Resources
Listed below are some resources you can download.
And as we’ve said before, we love designing so if you can’t see what you’re after, let us know!
THE PRACTICAL
Labyrinths:
all about them
A self-guided inquiry, this hyperdoc can be used individually or in groups of 4 to facilitate an understanding of labyrinths. When used with a group of 4, allocate one question section per participant and each takes responsibility for sharing their respective findings with the others.
Begin the School Year
Introducing Students to the Labyrinth
A process: Observe students’ reactions, responses and how they interact when encountering a labyrinth for the first time. Engage them in conversation, encouraging them to share what they thought when they first saw it, how they were feeling when they first went in or on it, how it felt afterwards. Did they have the same or different feelings the next time? What did it remind them of when they first saw it? Follow up with familiarisation activities. These will also serve as a getting-to-know-you resource.
Finger Labyrinths
Finger labyrinths can be purchased, handmade as a craft activity, drawn with a variety of media, constructed from a host of materials or simply made from a downloadable template and laminated. They offer a tactile, individual experience of “walking” a labyrinth. Benefits include calming, quieting, focusing and balancing (especially the Intuipath). Problem solving is another use for finger labyrinths, where two individuals use it to work through a set process (see SELFMindfulness).
SEL/MINDFULNESS
Calming & Quieting Labyrinth Walks
The labyrinth form offers shifting, inspiring and renewing perspectives on its spiral path. These calming and quieting walks invite you to: focus on restoring harmony and balance when experiencing times of anxiety or stress. Use them at the beginning or end of a day, when changing from one activity to another, or before and after meetings.
When Feelings Surface
In our personal and professional lives, experiences, interactions and relationships trigger emotions that in turn can morph into feelings strongly felt. At these times a virtual, finger or walking labyrinth can help quieten the mind, calm the body and assist with the finding of inner peace and tranquillity.
VALUES & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Reconciliation
Labyrinth Walk
This is a walk with intention, for reconciliation. It was designed around the National Reconciliation Week 2019 theme: Grounded in Truth – Walk Together with Courage. It utilises symbolic action together with a focus on the values -
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Empathy, Goodwill, Solidarity, Love ( senior )
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Kindness, Unity, Love,
Understanding ( junior )
Supplementary resources include:
On Being Grateful
This labyrinth walk offers dedicated time to reflect on those things you are grateful for, the things that bring light and hope to your life. The meditative and reflective nature of the labyrinth walk provides the walker with some quiet reflection time, gentle exercise and a momentary escape from the stresses and anxieties associated with daily life to focus on the things that sustain us..
CURRICULUM & LEARNING
AC - General Capabilities
Links to literacy, numeracy, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, ethical understanding, and intercultural understanding have been identified. Reach out for a consultation or workshop to explore these connections with labyrinths in expanded, experiential ways.
Concept Labyrinth Walks
As the building blocks of most of what we study and learn, concepts are ripe for exploration and investigation, dialogue and debate – expanding awareness and enriching understandings. They can be the springboards for challenging our assumptions and opening up new or alternative perspectives. This resource gives examples of what, when and how learning experiences can be designed. Supplementary resources include:
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Concept Exploration: Belonging Download
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Concept Exploration Questions – taking concepts further Download
AC History
Labyrinths are perfect tools for exploring content that spans periods of time (see those highlighted). Working to scale on any of the suggested patterns at the end of this document, and representing time along the walking path, students can see and experience time unfold. Not only that, historical events and concepts can be the subject of inquiries. These can be added to the timeline at strategic points, adding to the experience. If the labyrinth were to be a temporary one marked out in an auditorium, what an excellent exhibition of student work this would make.