A Middle Path - in Education

Exploring a balance between

the individual and collective

microcosm and macrocosm

knowing, doing & being

knowing the world and 

knowing oneself

in education.

Buddha prescibed a eight fold path for liberation. He called this the middle path or the middle way. One that called for a balance between indulgence and austerities. The merit in the middle path is awareness — of the biases and realities in both ends of the spectrum.

Such awareness is even more important for parents and educators because we are not making choices and decisions for just our selves. We are making desicions and creating a view of the world for another individual, decisions that will impact the course their life journey takes.

The spectrum that is education today

The landscape of education today is rich, diverse and complicated - from traditional Public Schools, Private Schools, Religious schools, Prep Schools to Montessori Schools, Waldorf Schools, Free Schools, Democratic schools. The very idea of a school is challeged by those who chose to homeschool their childrens and the very idea of teaching is challenged by those who chose to unschool their children. Parents make desicions based on their values, awareness and resources. Techonology adds yet another dimesion that enables self directed, self paced and personalized learning but bring its own set of complexities that need to be managed. 

Why is education complicated? 

When learning is innate, natural.

We are born learners. Our brain is wired to learn through positive and negative reinforcements. To understand and make our way in the world.

Somewhere the magic and joy of learning is compromised when systematized into grades, quadraned off into classrooms, compartmentalized into subjects in a compulsary curriculum.

Sure everybody can learn everything but should everybody learn everything?

We as humans have amassed knowlege over generations, thousands of years. We want to share the jist of this collective knowledge over 12 years of schooling.Teach everybody everything.We are left with students who know a lot about the world around themselves but little about what brings meaning to their life, what their motivations and interests are.While ‘preparing’ a student for life we must not forget to instill in them that life is what they make of it. That reality exists only in their awareness of it.

The fundamental tussle in education is between the individual and the collective — the microcosm and macrocosm.

Says Maria Montessori on the purpose of education in her Childhood Education “We must consider man alone and strive to raise him up, to strip him of the useless bonds he creates for himself that push him down into the abyss of lunacy. The real enemy is man’s impotence against his own products, it is the arrest of the development of humanity itself. To vanquish this enemy mas has only to react to and behave in a different way towards the environment which in itself is a source of wealth and happiness. A universal revolution is what we need. A revolution requires only that man should raise his values and become the master instead of the victim of the enviroment he himself has created.”

What is the middle path in education?

It is a path of balance and awareness between:

Parent and child

No right is more right when it comes to education. Each parent chooses what they think is the best for their child, the best they can afford given their circumstance. What we can do is be aware of our own conditioning and biases while making those choices and be open to change our child develops. To make room for the child’s individuality and choices as they grow.

Individual and collective

A path where individual expression is celebrated and yet a strong sense of community is instilled. Where individual freedom to be is valued and is not found be tangential to community spirit. There is growing awareness in the education circles particularly in alternate education towards self directed learning. A path where the student decides what to learn, when to learn and how to learn. If a fundamental goal of education is to facilitate free thinking then it makes sense to allow learners to start by having more of a say in their learning process. This as a concept is very appealing to me but is not very easy when it comes to implementation. I do plan to dedicate a lot of time towards understanding self directed education and developing a self directed curriculum.

Knowing oneself and knowing the world

A path that instills appreciation for humanity’s collective achivements and knowledge but there is awareness of everything that goes into making a civillization — the pain, the wars, the destruction. Where self awareness in a constant thread — one knows oneself, interests, motivations, inclinations and tendancies. Where your struggles, your biases become your strenghts not weakness. Where in addition to knowing about the world around you, you understand your self. As Krishnamurthy puts it “ it is no measure of wellness to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society”. To know that reality is what you make of it, to have the audacity to question and redefine reality.

Know, be and do:

A path where children are given the freedom to be, to not fit in when they are not ready, to mull over their learnings, to form their takeaway. A path where creativity is fostered in all forms — writing, making, doing and creative action inspired learning. A path of wholistic learning as Waldorf schools phrase it using your head, heart and hands. A path where learning is intra and inter disciplinary — where learning about baseball leads you into mathematics and gardening leads you into botany. 

The kids are all alright

No matter what your parenting or education choices are — the human soul is indominable, it will find its way. Your child will be ok. It can not just survive but thrive despite backbenches, compulsary curriculum, the rate maze and rat race, grading and judgement. 

Each generation furthers what it means to be free in their lifetime, can we provide a context and environment that strikes the right balance for our times?