Education
Empowering Minds: The Journey of My Guide Inside with Christa Campsall
Dive into the insightful journey of My Guide Inside with Christa Campsall, as we uncover the ethos behind a curriculum that empowers rather than instructs. This exclusive interview sheds light on the inception, evolution, and the distinct approach of My Guide Inside, emphasizing student autonomy and well-being through the foundational 3 Principles.
Question 1- Could you share the story behind the inception of My Guide Inside?
It was my good fortune to learn about the 3 Principles from Sydney Banks, speaker and author, when I was a university student in Vancouver, Canada. Gaining a glimmer of understanding of the inside-out nature of life created hope as I became competent to teach students previously deemed as unreachable; for example, those who were belligerent or non-responsive. This newfound understanding made my professional “dream come true.”
The 3 Principles has proved to be lifelong learning as I gain understanding and accept responsibility for my own happiness and success.
Throughout my entire career as classroom teacher and School-based Team Chair in Special Education, knowledge of the 3 Principles has elicited a regard for human dignity that has become the way I live my life. I have taught the 3 Principles as a unit of study and also indirectly, during teachable moments. In 1991, I co-authored a 3 Principles Curriculum for teens with a counsellor from Florida. We used this curriculum in Canada and the United States, and offered related teacher training. In the early 2000’s, I upgraded my skills to include a Diploma of Special Education and a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training. For my thesis, I created a new 3 Principles curriculum for use with teen-age students (13-18 years old). In addition, as a Special Education teacher I created a 3 Principles curriculum to use with Primary age students (5-8 years old). Meanwhile, a close colleague in the United States, Jane Tucker, created a 3 Principles curriculum for Intermediate age students (9-12 years old.) These curricula became the seeds of the new My Guide Inside.
I retired from a long, rewarding career in education, which included classroom teaching as well as leadership roles. With confidence based on consistent positive outcomes sharing the 3 Principles, I answered a global call for a comprehensive 3 Principles-based Curriculum. We determined to develop a curriculum for Primary, Intermediate and Secondary students. This is a new vision as we had not yet offered principle-based curriculum to the same students at different stages of their school career. The other co-authors of My Guide Inside are:
Jane Tucker, teacher, author, and professional editor, and
Kathy Marshall Emerson, Director of the National Resilience Resource Center.
Question 2- What inspired you and your team to develop this curriculum, and what challenges did you face in bringing your vision to life?
Since 1975, upon hearing about the 3 Principles, I have used this knowledge, which includes synchronizing the intellect and intuition/wisdom, for navigating life. With the 3 Principles equation (S. Banks, 2006) Mind + Thought + Consciousness = Reality, I began to take responsibility for my thoughts and began to see the logic of the Principle of Thought creating my reality in the moment. With this came freedom and the natural state of happiness. This “secret” hidden in plain sight is too valuable to withhold –I have, since 1975, been happy to share this logic and knowledge.
The vision of the My Guide Inside curriculum was one of quality, knowledge, rigour, creativity, beauty and language learning– and this took funds. I invested my funds when layout and publishing skills were needed. Remarkably, however, the creative work is entirely goodwill! The sales of the books did pay for the development and publication costs.
In our jurisdiction, curriculum became more of the teacher’s choice, hence we qualified as a valid curriculum. We did qualify for grant funds. However, there were very minimal funds for prominent advertising, which is a challenge. I have been regularly on social media offering education coaching as well as some highlighting of the MGI products.
We have not had funds available to conduct official evidence-based research for each of the levels, and the pandemic interfered with any such research ideas.
As written about in the article recently submitted to ScooNews, the pandemic changed the course of our trajectory. Amazing opportunities began to appear with multiple translations and also with students in other countries beyond the USA and Canada learning from My Guide Inside. Sandeep Dutt, founder of Learning Forward India and Good Schools Alliance (GSA) is instrumental in introducing My Guide Inside Online and My Guide Inside: Orientation for Educators to GSA members and student interns in India. Sandeep is receptive to ideas; it’s an inspiring collaboration. MGI Online is a Lifelong Learning Partner with GSA.
We needed to pivot and be open to new opportunities as they presented themselves. All along the way there have been learning curves; these are welcome challenges! MGI seems to have a life of its own and next steps regularly become apparent.
Question 3- My Guide Inside takes a unique approach by not telling kids what to do but empowering them with the knowledge to make their own decisions.
How do you believe this method impacts a child’s development compared to traditional educational models?
Programs on Social Emotional Learning and /or Mindfulness, for example, can have good intentions. Indeed we must consider holistic education; however if the program is “outside-in” it can be problematic. If the direction is to “do” something in order to find the peace of mind, it may be that the student cannot do what is “required” and therefore is further isolated.
