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She was born Elaine Austin on June 16, 19 33, in the depths of the Depression, in Port Chester NY, just down the coast from where she spent much of her later life in Greenwich CT. Her mother was Susan Stevens and her father was Irving Austin Jr. She had two brothers, Irving III and Donald. She married Patrick de Beauport at age 30 and had two sons, Patrick, now 50, and Pierre, now 47.
She graduated from Smith College cum laude with a major in International Relations; went on to a Masters Degree in US History at Georgetown, followed by courses at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. She spent time in Spain at the University of Santander (where she picked up fluent Spanish which helped her later in her work at University of Caracas). She finally settled down with a Doctorate of Education from Farleigh Dickinson University in an area of focus that would define the rest of her life: Educational Leadership and Human Development.
She was a Fulbright Scholarship winner, one of the world’s most prestigious awards, which she applied to her studies abroad; Fulbright recipients often later became winners of the Nobel Prize or Pulitzer Prize. Had Elaine lived and her work been further recognized and covered by newsmedia, she might have won – or at least deserved -- the Nobel Prize for Peace.
She graduated from Smith College cum laude with a major in International Relations; went on to a Masters Degree in US History at Georgetown, followed by courses at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. She spent time in Spain at the University of Santander (where she picked up fluent Spanish which helped her later in her work at University of Caracas). She finally settled down with a Doctorate of Education from Farleigh Dickinson University in an area of focus that would define the rest of her life: Educational Leadership and Human Development.
She was a Fulbright Scholarship winner, one of the world’s most prestigious awards, which she applied to her studies abroad; Fulbright recipients often later became winners of the Nobel Prize or Pulitzer Prize. Had Elaine lived and her work been further recognized and covered by newsmedia, she might have won – or at least deserved -- the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Elaine’s personal life was devoted to enjoying her sons, Patrick and Pierre, having dinners with friends, meditating, and relaxing in her (very large) hot tub.
As her educational career unfolded, she spent many years as a school teacher at every age level from pre-school through elementary grades, junior high, high school, and graduate school. Subject-wise she taught seventh, eighth and ninth grade World History and French, then tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade US History and Philosophy.
SUDDENLY, A GREAT NOTION
The more she taught school, the more she learned something was amiss with education as a whole and she began to scan the horizon of her broad mind for a schema that could contain a virtual revolution in learning by bringing in other dimensions, a framework that could contain not just ABC 's but how to deal with one's intuitive mind, with emotions, with the whole human being, a curriculum of personal transformation for children and adults. She realized she had to go back and get the adults before she could go further with the children.
In a 1996 interview, Elaine put it this way:
"We did some extraordinary things at the Mead School in terms of expanding learning capacities and extending consciousness, but we noticed that our struggle was always with the parents . . . . The child wanted to be loved by the parents and please the parents. It became very evident that the limiting horizon was in the adult’s mind, because anything we did with the child’s mind was limited by what the parents would be able to grasp or appreciate and encourage -- all of the above. So I like to say the future of the world is not in changing the child's mind but in changing the adult mind." (Read the full interview later on this website).
NEXT: The Schools She Created
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LINK:
Elaine and Aura Sofia Diaz's website: The Infinite Human (El Humano Infinito). Go to this link for current info about activities at the Mead Institute in Caracas.
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LINK:
Elaine and Aura Sofia Diaz's website: The Infinite Human (El Humano Infinito). Go to this link for current info about activities at the Mead Institute in Caracas.
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