"Human Beings Can Easily Detect Sincerity."
"Human Beings Quickly Sense When Someone Is Sincere In Their Desire To Teach Them."
"When Human Beings Sense That Someone Does Not Have A Sincere Desire To Teach Them, All Things Taught By The Insincere One, Are Quickly Disregarded And Forgotten."
"This Is A Product Of Sensing Acceptance. When One Does Not Feel Accepted , One Does Not Absorb Openly , Or Freely. One Is Closed. One Cannot Grow."
Friday, December 23, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Parent Question : Is My Child Having Experiences Which Are Giving Them Confidence?
"Self-Confidence Is The Coin With Which You Can Buy The Experiences You Want In Life." - David Julio Wang
Parents should constantly be asking themselves if the experiences their child is having are increasing their self-confidence.
Experiences which challenge.
Experiences which tap potential.
Experiences which inspire.
Experiences which broaden horizons.
And...to put it bluntly, the current school system of worthless "wrote-learning" does NOT cultivate confidence.
It merely creates drones who have been taught to sit still, obey authority, and follow orders.
An inflexible system will create brittle people.
Parents should constantly be asking themselves if the experiences their child is having are increasing their self-confidence.
Experiences which challenge.
Experiences which tap potential.
Experiences which inspire.
Experiences which broaden horizons.
And...to put it bluntly, the current school system of worthless "wrote-learning" does NOT cultivate confidence.
It merely creates drones who have been taught to sit still, obey authority, and follow orders.
An inflexible system will create brittle people.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Kids Are Told Their Success Is Vitally Important To The World
Currently the message is,
"Life is a vicious competition where the strongest take nearly everything and leave the carcass for the weak to fight over."
What the message in school needs to become is,
"Every single one of you has immesurable potential which our world needs."
"Every one of you sees some detail, hears some note, experinces some sensation, which is a key element to building a healthy world."
"Life is a vicious competition where the strongest take nearly everything and leave the carcass for the weak to fight over."
What the message in school needs to become is,
"Every single one of you has immesurable potential which our world needs."
"Every one of you sees some detail, hears some note, experinces some sensation, which is a key element to building a healthy world."
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The Fundamental Questions Which Drive The Entire Education Process Must Be
"The FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS Which Drive The Entire Education Process Must Be :
Are The Students Making A Connection To The Material?
Do The Students Feel A Bond With The Knowledge Being Taught?
Does The Student Find The Knowledge Important To Them, Have They Internalized It?"
Wrote memorization is not learning.
Learning means the knowledge has become a part of the person, they have bonded with it, it is a part of them.
If they do not FEEL IT,
if they do not feel A CONNECTION to the material,
it is all just so much background noise,
just more hoops assembly line minded adults force children to jump through.
====
The Velja Approach aspires to more than that.
Are The Students Making A Connection To The Material?
Do The Students Feel A Bond With The Knowledge Being Taught?
Does The Student Find The Knowledge Important To Them, Have They Internalized It?"
Wrote memorization is not learning.
Learning means the knowledge has become a part of the person, they have bonded with it, it is a part of them.
If they do not FEEL IT,
if they do not feel A CONNECTION to the material,
it is all just so much background noise,
just more hoops assembly line minded adults force children to jump through.
====
The Velja Approach aspires to more than that.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The Group : Collective Inter-Relational Teaching
Human Beings Are Inherently Social Creatures
Human beings need the comfort of the group.
Isolated and alone, human beings are edgy and uncomfortable.
The Group Atmosphere Of Learning
One person cannot see all avenues and possibilities.
In the group, the combined intellectual capacity provides many more resources for each other to draw upon.
The Velja Approach To The Group
Students are told that they will derive a great deal more from their learning if they work together as a group.
No obligation.
No imposition of course.
It is a suggestion based on experience given by the adults.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
Students are told that if they are stuck on something,
that if they want to learn more quickly,
absorb more information,
be exposed to ideas they might not have thought up on their own,
the group would provide that which they seek.
Parents
Parents are told that they should encourage their children's social life.
That having parties, going on social outings, trips, vacations with other children,
will stimulate their child's cooperative learning processes.
in fact...the Parent socializing more themselves, will stimulate their own learning processes,
perhaps even stimulate a desire to learn again (which is so often effectively neutralized in the current school system).
It's All About Choice. It's All About Knowing That The Adults, That The Society Around You Wants Nothing More Than You To Learn And Grow And Be Happy.
Children Can Become Nothing But Infinite In Such An Environment.
