NANHE CONFERENCE, SAN FRANCISCO APRIL 2005

Homeopathic educators from across the country converged for the annual conference of the North American Network of Homeopathic Educators (NANHE) at the Headlands Institute, situated in the beautiful Golden Gate National Recreation Area, just north of San Francisco in Marin County. NANHE has been meeting for over 10 years, exploring developments in homeopathic education. A loose collective of homeopathic educators, NANHE has been linked to the Council for Homeopathic Education (CHE) and the Homeopathic Community Council (HCC), its goal being to foster connections with homeopathic schools and educators through an annual conference. At last year`s meeting in New York, we decided we wanted to make NANHE a more autonomous organization, to establish greater links within the educational community and to make the annual conference an important and enjoyable experience for participants. Therefore, choosing a conducive venue was important for us. We wanted to find a place that would give a greater communal experience, and which would give participants a welcome break as well as being productive. When we all arrived at the institute, we knew we had found the place. The Institute is situated on on a beach with spectacular views of hills and coastline, a classic example of the beauty of the Californian coast, with early morning surfers, whale sitings and pelicans adding to the atmosphere. We all stayed in the Raven Dormitory, 31 bunk beds reminding us of school trips, Girl or Boy Scouts and other similar ventures. The Institute is a converted military barracks, long wooden buildings converted to an institute for public use.

We all ate together in the cafe run by the institute, exquisite food, organic coffee and ample deserts thrilling what seemed to be half-starved homeopaths. Perhaps it was the fresh air and early morning walks along the beach. On our first lunch we shared the restaurant with a medley of Morris Dancers ( an English folk dance based on pagan roots.). Morris dancers wear the most strange garb, looking like early American Puritans who have drunk some home made wine and decided to add some frills and bells to their attire. We even found a homeopath amongst their midst, none less than Peggy Chipkin, a stalwart of the Bay Area homeopathic scene. We inititally thought she had come for our conference, but no, she had other ideas, fueling suspicion from the more fanatical amongst us that a homeopath with other interests had to be a mere dilettante.

Lunch on Sunday was shared by Zen meditators, there for a weekend silent retreat. As we enthusiastically scoffed our food, our Zen brethren were sitting silently in the other room, meditating before eating, and then silently and purposefully bringing food to mouth. Dressed mainly in black they contrasted with the gay frills of the Morris Dancers the day before. We even found another homeopath in their midst, Gina Inez, Marin resident and homeopath. She was as surprised as we were to find ourselves together on a windy weekend in Marin.

The weather at that time of year can do anything, from rolling fog off the Pacific to spectacularly clear spring days. We had a mixture of both, not so much fog, but windy and cloudy days with bursts of sunshine in between - not too warm but also not too cold. The beauty of the place makes any weather even more atmospheric and we wouldn`t have minded if a typhoon had come rolling in.

And then there was the conference. We all met initially on Friday night after dinner and having found our bunks, we spent two hours sharing what has been going on for us as homeopathic educators in the past year. We shared both the positive aspects as well as our concerns for the profession and the challenges of running schools and educating homeopathic students. Saturday was spent with people having the opportunity to present on a topic important to them, an expression of the vision that we have as educators. Whilst Friday evening was spent ruminating on the challenges we face, Saturday was about how much we are actually doing, and the passion we have for our work.

