in a wonderful position to help parents and caregivers increase their awareness of the important benefits of supporting the child’s innate capacities. When we apply Natural Learning Relationships with the children, well-being comes forth in the children, their families, and, perhaps surprisingly, in us as professionals. We know that living in well-being is the ground for wisdom to emerge. Actualizing wisdom as an adult has a profoundly positive influence on life satisfaction that is independent of our objective circumstances. Wise adults tend to be more reflective, caring, empathic, and compassionate toward others and they can access greater satisfaction in actualizing their life’s purpose and meaning.

Teachers, counselors, physicians, and family attorneys are among those professionals who have used NLR to help their clients who are parenting. Over my years speaking with many such professionals, they have described the changes in their personal development as rewarding and enriching experiences when caring for children’s developmental imperatives is at the center of practice. Thus, the relationship with the child is a system of multi-directional development—practical applications of whole-child development during the care of the child benefit everyone involved. We, as professionals, gain as much as the children we serve.

Because we professionals alter the world of children by the attitudes we bring, the environments we create, and the social norms we uphold, self-development is essential for anyone working with students, children, or families. Who we are strongly affects our students and is the underpinning of all that we do with them. In essence, it is our first teaching. The best educator/student relationship requires us to have affection and empathy toward our students and enough trust in their innate goodness and capabilities to allow them freedom. The affection I speak of here must not come from our needs or dependency of any kind…but rather a profound wish for the student’s optimal well-being.

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