Children Are People

The Agile Learning Centers’ website (www.agilelearningcenters.org) contains two short sentences describing their philosophy on self-direction:

People learn best by making their own decisions. Children are people.

The first sentence is easy to understand when applied to adults. We practice basic respect for other people’s choice of work, lifestyle, religion, recreation and so on. We give advice and suggestions to some friends and relatives but we do not force these on them. They are adults after all, capable of making their own life choices.

The second sentence seems obvious at first, but let’s go deeper. Do we really look at children as people? Or maybe more like half-people, or in-the-process-of-becoming-people? Because we force them into this long process called school. Of course, with the best motives and intentions — for their brighter future and so on. 

But do we ever ask children if they want to learn whatever it is they are told to learn in school? And if we do, do we respect that decision? Do we let them draw or play when they want? Or do we tell them to stop and listen to the teacher?

If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that the entire school system is really about the adult agenda — not that there’s anything wrong with the motive; as I mentioned, we have the best intentions.

However, the effect is that we have produced many young adults who finish school but don’t know who they are and don’t know where they are going. This mainly happened because we have failed to let children make their own decisions and instead made the decisions for them. Look at the typical school — the whole day is basically planned out for them. They are given schedules where they don’t have a choice but to follow. 8AM is Math. 9AM is English. Then you have recess, then Science, and so on and so forth. Most schools here require uniforms so even what they wear is not up to them. Even their haircuts and hairstyle are regulated.

At home, children cannot escape school as it piles homework and projects on them — all entirely against their will. Ask any child if they would rather do homework or go play. You know the answer even before you ask, because you were once that child.

And then we wonder why we have so many adults whose professions don’t match their college degrees. We criticize them for being directionless, with no initiative, and not being able to make good decisions.

How can we expect them to, when we have been making decisions for them their entire lives?

Children are people. Let them make decisions for themselves, learn from their experiences, and they will grow to be better adults.

Also published in Sunstar Davao.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.

Why Education Has Failed (Part 3)

Have you ever seen trees bent into unnatural shapes for the sake of art? If you haven’t, go google “tree shaping” to see what I mean. These are trees whose trunks or stems have been bent and shaped while they were growing in order to form something artistic, funny, or even functional when they have fully grown and hardened.

There’s a tree that has been formed into a sort of rocking chair. There are two trees whose trunks are intertwined to form a square knot, and so on. Or just consider the art of pruning bushes, cutting away excess stems and leaves to form different shapes, from simple ones like spheres or cones to more complex animal shapes. 

The beauty of the outcome largely depends on the expertise of the gardener.

We tend to think of education in a similar manner. In fact, think of the words we use to describe education — molding, shaping, guiding — they are quite similar to what the gardener does to these plants while they are young and supple.

Yet, has anyone thought to ask the plants what they want? Would that bush rather be scraggly than clean cut into a nice round shape? Would that tree rather have a straight trunk than be bent into a knot? We don’t know. They are plants after all.

But look what we do with our kids. We send them to school, to be “shaped” and “molded” — into what may I ask? If you look (and really take a long hard look) at the curriculum they are made to go through, you would think we are trying to produce little Googles that can spit out memorized trivia. You would think we are trying to produce the next winner for “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

Has anyone ever thought to ask the kids what they want — and to take their answers seriously? They are not plants after all. They are humans, like us adults, with their own desires, their own will, their own choices. Or do we just shush them and tell them to go study their square roots and cube roots because it’s good for them?

The educational system is an adult agenda. We bring in teams of expert teachers much like a master landscaper brings in a team of expert gardeners to shape the garden as he wills.

That is why education has failed, because before we can truly “educate” a child, our agenda has to go, and we have to wholeheartedly support theirs as they strive to educate themselves.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.

Why Education Has Failed (Part 2)

The child, so full of natural curiosity and with seemingly boundless energy, is now made to go to school, to be “educated.” It’s funny how we use that word — as if the child was not getting an education before they went to school.

Think about it. Even before going to school, your child has figured out how to crawl, stand, walk, run and climb. They have learned how to form syllables, words and sentences, and have mastered the art of asking “Why?” 

Have you ever known the difficulty of learning another language? When adults learn, they already have a native language to serve as a reference — thus “why?” in English is “pourquoi?” in French — and still it takes us a long time to learn. Yet, children seem to easily pick up a language even without any prior reference, and can even learn 2 or 3 before they are five. 

And we think they have to go to school to be “educated?”

What really happens in school? In plain and simple language, here is what happens: The child’s natural curiosity and interest is curbed in favor of the adult’s agenda. You now have some adults saying, “this is what kids ought to be doing” and if your child happens to be doing something else (like drawing, or skateboarding, or climbing trees), they are told to put those aside because it’s now time to learn their ABC’s or some other things that the adult has decided is “more important.”

In this day and age, much importance is given to academics. Yes, people have made a lot of noise about multiple intelligences, and being well-rounded, and so on but look at the actual weight still placed on academics — on math, science and language — and you’ll understand that all that noise is just what it is — noise.