For example, a mindfulness program directing a child to close their eyes may be contrary to the child’s sense of safety. Closing eyes may elicit fear in a student who has experienced trauma. Also, if there are prescriptive actions in order to arrive at the goal of peace of mind and happiness, it has been shown that these actions do not transfer. Once the program is over, the kids do not generally carry on these prescriptions in their own homes.
We teach 3 Principles to strengthen mental health and improve the ability to navigate life. We show, through stories, that there is a logic to the human experience. We teach vocabulary and offer discussion prompts for the students to relate the principles knowledge to their own lives. We include written expression and creative activities that deepen the knowing and can easily be used for academic reporting purposes. The students gain understanding and begin to naturally help themselves as they see they have choice with regard to the usage of the principle of Thought, and they learn that happiness is a natural state; it’s the default state! In addition, we offer Student Pre-assessment and Post-assessment for self-reflection and observation/reporting purposes.
Question 4- How have students and educators benefited from this approach?
Once a student and/or educator gains an understanding of the logic of the 3 Principles, they own the knowledge and are on a lifelong learning journey. We can always understand the principles at a deeper level, which makes life interesting! We are all teachers and learners.
Question 5- Considering the diverse educational landscape of India, what are your plans or strategies for introducing My Guide Inside to the Indian K-12 sector?
(The answer to this question is written by Jishnu Gupta at edTree)
The Indian education market, especially K-12, is unique. All schools are affiliated to one Board or the other, with CBSE having the largest number of affiliated schools. We have noticed that the administration and educators at the schools are under huge pressure to complete the academic curriculum within the given calendar and also follow various mandates laid down by the Board. Hence introducing new curriculum at schools in India is a challenge.
At the same time, NEP 2020 and NCF 2023 have spoken about the importance of whole-child development in great detail. Schools in India do not have legacy curricula for such programs. MGI helps schools and institutions achieve National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2023) goals, competencies and learning outcomes in Life Skills and Language Learning.
Pilot batches in India have validated the fact the MGI stories are universal in nature and the students have internalized the learnings. Parents have endorsed that they have seen remarkable changes in the approach to life in their children. We aim to advocate MGI at the Board level as well as with groups and associations of schools so that the decision makers find value and mandate adopting MGI at schools.
Question 6- How does My Guide Inside ensure its curriculum is adaptable and relevant across different cultures, especially in a country as diverse as India?
We understand some communities are underserved; we wrote MGI with inclusion in mind. MGI Online has added Hindi vocabulary to each chapter and added advice for teaching English Language Learners. National Curriculum Framework 2023 and MGI are aligned and can be implemented to meet certain goals. We know this knowledge is basic and universal; it does not bump up against cultural beliefs.
Question 7- Looking towards the future, how do you see My Guide Inside evolving? Are there any new developments or research areas you’re exploring to further enhance the curriculum and its impact on student well-being?
We started with the goal of publishing a global 3 Principles Well-being Curriculum for K-12: Primary, Intermediate and Secondary Learner Books and Teacher Manuals. Accomplished!
We added:
- Professional Development for educators (face-to-face).
- E-books for every MGI title.
- Video on Demand to bring each MGI chapter to life.
- Pilot projects with students and educators in Kenya. We are still in contact.
- My Guide Inside: Orientation for Educators (free, self-study, online).
- Comprehensive curriculum website with a free professional development library.
- Multiple MGI translations due to goodwill of expert educators grounded in the 3 Principles:
German, Hebrew, Portuguese
In Progress: Spanish, Italian and Swedish
- Lifelong Learning Partnership with Learning Forward India and Good Schools Alliance
- MGI Online Learning Platform for Books I, II, III to serve Indian students.
Includes: Teacher Manual and Video on Demand for each chapter.
Tech supports pre- and post- assessment analysis.
Online submissions with simple rating scales for evaluation.
Added Hindi vocabulary to every chapter.
Tech maintenance and support by edTree.
- Created MGI Mapping to NCF 2023 infographic.
- Regular Zoom meetings with GSA students to support their efforts to be MGI student mentors in their schools’ Life Skills courses using MGI Online as pilot classes.
- Created video reflections of Indian educators and Indian students.
- Further develop MGI Online innovation based on feedback.
- Created MGI Infographic to connect to Mental Health in Schools Strategy.
- Ongoing MGI coaching of local teachers and teachers in the Global Community.
My focus currently is not in developing more aspects of My Guide Inside, but in working with school systems to implement this promising well-being innovation. As always, I am open to see how I can be in service.