Mandalas as a Tool In Active Learning

Mandalas are an ancient spiritual tool used traditionally to focus the mind and spirit in both stillness and dynamism. What teacher might not need that? They can also offer a simple and economic way to both plan and review your lessons in the same form.
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Starting with the Phases of an Active Lesson spiral we can then translate this into an 8 form mandala to make sure those elements are all covered and to create a more dynamic interactive form. The categories are Meeting, Moving and Mobilising, Multi-sensory, Multi-faculty, More student talking, Making, Memorisation and Mapping

You can also use the mandala to organise a myriad of themes and different kinds of content. For example, a calendar, perhaps using a larger division, such as a 12 fold, the structure of a play or text, or a plan for a project. If six teachers were working on a course together you could create a six fold mandala and have each teacher fill in his/her segment to see how different subject areas might harmonise around the central topic as resonances and connections can be built.