Every human being is born with intense curiosity and an innate sense of wonder of the world. This inner drive, untampered with, is naturally potent and requisite fuel for learning to propel the human being to abundant knowledge and capability in the world.
A child holds a clear understanding inside himself of this truth - that he is born equipped to learn. He is a ready-made Seeker able to grow and adapt by simply being in awe of the world, following his curiousity, wonder and bliss.
Many of us have had our Inner Sense of ourselves obscured by the rigorous and narrowly-focused systems that are in place. We may be unclear about, or even blind to the immense learning power of our natural sense of wonder and curiosity.
When we continue to push the path of "blueprint" learning, we construct the same type of container around the child as was constructed around us. It is important to consider how much this system provides us in terms of positive evolution and societal change. Does learning about the world in this boxed, linear fashion serve humanity in terms of advancing us to a higher and better place?
When we buy-in to these learning systems, we often are looking at the child through a fear-tainted lens: as learning-incapable and illequipped, as empty and needing to be "filled". When approaching learning this way, we are staying active with the old belief system and bolstering it. We are playing an old record that keeps alive the mythical tune that we must systematically construct the same, archaic learning environment for our children. These beliefs are so powerful that they have a very strong hold on us -- we may feel overwhelmed by the powerful urges to transmit the same curricula and inculcate the same belief patterns to the next generation, perhaps to the point of engaging in major battles with our children over learning.
When we buy-in to these learning systems, we often are looking at the child through a fear-tainted lens: as learning-incapable and illequipped, as empty and needing to be "filled". When approaching learning this way, we are staying active with the old belief system and bolstering it. We are playing an old record that keeps alive the mythical tune that we must systematically construct the same, archaic learning environment for our children. These beliefs are so powerful that they have a very strong hold on us -- we may feel overwhelmed by the powerful urges to transmit the same curricula and inculcate the same belief patterns to the next generation, perhaps to the point of engaging in major battles with our children over learning.
Archetypal teaching practices limit our ability to self-direct, to make our own learning choices, and to learn by following our in-born passions. It places us in a box that separates us from the world and our deepest desires to explore, observe the world around us, and learn through meaningful mentorship with those who share our unique passions. It dissolves our sense of wonder and curiosity with the world and transfers the power to the teacher. It sends the child the message that his personal passions do not hold deep importance nor validity. It implies that those in positions of power are more capable of discerning which knowledge is "useful" to learn, and that the child must learn through this dictation of useful knowledge in order to be "successful" in the world. It tells the child that his individual sense of knowing about what, how and when to learn is null and void.
This erodes a child's ability to remain aware of what holds true for her and her personal life evolution. The child is directed away from her passions and told that she will be more "successful" if she follows the standard program like everyone else. In turn, this diminishes society's positive progress through the suppression of unique talents and gifts. It is replaced with human "machines" that are spit of out of the institutional system ready-made, devoid of an inner sense of passion in order to uphold the "economic system".
The resistance that can appear when we attempt to teach our children uninvited is a sign that the child is attuned to her True Nature as a free Being, whose deepest desire is to follow her passions. As we swoop in and attempt to take control of learning, we set off her inner alarm bells. She is acutely aware inside that a violation of her self-authority is taking place.
This erodes a child's ability to remain aware of what holds true for her and her personal life evolution. The child is directed away from her passions and told that she will be more "successful" if she follows the standard program like everyone else. In turn, this diminishes society's positive progress through the suppression of unique talents and gifts. It is replaced with human "machines" that are spit of out of the institutional system ready-made, devoid of an inner sense of passion in order to uphold the "economic system".
The resistance that can appear when we attempt to teach our children uninvited is a sign that the child is attuned to her True Nature as a free Being, whose deepest desire is to follow her passions. As we swoop in and attempt to take control of learning, we set off her inner alarm bells. She is acutely aware inside that a violation of her self-authority is taking place.
When we awaken to the knowing that, naturally, we are impressively made creatures, capable of designing our own learning path, we can open the door to new ways of learning and living. We may come to a place of realizing that the old patterns and beliefs do not serve the conscious evolution of Humanity as it is based in fear, control and disempowerment. We can move into a place of re-activating the alive, curious, wondrous part of ourselves and seek new ways of learning alongside our children. We can trust that our child is moving towards Optimal Rightness. By tuning-in to his learning passions, focuses, shifts and process, we can provide Optimal Support though love, strewing, learning alongside him, adequate space, modeling and mentorship.
I used to think that teaching my own child was Mission Impossible until one day I woke up and realized that if I helped her to learn about things she was interested in, the resistance faded away.
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