THE TRUE COMMON CORE (Part 1 of 6)

At the Living Ethics School we glimpse the spiritual, shared core of humanity when children engage with sunlit nature; and when enthusiasm and initiative drive meaningful learning. 

Recently, the 5^th and 6^th grade geometry classes merged with plans to build a small cob (clay, sand & straw structure) on the property. With avid interest the students viewed building techniques as we watched You-Tube videos. In math class solving for the area and volume of rectangles and triangles included graph paper floor plans for individual cob house replicas. Eagerly the young architects drew up unique floor plans for miniature cob houses.

After about two weeks of preparation, on a crisp Indian summer day under clear blue skies, happy anticipation reigned as the architects filled small buckets with clay, sand and water, gathered handfuls of straw, and filled pitchers with water. Armed with the needed construction tools and materials, we headed for a large tarp spread out on the grass.

Soon mirth converged with focused concentration as the builders mixed the clay/sand/straw mud with bare feet (as seen in the videos) and formed diminutive cob bricks with their hands. 

What teachers and parents, who are devoted to the children in their care, don’t relish opportunities to sync learning with enthusiastic participation? By necessity this level of unforgettable learning must escape the confines of tightly controlled regimentation in order to soar on the wings of spontaneity.  

This six-part discussion, calls our attention to the true Core (The Soul/Heart/Brain Complex) held in Common by our children as the Source of all true learning. The following Allegory of the Cave Culture, hints at the century-long, persistent slide into ever more rigid centralized, regimentation, driven by a Core of Control, which John Holt aptly designated ‘schooling’ in lieu of ‘education’. 

The Allegory of the Cave Culture – Part One

Entrapment 

There’s an ancient myth of dwellers of an earthly paradise, which due to a local catastrophe sought refuge in a nearby cave.  When falling rocks and boulders sealed the entrance, the people became hopelessly entrapped in a vast system of caverns. 

Through many generations families learned to survive in dimly lit subterranean vaults. Those who had once basked in sunlit meadows gradually died away, and new generations assumed that living in a shadowy cave matrix was normal. Tales of former days of freely exploring bright realms of beauty were relegated to fanciful myths. 

The serious education of the children came to consist primarily of traversing dark labyrinths, and committing to memory the twists and turns of narrow passageways. A Cave Culture grew up which included businesses that sprouted up to provide books, tests, and electronic devices for Labyrinth Learning. The corporate entities that invested heavily became heavily vested in the lucrative continuance and growth of Cave Culture Curricula. 

Children labored in dimly light passageways, allowed only limited, highly controlled access to a powerful interior source of light—the imagination. This faculty of potential exploration, invention, and creation lay dormant in dusty recesses of intellect.  The ability to imagine light-filled fields of freedom, not only distracted from Minutia Memory, it could lead to vigorous attempts to seek enlightenment.

To be continued in The True Common Core: Part two