The heart of education

I love education. 

I love all it's facets - home-based, school-based, kindergarten, higher education, lifelong learning, teaching, lecturing, self-education...

But what I've found, as an educator and parent over the past almost 15 years, is that much of the structure, content and instructional techniques are based on scientific or educational research, or on institutional assumptions that quietly carry on from generation to generation.

Now there's nothing wrong, I believe, with basing decisions on rigorous research per se, but I question the dependence our education system has on this form of education.

For one, the findings of research can be misinterpreted, or at least become diluted by the powers who decide what to fund and how to implement change.

Secondly, despite the advances that educational research and theories point to, change within our system is slow - stuck in its own habits and assumptions much like we, as individuals, can be stuck in our habits and unable to move forward into freedom.

And thirdly, research is not the only way of 'knowing' upon which decisions can be based. Think about Edward de Bono and his thinking caps, the ideas about the multiple intelligences we have and how we, as individuals, make decisions based on our mental, spiritual, emotional and physical needs. We can feel a decision too, rather than think it.

And so what can we do? How can we move education forward into its own freedom? How can we free it from it's limiting assumptions?

It must come from each individual's heart.

What we can do must come from our hearts as well as our heads. It must be grounded - from the bottom up, as well as the top down. It must come from parents and classroom teachers and helpers - from those working directly with our precious new souls.

I propose a grass-roots movement - a heartswell that ripples out from each individual. For the power of change is within each of us - the shift toward our future resides within.

When we each make the commitment to be our best selves - to look within and embrace our vulnerability, to shift our personal perspectives into the future and to expand our comfort zones, then education within the institutions we are a part of will benefit and shift too.

It's up to us to embrace that inner work - alone and with others. 

Let these questions be your guide and perhaps a conversation starter with others.

Making a difference within means making a difference on the outside too.

1. How soon can you imagine stepping outside of your comfort zone in your life? What would you need to do to take that first step?

 2. Where are you feeling most vulnerable at the moment? Sit with yourself quietly and really feel those emotions - how can you now move forward into your future?

3. Where in your life can you step up and be a more open parent/teacher/educator/coach?

Let's shift that edge together.

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