The Middle Way Education Model

Guided by a number of Buddhist teachers and scholars, Middle Way Education is developing a model of Buddhist education with a comprehensive curriculum that can be used to create new schools, redefine existing schools, and support children’s programs around the world. Middle Way is nondenominational, not tethered to one single Buddhist tradition or path. It is said that the Buddha taught in 84,000 ways, the dharma travelled, and still travels, across cultures, there are three major yanas or schools of Buddhism that coexist harmoniously, and within those multiple paths an individual can pursue. This is the wealth of the dharma. Middle Way Education develops materials that help educators and parents introduce these Buddhist wisdom traditions to children in contemporary settings.

The Middle Way model has various frameworks and principals:

• The 3 Spheres of Focus
• The 6 Standards
• The Five Domains of Learning 
• The 9 Principles (or Enduring Understandings

The MWE curriculum is designed to be integrated into any learning environment. Dharma is the sphere we deliver. But due to factors such as government requirements, capacity, language, and pedagogical beliefs, no specific academic approach is required by MWE although we strongly recommend an education that is constructivist and progressive. The third sphere is for cultural integration. At the Middle Way School in New York, the Living Sciences is their specific content focus. The green sphere could be occupied by a specific artistic discipline such as dance, or a cultural study mandated by the government.