Human beings need the comfort of the group.
Isolated and alone, human beings are edgy and uncomfortable.
The Group Atmosphere Of Learning
One person cannot see all avenues and possibilities.
In the group, the combined intellectual capacity provides many more resources for each other to draw upon.
The Velja Approach To The Group
Students are told that they will derive a great deal more from their learning if they work together as a group.
No obligation.
No imposition of course.
It is a suggestion based on experience given by the adults.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
Students are told that if they are stuck on something,
that if they want to learn more quickly,
absorb more information,
be exposed to ideas they might not have thought up on their own,
the group would provide that which they seek.
Parents
Parents are told that they should encourage their children's social life.
That having parties, going on social outings, trips, vacations with other children,
will stimulate their child's cooperative learning processes.
in fact...the Parent socializing more themselves, will stimulate their own learning processes,
perhaps even stimulate a desire to learn again (which is so often effectively neutralized in the current school system).
It's All About Choice. It's All About Knowing That The Adults, That The Society Around You Wants Nothing More Than You To Learn And Grow And Be Happy.
Children Can Become Nothing But Infinite In Such An Environment.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Create Your Own Words : The Unique Human Joy of Language
The Velja Approach to Schooling would encourage children to create their own words for describing their unique experience of life.
Words give shape and form to existence.
They are a unique human tool that should be adapted to the individual human.
Students would be encouraged to study Latin and Greek and the Etymologies of words in order to fabricate their own based upon established models.
The process of creating language, of giving aspects of experience labels that could be shared and create a communion of understanding with others, must have been one of the great joys of our ancestors.
The Velja Approach would give that joy to every generation of children which pass through the school.
Words give shape and form to existence.
They are a unique human tool that should be adapted to the individual human.
Students would be encouraged to study Latin and Greek and the Etymologies of words in order to fabricate their own based upon established models.
The process of creating language, of giving aspects of experience labels that could be shared and create a communion of understanding with others, must have been one of the great joys of our ancestors.
The Velja Approach would give that joy to every generation of children which pass through the school.
Thought Experiments
The Velja Approach to Schooling would encourage children to engage in "Thought Experiments".
Einstein engaged in such experiments when he was conceiving of his ideas in Physics, such as imagining a police officer chasing a beam of light and where the officer would find himself in relation to the beam of light.
----
The mind is humanity's unique resource among the species of planet Earth.
It's heartfelt cultivation is our greatest fulfillment.
----
Another kind of Thought Experiment would be mental role play.
"Imagine you are a child in Ancient Rome. We are going to dim the lights, and now take your mind back to that time long ago, and be a child then."
The exercise would last as long as the child found it interesting, and then the experience would be talked about the next day.
It is imperative that the child be allowed to take all the time THEY desire to dedicate to the exercise, whether that be minutes or the entirety of the day.
Limited Time creates Limited People.
Einstein engaged in such experiments when he was conceiving of his ideas in Physics, such as imagining a police officer chasing a beam of light and where the officer would find himself in relation to the beam of light.
----
The mind is humanity's unique resource among the species of planet Earth.
It's heartfelt cultivation is our greatest fulfillment.
----
Another kind of Thought Experiment would be mental role play.
"Imagine you are a child in Ancient Rome. We are going to dim the lights, and now take your mind back to that time long ago, and be a child then."
The exercise would last as long as the child found it interesting, and then the experience would be talked about the next day.
It is imperative that the child be allowed to take all the time THEY desire to dedicate to the exercise, whether that be minutes or the entirety of the day.
Limited Time creates Limited People.
"You Forced Children To Do What They Were Not Interested In?"
"And did not see the purpose of?"
"wow...that was stupid."
As we slap our foreheads incredulously at the things our ancestors did, so too will our descendants when they reflect upon the approach our society currently takes towards "education".
"wow...that was stupid."
As we slap our foreheads incredulously at the things our ancestors did, so too will our descendants when they reflect upon the approach our society currently takes towards "education".
Friday, July 11, 2008
Just Like The Busy Kids With Full Schedules
TONS Of Extracurricular Activities
It's exciting to be busy.
To have so many new and exciting things to look forward to.
A human life is a fairly short thing compared to the vast horizons of potential we can imagine.
Our corporeal existence seems far too brief to begin to experience it all.
Naturally, we all have an insatiable curiosity to seek out things we have not seen before.
That is the purpose of a human existence : to experience as much as possible with the time we have.
