Only big hearts can shape the young minds

Margaret Mead wrote that “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” Even as I write that, I’m moved to ponder that maybe even the thinking element is too narrow a definition of what today’s world demands of our young, and our youth. Thinking is one of the very things that academics have difficulty forming definitions of. Is it the processing of ideas? Ideas are the result of thought processes, aren’t they? So, you can end up going around in circles with that one. The consistent thinking, today though, is that critical thinking, and the ability to consider and evaluate all factors of an impending decision, before taking action. Goethe said, “Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.” So, he encourages us to look at every situation, from every angle, because without looking there is a possibility we may not see a contributing, or consequential factor that should be considered. Great deeds have often been foiled by forgetting, usually in haste, “that one little thing.” Now, in considering where and when our young should be exposed to the value, and the essential nature of making good decisions. Why wait? We should be starting as soon as we can communicate effectively with them, in the home. We should insist upon it in pre-school environments. Then, when they go to school, right from the start, they need to be exposed to vibrant teaching and learning environments. They are young, devoid of academic learning structures, and critical thinking processes, but we can’t make the mistake of thinking they don’t know anything. I would be critical, not of pre-school caregivers, who I have observed globally to be innovative, active, and to foster enquiry and laughter, activity and discovery, and so much joy, as to develop relationships with other children easily, and to respond so well to their care-givers, who in many parts of the world today are actually education professionals. All of the efforts of pre-school care and nurturing, however, often come to naught in a school environment where far too many teachers of 6 - 10-year-olds appear to be on a mission to enforce discipline, control and classroom obedience, at the expense of any level of teaching and learning. Teachers want control of their classrooms and their students, fine, but do it by making them busy, reinforce the value of cooperative learning, and for goodness sake, make their days interesting and fun. The reality is that way too many teachers get kids who have been nurtured, stimulated and encouraged at home or in pre-schools, and are then isolated behind single desks, and discouraged from interaction, to keep them quiet. It’s simply not good enough. Whatever a teacher’s motivation for being in the classroom actually is, needs to be examined, as does their effectiveness, not at keeping control of the classroom, but in terms of stimulating learning. Nothing will demotivate learners more quickly than a reserved, or demotivated teacher, or even one that’s lacking confidence. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years that matter.” I don’t want my kid, or anyone else’s kid held back by a teacher who can’t adapt their classroom management, teaching methodologies, their levels of creativity, activity, empathy and fitness, to meet the needs of their students, rather than wringing the life out of their young years. Lorris Malaguzzi, founded the Reggio Emellia educational dynasty, and his most profound statement was, “The wider the range of possibilities we open to our children, the more intense will be their motivation, and the richer their experiences.” We need them to have that range of possibilities as the norm, rather than the exception. Ray Petersen