Joanna & Jason by the campfire, Suffolk, England.
So, here I am saying the authors of the National Curriculum have got it wrong. That the content of our modern curriculum is not fit for equipping our children for adulthood.
What then might be an alternative?
I believe we need to go ‘back to basics’. Back to the foundations of life itself and rediscover the fundamentals.
Our society has lost connection with these essentials. Our children’s education system and the society in which they are being raised ensures this disconnection is handed down the generations. The curriculum teaches unhelpful and impractical knowledge in a way that crushes originality, creativity and strength of mind, body and spirit.
Consequently, we struggle to be connected to self, each other, community, and to Nature, the Earth and other species. We are at odds with ourselves, each other and the planet. We are not in ‘right relation’.
In order to redress this, we the parents, carers, grandparents and elders must begin again to be in ‘right relation’ and teach our children accordingly. And we must do this by leading the way, through our actions and examples.
There is a well know poem by Dorothy Law Nolte entitled Children Learn what they Live. Many teachers have it stuck up on their classroom walls to remind us that our expectations and relationship with each child will directly influence the child’s inner and outer behaviour and self-image. It reminds us that we teach not merely by talking but, more powerfully, by example.
I have adapted her poem – I don’t think she will mind.
If children live with gratitude, they learn to be grateful.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to accept.
If children live with connection, they learn to connect.
If children live with humility, they learn to be humble.
If children live with community, they learn to commune.
If children live with nature, they learn to be natural.
If children live with strength, they learn to be strong.
If children live with caring, they learn to care.
If children live with honesty, they learn the truth.
If children live with right relation, they will be in right relation.
What does this phrase ‘right relation’ mean?
My definition is that to be in right relation means we approach everything in this world, seen and unseen, with profound respect, gratitude and humility. We take nothing for granted. We know that everything is part of the great web of life and we act accordingly with appreciation and consideration.
I believe that a relevant, useful, nurturing and wholesome curriculum has its feet firmly planted in the rich humus of relationships.
Relationship with the fundamentals of life – water, earth, air and fire, demonstrating the sanctity of water, articulating how blessed we are that the Earth provides our food, appreciating the air we breathe and the safety of our homes.
Relationship with ourselves – learning and teaching in a community, understanding how and why children learn, allowing the progression of learning through natural development.
Relationship with others - sharing our space with other species, protecting and standing up for all life.
The Essential Curriculum is rooted in the idea of ‘right relation’.
Joanna