The Ultimate Consequence of One's Worldview Upon Educating Our Children (Part 1)

I was prompted recently to re-think the paradigm of what it means to function from a worldview when it comes to both roles as a parent and as an educator of children. A response to one of my previous blogs questioned the place of God in being a teacher. It posed a very important thought that undoubtedly needs significant consideration in order for me to be able to defend the place of my beliefs in my profession and as a parent. After all, is this not a primary concern of our nations educational plight. Typically, what we are seeing in our culture are either groups of people opposed to God in education, a lot of staunch conservatives who see God as being a vital asset to the school system, and those in-between who can be shaken either way. So, this is definitely not a newly considered topic. But, obviously one that has divided millions of people.

So, why not have a blog addressing it, as many others have? That is what I shall do! Hopefully I can at least shed some light on what it means operatively to have a worldview (which we all do), in the educational system. At first I need to hash out what the concept of a "worldview" means. Gary Palmer, a cultural linguistic professional said a worldview is: "the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing themes, emotions, and ethics." (***source available upon request***). Minus the wordiness, a worldview has an exhaustive impact upon all of our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and ultimately our actions. Though we don't always respond specific to our worldview, the end result and our views of ourselves and others will eventually shape into our worldview. We often deviate to religion when entertaining this concept. The idea of religion is a misnomer of sorts as it does not complete the picture of a worldview. Instead, it is a piece of what the worldview encompasses. Some religions are more heavily weighted in terms of worldview than others, but as a means of qualifying, religious beliefs in and of itself do not denote the entire portrait.

With a fairly general conception of worldview established, I have a practical example. A recent study done with a group of therapists and their clients upon receiving treatment, revealed that the therapists idea of success was typically not connected to the clients concept of personal growth. Instead, what typically indicated client success in the therapist's eyes revealed that it was highly attuned to the therapist's concept of what dictates the ideal life and/or a chosen theory of treatment, and the subsequent tenets of that theory. This said, if you were a therapist who concentrated primarily on helping a client change his/her behaviors (smoking, drinking, etc.) because you believed this to be his/her main deterrent toward a good life, and the client was able to change the behavior, then you would presume you were successful. However, when that client was asked shortly after therapy sessions, if behavior change was what they deemed success, the client revealed he/she was hoping for something entirely different, or maybe more comprehensive. The point of this study was to show that as professionals we have a way of introducing our own beliefs into what we do and how we perform, whether it is conducive to the good of others or not. I would say that the norm is that therapeutic impact is beneficial toward clients, but at times it has this adverse impact upon others where the therapist has sometimes subconsciously pushed a client into a specific definition of success based upon the therapist's own beliefs. Those beliefs may be entirely ineffective when it comes to a person's positive growth! We have missed the point, if we believe that therapy is the only vocation that would be impacted by our beliefs. Is our attitude toward people, success, ethics, etc. not integrated into our business practices, political agendas, and professional pursuits?

I believe this is entirely relevant to the field of education as well, because a I said before, we all have a worldview. Would it not have an ensuing impact on the manner in which we teach or educate as parents?

To take a fairly common view of life... If I believed that at the core humans are always good no matter what they choose, this would influence my approach to educating children. I would undoubtedly excuse negative-type behaviors toward others as being a reflection of a misplaced anxiety. And that eventually behavioral concerns would iron themselves out. Or, another view could be that I have concluded that environmental factors are always to blame for children's issues. If problems arose with a child, I would automatically look to parents, myself, or some broken-down system of influence as being the sole culprit. The child has no autonomy to make good decisions, instead I encourage the child to deflect from the influence and ultimately pressure that child into an opposing position toward those that have caused the harm.

While most worldviews don't pan out precisely this way, we can see how our attitudes can, and I believe always will, be manifested in our interactions with others, including children. This blog seeks to introduce the notion that we must always consider our beliefs about life in general as we are raising, parenting, and teaching children. The impact that our worldview has upon a child shapes so much of that child's approach to life and ultimately their development in either a positive or negative way. There is no in-between when it comes to interactions with children, everything they experience is either encouraging or discouraging to them. If we genuinely believe that children are worthy to receive love, guidance, and direction, because they, at the core are precious creations, then these beliefs will be exhibited in one way or another and the children themselves will reap the benefits of having people in their lives that view them as being worthwhile investments of time and energy. We could have any number of views about humanity as a whole and the effect would work itself into our presentation of educational material. We have only to consider our own experiences with teachers, our parents, and other influential figures, and to evaluate how they look at the whole of life, to see how they have impacted us positively or negatively with their beliefs.

Part 2 will lay out some more specificied and practical ways that we can maintain a worldview that will carry with it the most positive and formative application for educating and raising children.

Champions of One

The basis for this piece entitled: "Champions of One," is an assertion that hits very near to my own personal journey. It unfolds like this... I am pretty tired of feeling like I don't have an area of expertise. My personality is one that is too captivated by the idea of being okay at a number of things: athletics, intelligence, relationships, artistry. The ironic thing about this blog is that it flies in the face of my defense of the comprehensive childhood education. It does not contradict however, rather this blog really seeks to take the comprehensive outlook on the early childhood experience and allow it to foster a stronger sense of personal identity, hopefully leading to a more well-rounded perspective on one's ideal vocational lifestyle, including mine.

