Teach the Children Well: Our spiritual investment

By Jonathan Anstock

Are you interested in children? Are you interested in humanity's future and the role education can play? True education has a critical mission to play on the planet. This book illustrates some the potential pitfalls of state and religious education systems, and offers ideas to support the liberation of the individual human spirit.
True education has a critical mission to play on the planet. Formal school education has always mirrored religious and social trends. Religious life, initially, and nation building, subsequently, were, and still are, the main philosophical platforms from which many of our schools are run and operated. But what if the spiritual life of religious schools were founded on untruths and the desire to indoctrinate children's minds? What if the idea of building strong nationhood means that children are subjected to excessive pressure, inappropriate testing procedures and processes which dampen their spirit and self esteem?
What, then, is a true education? This question will be answered differently depending on our perception of what a human being really is. Religious schools might give priority to the idea that God exists and children should obey and believe him. A materialist, reductionist or behaviourist may perceive that we are a blank slate at birth and that the role of school education is to implant the knowledge a child needs to get qualifications as a rite of passage into life.
A third possibility, to which this book is dedicated, is that human consciousness itself should be the goal of true education, where individuals can grow into freedom and are neither indoctrinated by religious fervour nor conditioned to be a pawn in the game of modern nationhood.

Parents, teachers and politicians should read this insightful book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Anstock
• Release date: Jan 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301401390

Jonathan Anstock

Jonathan commenced teaching in 1971. He has been a subject teacher, department head, sportsmaster, housemaster, senior teacher, co-principal, school-based teacher-accreditation officer for the NSW Institute of Teachers, teacher mentor, school board of directors member and teacher advisor for Education Queensland International. After teaching predominantly in high schools (state, Catholic and independent) for two decades, he accepted the voice in his head which said, “The real teaching is done in the primary school”. So he retrained as a primary teacher completing an MEd in 1999. He then taught all classes/grades from 1 - 7. He believes that if primary children are presented with the right stimulus material, at the right time, in the right way, they will (learning difficulties excepted), become literate, numerate and intelligent without unnecessary struggle and antipathy to learning. As a trained remedial movement therapist (www.neuways.com.au), he is convinced that movement and learning are inextricably linked. He believes that a child who is well oriented in their body is less likely to experience learning difficulties, dyslexia, etc. He presently runs teacher professional development workshops (www.qtpd.com.au), and facilitates school self-reviews and health audits (www.eduquest.com.au).

Book preview

Dedication

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To my parents who gave my life the greatest foundations possible, Paul Rubens who re-ignited my philosophical fire during my mid- life vacuum and my ever devoted wife Belinda for her continuing love and support.

Copyright

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Teach the Children Well - Our spiritual investment

Jonathan Anstock

Copyright 2013 by Jonathan Anstock

Smashwords Edition

Acknowledgments

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I am indebted to many who have supported and guided this endeavour.  My heartfelt thanks go to all of you, but in particular: Cheryl Nolan, whose insightful cartoons have added a lovely humorous dimension to the book; David Vickers-Shand whose final edit was invaluable; Dave Thomas for proof reading the near final copy with important insight and advice; my scholarly brother Christopher who helped top and tail the initial manuscript and proffered objective comment.

Preface

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True education has a critical mission to play on the planet. Formal school education has always mirrored religious and social trends. Religious life, initially, and nation building, subsequently, were, and still are, the main philosophical platforms from which many of our schools are run and operated. But what if the spiritual life of religious schools were founded on untruths and the desire to indoctrinate children's minds? What if the idea of building strong nationhood means that children are subjected to excessive pressure, inappropriate testing procedures and processes which dampen their spirit and self esteem?

What, then, is a true education? This question will be answered differently depending on our perception of what a human being really is. Religious schools might give priority to the idea that God exists and children should obey and believe him. A materialist, reductionist or behaviourist may perceive that we are a blank slate at birth and that the role of school education is to implant the knowledge a child needs to get qualifications as a rite of passage into life.

A third possibility, to which this book is dedicated, is that human consciousness itself should be the goal of true education, where individuals can grow into freedom and are neither indoctrinated by religious fervour nor conditioned to be a pawn in the game of modern nationhood. Schools therefore should be an appropriate step along the journey of life's learning. They should lay positive foundations for an individual's development of body, soul and spirit. The philosophy of the schools of the future might suggest to children, If you want to find God, you should search for him. From this perspective neither religious indoctrination nor scientific bias within schools would be able to declare their god as the true and only god.Our post-modern world has much to be proud of in a materialistic sense and much to consider for the future as far as our humanity is concerned. If there is such a thing as true religion, what is it?

