Children in our world

I've been reading The Happy Child: Changing the Heart of Education by Steven Harrison. It has me flushing out a thought that continues to return to me while thinking about the current state of education and an ideal state of education. But first, let me give you a little perspective from the book.

Education makes one fundamental mistake. It exists.

Education supposes that it has something to impart, and it is from this flawed perspective that all of its problems flow. Holistic learning is not transactional; it is interactional. Far from having something to teach, education has something to learn: it is not necessary; it just needs to get out of the way.

Let's all agreed that in today's world, we don't need people who know facts (facts can be kept and found easily--computers!), but we need people who are self-directed, who are good communicators and good decision-makers. The education system today puts facts and obedience first, not allowing time for students to learn self-discipline, to become good communicators or be directed by their own passions.

Let's also consider that youth are stored away for most of their first 18 years of life in buildings far from the every day society. These students are not allow to participate in our world. They are asked to learn. Teachers are asked to teach, but do teachers even have passion for the experiences they teach? Are teachers ever given the time to experience enough to educate youth?

This is where we come back to my thought... how can we get our jobs done while allowing children to be themselves but also be a part of our world. I would like to propose living in communities that members are willing to share their skills with curious children. Maybe we aren't equipped to live in a community that children can run free, but we might be equipped to come to the children's place. A school that allows not only for children to direct their own learning and discover there own passions, could be a place where adults can come and explore their passions and skills and be available to share these with youth.

I dream of a learning center that has space for the gardener, carpenter, seamstress to complete there work with the help of young ones. I dream of a learning center that also has a guest house for people to come visit and a workspace to compete writing, art, accounting, or other projects while youth are aware and allowed to be curious of visitors and activities. I also dream of a learning center where older youth come and go to participate in their own learning experiences in our world--taking on projects with the local newspaper, retail store, advertising agency, engineering company.

What do you dream?

Traditions

With the holiday season here, there's a lot of tradition making/keeping. These are things that became nostalgia for many, but are also great learning experiences for all of us. My mother has been a part of reading "The Night Before Christmas" on the eve of December 24th nearly every year since she was a baby. I continue this tradition, but have also been a major proponent in the tradition of creating and exchanging handmade gifts among my immediate family.

Extending these traditions to the entire year can extend the fun and learning experiences. Some traditions may be daily or weekly and provide fun and nostalgia for everyone, such as Sundays of laying in bed as a family and reading the paper, or evenings with books and board games in the living room, or going on a walk once a day or week. Also fun are traditions created around days of celebration (even those foreign to you): Chinese New Year or International Magic Week or Lithuania's Independence Day. Each of these experiences may not be something that you know a whole lot about, but you and those close to you could do a little research and try out a new craft or recipe to learn something new. Each year, you may try new celebrations or new activities for each tradition or a new person may join you. Use each other to develop the traditions into new and different things for years to come.

Check out site such at Daily Holidays or use Wikipedia to find the Independence Days for countries. Go to your local library to check out books to research your next holiday--the children's section often has books with simple descriptions of basic traditions to get started.

What traditions will you and your loved ones hold dear?

Playful life

Life isn't a game, but it sure is playful. And why not take full advantage of that. Playing games for a living has it's advantages. I get to play tag with people of all ages. My favorite variety of tag is those games in which everyone is it. People become so lively when they have a goal, a role, a responsibility in the game. Dodge this tagger, run for that person, spin past another, and tag a third person. Each player is included, each player becomes entirely focus on their own role. Life isn't a game, but everyone is it.

Everyone has their role, their goal, and everyone is powerful in this playful society.