Jo Daly (New York School of Homeopathy) presented a short video clip of Parker Palmer, famed educator and spiritual thinker, who has authored many books, including The Courage to Teach. It was a perfect beginning to the weekend. Jo also shared her experience of how to use the web to allow students access to files and documents for teaching. Jo was followed by Eric Sommerman (North West Academy of Homeopathy), who spoke on "Self Analysis and Self Healing", the challenge for students to take on their own evolution and healing. It was an exploration into the inner dynamics of learning, in contrast to the more rote modes of learning facts. Tina Quirk (New York School of Homeopathy), spoke on homeopathic research and showed a video of a Tanzanian homeopath who is having success treating Malaria, TB and AIDS and how he gained acceptance of homeopathy with the Tanzanian government. Malcolm Smith (Homeopathic Symposium) spoke on the importance of sharing resources in the profession and how we need to use technology to record our experiences in practice and how this can be used by educators everywhere as well as provide vivid documentation of the success of homeopathy. Yolande Grill (Desert Institute of Classical Homeopathy) spoke on her experiences with problem based learning at their school, and then Karen Allen (Bastyr University/Virtual Clinic) presented on a project she is initiating setting up homeopathic clinics in rural Nicaragua. She also shared her experience of teaching homeopathy to naturopathic students at Bastyr and how to make the most impact with the time constraints of the program. Carol Boyce (American University of Complementary Medicine, Los Angeles/Homeopathic Symposisum) spoke on the topic of standards of education, the challenge of maintaning high levels of excellence in teaching, and the vision of how homeopathy can change the universe - literally - by all of us tenanciously teaching more and more people this awesome medical art. Betsy Levine (Devon School of Homeopathy) followed, speaking on the evolutions in distance learning. Jeanne Zeab (American University of Complementary Medicine) gave us all an update of the status of her school, it being in the unique position of being the only homeopathic school with a Masters and PhD program. Richard Pitt (Pacific Academy of Homeopathy) came last, exploring the challenges of marketing our schools and how as educators, we don`t look at ways of marketing more effectively. He also presented materials from the Council on Homeopathic Education (CHE), including the revised application packet for schools to become accredited through the CHE. It was an incredibly lively demonstration of our work and revealed the commitment that we have all put into homeopathic education.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the challenges of evaluation. Jo Daly facillitated a discussion of how we evaluate students, teachers and outcomes of teaching, including the students own personal evolution. We recognized that evaluation is a core part of any educational process and that evaluating more subtle areas of the student`s learning process is not easy. Evaluating more objective forms of learning - facts - is one thing but the actual learning process is another. The subtle processess of integrating learning so that it becomes one`s own reality is part of the mystery of learning and one that schools need to pay more attention to. We recorded the whole of this conversation and willl be producing a document and perhaps a video to share with other educators. Saturday night was spent hanging around the Institute. We were going to explore the local town but chose to stay by the beach and Thai food was brought in and we spent the evening talking and then watching a video on crop circles that Malcolm Smith had with him. As a result of this we decided to choose one of these circles as the logo for NANHE.

On Sunday morning, we had a guest lecturer, Dean Elias PhD, an educator from St Mary`s College, Moraga. His presentation was a perfect complement to our own investigations, as he spoke on levels of learning based on states of consciousness. Using models develeoped by various educators, he gave us a map of how certain people learn depending on their level of consciousness, and how as educators we need to be aware of where students are at in their own level of consciousness. The model used was based on the idea of an evolution in consciousness, leading to greater autonomy and self awareness and that learning needs to reflect and encourage this evolution. He also presented on how learning has to occur beyond the rational mind, how the body, sensations and feelings have to be included in the learning process. His talk reflected our own journey on the weekend and he was a gracious and skilled presenter.

The remainder of the day was spent exploring the uses of technology in learning. We spoke on the challenges of introducing computer programs into the student`s learning process, when to do it and how to do so effectively, and we then spoke more of how to share resources amongst the educational community and to help spread homeopathy through the web, becoming more aware of a global consciousness and how we are part of a global community.

Everybody who participated in the weekend left feeling uplifted by the experience and camraderie shared. Other participants were Richard Mann (Bastyr University), Edi Mottershead (Pacific Academy), Theresa Bucci, Anneke Hogeland (Homeopathy West), Barbara Juniper, Deborah Casey (Homeopathic Academy of Southern California), Dana Ullmann (Homeopathic Educational Supplies), Ellen Goldman (Florida Academy of Homeopathy), Rosa Guilfoyle, Lynda Lillywhite (Devon school), and Barbara Seideneck (Homeopathy School of Colorado). We are already working on a website www.homeopathyeducation.org where information on schools, teaching materials and other details will be available and also on a shared marketing policy so all participating schools can benefit from higher profile advertizing.

There was immediate consensus to have the next year`s meeting at the same venue, and we have booked it for April 28-30th 2006. As Eric Sommerman put it, "We are home at last." Please contact us at at info@homeopathyeducation.org for details of next years`conference.

Richard Pitt