Approach to Education
"An education is not something one gets, but a life-long process" - Gloria Steinem
I believe an ideal elementary education starts with receptivity as the core factor in the relationship between the teacher and the student. My strongest asset as a teacher is my ability to form immediate and successful relationships with my students. Lou Ann Walker once said that, "Theories and goals of education don't matter a whit if you don't consider your students to be human beings." (Teachers Have Class, pg. 110) It is partly through this attitude that I am able to succeed in Maharishi's first Fundamental of Education -- receptivity.
Maharishi says that when the teacher speaks and the knowledge "is received without distortion" (Maharishi Principles of Ideal Teaching pg. 3) receptivity between teacher and student is lively. Here, "knowledge becomes a delightful exchange of friendly waves of life." (MPIT pg. 3) It is when receptivity is lively that maximum learning can take place. Through my teaching I can achieve student/teacher relationships that will allow my students to grow and learn very quickly. In a Consciousness-Based Education (CBE) school this will culminate with students evolving into higher states of consciousness. I will, simultaneously, be growing in my own self-referral performance -- the goal of teaching.
Through my attendance at the Golden Domes I am doing the most essential part in preparing my lessons, my units, and my day to day relationships with the students, parents and other faculty. When my consciousness is enlivened I am bringing this creativity into the collective consciousness of the classroom. My goals are more easily attained; I want to create a classroom community of life long learners, a classroom of most evolutionary content and learning, and a classroom of comfort and of receptivity.
Student receptivity and motivation is opened further when I give learning and behavior choices. I believe that I am a student-centered teacher for this reason. Open up choice, open up receptivity, and open up a channel for knowledge that is relevant to that student. I believe this is when students will take charge of their learning and maximize their growth. Also, students will be more receptive to specific knowledge if they know the relevance of that knowledge to their own self. One way teachers can convey this is to explain Howard Gardner's theory on Multiple Intelligences to the students, and to have the theory in lively practice in the classroom or school setting.
I believe Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory holds a lot of truth. Through my simple observation in a classroom, I saw how students differ in their successes or intelligences. Gardner says, "It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the varied human intelligences, and all of the combinations of intelligences." (Multiple Intelligences, pg. 12) As a teacher, one should tap into each of her students to see what intelligences they exhibit, and to know who that person is and how he or she can learn most efficiently. By doing this, we strengthen the relationship between the knowledge and the student - maximizing learning and receptivity to learning.
Inspiration
My biggest inspiration and aspiration is Maharishi. Not only is he my guru, he is able to connect abstract ideas using analogies, so that his students understand the knowledge in relationship to themselves. If I can be as successful as he is at explaining the abstract (e.g. explaining the concept of zero) or the concrete I will continue to be a more and more successful educator.
The world is inspiring me. The world in its current state of self-destruction and ignorance is my inspiration to be an educator. Lyndon B. Johnson said, "At the desk where I sit, I have learned one great truth. The answer for all our national problems - the answer for all the problems of the world - comes to a single word, that word is 'education'." (Teachers Have Class pg. 156) Education with receptivity at its core is one solid step toward fulfilling Lyndon B. Johnson's statement and an ideal education.
References
Maharishi's Principles of Ideal Teaching
Multiple Intelligences, The Theory in Practice
Howard Gardner
BasicBooks 1993
Teachers Have Class: A Tribute
Ariel Books 2001
Andrews McMeel Publishing