Those Bright-Eyed, Bushy Tailed Kids
You know who I'm talking about.
The kids at school who have TONS of energy.
They're excelling in academics and in extracurricular activities.
They go on field trips with after-school clubs, to different cities for sports tournaments, and to academic competitions in other cities.
They can play the piano and know how to make a fire.
They are a walking encyclopedia, who are extremely hot on the outside.
I suppose they could be said to be perfect.
I wouldn't call them that though.
I knew these kids in school and they were just genuinely energetic, curious people.
What was their secret?
Everyone Should Be Encouraged and Supported To Be A Hot Encyclopedia (if they want to be)
The Velja Approach to schooling enables kids to shape themselves in whatsoever they wish to be.
I believe that human beings have an insatiable urge to grow and try new and exciting things.
To fill their days with never before had experiences.
To feel that they are becoming more than what they were everyday.
I think all kids should have the chance to be like the Busy Kids,
to be a Hot Encyclopedia.
I wanted to be.
I just needed to do it my way, not the way adults told me I had to.
Again, adults should guide and support not dictate, not bully.
Doing so will raise a generation of genuinely strong young people.
A school full of Bright-Eyed, Bushy Tailed, Busy kids...
Sounds Awesome To Me!
It's exciting to be busy.
To have so many new and exciting things to look forward to.
A human life is a fairly short thing compared to the vast horizons of potential we can imagine.
Our corporeal existence seems far too brief to begin to experience it all.
Naturally, we all have an insatiable curiosity to seek out things we have not seen before.
That is the purpose of a human existence : to experience as much as possible with the time we have.
Those Bright-Eyed, Bushy Tailed Kids
You know who I'm talking about.
The kids at school who have TONS of energy.
They're excelling in academics and in extracurricular activities.
They go on field trips with after-school clubs, to different cities for sports tournaments, and to academic competitions in other cities.
They can play the piano and know how to make a fire.
They are a walking encyclopedia, who are extremely hot on the outside.
I suppose they could be said to be perfect.
I wouldn't call them that though.
I knew these kids in school and they were just genuinely energetic, curious people.
What was their secret?
Parents who believed in them.
That they believed in themselves.
That's it.That they believed in themselves.
Everyone Should Be Encouraged and Supported To Be A Hot Encyclopedia (if they want to be)
The Velja Approach to schooling enables kids to shape themselves in whatsoever they wish to be.
I believe that human beings have an insatiable urge to grow and try new and exciting things.
To fill their days with never before had experiences.
To feel that they are becoming more than what they were everyday.
I think all kids should have the chance to be like the Busy Kids,
to be a Hot Encyclopedia.
I wanted to be.
I just needed to do it my way, not the way adults told me I had to.
Again, adults should guide and support not dictate, not bully.
Doing so will raise a generation of genuinely strong young people.
A school full of Bright-Eyed, Bushy Tailed, Busy kids...
Sounds Awesome To Me!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Flowers Will Bloom In Their Time
Take All The Time You Need or Want
This is one of the fundamental tenets of The Velja Approach.
There are no deadlines.
No school bells yelling at students to march to their adult-imposed indoctrinations.
No punishments for not performing for adult amusement in the time frame adults dictated.
School is FOR the students.
Adults are there to guide and support but the fuel, the drive, the passion is "always" from deep inside the student.
Some Flowers Blossom Quickly, Others Take Years, Both Are Invaluable
The Velja Approach is a mature approach to education.
All students are full of boundless potential, to be cultivated in their own style.
Believe in the student.
Support the student.
Love the student.
and they will :
blow-your-mind. ; )
This is one of the fundamental tenets of The Velja Approach.
There are no deadlines.
No school bells yelling at students to march to their adult-imposed indoctrinations.
No punishments for not performing for adult amusement in the time frame adults dictated.
School is FOR the students.
Adults are there to guide and support but the fuel, the drive, the passion is "always" from deep inside the student.
Some Flowers Blossom Quickly, Others Take Years, Both Are Invaluable
The Velja Approach is a mature approach to education.
All students are full of boundless potential, to be cultivated in their own style.
Believe in the student.
Support the student.
Love the student.
and they will :
blow-your-mind. ; )
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Practical Knowledge
Perspiration Stains
I don't have a lot of money, and I don't like to have to buy new clothes if I feel that they can be salvaged by laundering.
I'm researching on the internet how to remove my perspiration stains and other stains.
It is a really involved science!
There is a lot of research that could be done and a lot of experimentation, just generally a lot to learn.
