the sapience curriculum

teacher’s guide for an age of turmoil

Have you ever wondered why you and the people around you are suffering? Don’t you find it strange that you’ve landed here in adulthood, in the midst of an wicked planetary crisis, with minimal preparation to meet the challenges of our day? Have you ever suspected that your education may have been an exercise in futility and a waste of precious time?

You’ve spent plenty of time in schools of various sorts. You’ve worked your way through the primary grades and high school and maybe even done some time in college and beyond, all under the belief that someday, the hard work would pay off. But when the day finally arrived, you were shocked to discover a world in chaos. The realities of looming ecological disaster, social injustice, pandemics and other systemic ills suddenly came into focus, and you began to feel radically unprepared, even incompetent.

What we need is relevance. As athletic trainers and coaches know, success depends on teaching people the skills and orientations that they will need in the world they are going to inhabit. Practice and experience must be specific to conditions; otherwise, the effort is wasted.

Teachers, trainers, coaches, therapists, health professionals and parents all share a similar challenge: how to prepare the human animal for life on this planet, at this moment in history. This book offers lessons, essays and campfire talks designed to do just that.