I’ve been having some fun telling people I shared a speaking engagement with Steve Spangler over the weekend. Technically it is true, though Steve and I never actually met. He was the keynote speaker at an early childhood education conference where I taught one of the breakout sessions.
Steve rocked the opening. I will confess I felt a bit intimidated having to follow such a presenter along with his flaming wallet, smoke ring launcher, and loads and loads of laughs. But along with the demonstrations and laugh lines, there were some very serious points he made that stuck with me. I want to share one with you.
Maybe it’s a human being.
The first (and favorite) quote I jotted down from Steve came as he was talking about all the efforts made to improve education. He said we throw money at early ed, then we say -WAIT! No, put it over here!- and we move our attention to high school, but then -WAIT- technology! It’s technology where we need to focus, then no -WAIT – it’s this, that, no, the other thing. Then he said, maybe we can’t seem to settle on the solution because we need to realize, “It’s a human being.”
This was my AMEN moment. Could we stop talking about education and school like a science experiment or a factory conveyor belt, and start looking at students –at children– as human beings? Could we ask for more human development knowledge from our administrators and policy-makers? Could we stop focusing on the next, new education gimmick and start focusing on making real connections with real kids? Could we stop asking teachers to teach to the test and just let them teach to the kids?
I’m not suggesting we do away with educational research or stop looking for improved methods and tools. But I worry that sometimes the actual kids get lost in the avalanche of data and programs and bureaucracy. Now and then it might help to just step back and remember.
They’re human beings.
There are so many different answers because there are so many different learners. But the one way we can guarantee to engage them all, is to see them as humans, as individuals, and to connect with them. As was quoted in the book, Mind in the Making, “There is no development without relationships“.
If we hope to be successful as teachers in any capacity, we need to get past the disembodied mind approach and teach children. Whole, healthy children.
Amanda, what a lovely, lovely post. How lucky are you to have the opportunity to connect with Steve even if you didn’t meet. His work is great. I had no idea he was such a passionate advocate for whole child education. I couldn’t agree with him more. It is so easy to get wrapped up in this activity, that class and this craft let alone all the political and economical difficulties within public education. At the end of the day, no matter what, you have a child who has this intense natural desire to learn. So, let’s get together adults, put our devices down, forget about the “race to nowhere” and ignite that desire. Thank you, Amanda. Pinned and Shared… Marnie
Hi Amanda, I´ve dedicated my professional life in the pursue of this goal. Part of this experience became an e-book which I´d like to share with you: La Pedagogía del Amor.
It contains valuable, real life tested projects to guide children from 3 to 11 years old in the discovery of their unique humanness. It also includes photocopiable worksheets which can be used in any language. The text is in Spanish and you can download it for free or pay-what-you-can from here:
http://gum.co/pedagogiadelamor
Hoping to share a useful resource, with love,
Fernanda
I LOVE this . . . and I’m adding an “AMEN” as well. The element of human interactions is very much missing from this “debate”. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Amanda – A good friend in Indiana shared your post with me over the weekend. I’m so honored by your comments and so appreciative that you were at the Utah Association for the Education of Young Children (UAEYC) conference as a presenter. I’ve had the wonderful fortune to speak at most of the AEYC conferences throughout the country over the last 20 years, but this was my first time at UAEYC. Reading about your AMEN moment gave me the opportunity to reflect more on expanding my thoughts and ideas around the whole child approach and, hopefully, create an even stronger statement.
And next time we’re at the same conference… let’s find time to sit down and chat.
–Steve
Steve – You made my month! I’d be happy to sit and chat with you any time!
I find that there lots of educators who talk about teaching “whole” children and creating relationships but, when push comes to shove they don’t really know how to do it and just resort to the old methods to reach supposed educational goals. I graduated from a school called Bank Street college of Education yeeears ago and they are the leaders in teaching teachers how to teach “the whole child”. Its sad that I dont often see this type of education implemented.