In our new education as we
give our children (and hopefully our adults, too) daily opportunities for
self-selected meaningful learning activities in specially prepared environments
comprised of people, tools, nature and ideas, we will begin to see a new kind
of child.
This
new child will have certain observable attributes that will allow parents and
adults to determine that normal and natural internal development is
occurring. We should discover a
child that loves to be engaged in meaningful activities and energetically seeks
learning projects. We will observe
a child that has strong focus and concentration on these self-initiated
tasks. We will see a child that
has internal discipline and is able to self-regulate behavior. We will find a child who shows a social
ability seen in joyful work, mutual aid and cooperation within his community of
home, school, church, and friends.
When we observe a
child who has been given these necessary helps for learning and self-discovery,
we will begin to see the budding and unfolding of a person who desires to be of
service to others—to those people in his or her immediate community, to those
whose basic needs of food, clothing and shelter are not met, and to those
people who will come after us.
The
new child following this route of natural human development will perceive need
and will work to respond with ability.
The four-year-old pours water at the dinner table for his family and
friends. The six-year-old waters
the garden to grow food. The eight-year old practices and teaches water
conservation. The ten-year old
researches about finding water and distributing it, then sets about to raise
funds to drill a well in West Africa.
From the simple—seeing that your family member’s water glass needs
refilling, to discovering that villages in Africa need clean water sources—the
new child will respond to these challenges with problem solving skills and
action.
Nourishing,
protecting and strengthening the human personality in a specially prepared
learning environment of people, tools, ideas and nature, creates a person who
has “an eye that sees, a soul that feels, and a hand that obeys.”
The
new child in the new education responds to the exponential change in our world
with exponential creativity when given the gift of deep time for self-directed
meaningful tasks. This new child
uses his learning and self-discovery to be of service, not only to himself, but
to all.
Our
new education gives quality versus quantity. It is not fast food learning. It is a feast, a banquet, a celebration of life. Our new education develops deep
learning and relationships that last a life time and are rich in context and
content. The work becomes the test
of mastery. Children learn how to
succeed and thus bypass the need to “cheat” to pass the test in order to
survive their schooling and graduate to the next level. Collaboration replaces competition.
Our
new education assures success by maintaining daily progress towards mastery. We
are continually asking, “Am I better today than yesterday? Are my actions making me into a bigger,
better person?” In this way the
child avoids seeking refuge from the pain of inadequacy. A downward spiral of academic failure
is avoided when the whole child is nourished, protected and strengthened.
In
our new education the child discovers heroes in his day-to-day
relationships. Parents, teachers,
fellow students, grandparents and neighbors become the real life heroes to
model a life of self-discipline, vision, passion and conscience.
By
developing a routine of being involved with self-directed purposeful tasks our
children avoid the danger of wandering directionless though life, seeking
refuge in addictive behaviors.
In
our new education, one size doesn’t have to fit all as our design is flexible
because it is based on, and responds to, individual learning needs, desires,
and dreams. Needs and desires are
met within the abilities, expectations, and imagination of the child’s
community and culture. Dreams are
not deferred, denied, or destroyed.
In
our new education adults who work with children understand how learning takes
place and create optimum learning conditions. Children avoid becoming unintentionally institutionalized,
as the boundaries between school and real life merge as children engage in
self-initiated tasks with the people, tools, nature and ideas—their community
and culture– surrounding them.
The
child passionately engaged in the real life work of learning and self-discovery
will seek to serve humanity and be a help to all life on our Earth.
Win-Win Education
Our current educational system, as most of our
society, is set up to reflect a culture that uses language and thinking based
on competitive sports and combat.
This thinking puts us into two categories—winners or losers. We use language such as: You’re up to bat. Hit a homerun. Score two points.
Ball in the gutter. Strike. Foul. Touchdown. It’s
the war on poverty, the war on illiteracy, the war on terrorism, the war on
drugs.
Today in our
educational system we use the language of the factory system: Pass. Fail. Quality
controls. Grades. Graduating students are the end product
of the system.
Management systems
work best when management is about the control of things and processes in a
timely and efficient manner.
People,
though, need leadership more than management. Leadership focuses on developing people, empowerment, doing the right
things, direction and principles.
In our new education, success is not about win or
lose, passing or failing, or time management. It’s about self-management. Our new education is where every student is a success
story. Nobody has to lose for
somebody else to win. Our new education is based on abundance. There is enough for all to have
favorable outcomes in reaching their potential. Win and lose thinking is replaced with collaborative
thinking.
