It’s magic!

There is much more to knowing someone than knowing about them

Emergence is the term used for a phenomenon which is the closest thing to magic that is still admissible scientifically.  It refers to a new feature arising when two or more elements come together in a relationship that has synergy, meaning the total is greater than the sum of the parts.

Our eyes are an elegant example, neither eye has depth perception but when we put two eyes together in the right relationship, depth perception emerges as a new property that brings advantage to the eyes’ owner.

When an adult and a child come together in the right type of relationship then new properties arise, especially for the child, such as trust, understanding and the possibility of becoming more than they currently are.

In Red Brain Blue Brain, I describe this type of relationship as Encounter and when a student experiences this with a teacher they will never forget them, because of the magical nature of the experience.

Emergence - Sayaka Ganz - 2008

Historically, schools have focused on developing knowledge and skills, have focused less on developing autonomy, and not really focused at all on creating these emergent experiences for young people.

To develop autonomy, we provide space for young people to think and act under their own volition, which means refraining from jumping in either to rescue or to control.

To create magic, we get to know young people by paying full attention.  We might get to know about them, too, but this is not essential if we know them in a way that allows new properties to arise within them.  It is that that they need from us.

Emergence is an emergent property of our schooling systems.

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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