Becoming adult!

Leading from and leading towards

Our word education comes, originally, from the two Latin words ex + ducere meaning to lead out of.  Education has always had this sense that, at its heart, it is about leading the child into adulthood.  In the modern world this notion has two elements two it: leading the child out of childhood and leading the child into the adult world.

This distinction is important to make as the second element, the adult world, has become startlingly more complex than it was even 200 hundred years ago.  As adults we need to be abreast of a wide range of knowledge and capabilities, and be able to function effectively in increasingly complex social and economic systems as we all move into an uncertain and challenging future.

So, it is appropriate that we develop curriculum and pedagogies to do this.

Let’s not forget, though, the other element to education, leading the child out of childhood and this has always been a job for adults providing a safe environment – both physically and psychologically – to encourage the childhood mind to let go and allow the adult mind to emerge.

But it seems we are forgetting, if young people’s rates of anxiety, depression and worse are any guide.

By all means let’s develop the curriculum and pedagogies that will support 21st century living but we must also develop young people with the confidence, creativity and collaborative skills to use these other capabilities.  We need to help them to be adults

That is the core role of educators.

 John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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