Online Zoom Forum: Spiritual Resources for Parenting: Values, Principles, Practices, Vision, and Actions.
Date: Wednesday 22 April 2026.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be four talks, each of 15 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Prof Bart McGettrick:
Bio: Prof Bart McGettrick was Dean of Education at Glasgow University and at Liverpool Hope University.
Much of his current work relates to his involvement in the Middle East, and especially The Holy Land.
He has a wide interest in matters educational, and also is engaged in matters of ensuring humanitarian aid to the Middle East.
He continues to serve Scottish education in various ways and he speaks at many conferences in Scotland and overseas.
Speakers:
David Marshak:
Title: Two Spiritual Resources for Conscious Parents.
Description: The first spiritual resource I will describe in this talk is the Evolutionary Parenting paradigm based on the common teachings of Sri Aurobindo, Hazrat Inayat Khan, and Rudolf Steiner. This paradigm gives parents insights into the unfoldment of children and youths as whole beings.
The second spiritual resource I will explore is parents’ own knowing about their child(ren): establishing a practice of exploring this knowing in body, mind, heart, and soul on a regular basis.
Bio: David Marshak has explored the “common vision” of Sri Aurobindo, Rudolf Steiner, and Hazrat Inayat Khan about human becoming in childhood and youth for more than five decades. His insights about this “common vision” can be found in his books, The Common Vision: Parenting and Educating for Wholeness and Evolutionary Parenting.
Paul Freedman:
Title: Spiritual Aspects of Holistic School Leadership.
Description: How do the founding leaders of holistic schools embody their school’s holistic pedagogy in their leadership practice? This short talk will summarize some findings from my recent research, as well as my lived experience as a founding school director. Spiritual exemplars from schools in Bangkok, Sao Paulo, the Navajo (Diné) Nation, and California provided the basis for articulating an original model of holistic school leadership. This is a model that integrates a strong spiritual component.
Bio: Paul Freedman was an elementary classroom teacher for 28 years. He is the Founding Head of the Salmonberry School on Orcas Island, WA, where he has worked since 2001. He is a Senior Editor of the Holistic Education Review, a peer review open access journal he helped to re-launch in 2021. Paul serves on the faculty of The Institute for Educational Studies in their Integrative Learning MEd program. His doctoral dissertation explored holistic leadership within holistic schools internationally. It centered on the question, how do school leaders’ infuse their holistic pedagogy into their work in organizational leadership? Paul is husband to Andria and father to Quinn (29) and Emma (25).
Dr Josette Luvmour:
Title: Spiritual Growth with Children: Developing Identity, Meaning, and Connection Across the Lifespan.
Description: This talk examines spiritual development as a relational and emergent process that unfolds from childhood through adulthood. Grounded in whole-child development and Natural Learning Relationships, it focuses on how adult and child grow together through wisdom-based, meaningful relationships.
The talk explores how children and adults come to know who they are through shared practices of meaning-making, reflection, and ethical engagement. Drawing on developmental and spiritual perspectives, it considers how parents and caregivers can cultivate their own spiritual growth in active relationship with children in a contemporary, pluralistic world. Emphasis is placed on values, lived experience, and everyday practices that support mutual growth, authenticity, and resilience across the lifespan.
Bio: Josette Luvmour, PhD, co-creator of Natural Learning Relationships for whole-child development, is an accomplished developmentalist, consultant, educator, author, and public speaker. Specializing in human development and teacher professional development, Josette teaches graduate courses at Antioch University and the Transformative Learning Foundation. With a rich body of work spanning six books, including "Grow Together: Parenting as a Path to Well-being, Wisdom, and Joy," Josette emphasizes nurturing healthy relationships with children through her consultancy, Luvmour Consulting, LLC. With over 26 years of experience, she is dedicated to enhancing lives and promoting optimal well-being in human development.
Beth Sutton:
Title: Turning Toward the Sacred in Everyday Life.
Description: Experiencing the sacred as we wash another dish, change another diaper, or, hardest of all, as we try to get a family out the door on time, is no small feat. In Enki Education we believe experiencing this sacredness in the ordinary is the heart of spirituality. Turning toward this experience day in and day out requires a two pronged approach: 1) cultivating the adults’ self-compassion; and, 2) an understanding of the elements that support the children returning again and again to their natural the experience of the sacred.
In this presentation, I will offer a taste of the Enki approach to each of these undertakings. We will explore how turning toward the sacred in everyday life resets our focus on engagement in the process, rather than on striving for a distant perfection.
Bio: Beth Sutton is the director and core developer of Enki Education. She has been a teacher in and director of schools and camps since 1968. Before beginning to develop Enki Education in 1991, she taught in Experimental, Integrated Day, Emergent Curriculum, Traditional, and Waldorf Education. Her work in Enki has included both classroom and homeschool teaching of children, and intensive work with parents and teachers.
Her inspiration stems from a commitment to experiencing the sacred in everyday life. This, coupled with over seven decades as a student and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, has brought her to focus on “meditation in action” as critical for parent and teacher, and as the road to anchoring the children in this experience.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Paypal:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
NB: you must also email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can send you the Zoom sign-in details.
Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
Some international transfers also ask for an IBAN number:
The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
BIC:
BOFSGB21168