Relax.

Greetings from Barbados!

When I told people I was coming here over the February break, I got a lot of "oh, aren't you lucky" kinds of looks and comments. And I very heartily believe part of that is weather-related; at this time of year, the novel thrill of cold and snow has long given way to a feeling of endless drab and dreariness, and the idea of a tropical climate is just heaven. But also, I think part of the reaction is a general perception of the Caribbean as a place where people (Americans) go to relax and get away from the responsibilities and pressures of their daily lives, regardless of the weather.

The truth of the pace of life here in Barbados (or anywhere tropical) is a much bigger topic than I am able or prepared to talk about; however, I do feel that in terms of the responsibilities and pressures Americans feel, there is more than a little that seems self-made in nature. Education is no exception. And so I offer this piece from Lisa Murphy, which speaks very well to how we might begin to unravel some of the tension we carry around and place upon children as well. The original link is here, and without further ado...

November 29, 2008
RESISTING THE URGE TO CREATE TEACHABLE MOMENTS

By Lisa Murphy

Ooey Gooey® Membership Musing #6 July 2007

A little bit of history: This piece was originally written for an Indiana newspaper. There were 16 of us asked to be contributors for a special Father's Day Sunday paper insert. The original title was "Using Everyday Moments to Teach". I am not sure if my piece actually appeared in the paper, but I wanted to share it with you. I also wanted to change the title.

============================

When asked to be a contributor for the special newspaper insert mentioned above, I was honored. When told what the title of my piece would be I found myself letting out a big heavy sigh. The idea behind the original title, of course, is that we can use what goes on around us to impart knowledge to our young, and don't need to "go buy stuff" in order to teach things to our children. All in all this is true. What then was the reason for my big heavy sigh? Well, right now amid testing frenzy, elementary school level expectations showing up in preschool classrooms, teachers being second guessed, districts pressured to purchase pre-packaged, dry curriculum aligned with content standards, recess being outlawed, tag and running on play yards being banned, pressure on babies to be reading, toddlers doing homework and three and four year olds plastered to computers all in the name of"learning" while at the same time our society as a whole is showing evidence of a lack of communication skills, social skills and a general disappearance of common sense, maybe instead of another article about teaching and learning what we really need is for someone to say,"HOLD ON A MINUTE!! STOP! Everyone just slow down for a minute! Stop just for a second and take a breath." Parents are frantic, children are stressed. Pressure is coming at everyone from all sides. Very few are immune from these recent outlandish expectations. As a preschool owner and educator for almost 20 years, I would argue that instead of another article about teaching our kids, what is needed is permission to be with our kids. Permission to stay strong and resist the urge to make everything a teachable moment. Permission to listen to the birds in the yard without needing to know their genus and species. Permission to build with Lego blocks without needing to count how many we used. Permission to plant flowers without needing to take the "What color are they?" quiz. Permission is hereby granted to appreciate everyday moments without the "moment" needing to be folded, spindled or mutilated into a learning experience. I would send a gentle reminder that in our hunt for these teachable moments we can miss the forest for the trees. I shudder at the thought of folks starting to"plan" (can you imagine??!) everyday experiences to make sure our children are "learning things." As adults we often forget that children are constantly learning from the world around them. More often we forget that children are capable of learning things and acquiring knowledge without adult intervention. Now before you denounce me as just another liberal, learn as they go, touchy feely educator, I challenge you to hear me out on this one. First off, we want kids to read and write. No one is saying otherwise. What I am saying is that instead of learning being a natural, authentic experience which children take part in, it has become something done to them. Truth be told, most folks, young or old, don't like things done to them. Learning has been reduced to a list of items to be checked off a to-do list. Colors? Check! ABCs? Check! The entire process got skewed along the way and has become very frantic and forced both for adults and children alike. From Dr. Maxine Greene, education professor at New York University, "You cannot teach them anything unless they want to be there." With this maxim in mind, if every single outing to the zoo becomes an unnecessary and exhausting day of drill and kill (How many hippos? What color are the giraffes? Where is the alligator? What kind of bird is that?) the honest truth is that eventually kids aren't going to want to go to the zoo any more. And neither will you. To paraphrase Joseph Chilton Pearce in his book "Evolution's End" : little learning takes place from willful forced attempts to make children learn. Provide an appropriate environment and appropriate experiences and you cannot prevent their brains from learning because learning is what their brains are designed to do. Cheers to you Mr. Pearce! And here's to all of you too. Permission granted. I'll see you at the zoo.

===========================

Lisa Murphy, B.S., educator and author, CEO of Ooey Gooey Inc. and owner of The Ooey Gooey® Playschools, can be reached at her office via phone (800) 477-7977 or through her websites www.ooeygooey.com and www.ooeygooeyplayschools.com