Increased efficiency is NOT the answer to the educational crisis that we are facing. A focus on efficiency automatically implies a focus on measurability. The problem with making the measurable important is that what is truly important in life cannot be measured. How do we measure love, friendship, harmony, happiness or fulfilment? These are unquantifiable values.
We can be efficient with paperwork, but not with people. We can be efficient with machines, but not with human beings. Human beings – and children are human beings, by the way – require EFFECTIVENESS. And effectiveness is all about the quality of relationships.
A healthy approach to education requires a focus on the nurturing of healthy relationships. And the most important relationship to nurture is the relationship we have with ourselves. A healthy approach to education is one that encourages us to go WITHIN and to connect with our own innate passion, creativity, wisdom and purpose. This is the exact opposite of what the school system achieves. It encourages children to look OUTSIDE themselves for answers; for love, approval, success and meaning. Of course it does, it was created for the advent of the Industrial Age. It is an outside-in (“do as you’re told”) model of education designed to create an outside-in workforce and society.
It is time for a new paradigm – a new conceptual framework – for education and learning. The conversation needs to shift from “how to do school better” to “how to do education differently”. We need to adopt an inside-out (“I trust you”) approach. One that can support the emergence of a simpler way of living and being. One that teaches (enables) children to live in harmony with each other, with nature and with all living beings on this planet.
If we truly wish to live in a world of peace, community spirit, ecological awareness and abundance – and I passionately believe that this IS possible in our lifetime – then it is up to us, the people, as individuals, to look inside ourselves, to listen to the gentle calling of our hearts and to make some big choices. Clearly, we can no longer depend on our self-serving politicians and inertia-laden governments to solve our problems for us.
It is up to us.
Never, ever underestimate your power to make a difference in this world. No one is more or less important than anyone else. We are all unique and beautiful pieces of the human jigsaw puzzle. And each and every piece makes a difference, has an effect on the overall picture. My choice is to accept responsibility for the world in which I am living. I invite you to do the same.
Eduspire 
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