Most scientists would agree that the most complex structure in the Universe is the human brain and we are only now beginning to glimpse its potential. We still have no idea what the billions of neurons, and trillions of neuronal connections, which comprise the brain, are capable of. Yet the only organizations devoted to the purpose of maximizing human potential are our school systems whose narrow focus is to prepare children to enter the work force, gain economic security and accumulate wealth.
The system as it is, sorts children by their potential to develop in those limited areas required for success in the “real world”. Abilities or skills not seen as having any “practical” value are left dormant. Students with strong reading, writing and math skills are rewarded and encouraged while we trample the self esteem of children who have strengths in other areas.
Teacher training is also focused around teaching reading, writing, mathematics and science. The notion that a schoolteacher is expected to unleash human potential is considered absurd.
It is a basic inversion of means and ends that has led to this horrible situation where human resources feed the economy. We have forgotten that jobs, work, the entire economic superstructure exists to serve every day people. The purpose of work is not to earn a living, our forefathers did that quite easily thousands of years ago, it was called “Hunting and Gathering”. The purpose of having a job, going to work must be to serve in a context within which human beings fulfill their immense potential, enrich their lives and the lives of others and find their purpose.
It is only in this context that a teacher can encourage talents that have no practical application. When Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of Apple computers, developer of the first personal computer, the IPod, the first animated movie studio Pixar, the first animated movie Toy Story, sat in a college course in Calligraphy, it had absolutely no practical purpose in his life. However, it did change all of ours. The reason computers today have multiple type fonts is because of that one course Steve Jobs took and years later built into the first Macintosh computer.
The purpose of this article is not to advocate an outward revolution in school structure or curriculum, this certainly needs to happen at one level, to broaden the context and stop labeling children. Rather we are advocating an inward revolution in “why” we teach the curriculum in the first place. The curriculum is the means to enable growth in children, and children are not a means to spread the curriculum.
Instead of having schools where we slot children into boxes, we must create little islands of Care where each child is allowed to learn about himself, to start on a road where he will eventually come to know what really interests him, and to have the confidence and courage to follow his path. Then we can have a world full of creative people, and maybe one of those people will come to understand what the “extra” few billion neurons in our brains were intended for.
Tags: Add new tag, Care & Growth, Education, Schuitema, Shahpur Jamall