Schools, like many other organs of the social order are experiencing crises. Disruptive students (including the ever increasing use of drugs for ADD/ADHD), overworked and stressed teachers, teacher shortages, political and bureaucratic pressure, litigation issues, vandalism, etc all contribute to the spiralling low morale. Many educational issues confront us, such as scientific testing and ranking procedures, the influence of modern technology on the developing child, the inter- school rivalries, the gender challenges, science verses the humanities. Low morale (the feeling/sensate life) is no less an indication of disease within an organism (eg a school) than is heart disease within a person’s physical body. Both organisms are dis-eased.

Education has an extremely important mission to play in the world. Hopefully this book will support that mission. In the words of Rudolf Steiner, Our highest endeavour must be to develop free human beings who, of themselves are able to give purpose and direction to their lives.

True education, however, if it is to be holistic and balanced, should honour four dimensions of human experience, namely the physical, the life-forces, the feeling/sensate and thinking which connect body, soul and spirit1. We should not consciously educate unbalanced human beings who might perpetuate a materialistic and economic-rationalist world, devoid of spirit.

Science and true religion should meet in harmony if our humanity is to thrive. Where better to start than a holistic and balanced education for our children?

1  See appendix A

Introduction

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We cannot change history. Our education system has evolved into what it is today. But as humans evolve in their consciousness, as the world evolves and changes, the style, and maybe even the philosophy of education, must also evolve. Life is a continuum of dynamic change which operates around, and is dependent upon, non-change - the sun comes up each day and we need food, water and shelter in order to survive. We also need physical and mental activity to nurture our body, soul and spirit. Body, soul and spirit develop sequentially, following imbedded wisdom, having their foundation phases encapsulated within the first twenty one years of life. If we meet this developmental readiness, appropriately, unique individual faculties will blossom. This is a need of our time.

Blending our evolved human consciousness with what is static, what is given, is one of our major quests. To do it harmoniously and to be in rhythm with the earth, our universe, is a quest we all face together. Just as a technician may be able to solder or fit the correct microchip onto the motherboard of a computer, he may not be interested in the workings of the whole computer or even the relationship of computers to the social fabric or social dynamic. We are becoming more aware of our connection to the earth and the cosmos. Our ears, eyes and our thoughts are stimulated by global events more than at any other time in history. Instead of a tribal mentality, where survival was dependant on traditional ritual and routine within a small social and environmental context, we have now evolved to a global consciousness, one which can embrace our personal, familial, social, national and global wellbeing. Tribal consciousness, however, embraced a spirituality which was connected to nature. These rhythms were, and still are connected to the energies of the cosmos. Individuals were connected to the group soul. But now we are moving away from tribal and familial ties and we are more materially focused. Our individuality is coming to the fore and we individually select (rather than being culturally or family bonded), people with whom we wish to relate. There are impulses in many individuals who wish to collaborate and work for the good of humanity.

Today we have much more to think about than ever before. We are freer to choose our movements and our actions. This global consciousness requires an education system which supports true individuality. It needs an education system where people feel attachment and not detachment. Attachment, where possible, to family, some valued teachers and some significant adults in early life, creates belonging. A sense of belonging to a global human tribe, as opposed to any other smaller grouping, is a possible outcome of expanded consciousness in the post-modern world. People who feel attached are much more likely to give back to their source of attachment. Education which alienates people is counter-productive. We need as many people as possible to contribute to the whole. We need holistic education - education which recognises and nurtures the unique gifts that each person possesses, such that they can, in adulthood, consciously contribute to benefit their fellow humans.

The human being is a most special creature. We are significantly different from all other animals because of abilities we have been blessed with and developed over time. We are the only animals that can, via thinking, look backward in time at what was, acknowledge what is happening in the present, and project our thoughts into the future imagining what could be. We can also plan and effect change in the future by what we choose to do. Many new ideas can surface in a speculative or creative moment. We are indeed a conscious animal. Consciousness of our past, our present and possibilities for the future connects us to a world outside our own being. In addition to this consciousness, we also posses a very special consciousness which is self-consciousness. Self-consciousness connects us to a rich personal inner world. So we are beings who are at the centre of two worlds, the outer world and an inner world. Consciousness is the subject of chapter one. Gaining clarity of this special human quality is important, particularly if we wish to nurture its positive development through good education.

