Lessons on Learning from Nature

Common sense advice for educators and parents

Learning is a very natural thing. Sadly many educations aren’t helping learning. They make it more unnatural it seems.

And this unnatural way of learning has lead to many kids feeling not seen, restricted and hindered in their natural ways. It has raised many dysfunctional people, created trauma, lots of depressed kids on medication and worse. School has become a place of social conditioning, rather than natural learning and development.

Here are four simple lessons in learning we learn in and from nature. They should help wake up common sense for educations that forget the following lessons:

How does a flower learn?

When a flowers finds water and feels the sun, it will on one end rise to find the source of the light and grow on the other roots to drink. If it doesn’t stand upright, we only need to give it a stick or wall to hold on to. A flower will always take as much as it can, as long as you provide sun and water. The growing comes from within and cannot be forced upon. (Note the word education derives from the Greek Educare, also meaning ‘growing from within’.)

Do you give each other enough water and the light of love and trust that growing will happen?

How do the bees learn?

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 with less enthusiasm, 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? Do you feel enthusiasm about what you teach? (if not discuss with others) Can you give full attention to the dances of children when they dance their discoveries? Can respond with questions and stories rather than dismiss?

How do animals learn?

A small puppy or whelp will play around. It will chase its 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?

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

And then…. at school you aren’t trusted to grow by yourself anymore. Your parents love becomes professional distance or even pressure to get results. 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 knowledge (forget wisdom) gained through play. If there’s dance and play, then it’s in between clear time slots, within strict boundaries. There’s expectations based out outside norms you need to meet and you are not really seen until you do.

Who is the one who sees, praises and rewards your most personal gifts?

Dear Parents and Educators,

How can you help bringing the lessons of the flower, bee and puppy back to school? How can you support teachers (or trainers for that matter) that radiate love for teaching, and are a sun like the parents. How you integrate more joyous expression of the child (likewise for employees) 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?

More Educational Blogs can be found here: https://medium.com/the-gentle-revolution/education/home