Rethinking Education, Learning, and Childhood
“A kind of light spread out from her. And everything changed color. And the world opened out. And a day was good to awaken to. And there were no limits to anything. And the people of the world were good and handsome. And I was not afraid anymore.” — John Steinbeck, East of Eden
Join me in this exploration of education and learning. At the end, share your thoughts. Think about your own educational experience. Were you seen? Was your wonder and curiosities listened to? What did you think learning was? What was the impact of how your parents and teachers educated you on your beliefs and how you came to see yourself? So take your time as you read this and explore with me.
Have we ever looked at a tree? I mean, look at a tree, wonder at its marvelous beauty, and realize we have no idea what it truly is. We can’t even begin to understand that one tree without understanding where it lives, the climate, the soil, topography, water, and the diverse life forms that live symbiotically with it, feed off of it, and communicate with it. The one tree is interdependent within the great web of the whole flow. Without soil, sun, water, and other species, this tree wouldn’t exist. Words can never capture a tree. In essence, we could only understand certain aspects of the tree but never the whole. A tree is beyond measurement. And in this way, so is everything in the Universe. We can understand certain aspects but never the whole of it.
Now imagine one child and what makes him or her who they are. What is their background? Who are their parents and siblings? What is the impact their parents have on him/her? Their personality? What are their strengths and challenges? How do they relate to their friends and their friends to him/her? What about their place? City? Town? Climate? History? What do they eat? How do they develop? What are they interested in? It is a never-ending discovery, for we can never know the whole of a child. They are immeasurable. Does our current education system help children thrive, or does it destroy their voice, intuition, wonder, and curiosity?
Imagine a world that flowed with children’s minds open to wonder, minds open to the flow, and in their relationships, lived in trust, not fear. What ideas would sprout and germinate? What dialogues would happen between us and others, the world and the Universe? Imagine, as parents and teachers, if we took our time to really learn about each child.
Nature itself writes the ethics and the approach to living that flows through all things. When we are in tune with the whole, we feel this truth. Listening to nature’s flow, there is no need for morality. We would see no ownership, no need for rewards and punishments, and no need to be better or worse than anyone else. Because we would live in a community, there would be no poverty. Because of no poverty and no ownership, there would be no need for crime. Because everyone within the community is taken care of thoughtfully, the whole community will struggle if anyone is struggling. Because of this, there would be very little mental illness. Here, again, is learning. When we are open and safe, we naturally take in, digest, and assimilate.
It is a living relationship that has no beginning or end. It is all about opening the door to what is, an opening that broadens and expands the more one explores the regions of learning. Learning has no end. Exploring the Universe this way shows that knowledge is beautiful and hitched to all other knowledge. This learning is rooted in awe and curiosity and has nothing to do with gain or loss. It is focused on wonder and understanding. From this viewpoint, one would also see that knowledge is temporary and partial, fantastic but limited. We would see that knowledge can’t touch the immeasurable wholeness of what is. It is as if every single pour of the cosmos is opened up to oneself. Seeing in this light, we would be opened into what Blake experienced when he said, “To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour.” This is the natural spring that is within every one of us.
Yet, our system not only destroys this wonder, but it also pushes children to adapt to roles to play out when they become adults that will foster the ignorance, drama, and violence that perpetuates the system. So many children are learning to close themselves off, their innate curiosity gone as if surgically removed, their spirits heavy or draped with anxiety, depression, and expectations that they begin to lose joy, playfulness, and wonder. Their attention becomes distracted as cell phones become a new addiction. Their wildness is gone, their freedom has no relevance, and they bear the cross of their culture and are so blind that they rarely recognize that this has happened.
Our present education system closes the door to each child’s innate wonder and interests. This way of education that governs children in the home and school formulates the belief of separation. Once the door is shut from the trauma of separation, they begin forming walls to protect themselves, learning to fear psychologically. I have seen this repeatedly with students from public schools, adolescent treatment centers, and when I was in or teaching in that system. Taught to be ignorant and fearful of failing, children can’t truly learn. Children can only deeply learn when tuned in, ready, open, and curious.
It is challenging to let go of control and completely trust in oneself and children. However, in the long run, not trusting creates an assortment of problems and issues, both individually and societal, for we tear away the innate connection to what is and create the idea of separatism that blooms into violence that we have seen going back historically and now into the present. From separation, we become aliens and isolated in a cold Universe. We end up being a war within and at war with the world. Science and religion foster this way of seeing. Instead of bringing us into a relationship with the Universe, each other, and oneself, they actually help perpetuate more violence and separation. Have we ever thought that if we are looking to control, then lurking underneath that veneer is fear? And if fear is how we see children, then fear will, like a disease, begin to infect the soul of each child.
Children, including adults, innately want to learn and be fully alive. This is the true purpose of education. The focus of education is to awaken. To be awake means not to be ignorant, to know oneself. To be ignorant is to be asleep, ignore the learning happening before us, and not act upon it. To be awake is to see things as they are, to know oneself and not through the eyes of beliefs, conditioning, or the eyes of others. To be awake is to act accordingly to each situation by being in tune with the flow and not trying to escape the situation. To awaken is to be in truth. Nature, which we are deeply a part of, illustrates community, diversity, and freedom. In nature, all things are included, and there is nothing that any species owns. In nature, there is no hierarchy. An ecosystem is the deep intelligence of all the interrelationships that are its living tapestry. Here is a wonder.
Imagine if we listened to our children’s wonder and saw learning as not an accumulation but as never-ending. If we are not separate from the Universe but included in the whole universe, that the Universe is oneself. We are the Universe being able to experience itself. Imagine children and adults living from this perspective. How would we treat each other? How would we treat nature and all species? How would we live together? What do you think?
