22/03/2017
~Education of the Spirit~
Did we perhaps take a wrong turn in public education when the creative and spiritual nature of children were no longer acknowledged, when their inner lives and unique potential were no longer respected and prioritized?
I know, there needs to be a separation of church and state, but when schools started to employ factory model testing, measurement and grading systems, did this become "soul crushing" for children?
Does ignoring the creative and spiritual nature of children mean that the cultivation of social and emotional intelligence (and creative self-direction) are ignored?
Maria Montessori seemed to think so, she said:
“To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the first duty of the educator. For such a delicate mission great art is required to suggest the right moment and to limit intervention, last one should disturb or lead astray rather than help the soul which is coming to life and which will live by virtue of it’s own efforts.”
Prior to 1900 most people believed in the existence of the soul. And looking at forms of education around the world, most were learner-centered apprenticeship models. Youth learned alongside their parents, family members or a craftsperson.
They learned a trade, it was all hands on. Mathematics and reading skills developed from tutoring initially and lots of practice. Human relationships were central and creativity was encouraged.
Children developed specialized craft and social skills in the company of family members and neighbors, from all forms of social interaction and collaborative creative activity within their local community.
Then industrialization began, factories were built, and education changed. It became formalized and mechanized, schools also structured and organized like a factory. Human individuality was ignored, as education was standardised.
Since the turn of the last century, children have been treated as cogs in the wheels of society, to be tested, measured and prepared for their roles as parts of the global industrial machine. But at what cost?
In the last 100 years we've been ignoring some very common sense wisdom that had been passed forward across the ages. As Aristotle put it, "educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
To see a child as a "soul" metaphysical beliefs are not required, one can be agnostic about metaphysics, but if we ignore the human "spirit" and inner life of children, we then ignore their unique wishes, creative potential, individual talents, interests and feelings...
That leads to the situation where children are treated by education "reformers," curriculum designers and lawmakers as objects, machines, robots to be programmed, tested and measured.
Isn't that what has happened?
~Christopher Chase
The Art of Learning
Let a Child’s Spirit Be Free to Unfold – M. Montessori
https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/let-a-childs-spirit-be-free-to-unfold-m-montessori/
Self Direction is the Key to Mastery
https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/self-direction-is-the-key-to-mastery/
How Children Naturally Learn
https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/how-children-naturally-learn/
Educational Malpractice- The Child Manufacturing Process
https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/educational-malpractice-the-child-manufacturing-process/
