Goldie Hawn Buddhist Educational Charity

(UK) This report caught my attention.

Goldie Hawn, the Hollywood actress who runs an educational charity with Buddhist values, is in talks with the Conservative party about its plans for independent state-funded schools.

The 64-year-old Private Benjamin star, who describes herself as a Jewish Buddhist, met Dominic Cummings, the chief of staff for Michael Gove, the Shadow schools secretary.

They discussed the possibility of her charity, which runs schools in America and Canada, opening a state-funded facility in the UK.

The Hawn Foundation teaches the Buddhist technique of "mindfulness training", which emphasises social and emotional progress over academic testing and the use of simple breathing exercises to boost learning power.

It seems that Goldie Hawn's primary philosophy on education is to teach children to understand their emotions. Reading, writing and arithmetic are secondary considerations, apparently.

I question Hawn's philosophy. Understanding one's emotions sounds good but I contend the quality hardly makes one employable. In fact, I'd suggest most employers aren't in the least bit interested in whether a worker understands his/her emotions.

Companion post at EdWatch.