In the future, a new kind of teacher will be needed. Humanity is coming full circle and getting back to it’s roots. We are awakening and realizing that we need each other, and the earth to survive. Humans share DNA with all life on earth, past and present, even plants and animals. This knowledge alone should give us an inkling as to why everything is connected. But something has gone intrinsically wrong in the society that we live in. People compete with each other for higher status; they put value in expensive possessions, and they collect and throw away relationships as if they don’t matter. Adults pick up weapons and turn to violence against each other for the smallest reason, so children learn that this is the norm. The laws keep us from behaving like unruly animals, but they also stop us from thinking. Drugs are touted as ‘medication’, and handed out too easily. Doctors promote them as a way to live life with a more positive outlook; when really they only serve to numb the mind and create another living zombie.
Thankfully, there is another mindset prevalent out there, making waves with new research in neuroscience and the practice of compassion and integrative medicine. Studies are proving that academia needs to focus on the whole child; that what we feed our mind, has an impact on our life. Children need real, authentic connections to others; to feel alive and experience nature; that their words matter and their actions have a consequence – good or bad. The more well-rounded our experiences are, the better chance a person has at having the foundation to succeed later in life.
Think of yourself as a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Each year of your life, more pieces are added. But if any of the pieces you need get lost, or taken from you, or simply not added – you can never get those back. That’s why even as an adult you may feel like there is something missing from your life, but you can’t quite figure out what, and you blindly search for things to fill those holes where the missing pieces belong.
In my workshops, I help Early Childhood Educators see our human existence in a new light, before I give them the tools to create quality experiences for children. Just as a chef prepares vegetables in a way which is palatable, educators should impart knowledge in a way that makes children hungry for more; because each piece is vital to create a better quality of life for each child. In the grand scheme of things, what I do is small potatoes, but as my studies help to open my mind further, I know they will bring me closer to my goal of becoming a leader in this new wave of teaching with eyes open and hearts pure. Only in this way will we be able to see and feel what children really need; to help them become understanding, empathetic, spiritual, compassionate humans who appreciate life, always love first, and never think to harm other beings.
Resources:
Natural Nurturing 