Changing Education Paradigms
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I was visiting Montessori Matters a couple days ago, where Pilar had posted this amazing video animation to Sir Ken Robinson’s talk on changing education paradigms:
Not only is the animation worth watching (so cool), but the message is extremely important.
Here are a few highlights from the video, if you don’t have 12 minutes (though I really recommend you watch it – more than once – to get the full meaning. It’s worth your time, really.)
On education reform:
“Every country on earth is reforming education…
….the problem is they’re trying to meet the future by doing what they did in the past and on the way they’re alienating millions of kids who don’t see any purpose in going to school… and they’re right (kids not thinking there’s a purpose to going to school) particularly not if the route to it (going to school, getting a college degree) marginalizes most of the things you think are important about yourself…”
On outdated education models:
“…This is deep in the gene pool of public education that there are really two types of people: academic & non academic, smart people & non- smart people and the consequence of that is that many brilliant people think they’re not because they’ve been judged against this particular view of the mind…”
…this model has caused chaos in many people’s lives. Most people have not. Instead they suffer…
On school being boring instead of exciting:
“An aesthetic experience is one in which your senses are operating at their peak… when you’re present in the current moment… when you’re resonating with the excitement of this thing that you’re experiencing when you’re fully alive….
An anesthetic is when you shut your senses off… we’re getting our children through education by anesthetizing them. And I think we should be doing the exact opposite, we should be waking them up to what they have inside of themselves….”
On school being like a factory:
“…The system of education is modeled on the interests of industrialism & the in the image of it. Schools are still pretty much organized on factory lines: ringing bells, separate facilities, specialized subjects...still educate children by batches. We put them through the system by age group. Why do we do that? Why is there this assumption that the most important thing kids have in common is how old they are? The most import thing about them is their date of manufacture?
I know kids who are much better than other kids at the same age in different disciplines. Or at different times of the day. Or better in smaller groups than in large groups or sometimes they want to be on their own.
If you’re interested in learning you don’t start from this production line mentality.... essentially about conformity and increasingly about that as you look at the growth of standardized testing and standardized curricula. It's about standardization, I believe we have to go in the exact opposite direction….”
On humans’ capacity for learning and thinking:
“… we all have a capacity (for divergent thinking)… [but] it mostly deterioriates…. [after kids] spend 10 years in school being told there’s ONE answer, its at the back, and don’t look, and don’t copy. Because that’s cheating… outside of school that’s called collaboration, but inside schools [it’s cheating].
We have to think differently about human capacity…. We have to get over old conception of academic vs. non-academic and see it for what it is: a myth.
You have to recognize that most great learning happens in groups. Collaboration is the stuff of growth….”
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There is so much good information in this video, so much to think about; and much of it true to what I’ve experienced and believe about education.
I believe that children can learn to LOVE learning, if they are given the opportunity to do so in a free, open, self-directed environment. This may be a Montessori school, a homeschool, an unschooling environment, maybe even a public school (though this has not been my experience; if it has been yours, please share!). When children are able to be themselves, to follow what they are naturally interested in and not to not have to worry about homework, tests, or grades, they find that learning, just for the sake of learning – because we know our brains are capable of SO much, not just what a state or country determines we should be learning at a specific period of time in our life – is amazing and awesome!
When you get away from the idea that there is only one right answer, and are praised for “thinking outside the box”, children have the ability to come up with the MANY right answers that are out there. I believe it is so important to foster independent thinkers who are taught how to use their minds, how to think through things – instead of specifically WHAT and HOW to think – because those children will become the adults that will direct change in this world.
Hope you enjoyed the video!
Montessori Inspired Organization at Home
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We love the Montessori method, and while we don’t use Montessori materials in our home, I have strived, since they’ve been enrolled in school, to structure our house in a more Montessori-friendly fashion. Both to ease the transition between home & school – AND because I believe that good organization of your environment leads to good organization of your mind!
Below, I’ve taken several before & after photos of the last few months of rearrangement/organization in our livingspace to help my children do their work (play) in an organized way. The most important things for me were that they know where things belong (so they know where to get whatever toy or craft or game they want and where put them away) AND that they’re able to get their materials & complete the tasks they want to complete as independently as possible.
Enjoy! Note: these photos were taken over a few month time span, so you may see similar items in different locations – i.e. the globe! We’re always working towards the BEST arrangement! :)
First, our entry way before (left) and after (right):
Their coats were previously hung on adult-height hooks, so they couldn’t hang them themselves. Shoes were just in a line, and helmets, mittens, etc. were in a basket – so it wasn’t obvious where to put things, and stacks of shoes/gloves, etc. often developed. I installed a rack w/hooks & baskets at their height. Baskets are used for mittens & hats. And the shoe shelf was built for shoes & helmets.
Next, our toy/game area before (top left & right) and after (below):
Previous to the renovation, games were stacked and piled in bins and on the shelf – things that were under other things weren’t often played with – and how to get items back on the shelf, or to which shelf things belonged was not easy to figure out. I ended up putting things away/straightening a lot in the evening. Afterwards, I strived for a more Montessori-esque one item per shelf (NO STACKING!) and clear & accessible places to put items. In one photo below, you’ll see the rolled up “work mats” – and then at the bottom, the children using them while doing their work!
