chsiung

There is dancing like it’s the salsa… you flirt, you love, you flourish. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a bit of that sensuality in our relationships with our friends? with our work? with our hobbies?

There is fighting in combat… you’re in the moment, focused, disciplined, committed. Isn’t this the key to making the worthwhile things happen in our lives?

I did well in our Canadian school system. Straight A student… full scholarship. After a few years though, you learn pretty quick that the ‘A’ doesn’t mean much in the context of life. In fact, now that I think about it… school isn’t teaching much of what we should be learning right? Consider that learning how to “follow the rules”, “listen to authority”, “regurgitate information” doesn’t seem to create the kind of citizen we want in this world.

So what do we want our kids to learn? Well here are a few thoughts:

One is a desire to learn.

Two is a curious and investigative mind.

Three is a willingness to fail and learn.

Four is a concern for the community AND the world.

Five is the persistence to practice well and follow through.

Six is an understanding of creating and innovating.

AND there is probably much more…

However, based on these goals, a school would look very different wouldn’t it? A school’s role then is really to teach them how to learn rather than strictly teaching them “what” to learn. Admittedly, guidance and direct teaching is still very necessary. But even more necessary is the understanding that how we tackle sport’s challenges, math challenges, relationship challenges can also be how we tackle life challenges.

Well… all I can say at the moment.

The Inuit would say that you are wise when you are able to do what needs to be done successfully without being told to do it.

The question remains though… what needs to be done? And what is success? The challenges of the environment, of poverty, of war are huge, but with enough caring and thoughtful people, it might just be possible for humanity to become wiser.