Lessons on Learning from Nature

How nature created learning and how we damage that in schools.

Learning is a very natural thing. Everywhere life seeks to unfold, grow and express their being. Sadly many educations aren’t helping learning. They make it more unnatural it seems. Here are three simple lessons in learning we learn in and from nature. Common Sense for educations that forget these lessons:

How does a flower learn?

You can provide, but not enforce growth.

When a flower feels the sun and finds water, it will on one end rise towards the source of the light and grow on the other roots to drink. A flower will always take as much as it can, as long as you provide sun and water. If it doesn’t stand upright, we only need to give it a stick or wall to hold on to. But the most essential, the growing, comes from within and cannot be forced upon. Do you provide each other access to sun and water of learning and trust that growing will happen?

How do the bees learn?

Sharing the joy of discovery points the way.

When a bee discovers a field of flowers, she’ll fly back to the nest and dance the way to this field for all others. The more enthusiastic the dance, the bigger the field. If she dances smaller, fewer bees will seek it out. And that’s quite okay, because there’ll be less flowers with honey to find. So everything turns out fine and all flowers get a fair share of bees. Do you dance enough your wisdom to each other?

How do mammals learn?

Through play you discover a multifold of things in an integrated way.

A small puppy or whelp will play around. It will chase it’s mothers tail and hunt it down. Playing contains all necessary life lessons for animals, for playing is learning everything at the same time. You train your body with jumping, you train sharpness and quickness with chasing the tail. And you’ll learn about relationships too, while discovering how far you can go, by jumping up and down your mothers tail or attacking a play mate. And when you hunt for the first time, it’s just serious play, all ‘what you have done before’ applied. What are all the things you play with and what do you learn from them?

How do children learn?

Every child is a natural being, eager to grow, share and play.

You learn first like a flower, your water is milk and food and your sun is your parents love for you. Then you add learning like a bee; you dance and jump for what you like and your laughter, and sometimes screaming, attracts others to your discoveries. Then you add learning as an animal and play with everyones tail and learn everything at the same time. And then you go to school…

How do schools offer education?

Why learning and performing adequately aren’t the same.

…And then at school you aren’t trusted to grow by yourself anymore. Your parents love becomes a techers professional distance. You aren’t allowed to dance, because only the teachers dance counts. And you aren’t allowed to play, for it will annoy the teacher, who cannot measure the wisdom gained through play. If there’s dance and play than it’s in between clear time slots, within strict boundaries. There’s expectations and test you need to meet and you are told your not adequate until you do. You may get disconnected from your inner nature to learn and become a pleaser towards expectations. And thus end up hiding and inner pain for a love for natural learning that cannot be expressed, or in many case not even being aware of that pain, or thinking it’s normal. It isn’t.

How do teachers teach?

Why teaching and performing adequately aren’t the same.

Everywhere teachers struggle to reduce this pain or help natural learning. Sadly many forget or ignore the essential natural learning lessons. They primarely seek to please their managers and struggle to get the expected adequate results from their classes. Others seek ways out, yet get caught in the logic and frames offered by their management and or their own education in teaching. Great are teachers that are like sun, offer water and holds on when needed. Great are teachers that dance and play with their students, putting exploration and shared learning first. Sadly, when their results aren’t up to expectations, such teachers may be disciplined, as the famous movie ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ ultimately showed.

“This is a war. The casualties could be your hearts and lives.” Quote from Dead Poet’s Society.

Dear Parents and Educators,

Help schools become a more natural environment.

How can you help bringing the lessons of the flower, bee and puppy back to school? How can you support teachers that radiate love for teaching, and are a sun like the parents. How you integrate more joyous expression of the child into the education, stimulate dances of discovery? How can you create more space for play and experimentation in action? How can you help children feeling seen, accepted and stimulated, regardless of results and demands? How can you help natural learning back into school?

Edushifts United seeks to collect and strengthen this endevour, as are many other great people and initiatives around the world. They may use different words, focus on different aspects, but ultimately they seek to safe the live sand hearts where they are endangeroured.

Re-edited from original published at wayofthefool.blogspot.com.