Holistic Education Initiative
In Memoriam: Joseph Chilton Pearce, January 14, 1926 – August 23, 2016
Joseph Chilton Pearce, or `Joe` as he preferred, passed away on August 23, 2016. He leaves behind a legacy of nearly half a century of working to develop a conception of children rooted in heart and spirit. Joe was a great proponent of the wisdom of the heart. He noted that the heart organ itself was comprised of as high a percentage of neural cells as the brain. Joe Pearce published his first and seminal book, The Crack in The Cosmic Egg in 1971. Joe wrote about the heightened perceptions and perceptive capacities of young children. He described the damage that is done through the `disease of culture` and acculturation. And he insisted that the fiasco of institutionalized formal education was founded upon an inherently flawed worldview and mistaken conception of children and the process of human development and learning.
Although sometimes dismissed by academics or policy makers because of his unabashed use of terms such as `magical` and `spiritual,` Joe in fact, rooted his writing in a scholarly study of neuroscience and other `hard` sciences. He also used his own firsthand mystical experiences to guide his scholarly inquiry.
He published more than a dozen books, in which Joe wrote about the importance of attachment parenting and early bonding between parent and child through touch and breastfeeding. He wrote about the critical role of creative and imaginative play in the development of young children. He warned us against screen technologies introduced to children at too young an age and the effect such exposure may have on the atrophy of their perceptual development and well being. And, perhaps most significantly, he elevated our awareness of the presence and importance of the heart, or the `compassionate mind` in life and in education.
Joe Pearce spoke to audiences in most of The United States’ leading universities, making over 2500 public speaking appearances. He spoke and wrote in a way that was both highly accessible and deeply inspiring. He clearly embodied the presence of the compassionate mind, as is evidenced by his many charming interviews available now on Youtube and other online sources.
The HEI is grateful to Wild Duck Review for its permission to republish the transcript of one particularly beautiful interview from 1998 here in our library.
Rest In Peace Joe Pearce. We express our deep condolences to your family and friends. We appreciate the profound absence that your transition will leave. We express our deep gratitude for all your heart felt and soul-filled work in the field of holistic education over these five decades. May your spirit live on in all of us.
~Paul