It appears to me that we are seeing a motivation in our culture for individuals to assert one or two specific talents or skills and to develop a lifestyle out of that. This could be the result of the financial meltdown that half of the world is experiencing. Or it could be because the newest generations in the working force are tiring of being blended into an enterprise at the expense of their true gifts. Some may disagree, but what I am seeing in our culture is a reassessment of how individuals can exit the antiquated rat race, and become more innovative. I know I am feeling this myself, as I have been making a living as a teacher and feeling the crunch to provide more for my family. So, what did I do? The juices started flowing, and through some significant efforts, I have nailed a part-time writing gig with an online network, am valeting to bring in some extra cash, and have begun the process of starting my counseling practice. I have seen a number of people reaching deeply into their capacities, fostering under-developed skills and talents, and subsequently have been led to a better understanding of their "calling."

I think this attitude of developing an area of expertise has far-reaching implications to the early childhood experience. Like I said previously, I am a huge advocate of the holistic education. This encompasses: spiritual development - leading into; physical, emotional, relational, and intellectual development. I believe that the most effective learning experience for a child is generated through a thorough and multi-faceted frame of reference. Addressing all of the aforementioned domains in a meaningful way precipitates further educational excellency. It is from this foundation, that I urge readers to help their children, or even themselves, find their niche.

I have applied this notion to raising my son, as I have already, at the age of 2, seen glimpses of what he is interested in, captivated by, and solicited more information about. I do not believe that I am getting ahead of myself with his idiosyncrasies, instead I believe that I am witnessing his unique nature unfolding piece by piece before my very eyes. And the more I pay attention to it, the more I can offer him guidance and support toward what he is truly called to do in his lifetime. I can obviously infect my own ideas into this, but if I am keeping an open mind as his interests surface, I can offer him the underpinnings with which he can eventually flourish. Children need an environment where they can learn to explore their own personal interests, rather than simply fulfilling the expectations of those around them. As they do explore, there is an unconscious construct of independent investigation that manifests, leaving the child to survey their own interests.

Myself, my son, and every other person I have ever come into contact with are not good at everything. We all have a unique skill set, sometimes similar, yet mostly singular (hopefully these skill sets are functioning for the betterment of the whole). The importance of an education starting at the earliest stage possible sets in motion an attitude within the child that their talents can have a special place in the grand orchestra of mankind. That they can contribute to the betterment of society through initiative and wisdom. As a child pursues their one (maybe two or three) areas of expertise, they can have the ultimate assurance that they are fulfilling their God-given purpose.

The Genesis of Formative Early Childhood Education

The title of this blog: "The Genesis of Formative Early Childhood Education," asserts the premise, that the sooner we get started injecting our children with a sense of personal identity and initiative, typically the less ominous the process of asserting their gifts and talents becomes later in life.

Have you ever taken a personality profile? Oh really? Think again. Included in this list of potential personality profiles that you have taken is the more scholarly; Myers-Briggs, Strengthfinders, Servants By Design, etc. In addition to these, are the, well... less scholarly magazine inventories, online assessments, facebook profiles, etc. So, now that we have established that almost everyone has completed, or has been curious enough to peruse a personality profile, let's consider what it would be like if by high school, we had a pretty strong idea of not only who we were, but had the inspiration to pursue our calling in life.

I have written in previous blogs that the 0-5 year old range of a child's life offers them the most opportune experiences for formative learning. The reason is that because our intrinsic motivation is at its prime response level. It is at this earliest stage that parents have the utmost responsibility to instill an internal model of functioning, where behavior expectations are rooted in an adequate assessment of personality, purposed in solid character development, and instilled with the greatest volume of truth. As we consider the early stages of the childhood experience, we typically gravitate one way or another as far as the impact of our parental influence. We either tarry toward complacency as we consider schooling to be the primary educational environment for children, and so we wait to foster our child's comprehension until they are five or six, and the "real" teachers take over. The opposite extreme is to believe that we are the end-all for our children, and if we don't prepare them prior to school, all of our work will be overthrown by under-performing school systems and inadequate teachers.

Dare I say that our calling to educate our children in the earliest years is of more importance than we could have ever known, and yet we need to fall in between the previously mentioned extremes. What we have come to realize in the Early Childhood and Child Therapy professions is that the success of children in their school careers is highly indicative of the attitude and success that they evoke coming into the school system at the very beginning. The field of educational research is showing this as the number of high school dropouts, the lack of success in many schools across the nation, and the overall lack of motivation that most students have has been tracked back to their comprehension at the pre-school level. This is why we must get a handle on the importance of early educational exposure and the value of the intrinsically-motivated child.

I believe the way we do this is through myriad strategies, but the most basic, as germane to the parental role, is to expose this information for what it is worth. There must be equal pressure and resources made available to parents and children of all socioeconomic backgrounds. We can not dumb down the truth of the matter, but rather, we must have systems of success that embrace the comprehensive education, exposing children to all sorts of meaningful learning experiences. Children need to have opportunities to explore and navigate their world with purposeful direction and discipline. We must understand the child's mind at appropriate developmental levels and enter their world at their level, while maintaining the influential role of disciple and educator. Most importantly, the Genesis of formative early childhood education begins with a paradigm shift of first, realizing that it is the all-important opportunity for children to experience a purposeful beginning that leads to a higher-quality end.