Being based on collaboration instead of competition
does not weaken this new education.
Collaboration invents a place for individual self-directed meaningful
activity to flourish. But this is
a tough world where personal choice and personal responsibility go hand in
hand. Life not going the way you
think it should? Change it. It’s nobody’s job but your own.
Collaboration requires the interconnectedness of
self-assured, self-motivated and self-directed individuals who work responsibly
to build their own lives while contributing to the good of all.
Our educational system needs to create and protect
knowledge and truth while serving the individuals it is designed to serve. Education should not be a game where
some win and some lose.
Schools
currently exist where learning is based on the needs of individuals and where each
child and adult is treated with respect and kindness as they journey towards
independence, mastery and purposeful work.
Einstein is quoted as saying “You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” Perhaps Einstein would laugh and say “Jawohl!” or “Yes!” to my taking liberties with his famous equation to express the new education:
E = iMc2
E
stands for exponential education
iM
is for the intrinsic Motivation of each individual
c2
represents the child learning and working in his or her community and culture.
In
other words, exponential education occurs when the intrinsic motivation of each
individual is applied or multiplied by each child within his or her community
or culture.
Exponential education will look different in each
school as enlightened adults prepare environments to allow the development of
intrinsic motivation through meaningful self-directed activities of children in
their unique communities. Certain
principles will serve as guidelines for action. Subject matter will be fluid, based on the changing needs
and self-directed activities of children in our changing world.
We live in times of
exponential change. We need exponential
education to harness the exponential creativity and ability of every individual
on our planet.
Take the challenge of
creating win-win education.
Taking Responsibility for Our Children’s
Success
Our new education needs to be exponential education
to meet the exponential change on our planet. We need every person on our Earth to have opportunities to
realize their potential through self-directed meaningful activity in specially
designed learning environments that passionately engage children and
adults. As our children develop
mastery they will, in turn, create and contribute to these learning
environments.
When will our children become our #1 priority?
Our
children need a culture that embraces the uniqueness of every person and his or
her developmental path. We need to
give the gift of deep time in order for our children to learn, our teachers to
teach, and our parents to create vibrant families. We need to equip our students with learning tools so they
learn how to learn. Our criteria
for learning should be based on obtaining levels of competence and mastery.
From the moment a
human being is conceived, we need to realize that learning is occurring and
that human potential is being realized from birth as children engage in
activities in their homes and schools.
The focus of education should be on the whole child—mind, body, heart
and spirit. Success looks like
people who meet the challenges of the real world, who have the ability to enjoy
life, to value themselves, to be risk takers, to be self reliant, to be free
from stress and anxiety, to have peaceful lives, to celebrate their present
moments, to experience a lifetime of wellness, to be creative, and to fulfill
their higher needs and to feel a sense of purpose.
Our
children need places where learning and the real world co-exist in powerful
life affirming ways. Nurturing,
protecting and strengthening our children with our new education will develop a
human being with a profound need to be of service to others, a need that is
seen in only a small percentage of people today. The partnership of education and human potential results in
a “win-win” situation for all of us who create essential learning environments,
as well as provide a “win-win” for those children who entrust their lives to
us.
Exponential means to
multiply a quantity by itself the number of times designated by the
exponent. 102 can be
called ten-squared, ten to the power of two, ten times ten, or 100.
10 cubed equals 1000
10 to the fourth power =
10,000
10 to the tenth power =
10,000,000,000
Exponents are
expressed as tiny raised numerals, but in actuality exponents reveal a powerful
mathematical concept and operation.
Exponents express geometrical progressions that, when graphed, resemble
a rocket ship taking off.
We live in
exponential times, where seemingly small changes result in blasts of
redirection. We need exponential
education, where learning begins and transforms with the smallest members in
our society, unleashing human potential.
We
have schools today that nourish, protect and strengthen our children as they
are involved in personally meaningful self-selected activity that develops
intrinsic motivation and other qualities.
The best schools use the foundational principles discussed in this
series of articles in differing ways to meet the needs of the children they
serve. Among these are Montessori,
Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia schools.
To quote Einstein, “Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of
all technical endeavors. Never
forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”
Change
is an individual choice and is not otherwise dictated. Make a choice; take the responsibility
to assure our children’s success.
Choose and use the principles of exponential education. E= iMc2
Be
an exponent, a proponent of the new education.
Watch this video on YouTube. Did You Know?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY&fmt=18
