Most of our educational systems don’t fulfil the aims they have set themselves anymore. When working in schools and in conversations with parents, teachers, and children I hear sentences like: “school didn’t prepare me for life”, “I cannot do what I really want to do and what I am good at”, “school is hindering me in becoming who I truly am”, “school is boring”, “school is just a pain”. Most people involved in the educational field (educators, students, parents, administrators) are simply unhappy! So why do we hold on to a system that doesn’t seem to be efficient anymore? The answer I get a lot is: “What else should we do?” It is the fear of the unknown that stops us from moving.
However, unhappy frustrated educators leave schools and look for “something else”. An increasingly high number of educators suffer from depression and retire early or quit their jobs altogether. Unhappy frustrated children develop symptoms like dyslexia, autism, hyperactivity, depression, addictions, violent behaviour, to show us that we need to look for “something else”. It is time for something new to evolve.
In order to create this “something” we need to think and step outside of the box we have created in the past. We need to let go of pre-concepts and ideas of already established educational systems we have been clinging to for the last centuries. Instead we need to listen to the melody each being brings when born into the physical life. We need to support our children to stay aware of this inner song so that they can follow it and integrate it into their life. This song is an important lifeline for their journey on planet Earth. Instead of concentrating on just a tiny little piece of the picture, expressed in words and numbers and scientific analysis, we need to expand our consciousness and to allow our children to keep their sense for the bigger whole – because they usually are “there” already, it is us adults who need to expand and un-learn things we were/are rewarded for in the existing systems.
Thinkers like Montessori, Lange, Steiner, Hecht, Juul, Lazlo, and many more can inspire and serve us as a knowledge pool to provide some ideas to play with – we don’t have to invent the wheel. There are also many inspirational examples of how learning can happen naturally and efficiently and wholesomely in indigenous cultures (shamanism, learning through stories, practical learning, etc.). However, the centre is the individual song and melody line. The aim of Ako-a-Rongo as I understand it is to support each being in listening to their own songline, to be able to perceive and listen to the songlines of others, and to master the skill of how to sing their songlines together harmoniously in an orchestral concert. Each instrument brings in its own qualities and vibration, each melody line is important and makes up the beauty of the sound of the whole orchestra. If one plays to loud it affects the sound of the whole, if one plays to soft, it isn’t heard and therefore the whole misses one colour that would have added to the beauty. In order to play in harmony, we need to tune in, to listen, to keep our rhythm, to blend in, to solo – and to know when it’s the appropriate time for what.
It takes constant reminders to step out of the box of pre-thoughts and pre-concepts (even those that we consider positive) in order to be fully present with what there IS. Our babies/children can be our teachers on this journey – if we are prepared to open up, to trust and to follow their hearts. Then they will lead the way!
holisticlearning.weebly.com
However, unhappy frustrated educators leave schools and look for “something else”. An increasingly high number of educators suffer from depression and retire early or quit their jobs altogether. Unhappy frustrated children develop symptoms like dyslexia, autism, hyperactivity, depression, addictions, violent behaviour, to show us that we need to look for “something else”. It is time for something new to evolve.
In order to create this “something” we need to think and step outside of the box we have created in the past. We need to let go of pre-concepts and ideas of already established educational systems we have been clinging to for the last centuries. Instead we need to listen to the melody each being brings when born into the physical life. We need to support our children to stay aware of this inner song so that they can follow it and integrate it into their life. This song is an important lifeline for their journey on planet Earth. Instead of concentrating on just a tiny little piece of the picture, expressed in words and numbers and scientific analysis, we need to expand our consciousness and to allow our children to keep their sense for the bigger whole – because they usually are “there” already, it is us adults who need to expand and un-learn things we were/are rewarded for in the existing systems.
Thinkers like Montessori, Lange, Steiner, Hecht, Juul, Lazlo, and many more can inspire and serve us as a knowledge pool to provide some ideas to play with – we don’t have to invent the wheel. There are also many inspirational examples of how learning can happen naturally and efficiently and wholesomely in indigenous cultures (shamanism, learning through stories, practical learning, etc.). However, the centre is the individual song and melody line. The aim of Ako-a-Rongo as I understand it is to support each being in listening to their own songline, to be able to perceive and listen to the songlines of others, and to master the skill of how to sing their songlines together harmoniously in an orchestral concert. Each instrument brings in its own qualities and vibration, each melody line is important and makes up the beauty of the sound of the whole orchestra. If one plays to loud it affects the sound of the whole, if one plays to soft, it isn’t heard and therefore the whole misses one colour that would have added to the beauty. In order to play in harmony, we need to tune in, to listen, to keep our rhythm, to blend in, to solo – and to know when it’s the appropriate time for what.
It takes constant reminders to step out of the box of pre-thoughts and pre-concepts (even those that we consider positive) in order to be fully present with what there IS. Our babies/children can be our teachers on this journey – if we are prepared to open up, to trust and to follow their hearts. Then they will lead the way!
holisticlearning.weebly.com
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