This is the kind of Practical knowledge that everyone could benefit from.
Take Your Laundry to School
Instead of "Chemistry" class, the students take their laundry to school and use the chemistry lab in tangent with the school laundry facilities, to discover their favorite way to remove stains from their laundry.
IT'S PRACTICAL SCIENCE!
Yay! : )
The Untapped Potential
School has so much untapped potential.
Children could emerge from school as such strong, confident, visionary young people...there is just so much scope which has yet to be kindled.
Let's ask for more out of life and out of our education system. ; )
We owe it to our kids,
and,
to the memory of us as kids and the unfulfilling schooling we had to endure.
No blame.
"Everyone is doing the best they can, just nobody has any idea what they are doing."
We're all winging it, doing our best.
We just keep learning how to do things a better way.
We have been trying Standardized Education for a long while now.
It doesn't work.
It's time to try something else.
I don't have a lot of money, and I don't like to have to buy new clothes if I feel that they can be salvaged by laundering.
I'm researching on the internet how to remove my perspiration stains and other stains.
It is a really involved science!
There is a lot of research that could be done and a lot of experimentation, just generally a lot to learn.
This is the kind of Practical knowledge that everyone could benefit from.
Take Your Laundry to School
Instead of "Chemistry" class, the students take their laundry to school and use the chemistry lab in tangent with the school laundry facilities, to discover their favorite way to remove stains from their laundry.
IT'S PRACTICAL SCIENCE!
Yay! : )
The Untapped Potential
School has so much untapped potential.
Children could emerge from school as such strong, confident, visionary young people...there is just so much scope which has yet to be kindled.
Let's ask for more out of life and out of our education system. ; )
We owe it to our kids,
and,
to the memory of us as kids and the unfulfilling schooling we had to endure.
No blame.
"Everyone is doing the best they can, just nobody has any idea what they are doing."
We're all winging it, doing our best.
We just keep learning how to do things a better way.
We have been trying Standardized Education for a long while now.
It doesn't work.
It's time to try something else.
Growth and Evolution
The Velja Approach to Schooling is wholly and absolutely committed to the Growth and Evolution of students.
This is in stark contrast to the current model of education which has the mandate of making children into functional, obedient drones.
I will say it again, the Assembly Line has permitted our species to enjoy heretofore unprecedented material abundance, but, the philosophy which created the Assembly Line has seeped into the belief with which we approach education (all of our relationships really).
We must recognize this.
Recognize that it is wholly unfulfilling and choose to embrace a system which strengthens, rather than weakens our children.
Why?
Because Earth sure could use Humanity's very first generation of universally, strong, confident, empowered human beings.
A generation which would mark the next step in human evolution.
All by just believing in our children,
in the way we were never believed in.
Chains are meant to be broken after all.
This is in stark contrast to the current model of education which has the mandate of making children into functional, obedient drones.
I will say it again, the Assembly Line has permitted our species to enjoy heretofore unprecedented material abundance, but, the philosophy which created the Assembly Line has seeped into the belief with which we approach education (all of our relationships really).
We must recognize this.
Recognize that it is wholly unfulfilling and choose to embrace a system which strengthens, rather than weakens our children.
Why?
Because Earth sure could use Humanity's very first generation of universally, strong, confident, empowered human beings.
A generation which would mark the next step in human evolution.
All by just believing in our children,
in the way we were never believed in.
Chains are meant to be broken after all.
"I Need To Feel Special"
The Velja Approach to Schooling understands this need in children (in everyone actually), and bases its approach to education on it.
Making Children Strong : Because Strong Children Become Strong Adults
The Velja Approach to Schooling is dedicated to doing one thing above all : Making Children Strong.
The Meditation Room
Temet Nosce (Know Thyself)
The sign hanging over the doorway of the Oracle's Kitchen read the above.
The Matrix had a powerful influence on me, as I know it did tons of people, all over the world.
The movie was a rallying cry for people to recognize their dissatisfaction and unfulfillment with the gray emptiness of the capitalist dream.
The movie told people to instead look inside themselves, deep, inside themselves to find the "truth" of their own inner strength, of faith in themselves.
The Meditation Room
Schools in the Velja approach would all have meditation rooms.
I imagine rooms based on a Japanese style.
The sound of flowing water.
Soft cushions on which to kneel or sit cross-legged.
Scrolls hanging on the walls with wise proverbs written in Chinese characters on them.
Bamboo walls with their look of earthiness and flexibility.