Consciousness has evolved over time. A human being of today possesses a totally different level of consciousness from ancestors of several thousand years ago. As children develop, they move through different levels of consciousness, and can only achieve, later in life, expanded or high levels of consciousness if cultural and environmental indoctrination has not been excessive, thus controlling the mind. There is a deep seated potential in all human beings to transcend the indoctrination or the suffocation of consciousness by family, culture, religion, or nationhood. Good education today should sow the seeds so that the full expansion of the human spirit in adult life is possible. The foundations of true individuality and freedom of spirit should be consciously nurtured wherever possible. Two major educational streams that exist in the post-modern world may accidentally suffocate the developing spirit. The oldest formal education stream is connected to religion, and dates back maybe five thousand years or more. Today dogmatic beliefs and teachings, may suffocate rather than enhance thinking and consciousness. The second major stream, which primarily superseded religious schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was that of state education which engendered patriotic citizenship. Here the emphasis changed from allegiance to God and church representatives to statehood and nationhood, and their respective representatives be it king, queen, count or tsar. In both educational streams today, there are forces that deliberately or accidentally suppress individuality, or freedom of self. This suffocation of self is deleterious to our future. This topic is covered in chapter three.

If the world is to become a more balanced and homogeneous place in which to live, then a balanced education is critical in pursuing this objective. There are many factors which could contribute to a balanced education, from curriculum content to meeting the readiness (soul-mood) of the child. The soul-mood is a term used to indicate the ripeness or readiness of children to learn certain information or skills at certain times. Education that tries to prematurely force-feed children in order to placate the ego of parents, schools, education departments or even countries, is unbalanced. There are four essential aspects of a balanced education, namely: the acquisition of intellectual and manipulative skills; the acquisition of inter-personal and social skills; intra-personal skills and the ability to express one’s self productively; and spiritual development - the development of creative and intuitive faculties. Many skills are non-quantifiable or not measurable, and it is the hypothesis and belief of the author that the tangible and measurable aspects of education over-dominate the educational process. We have become master technicians at testing and ranking children, particularly in the teen years, while many human qualities and talents are either overlooked or undernourished. Balanced human beings should develop synergy between their physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual lives. In chapter four we explore many concepts and ideas which may contribute to a truly holistic and balanced education.

Without having an awareness of the developmental stages of a child, education could accidentally cause harm rather than good. Over zealous force-feeding of the child before satisfactory foundations have been laid would be like trying to build a three or four storey building on weak foundations. A building with weak foundations could look impressive from outer observation, but its anchor to the earth, its foundations, may be inadequate. Education should avoid developing academic show ponies who are not grounded in the world. In chapter five, three significantly different phases of child development are outlined and linked to the soul-needs and readiness of children for learning. It is important to acknowledge that learning or education takes place from womb to tomb. The foundations of adult learning, or tertiary post-school learning, take place in the family first, followed by elementary or primary school, and then senior or secondary school. Each learning or developmental phase lasts approximately seven years. Different ways of learning and methods of teaching are appropriate to these developmental phases. If education is to truly benefit the developing ‘self’ it must be balanced and be appropriate to the child. Three essential human soul-qualities, namely the will forces, the feeling and sensate life, and abstract thinking, require special attention and nurturing during each seven year cycle. Each of these human qualities can contribute to the fabric of a balanced society. Liberty, fraternity and equality in the social order have subtle connections with the soul qualities of doing, feeling and thinking. This connection is explored in chapter six.

In chapter seven we examine education and life from a rhythmic perspective. Holism includes the fixed or given aspects of life such as our earth and the rhythms of the year, seasons, months, weeks and days. There are many rhythms such as the rhythms of life and death for all living species, the rhythms of day and night, the rhythms of the moon, the rhythms of our breathing and heart beating. Intertwined and woven into these fixed rhythms are the rhythms of our own development which need such careful nurturing. This nurturing requires educators not to put second storeys on buildings that are still developing their foundations. Our foundations need to be laid carefully and be strong. Adding heavy storeys on top of weak foundations makes a whole building weak. So too, adding abstract learning before foundation learning has been consolidated is deleterious to the developing human being.

Liberty, equality and fraternity should gain equal representation and support in the social order if we are to create balanced societies. The economics of life today appears to dominate both the political and spiritual/cultural life. In chapter eight the concept of a tri-folding of society is explored. In such a social structure, politicians as we now know them, would be relieved of their excessive duties. Instead of having government attempting to control economic and spiritual/ cultural life, there would be a synergistic balance between these three necessary human functions, associated with liberty, fraternity and equality. True education is required to nourish the fabric of such a three-fold society. True education has a spiritual function, to educate towards freedom. The ideal is for individuals to contribute towards the social structure so that the social structure is nourished. A nourished social structure should likewise nourish the individual. This is an ideal worth examining and exploring in the light of a possible balanced education. These concepts are not new, but are food for thought in light of the present social and educational malaise. These indications may have been premature one hundred years ago, but should now be examined seriously as a possibility for the future. This is the subject of chapter eight.

