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Newsletter #70
for your practical wisdom and inspiration Facing the Same Direction
Dear ,
I remember very clearly as a child feeling invisible in a
sea of grownups. It was an odd kind of anonymity. You could happily wander
around large gatherings like weddings or church and simply not be noticed!
Stranger still was the feeling that when a grown up did notice you they would
talk at you or through you or down to you, missing you completely. Until...
...Until there was someone who would suddenly come in to
focus. It was such a relief when it
would happen. In a sea of blurry faces and muffled conversation there would be
a person, a grown up, sometimes a complete stranger, crouching down next to you,
making eye contact, somehow understanding, connecting, talking WITH you, not at
you or over you. Everything else would
go quiet. For a few moments you were not alone, you were not invisible. It felt
safe, and strangely familiar.
It was the same at school. The grown ups who made a
difference were the ones who connected, made contact, saw me, talked with me,
not at me. They were the ones who
took the 'school' out of learning. Suddenly you were interested in something,
caught by something because the way they talked about it. They wouldn't ask you questions, not directly. They were
asking questions out loud - to life, to the universe! It was irresistible! You
couldn't help joining in!
It's really as simple as that. Have you noticed as a parent and/or teacher that the real learning magic happens when you're not facing the children, not confronting them with what you want them to learn or what you know, but when you are facing life and learning together with them? It's an attitude. It's a kind of empathy. It's human! To
come up next to the children you parent or teach and jump into the territory
with them! Be a student right alongside your students. It's the best
way to teach! Besides, soon enough they will work out that you are not an authority. Or at least they
should. If we are doing our jobs right as educators, they will soon realize
there are more unanswered questions than answered ones; that the human race is
barely a toddler in the great journey of discovery and learning.
More importantly, we want them to ask the un-asked
questions!
~PAZ ***** |
Resources
Explore
Arts Integrated Curriculum *for Early Childhood
*for Primary
Explore our music and thematic curriculum for songs, dances and lyrics.
Watch THTF Videos - short documentaries for your inspiration!
Explore our blog - a rich source of education insights and tips for workshops.
Quotes
" Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own." ~ Nikos Kazantzakis
"They may forget what you said but they will never
forget how you made them feel." - Carol Buchner "Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." --Josef Albers "The greatest sign of a success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." ~ Maria Montessori "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." ~William Butler Yeats "Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre." ~ Gail Goldwin "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." ~ Benjamin Franklin
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