The Student
Knowing yourself,
Knowing who you are,
enables a person to act in harmony and accordance with their perception of themselves.
This is absolutely vital to living in a way that does not feel strained and disjointed, out of whack with one's inner sense of rightness.
A healthy adult is one who feels "in tune" with themselves.
In The Velja Approach, students would be practising this fundamentally intrinsic aspect of human existence from a young age.
Whenever a student felt that they were lost,
confused,
unsure of their direction,
and they had exhausted external channels of guidance (parents, teachers, friends, books....),
they would have a quiet room to go to where they could search deep inside themselves for the answers only they themselves can give.
The school would provide the facility, the "tool", but would not force the student to make use of it.
That door would be one the student would choose to venture through on their own.
That is what The Velja Approach does :
provide the students with the "tools" to explore this life,
the adult encouragement and support to explore freely,
and the adult maturity to allow our young people to explore without imposing limits on their imagination or sense of wonder.
Know Thyself.
The sign hanging over the doorway of the Oracle's Kitchen read the above.
The Matrix had a powerful influence on me, as I know it did tons of people, all over the world.
The movie was a rallying cry for people to recognize their dissatisfaction and unfulfillment with the gray emptiness of the capitalist dream.
The movie told people to instead look inside themselves, deep, inside themselves to find the "truth" of their own inner strength, of faith in themselves.
The Meditation Room
Schools in the Velja approach would all have meditation rooms.
I imagine rooms based on a Japanese style.
The sound of flowing water.
Soft cushions on which to kneel or sit cross-legged.
Scrolls hanging on the walls with wise proverbs written in Chinese characters on them.
Bamboo walls with their look of earthiness and flexibility.
The Student
Knowing yourself,
Knowing who you are,
enables a person to act in harmony and accordance with their perception of themselves.
This is absolutely vital to living in a way that does not feel strained and disjointed, out of whack with one's inner sense of rightness.
A healthy adult is one who feels "in tune" with themselves.
In The Velja Approach, students would be practising this fundamentally intrinsic aspect of human existence from a young age.
Whenever a student felt that they were lost,
confused,
unsure of their direction,
and they had exhausted external channels of guidance (parents, teachers, friends, books....),
they would have a quiet room to go to where they could search deep inside themselves for the answers only they themselves can give.
The school would provide the facility, the "tool", but would not force the student to make use of it.
That door would be one the student would choose to venture through on their own.
That is what The Velja Approach does :
provide the students with the "tools" to explore this life,
the adult encouragement and support to explore freely,
and the adult maturity to allow our young people to explore without imposing limits on their imagination or sense of wonder.
Know Thyself.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Take Your Time (As Much As YOU Need)
The Velja Approach fundamentally understands that human beings ARE different, AND, that differences make the human experience : special.
With this implacable absolute irremovably engraved into the school's philosophy, it is no great extension that the school tells students they can take all the time they need pursuing their goals and interests.
Assembly Line Approach To Education
I've said it before, and will keep on saying it : the assembly line was an invention which increased human being's ability to mass produce.
Unacceptably though, the philosophy behind the system inserted itself into the approach to education.
Today's schools churn out students like so much product traveling down the line.
I can't express sufficiently how...thoroughly disappointed I am this is the case.
Perhaps I'm wrong though. I can accept that. For the record though, I don't think I am.
My feelings tell me that I did not enjoy school, and I never felt school was dedicated to me exploring with freedom and faith in me.
...it hurt more than I could let myself fathom.
I no longer wonder why I went through so many depressions during my school years.
I'm a human being.
Not an automobile.
Flowers Bloom At Different Times
That's what makes fields so beautiful, and that's what make people so beautiful.
The Velja Approach encourages students to invest time in themselves.
This life is theirs to use to its fullest.
As adults we MUST encourage and support them in this truth.
With this implacable absolute irremovably engraved into the school's philosophy, it is no great extension that the school tells students they can take all the time they need pursuing their goals and interests.
Assembly Line Approach To Education
I've said it before, and will keep on saying it : the assembly line was an invention which increased human being's ability to mass produce.
Unacceptably though, the philosophy behind the system inserted itself into the approach to education.
Today's schools churn out students like so much product traveling down the line.
I can't express sufficiently how...thoroughly disappointed I am this is the case.
Perhaps I'm wrong though. I can accept that. For the record though, I don't think I am.
My feelings tell me that I did not enjoy school, and I never felt school was dedicated to me exploring with freedom and faith in me.
