Thoughts on (all that’s wrong with) Education

What if education was not about competition, right/wrong, succeed/fail?

What if it was about learning to communicate with self and others in a compassionate way?

What if the arts, sports, creativity and self-expression were valued as highly as maths, English and science?

What if, instead of spending years of their lives memorising and regurgitating facts, children were given the space and freedom to discover the joys of life?

What if they were trusted to find out for themselves the things that truly set their souls on fire?

Children already know how to learn.

They don’t need us to show them.

Babies are born into this world ready to accept whatever they discover.

Young children already know what adults have long forgotten…and spend much of their later years striving to rediscover.

Think about this…

If you want to learn how to be joyful, watch a baby chortling with laughter as you blow raspberries at them.

If you want to learn how to be mindful, observe a small child gazing in wonder at a butterfly.

If you want to learn how to dance, watch a toddler gleefully moving to the music on the car radio.

If you want to learn how to sing, listen to an infant babbling in his cot.

If you want to experience pure, unconditional love, watch as a baby gazes into her mother’s eyes.

We are not born self-conscious.

We are not born with self-doubt.

We are not born with anxiety or depression.

Neither are we born judgers.

Babies don’t worry about getting it right.

They don’t feel ashamed if they make a mistake.

And they don’t blame us when we slip-up.

We learn all those behaviours from the grown-ups around us.

Grown-ups who, long ago, were born into a system that meant they lost touch with their souls.