GUARDIANSHIP

Q. I think you emphasize the importance of the feminine influence at the expense of the masculine. Don't you agree that children need the balance of both influences?

A. In the above photo, the clear, intelligent gaze of the child shines through a beautiful countenance.  Heart to heart, in the strong, protective arms of the loving father, the little one sits poised to take on the world. The Designer whispers to the child to explore endlessly; to touch and manipulate everything; to fearlessly connect with the surroundings. The child feels safe in the embrace of a valorous love that that would give its life for the child’s. This moving expression of masculine guardianship energizes the toddler’s full throttle venture into an inviting world. Who can effectively challenge such a formula for each child’s highest achievement of a unique destiny?

 Yet, for over a century, humankind has attempted to supersede this Design for childhood’s most brilliant expression.  At the beginning of the nineteenth century business tycoons and prominent persons in the U.S. sought a suitable model to educate the future workforce. A delegate to Prussia saw that the school children sat still and silent in rows, obediently tending to tasks assigned by the stern-faced teacher, speaking only when prodded by the militaristic presence at the front of the room. Once adopted, this authoritarian model severed academics from livingness in forced confinement. A systemic inversion of masculine power banished feminine influence at the expense of a child’s natural growth in intelligence. Future generations learned to distrust and authoritatively subdue childhood’s persistent drive to engage the world, to break through the walls of restraint.

Some of us remember special teachers that did tear down the walls. My 7^th grade teacher, Mrs. Trader, shines as a sterling model and mentor.  During world history I remember the joy of designing a Greek house with scrounged tiles from a construction site. What fun it was to divide into groups for lively discussions of the stories in the basal reader. To this day, I recall well the Civil War period, because the Abraham Lincoln Play served as our review and ‘test’. Writing the play, memorizing lines and making props and costumes required hard work directed by collaborative enthusiasm. In Mrs. Trader’s class I discovered I loved to write.

The contrast between the lusterless eyes of the cowed children across the hall, that moved about in straight, silent lines—and the bright, intelligent expressions of the children in Mrs. Trader’s class made a lasting impression. As the audience for the Abe Lincoln play, was the other group’s enjoyment tinged with yearning?

At the end of the day, the teacher across the hall stood sedately by the door as her subdued group filed out. Yet, I often noted that as our lively group exited, Mrs. Trader wearily cradled her head in her arms folded on the desk.

I now appreciate that the success of each day pivoted on Mrs. Trader’s exhaustive creative expression that sparked our own. She offered her whole heart to orchestrate, rather than subdue, our exuberance.

Mrs. Trader, I am deeply grateful to have flourished that year in a heart field charged with such intelligent, compassionate, valorous love. May the Spirit that expanded your heart, energize education today, and free the brilliance of childhood.

May the balanced presence of Feminine Intuition and Masculine Guardianship revere the deep pools of intelligence that shine through each child’s eyes. May the example of a single teacher’s bold departure from the norm in the ‘50’s become the norm of today. In school and out, may the Valorous Masculine empower the endlessly, restlessly exploring hands and feet – the Designer’s Tools of Potential gifted to children for the stimulation of genius – imminent and transcendent.