...it hurt more than I could let myself fathom.
I no longer wonder why I went through so many depressions during my school years.
I'm a human being.
Not an automobile.
Flowers Bloom At Different Times
That's what makes fields so beautiful, and that's what make people so beautiful.
The Velja Approach encourages students to invest time in themselves.
This life is theirs to use to its fullest.
As adults we MUST encourage and support them in this truth.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Acceptance and Welcome Through Shared Goals and Experiences (FREEDOM!)
Acceptance.
Feeling welcome.
Having the confidence that you are loved by your fellow human beings.
I certainly need these things and I think everyone else does too.
Human beings are gregarious creatures, social creatures, our survival, our very nature compels us to seek each other out.
When we do not feel welcomed and accepted by our fellow human beings, a terrible pressure is placed upon an individual, a sense of suffocating isolation, and lonely despair settles over one's heart like a black cloud.
I speak from personal experience, experience that I'm sure nearly everyone can relate to.
I think that no where is this need and its absence more keenly felt than when a child and young person is in school.
The acceptance or rejection of one's peers is keenly felt by a young mind and heart that has not yet built up the layers of callouses adults accumulate over years of coming to accept the soul-draining reality of acceptance and love of one's fellow human beings being a nearly non-existent thing.
The how? of addressing this problem though is extremely simple and commonsense for everyone.
"I don't want to be in the same group as him/her. They're ugly." or "They're stupid." or "They're clumsy."
How many of us have heard this when we were children, either being the personal recipient of the comment, or hearing another child being derided so.
It is a painful thing to hear, but, at least it is honest, and that is something as adults we must depend upon, the unfailing honesty of children before it is clouded by the adult notion that "some lies are acceptable", or "white lies are sometimes ok." Lies may make for smoother relations in the short term, but over time they prove to be unstable foundations on which to build a relationship.
Truthfully, if we look deep inside a person, past the surface appearance and behavior, we genuinely see that all human beings are valuable and have unlimited resources to share.
Looking past the surface though takes time.
Human beings are designed to make quick assessments as a survival mechanism inherited from our more primitive past when a rapid decision meant the difference between life or death.
Foregoing this instinct requires that a person must have the security and certainty that permitting oneself to invest time into searching more deeply into the truth of something will not result in punishment or pain.
So, the solution is very simple.
When human beings engage in a project together, they come to know one another.
With a common goal, a shared purpose, one another's strengths are revealed and come to be appreciated.
Now, this of course is already a common facet of the schooling experience.
However, speaking from personal experience, I can say that projects I have worked on in school have rarely been satisfying.
Why?
Because they were rarely ones I was interested in, and this is absolutely vital. Vital.
Forcing children to work together, creates immediate resentment.
Adults expect results and the already embittered children are easily upset with one another when they feel there is a lack of energy and enthusiasm on the part of their group-mates.
WHAT A HORRIBLE SITUATION TO PUT CHILDREN IN! (or anyone for that matter)
The group-mates expect energy and enthusiasm from one another, but they are already at a horrible disadvantage, since what they are working on does not interest them much or at all.
The Velja Approach directly addresses this, because I wanted to make connections with my classmates, real connections, but they simply did not materialize when engaging in a school project I felt no affinity for.
In The Velja Approach, students begin their own projects, on anything they can imagine, and they themselves seek out classmates who would enjoy working on the project with them.
They have the entire school of classmates to engage. They have tremendous freedom to explore their ideas to the extent of their vision.
Permitted to dream as big as they possibly can, students are filled with energy and enthusiasm, and find no lack of these things in their group-mates.
Previously excluding qualities, like,
"he/she is ugly," or
"he/she is stupid", or
"he/she is boring" are
evolved beyond, grown beyond, mitigated and cease to be concerns,
as the bonds between the students form and strengthen because of the sheer energy and satisfaction from working together on a common goal, a shared purpose, THAT THEY HAVE CHOSEN WITH COMPLETE FREEDOM.
"Freedom is essential to human beings."
Without it, human beings are not human, they are robots with a heart and soul constantly crying for attention and love.
This cannot but create human beings who are perpetually in pain and despair.
The Velja Approach addresses this at the beginning of a human being's life and turns school from the detention centre and assembly line it currently is, into the research laboratory of possibility it should have always been.
Feeling welcome.
Having the confidence that you are loved by your fellow human beings.
I certainly need these things and I think everyone else does too.
Human beings are gregarious creatures, social creatures, our survival, our very nature compels us to seek each other out.