Just a few decades ago, adults openly coerced or forced children into their agenda. “Sit still or you get put into the corner with a dunce cap on, or get your hand or butt slapped with a stick.“ 

When I was in high school, we had punishments called a “jog” and a “post.” A “jog” was a minor punishment where you had to write a sentence x number of times on a piece of paper while a “post” was a heavier punishment that meant suspension and cleaning the toilets.

I learned much later that in the “good old days” a “jog” literally meant that the student had to run around for x minutes, and that a “post” meant tying the student to a post to bask in the heat of the sun. (I don’t know how accurate this is, maybe someone my senior can verify this).

Today, adults have learned that coercion rarely works in the long term and use methods of enticement and seduction instead. Children are put in a classroom and made to feel like they are in control. Teachers are trained to engage the students in whatever interests them at the moment, but then to slowly steer the conversation towards a more academic context.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.

Why Education Has Failed (Part 1)

I used to think that a good educator was someone who had undergone a lot of training, who had a massive arsenal of teaching tools and methods that can be utilized to bring to life the most boring lessons and the most bored students. 

In the many years that I was a teacher, I spent countless hours on self-improvement. I joined Toastmasters to improve my public speaking skills. I attended talks by good speakers to study their techniques. I would even record lectures and practice delivering jokes and amusing anecdotes.

I envied a colleague, at that time, who was a chemistry teacher. On the first day of class, she would mix two chemicals and produce a small explosion, guaranteed to turn the head of even the most disinterested teenager in this startling display of fire and smoke. But I taught English Literature, so instead of fireworks, I had a little comedy routine injected into my orientation of the class rules and objectives. That usually brought chuckles all around.

When we were taught how to make lesson plans, the lecturer wanted us to account for every minute that we were in the classroom. We were not to waste a single minute on “free time” — we had to make sure that there were various activities to fill in even the smallest gaps of time so that the students would “always be learning.”

They, and I, could not have been more wrong.

Our current model of education sees children as empty vessels waiting to be filled with the “knowledge” that educators have, or as aimless little creatures needing an educator to guide them and show them the way.

That is why education today focuses so much on the educator, because the belief is that the educator holds the key for learning. The more that an educator can do — the more techniques, the more lessons, the more strategies — the better he or she is as an educator.

This is why education is failing — our model is wrong.

Children are not empty vessels nor aimless brats. They come into being with boundless energy, unabashed curiosity, and a seemingly limitless amount of persistence all dedicated to one thing — to understand themselves and the world around them. That is why they like to touch everything, to smell things, to put things in their mouths. That is why their eyes grow wide when they see a new creature, a lizard or a frog. That is why their ears perk up when they hear a strange sound, perhaps a doorbell or a trumpet or a piano.

As they grow older, they continue in this quest. They learn how to talk. Some learn how to read. They learn to converse and interact with other people. They play games. They run around. Their bodies get stronger and they have better control over their limbs and fine muscles in their fingers. They ask endless questions and like to try out new things.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.

Identity and Purpose

The most empowering feeling a person can have is when they have found their purpose and identity. “Know thyself,” cried the ancient philosophers and this rings as true today as it did a thousand years ago. To the person who has found purpose, waking up is an experience of joyful expectation instead of tired drudgery. Conversations are engaged and meaningful instead of mindless chatter. Actions are purposeful and reflective instead of routine and robotic.

It stands to reason then, that the younger one finds one’s purpose, the better it is for that person as it would mean more years of meaningful living instead of just passive existence.

Yet the sad reality in our modern society is that we force our children into the institution of school where they spend more than a decade of their lives. School is hardly a place for self-discovery, but of repression and conformity. Students are expected to wear uniforms, follow prescribed haircuts, do their homework, copy their notes, and pass tests. Every hour has been neatly scheduled for them including breaks and meal times. Lessons and tests have been meticulously planned by their teachers, principals, superintendents and experts — everyone except the students themselves who have no say at all whether they find their lessons interesting or even relevant to their lives. We teach them to march to the beat of our drums instead of helping them find their own beats, their own rhythms.

What, after all is a high grade? What is a 95 or 99 or even 100? More often that high grade is awarded to a student who conforms best to what the teacher wants, who expresses ideas that the teacher wants or expects to hear.

This is not the fault of any one teacher nor any one principal. In truth most teachers and principals have high ideals and noble visions, yet they are constrained by the system, whether they realize it or not. But there is little they can do. A single worker or even a few of them in a bottle-producing factory has very little power to change the factory’s output. They may be able to change the shape or color of the bottle, but the output will still be bottles. They cannot make the bottle factory suddenly produce cars, no matter how good or noble their intentions are.

The education system is one big, complicated mess of machinery. Throw in the bureaucracy and politics of government and it becomes an even bigger mess — the proverbial Gordian knot of education. There is no fixing it. No untangling can be done. One cannot work in the system and expect to make a difference, not even a dent or a scratch.

The only way through the knot is to cut it, not to reform, but to replace it altogether. Our educational system has been built on a philosophical foundation that is either wrong or outdated. It is time to build from the ground up with the correct principles that prioritize the learner’s self-discovery and self-direction over the agenda of those in power.

We owe our children this much.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.