The indirect workings of mind.

I'm fascinated by the workings of mind... the ways we make connections between things, and these connections and how the mind works are as much drawn from the unconscious and that which we barely know about ourselves as they is from the broad daylight of conscious knowing. And so, what's the purpose of education? Is it to have those connections clearly drawn out between lines, or to provide us the tools to chart our ways through the unknown and unknowable? And so, while administrators would like teachers to be more like newsreaders laying out what the station owner wants the community to know and believe, teaching is more of an art through which students discover themselves and their own relationships to the world at large.

In my how-to writings I can tell, "do this, and next do that," and I offer instructions that if followed to the "t" lead to the product I showed on the first page of the article or chapter, or maybe featured on the cover of the book. But when it comes to people (and students of course) whom we hope to offer skills for the navigation of real life. There are no simple formulas or processes that apply equally to all kids. So it troubles me that children are to be laid out upon a grid of standards without being fully regarded as the valuable individuals they are.

There was a monster in Greek mythology named Procrustes. He would welcome visitors into his home. He had a special bed that was equipped to provide for the one size fits all ideal of classroom learning. If you were too short for the bed, it was fitted with chains and gears through which you would be stretched to fit. If you were too tall, it would chop length from your feet and legs to bring you to the right size.

You can see why Procrustes was regarded as a monster. And you might see some similarities between the bed of Procrustes and what passes as modern education in which children are pressed into molds and held in place until set.

Education at its best is about things other than reading or math or compliance with standards of behavior. It's about navigating that space between the conscious and unconscious mind through building bridges toward a sense of wholeness that assures the student he or she is a part of things, a wholeness of community life within which he or she plays (even as a child) an important part. 

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.