Listening in and Trusting
I have always considered myself to be a good listener.
A few years ago a fifth grader came up me and asked, “What is your super power?”
She filled the space in which I was thinking, with “I run fast.”
“I listen,” I shared, while thinking to myself ‘some day you will get it.’
My ability to listen is developing, evolving and expanding. New ways, new possibilities arise for me every moment to listen, to listen in a new way. Recently, I have been aware, attuned to messages that find their way to me, messages to write, messages to share. It is one thing to receive the message; it is another to take action. I am taking action.
Looking back, I can reflect on how I have been taking action in my life. I show up. I notice. I observe. I write. I ponder. I ask questions.
Last year, I shared this as my first Instagram post:
So relevant! Simple and profound. Speaking to me. NOW is the time.
A few weeks later I posted these words along with the pictures below:
“Intent or thought without action is not enough.” Mike Dooley.
“Act Now, have courage. Activate spontaneous right action.” Anand Mehrotra.
So here it is, I am a writer who is working on a book that asks us to see children for who they are and what they are capable of!
Earlier this year made this site accessible to whoever finds its way to it. I added the rouses section to share my thoughts about education. And today, in response to recent messages that have arrived to me, I am sharing more.
I have always welcomed discourse, discussion and debate. I ask questions. I want to know more. Throughout my 20 years of teaching, I have discovered folks that are interested in knowing more too. In our conversations and discussions, in our observations and our exchanges, I know I am not alone when I say:
*Children have a voice that asks to be heard
*Education is much more than content
I have witnessed that we as teachers want to control out of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear that we need to adhere and stick to what is being asked of us, fear of time. We seek, we look for answers to questions that affirm what we know and believe rather than listen to what children have to say, their understanding, their intent, their purpose, their reasoning, their explanation, their perspective.
I have found, from my own experience, that when teachers and adults are open to what children have to say about their understanding of their world and how it works or how they perceive it, possibilities open.
Every being. Every moment. Every opportunity. Every possibility.
I yearn for a time where “we” put aside our thinking, our beliefs, our understandings, to LISTEN to what children have to say about their own
Thinking
Understanding
Knowing
Sense of belonging
There is more that I know. I trust that you know too. I am taking action and moving towards trust and sharing what I know. How do I know? I know from my experiences, my interactions, my reflections. I know:
Children are engaged when learning is connected with their life
Children learn when they are interested
Children learn when they are invested
Children seek to make meaning
It is natural for children to explore, analyze, test and investigate
Children use multiple means to express themselves, their knowings
Listening and responding along with problem solving are involved in learning
Children learn through play
The importance of taking an inquiry stance, asking open-ended questions to understand their process
The environment provides endless possibilities for children to create, explore, discover and wonder
Children take an active role in their learning, in their understanding when they ponder, explore and discover
When children are active participants in their learning they are engaged, they feel valued
When you step out of the way, children see things that are unseen to adults
Children are able to resolve conflicts on their own
Children are capable and competent
Children are wise and knowledgeable
Children are resourceful
Opportunities to learn are everywhere, they are not bound to constructs of rooms and buildings
Life is not separated into compartments and discipline. It is connected, it is integrated, it is full, it is whole.
The purpose of life is to learn, to grow, to evolve.
We learn from one another.
We learn alongside each other.
Learning is interactive.
Learning is dynamic.
Opportunities to learn are all around us, here in every moment.
When we truly listen, when we listen to what another is saying, hearing their words in real time, seeing the container in which their words are held, not waiting to respond, we are being present. In the moment, nothing else is important except what is being said.
Listening to one another opens possibilities to experience new ideas.
What an exciting time to listen.
Listening in and trusting. Inviting you to do the same,
Sara