Chapter nine emphasises the concept of human freedom and the part that education should play in this ideal. Freedom is a special human quality worth striving for. It is not a hedonistic freedom but a freedom of the individual’s will which can do what is deemed right, guided by a moral conscience. The world needs creative, purposeful and selfless people who are devoted to the positive outcome of the human journey. A good education system should assist in the unfolding of the true individual potential of each child. Within everyone there is the potential for mature, free action in later life, but this is often not attainable due to two major barriers or forces that predominate in modern life. Other barriers exist, but the two major demons of the modern world, which inhibit true freedom are, excessive materialism and excessive sensate stimulation. These forces can lure us away from our essence and our ability to be selflessly purposeful in the world. This chapter possibly will be challenging to the reader, but is included in good faith. True education, which should create the path for individuals to contribute to life from within themselves, must be conscious of the present social conditions which work to deny true freedom. Collective individual freedom, governed by consciousness and a moral conscience, is an ideal which could lead to a better human existence on the planet. Purposeful vision which leads to positive conscious action, can facilitate a shift in the present material economic-rationalist paradigm. Without vision beyond materialism and economic-rationalism, we shall continue submerging further into semi decadence. One of the key aims of this book is to initiate or support educational change - a change that is desperately needed if we are going to avoid slipping further into the abyss of educational darkness. Pain is a great teacher. Maybe when the dis-ease and consequent pain within our social structure, including education, inflames even more, the cries for help will be heard, and appropriate action will be formulated. It is hoped that some of the concepts and ideas within this book can assist with the renewal and healing that is essential for our times.

1

The Human Being - a conscious animal

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Although we share certain aspects of our being with the plant and animal world, we are essentially a much more complex entity. This fact may be obvious, but before we can look at teaching and education we need to consider what (or more importantly who) we are teaching and educating, before we can examine why and how we perform this duty or task. We are not plants. Neither are we deterministic animals, controlled purely by conditioning and possessing no free will to effect change for the future.

A plant for instance is generally dependent on nutrition, water and sunlight for its growth. If it does not gain enough nourishment, water or sunlight, it does not survive. However, nourishment and sunlight would be of no value to the plant unless it could synthesise these ingredients. This synthesis takes place via what is known as the plant’s life-force. Without life-force or etheric energy, the plant cannot survive - it cannot fulfil its purpose, to be a plant. The plant cannot think its way through a problem or move to another environment. It just is. It is programmed to exist according to certain predetermined rules of nature.

An animal such as a rabbit, on the other hand, also has a life-force which synthesises its energy requirements and keeps it alive - as do humans. The rabbit is able to forage and move around. It responds to its environment in fairly predictable (predetermined) ways although it does have a vague level of consciousness. It has drives and desires which motivate it to survive and reproduce. It also has the ability to feel and therefore can respond to painful and pleasurable stimuli. These desires, feelings and vague consciousness (awareness) separate animals from the plant kingdom. All animals possess, in addition to their physical body and life- force energies, sensations and drives (conscious or unconscious) often referred to as feeling or sensate energy. This is sometimes also referred to as the astral energy. This astral energy is shared with all animals as well as humans. Essentially, a rabbit eats, mates and dies, and does nothing deliberately (out of its individual consciousness) to change future rabbit generations or its future environment. It responds with its programmed consciousness to external stimuli and fulfils what could be called its animal desires - the desire or will to survive, procreate and live out its life-span. This is the life-purpose of a rabbit - its destiny - to be a rabbit.

Different animal species have different behaviours and different characteristics. Some are considered more intelligent than others because they are able to display behaviour and a vague consciousness to which humans can relate. The dog, which can reciprocate warmth and affection, can enjoy relationship at a low level of consciousness with a human being. Other animals can do likewise. This can become a very complementary relationship. The more an animal is able to mirror certain human qualities, the greater connection there can be between that animal and humans.

Every living creature seeks nourishment until lack of nourishment destroys its life. Human beings, too, only take their lives if they believe (rightly or wrongly) that the goals of life worth striving for are unattainable.

Rudolf Steiner

Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path

As human beings, however, we rise above the animal kingdom because we can be conscious of ourselves as individual identities. Animals belong to a tribal-type grouping - their species. But humans can separate themselves from their biological family and see themselves (and be seen) as totally individual. We can use the word ‘I’ which distinguishes us from all other human beings. We therefore have self- consciousness, which we can call the ego 1. We can say ‘I’. We can stand upright and, very importantly, we can think in emotionally-subjective and unemotionally- objective ways; that is, we can have emotional attachment to our thinking or not depending on our personal disposition and personal willpower.

1 The word ego has two possible meanings in this book. Firstly, it may relate to the generic understanding - that which makes someone feel good, ie to boost someone’s ego. Secondly, it may relate to the fourth subtle body of humans - that part of ourselves which can become the director or controller of our soul’s journey. The ego, in this light, is an eternal developing aspect