When we do not feel welcomed and accepted by our fellow human beings, a terrible pressure is placed upon an individual, a sense of suffocating isolation, and lonely despair settles over one's heart like a black cloud.
I speak from personal experience, experience that I'm sure nearly everyone can relate to.
I think that no where is this need and its absence more keenly felt than when a child and young person is in school.
The acceptance or rejection of one's peers is keenly felt by a young mind and heart that has not yet built up the layers of callouses adults accumulate over years of coming to accept the soul-draining reality of acceptance and love of one's fellow human beings being a nearly non-existent thing.
The how? of addressing this problem though is extremely simple and commonsense for everyone.
"I don't want to be in the same group as him/her. They're ugly." or "They're stupid." or "They're clumsy."
How many of us have heard this when we were children, either being the personal recipient of the comment, or hearing another child being derided so.
It is a painful thing to hear, but, at least it is honest, and that is something as adults we must depend upon, the unfailing honesty of children before it is clouded by the adult notion that "some lies are acceptable", or "white lies are sometimes ok." Lies may make for smoother relations in the short term, but over time they prove to be unstable foundations on which to build a relationship.
Truthfully, if we look deep inside a person, past the surface appearance and behavior, we genuinely see that all human beings are valuable and have unlimited resources to share.
Looking past the surface though takes time.
Human beings are designed to make quick assessments as a survival mechanism inherited from our more primitive past when a rapid decision meant the difference between life or death.
Foregoing this instinct requires that a person must have the security and certainty that permitting oneself to invest time into searching more deeply into the truth of something will not result in punishment or pain.
So, the solution is very simple.
When human beings engage in a project together, they come to know one another.
With a common goal, a shared purpose, one another's strengths are revealed and come to be appreciated.
Now, this of course is already a common facet of the schooling experience.
However, speaking from personal experience, I can say that projects I have worked on in school have rarely been satisfying.
Why?
Because they were rarely ones I was interested in, and this is absolutely vital. Vital.
Forcing children to work together, creates immediate resentment.
Adults expect results and the already embittered children are easily upset with one another when they feel there is a lack of energy and enthusiasm on the part of their group-mates.
WHAT A HORRIBLE SITUATION TO PUT CHILDREN IN! (or anyone for that matter)
The group-mates expect energy and enthusiasm from one another, but they are already at a horrible disadvantage, since what they are working on does not interest them much or at all.
The Velja Approach directly addresses this, because I wanted to make connections with my classmates, real connections, but they simply did not materialize when engaging in a school project I felt no affinity for.
In The Velja Approach, students begin their own projects, on anything they can imagine, and they themselves seek out classmates who would enjoy working on the project with them.
They have the entire school of classmates to engage. They have tremendous freedom to explore their ideas to the extent of their vision.
Permitted to dream as big as they possibly can, students are filled with energy and enthusiasm, and find no lack of these things in their group-mates.
Previously excluding qualities, like,
"he/she is ugly," or
"he/she is stupid", or
"he/she is boring" are
evolved beyond, grown beyond, mitigated and cease to be concerns,
as the bonds between the students form and strengthen because of the sheer energy and satisfaction from working together on a common goal, a shared purpose, THAT THEY HAVE CHOSEN WITH COMPLETE FREEDOM.
"Freedom is essential to human beings."
Without it, human beings are not human, they are robots with a heart and soul constantly crying for attention and love.
This cannot but create human beings who are perpetually in pain and despair.
The Velja Approach addresses this at the beginning of a human being's life and turns school from the detention centre and assembly line it currently is, into the research laboratory of possibility it should have always been.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Two Important Questions
The Velja Approach to Schooling is dedicated to students answering the following 2 questions which are vital to a human being's health and fulfillment.
1. Who are YOU?
and,
2. What do YOU want?
The Velja Approach (Philosophy)
The Velja Approach to Schooling believes that human beings exist in a dual-reality, as a :
1. Social Creature
,and as an,
2. Individual
Both facets being fulfilled is essential to a human being's health and well-being.
My Thoughts
My personal experience with school was that I was in an "Assembly Line".
I was part of a "Forced March".
If I could not keep up, if I was a not an acceptable "product",
I would be cast aside, or left behind.
The kind of school I envision would allow, would encourage, children to take all the time they need, express themselves in anyway they could imagine, in order to discover :
1. who they truly are
and
2. what they truly want
Note
These 2 questions come directly from Iroh (Zuko's wise uncle) in one of the later chapters of Book 2 in Avatar : The Legend of Aang.