I’m also including a few spaces where I didn’t take before photos – just wanted to share with you! I picked a few of our house plants to arrange in a child-accessible plant area with spray bottle & watering can (which can be filled at the fridge by them). The reading area has a child-sized couch & natural light by the window. And finally, the craft area with a distinct drawer or container for each material gives the children the opportunity to be more creative when they can find just what they’re looking for!
Kel’s Journey into the Green, the Natural, the Organic, the… well, you get the point.
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When talking about my childhood, I have always (somewhat proudly, I’ll admit) said my mother never let us eat junk food. Perhaps more truthfully, what I really mean is that we weren’t allowed to have Kool Aid or Froot Loops (to the detriment of many a juvenescent friendship: yes, in the 70’s/80’s that made me just, plain, weird.). And, instead of Fla-vor-ice, we had homemade orange juice Tupperware popsicles (more weird). However, I clearly remember we had tins of Charles Chips delivered to our house on a regular schedule. So, never say “never” to junk food, I guess. But my mom DID teach us to read food labels. And as such, we learned that “artificial colors” and “artificial flavors” were to be avoided at all costs. “All natural” was the way to be.
Around age 15, I decided, rather abruptly, at a family picnic in fact, to become a vegetarian. As in, “What do you want on your hot dog, Kel?" "Hot dog?! I don't eat hot dogs, that’s disgusting!” (Oh the grace of a teenager). Of course, back then, (late 80’s/early 90’s), the only vegetarian “meat-replacement” item out there was tofu dogs. One brand: Utterly Nasty, I believe they were called. So my vegetarianism, for many years, equaled cheese fries and grilled cheese. I didn’t actually learn that cheese wasn’t a valid substitute for all things flesh until several years later into my herbivore travels. My mother was constantly concerned that I wasn’t “getting enough protein”, and in her defense, the conventional wisdom of the time was the vague notion of protein combining which stated that you had to combine several sources of “incomplete proteins” at each & every meal, meal in order to achieve nutrition perfection. Needless to say, back then, I lived under the constant hazy apprehension that I would keel over one day from LACK OF COMPLETE PROTEIN. I am, as a side note, for those concerned, still thriving nineteen years later, sans “complete protein”.
Shortly after the vegetarianism decision, I met my (then meat-eating, now nearly vegan) husband, Adam. We have since continued on this journey towards all things more natural together, and when I refer to I as we on this adventure, from here on out you’ll know who I mean. :)
We took a big step towards “all natural” when my daughter was conceived. Suddenly, scanning food labels for the dreaded ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS/COLORS became less of a habit and more of an obsession. I started questioning OTHER ingredients, like, say for instance, glycerol ester of wood rosin (yes, this is an actual ingredient) in our drinks or BHT in our food.
And I started looking at other labels too, not just at what we ingested, but at the potentially damaging ingredients in what we put on our skin (and how all of these things might potentially affect the growing baby inside of me!). We began the slow but satisfying process of getting rid of the items we were used to using every day like antibacterial soaps or saccharine-laden toothpaste, and replacing them with more natural substitutes.
About 6 months after our daughter was born, once she started tasting things other than breast milk, we realized that she had some food sensitivities. We had inklings of this from just a few weeks old – angry patches of eczema on her otherwise perfect baby skin, and stubborn cradle cap that wouldn’t go away (for years), and colic. When she was around 10 months old, she went back to all breast milk, and I went on an elimination diet (a la Dr. Sears – pediatrician extraordinaire) and switched all baby products to California Baby, and the eczema, and colic, drastically improved.
That experience, in fact the whole of our last nearly 5 years of parenthood (an amazing journey in itself) has introduced us to some truly scary things, such as the presence of synthetic hormones in dairy (rBGH), the controversy surrounding soy milk & hormone disruption (in light of that info, we ditched soymilk altogether, and switched to organic grass-fed milk), the presence of phthalate, lead, and BPA in toys and food/drink containers, and the prevalence of indoor air pollution (in light of those frightening revelations, we've been working on choosing safer plastics, using zero-voc paint to paint the kids' room, and choosing only toxin-free cleaning products). But it's brought to light some awesome things as well, such as the amazing abilities of probiotics and herbs/essential oils in healing & cleaning!
I certainly don’t admit to anywhere near perfection on this journey toward "greeness". We’ve used disposable diapers, drink bottled water, eat an occasional Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, and still reach for a paper towel over a cloth dish towel. But at least the dish towel is hanging there, and my kids know to reach for that first. I consider this a journey; one which we've definitely not yet reached the destination.
Join me on my travels as I blog about what I’ve learned so far & continue to learn about natural living, vegetarian & healthy eating, and greenifying our lives overall... with a little attachment parenting, breastfeeding, Montessori schooling, perennial gardening, serious puzzling, music, art, & literature thrown in. Namaste!