The World at the Centre
shifting our focus
I have never felt comfortable with the idea of a child-centred education or child-led teaching; just as I do not feel comfortable with a teacher-led or curriculum-focused education. It just feels so out of balance - this doesn’t mean children shouldn’t lead, or should never be central in what we are doing, or that teachers should not lead or that curriculums are unimportant - what I am implying is that it is the combination of all these things interwoven with the world that is important.
I agree with Biesta, that the world at the centre of education is a better place to start our reflections of how we teach. And I think we need to ask ourselves a whole load of questions about what it is we are wanting from education and how we best achieve that - and this post does not have the space for all those questions… and, to be honest, I am still searching for the right questions to help me find some of the answers.
How do we teach so the child is no longer an object for adults to push through the education system, and check off that they have the said “requirements”? - because if the child is an object to do teaching to, this results in a narrow definition of what education is.
What is "required" to achieve the education we want to provide?
What education do we want to provide?
What is "quality"?
I did my master’s thesis on “quality in the early years” and discovered quickly just how elusive the word quality is, and that in reality it is as unhelpful as “efficient” and “effectivity” within education - as it depends on the what, why and how - and that the vast differences between how people interpret these words means that they have lost the power of ensuring children can access an education that enables them to learn to be in the world we live in.
Maybe, instead, of focusing on quality, efficiency, effectivity and required curriculums that are becoming ever more narrow, we should be reflecting on teaching the children about how to be in and with the world. Because the world speaks to us just as much as we speak to it. It is not just us doing things to the world, the world does things to us too.
How do we try to teach children to live in and with a world that is not of our making and is under no obligation to give us what we want from it or expect from it?
I believe that play is the way for children to access their own "subjectness" (instead of being an object), and that it is the responsibility/response-ability of adults to hold the space of play to enable children to be active agents in and with the world.
As educators (and parents) we can create experiences and opportunities so children can build a relationship with the human and more than human. Reciprocal relationships rooted in equity, respect, empathy and gratitude.
Learning means change, when we learn something we become different from before - it affects how we interact and understand the world, which means we are open to learn yet more new things. We are always learning, because the brain is constantly adapting to the world we live in. The brain is always seeking out how to automate, so that it can use less energy to do things we must/need to do, so that there is energy to to expand our understanding of the world. Education needs to be rooted in creating safe and brave environments - safe so that the brain does not waste energy on trying to adapt to the learning/care environment, and brave so that the brain feels free to be curious, test out ideas, dare to make mistakes to learn from them (but small enough mistakes that they do not seriously harm them) to feel creative, to feel autonomous.
A hope based education where the language of autonomy is play - and that this is valued as the most “effective” and “efficient” way to enter a dialogue with the world.
The blue circles is something I first created in 2019 after visiting Anji Play in China where they positioned the child at the centre and the ripples outwards in their important work of shifting the focus of education from curriculum and teaching to play and the children’s learning. I decided to revisit this graphic and put the world at the centre instead, and add how Original Learning would feature as a visual for an upcoming presentation.
Having the world at the centre means our focus becomes about how can we support the children to not only learn about and be in and with the world today, but also what they need to learn, and what skills they need to acquire to be in and with the world in their future.
The reason why Biesta does not simply write “in the world”, is that we need to develop relationships with the world. Planet Earth is not simply a resource for us to use, but is something we are a part of - we are all stardust. Rather than simply focusing on continual growth we need to start thinking about living with enoughness.
How would society be if we lived with the world rather than using the world?
That the world shared gifts of food, shelter and more with us that we received with gratitude - rather than the extractive philosophy we have now that consumes without consideration and throws away with even less thought.
How do we teach to live with enoughness?
How do we transform the meaning of sustainability to not be how can we prolong continued growth, but how we can genuinely live with the world and each other equitably?
Relationships are key. Even in brain development it is relationships that is the most important in the early years - interacting with others, human and more than human, learning how to communicate and how to predict/imagine what will happen next and what kind of response would be appropriate. Practising regulating our emotions, and understanding the emotions of others. Practising how to keep ourselves safe, by trying to read others and the environment while at the same time seeking out adventure as a way to acquire knowledge and to adapt. Most of this done through action. Through play. Because we begin learning through action, then add observation and imagination to our learning skill repertoire. It’s hard to imagine (mentalise) what we have not done/experienced or seen.
The ten essential threads of Original Learning - wonder, curiosity, joy, knowledge, imagination, interaction, risk, time, reflection and listening were all chosen as a way to teach in a way that the brain learns - through relationships, through care and love. I have frequently done presentations about democratic learning and the need to teach democratically - but as the world democracies are revealing, even this word has lost its power and now does not seem to mean democracy for everyone - but I will persist that it requires us to teach in a way that allows participation of all the children (not just being present, but actual participation); that all children can influence their learning (a sense of autonomy); that children and adults value each other and create equitable play and learning spaces for all, not just the normative; that every child feels brave enough to contribute their ideas and open enough to listen and value the ideas of others, even when they disagree; that dialogue is the focus of communication rather than debate or monologues; that we listen to understand rather than jump to hasty conclusions fuelled by bias and fear.
Yes, I want a hope-rooted education system that can grow and bloom with the children and the world.
I dream of having the world at the centre in education resulting in everyone feeling content with living with enoughness.
sorry, today there is no recording… but hopefully I will return and add one another day.
Suzanne, I love the phrase, the world at the center. I talk a lot about shared control and, as you know, my focus is supporting kids forming deep relationships with themselves, each other, and Mother Earth in a way that feels like playing in a forest. I might start calling what I do, an Earth-Centered approach.