Avatar is a show which makes me think about the essential human questions, the ones I need, badly, to be answered.
The show helps me a great deal. : )
1. Who are YOU?
and,
2. What do YOU want?
The Velja Approach (Philosophy)
The Velja Approach to Schooling believes that human beings exist in a dual-reality, as a :
1. Social Creature
,and as an,
2. Individual
Both facets being fulfilled is essential to a human being's health and well-being.
My Thoughts
My personal experience with school was that I was in an "Assembly Line".
I was part of a "Forced March".
If I could not keep up, if I was a not an acceptable "product",
I would be cast aside, or left behind.
The kind of school I envision would allow, would encourage, children to take all the time they need, express themselves in anyway they could imagine, in order to discover :
1. who they truly are
and
2. what they truly want
Note
These 2 questions come directly from Iroh (Zuko's wise uncle) in one of the later chapters of Book 2 in Avatar : The Legend of Aang.
Avatar is a show which makes me think about the essential human questions, the ones I need, badly, to be answered.
The show helps me a great deal. : )
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Creating Beautiful Things of Their Own
The Velja Approach is about giving children and youth time,
as much time,
all the time,
they need,
all the time they want,
to create beautiful expressions of themselves.
A Critic : "Children will take advantage of such a school system to do nothing productive."
"Children need discipline and rules or else they run amok."
"Too much freedom leads to chaos."
"We need to create efficient, obedient workers, not hedonistic lollygaggers."
The secret is very simple : adults believing in their children.
Adults encouraging children to grow and become strong, because they will inherit the Earth and they need to become wise and kind in order to care for our home for future generations.
If children do not grow up happy, with no bonds of love to their world, they will not want to care for it.
The Velja Approach encourages and supports children to create beautiful expressions of themselves because doing so enables children to form special bonds with the people around them who witness the children's expression and the environment which hosts and contributes to the expression.
as much time,
all the time,
they need,
all the time they want,
to create beautiful expressions of themselves.
A Critic : "Children will take advantage of such a school system to do nothing productive."
"Children need discipline and rules or else they run amok."
"Too much freedom leads to chaos."
"We need to create efficient, obedient workers, not hedonistic lollygaggers."
The secret is very simple : adults believing in their children.
Adults encouraging children to grow and become strong, because they will inherit the Earth and they need to become wise and kind in order to care for our home for future generations.
If children do not grow up happy, with no bonds of love to their world, they will not want to care for it.
The Velja Approach encourages and supports children to create beautiful expressions of themselves because doing so enables children to form special bonds with the people around them who witness the children's expression and the environment which hosts and contributes to the expression.
Sayings Of One's Own
I think that one of the things The Velja Approach would encourage young students to do is to create their own "Sayings".
Maxims.
Proverbs.
Appositives.
Epigrams.
Words are a uniquely human attribute.
No other species on our planet communicates with the color and complexity afforded by language.
Words are the facet of our species which truly defines us as human.
With this in mind it is expected that words have an inextricable effect on our perception and understanding of our environment.
As a nose to dogs.
As an antennae to ants.
As echo location to dolphins.
So are words to humans.
I believe our children should be encouraged to create their own library of Sayings.
Combinations of words which provide insight and guidance, crafted with the uniqueness and singularity evoked by the essence of the human condition's individuality.
Children should not be forced to borrow the famous and accepted quotes of their adult contemporaries or ancestors.
They should be encouraged to create their own, as they must create their own path during their time in human existence.
This idea is part and parcel of The Velja Approach : the freedom to choose to shape one's own destiny.
The Vikings would approve. : )
Maxims.
Proverbs.
Appositives.
Epigrams.
Words are a uniquely human attribute.
No other species on our planet communicates with the color and complexity afforded by language.
Words are the facet of our species which truly defines us as human.
With this in mind it is expected that words have an inextricable effect on our perception and understanding of our environment.
As a nose to dogs.
As an antennae to ants.
As echo location to dolphins.
So are words to humans.
I believe our children should be encouraged to create their own library of Sayings.
Combinations of words which provide insight and guidance, crafted with the uniqueness and singularity evoked by the essence of the human condition's individuality.
Children should not be forced to borrow the famous and accepted quotes of their adult contemporaries or ancestors.
They should be encouraged to create their own, as they must create their own path during their time in human existence.
This idea is part and parcel of The Velja Approach : the freedom to choose to shape one's own destiny.
The Vikings would approve. : )
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