Self Direction
This evening my daughter requested an appointment with me. She said she needed to discuss something very important.
To our meeting she brought approximately ten pages of notes. While I listened, she outlined a major component in her plans for her education for the next year. She told me that she wanted to study birds; in fact she had already been studying them, but she wanted to continue with this study. She explained that nature is very important, because it is not just nature, but it is also full of all sorts of interesting lessons for life.
She showed me her diagrams of how she proposed conducting her studies. Words such as ‘look’, ‘read’, ‘examine’, and ‘investigate’ were illustrated with cute little pictures of birds.
She went on to explain her plans to find a nest in the Spring, observe the mother bird as she incubated her eggs and raised her young. She wondered whether it would be possible to find a young fledgling to raise by hand. She spoke of how she would have to spend the time until Spring researching birds so that she could easily identify them and would know what food they eat. She explained that she would have less time to play computer games as she would have to use the computer more for learning – and could I help her find suitable websites about birds please?
She then showed me some of the recent drawings she had been making of birds – birds that she had observed in our garden. She became more and more animated and excited as she spoke. Did I know how amazing birds were? Did I ever think about how they fly? Had I noticed the amazing patterns of their feathers? For example, she said, most people thought pigeons were just a nuisance. But had I ever stopped to really look at a pigeon? They are so beautiful. They have their own way of being, and there is no-one else quite like them.
I wished so much that I had a voice recorder. I alternated between wanting to cry and to laugh out loud. Her innocent wisdom was so deep and so pure and so precious. Her enthusiasm and her joy and her deep love of life were clear and evident. I listened and wondered how it was that I came to be the parent of so huge a person.
I was reminded of John Holt's observation: "Of course, a child may not know what he may need to know in ten years (who does?), but he knows, and much better than anyone else, what he wants and needs to know right now, what his mind is ready and hungry for."
Does my daughter need me to tell her what to learn in 2011? Simply, the answer is ‘No’. She knows exactly what she wants to learn - right now. This is not to say that I couldn't and shouldn't suggest options and directions, but that I recognise and respect her obvious awareness of her own questions and interests. My daughter needs me to be a supporter of her learning; to be an audience so that she can practise sharing her discoveries; to help her in accessing answers to her questions; to provide resources in the shape of time, energy, skills and money if and as they are needed.
Incidentally, Kate is nine years old.
To our meeting she brought approximately ten pages of notes. While I listened, she outlined a major component in her plans for her education for the next year. She told me that she wanted to study birds; in fact she had already been studying them, but she wanted to continue with this study. She explained that nature is very important, because it is not just nature, but it is also full of all sorts of interesting lessons for life.
She showed me her diagrams of how she proposed conducting her studies. Words such as ‘look’, ‘read’, ‘examine’, and ‘investigate’ were illustrated with cute little pictures of birds.
She went on to explain her plans to find a nest in the Spring, observe the mother bird as she incubated her eggs and raised her young. She wondered whether it would be possible to find a young fledgling to raise by hand. She spoke of how she would have to spend the time until Spring researching birds so that she could easily identify them and would know what food they eat. She explained that she would have less time to play computer games as she would have to use the computer more for learning – and could I help her find suitable websites about birds please?
She then showed me some of the recent drawings she had been making of birds – birds that she had observed in our garden. She became more and more animated and excited as she spoke. Did I know how amazing birds were? Did I ever think about how they fly? Had I noticed the amazing patterns of their feathers? For example, she said, most people thought pigeons were just a nuisance. But had I ever stopped to really look at a pigeon? They are so beautiful. They have their own way of being, and there is no-one else quite like them.
I wished so much that I had a voice recorder. I alternated between wanting to cry and to laugh out loud. Her innocent wisdom was so deep and so pure and so precious. Her enthusiasm and her joy and her deep love of life were clear and evident. I listened and wondered how it was that I came to be the parent of so huge a person.
I was reminded of John Holt's observation: "Of course, a child may not know what he may need to know in ten years (who does?), but he knows, and much better than anyone else, what he wants and needs to know right now, what his mind is ready and hungry for."
Does my daughter need me to tell her what to learn in 2011? Simply, the answer is ‘No’. She knows exactly what she wants to learn - right now. This is not to say that I couldn't and shouldn't suggest options and directions, but that I recognise and respect her obvious awareness of her own questions and interests. My daughter needs me to be a supporter of her learning; to be an audience so that she can practise sharing her discoveries; to help her in accessing answers to her questions; to provide resources in the shape of time, energy, skills and money if and as they are needed.
Incidentally, Kate is nine years old.
Postscript: Kate pursued her study of birds with dedicated enthusiasm for the whole year. In January we visited the Hawk Conservancy in Hampshire, where we were the only visitors due to the bitterly cold weather. And so to her delight, Kate was invited to help fly most of the birds. God also answered her prayers about finding nests. She found many, and was able to observe the growth, development and first flights of many different birds. She even got to see a baby hatch from its egg. The interest has continued, and this year she has found a nest full of tiny birds at eye level in the shed... it seems like it was put there especially for her...
