Am I an Activist?

Am I an activist? People keep asking me this question. And so I ask, what is an activist?

It seems to me that an activist has two lives; an internal life full of self inquiry, study of the world and reformation of process; and an external life in which the internal life is given to action, to form and purpose.

I have a very active internal life. It comes naturally to me; my upbringing cultivated a natural curiosity resident in my very core. It lead me to choose philosophy and biology in college, two fields where questioning reigns supreme. I am not naturally a shy person, but it is fair to say that I am more comfortable in an observer’s role. I enjoy watching the world (internal and external) unfold around me. I enjoy the paradoxes, the interconnection, the self-similarity in nature, myself and my fellow beings. And I am quite observant.

I am not, however, a natural shit stirrer. Maybe that’s because I was raised by two of them and I have observed what happens to shit stirrers—they often get left holding the shitty end of the stick. So, I prefer the role of bridge builder, diplomat, mediator, moving behind the scenes and then watching the play unfold.

Can one be both a behind the scenes person and an activist? At first blush I would say no. An activist has to be willing to be outspoken, to fly in the face of the oppressor, to rage against the machine, to create big waves loudly in order to organizes and motivate, to be a shit stirrer. And I am not that person. But, in sitting with this question I have really tried to look at the essential nature of activists. There are two essential elements to every activist I have ever known, or read about. First, an acceptance of change as consistent and seen as an opportunity, something to be embraced not repelled. Two, a deep, undying love for humanity. Other than that, there are as many ways to be an activist as there are being on this marble.

So, am I can activist? Yes. Hell yes! And do you know what? So are you. For you would not be reading this if you did not think change was possible, likely, even necessary, and if you didn’t care deeply about your fellow beings. So what are you waiting for? Permission? Give it to yourself. Go do something, make something happen. How? What? When? Those are really6 great questions and a great place to start your self-inquiry. Me? I am doing this: www.summainstitute.org and if you are ever in Portland, Oregon, come sit with me and we can swap shitty stick stories and celebrate our unique activist expressions!

Wisdom not Knowledge 2

What is wisdom? Is it the accumulation of knowledge? Does it spring from experience or accomplishment? Is wisdom in our thoughts? In our hearts? In our navels?

Wisdom is not a disembodied intellectual concept. Nor is wisdom a rarefied set of honed skills, standards, or objective truths. Rather, wisdom is a whole being experience of self, spirit, and being.

Wisdom is always inclusive of our emotions, body, brain, and heart along with the whole evolving history of our interpersonal relationships and personal development. Wisdom is built on and emerges from the foundation of self-knowledge—relational to any age and stage of growth.

Qualities of adult wisdom involve integration of all aspects of self. Other qualities of adult wisdom involve individuation of the self in service of the wholeness of being while simultaneously being connected to the greater good. All of these factors together yield an experience of integrity and meaning that serves purpose.

However, wisdom is not a perfectionist goal or rarefied awareness. Rather wisdom is available at any age of development when a person is able to access and act from their inherent developmental capacities available and within the boundaries of individual context.

What brings forth wisdom? The path to wisdom emerges in relationship. The relationship between parent and child is one such context in which wisdom can emerge in both adult and child simultaneously. We call this wisdom-based relationship.

Wisdom-based relationship is not primarily cognitive; rather, it is visceral, empathic, and a kind of knowing that is a fundamental connection between I and thou (adult and child). The experience of wisdom in relationship lies in an open appreciation of the other which moves beyond personal interests. It is our ability to see and feel our children’s consciousness in ourselves and relate to our child in his or her language, meaning, and developmental moment.

One beauty of parenting is that nurturing well-being in our child stimulates increased well-being and the development of wisdom qualities in us as adults. The method involves conscientious relationship to nurturing development in the child coupled with self-observation and reflection.

Your conscientious use of Natural Learning Relationships has the potential to bring forward wisdom-based relationships with your child. The result is delicious moments of meaningful relationship that last a lifetime.

The decline of thinking outside the box

While IQ scores are indisputably on the rise, American creativity levels are bottoming out. Analysis of the results of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking suggests that the creative abilities of American children have been spiraling downward for almost 20 years. The Torrance tests analyze young children's ability to come up with original ideas and put them into practice. Kyung Hee Kim, an assistant professor at the College of William & Mary School of Education, found that scores on Torrance tests taken by children up to 6th grade between 1968 and 2008 showed a steady decline after 1990. That's a serious issue at a time when creative thinking is among the most desperately needed skills in the American workplace. A recent study found that 85 percent of employers concerned with hiring creative people say they can't find the right applicants. Kim blamed America's standards-obsessed schools for creating an environment in which creative thinking was not nurtured. "Creative students cannot breathe, they are suffocated in school," she said. "Then they become underachievers." http://theweek.com/article/index/219002/are-americans-smarter-than-ever

I thought it is interesting that although IQ test scores have risen…in the last century [my note: for what is asked on IQ tests…which one could argue is cultural and socioeconomically driven…] Creativity is declining…that is, read on. [my note: now why this is happening is not known, but let us not forget the rise of pharmaceuticals in the last 20 years…some attribute this decline to more hours in front of TV…but I attribute the whole thing to lack of RELATIONSHIP with the child’s developmental needs]

Co-curricular

I came across a new term today: co-curricular, well new to me. Now as my husband will attest, I make up words all the time. It is part humor, part just how I think and partly that I am just the world’s worst speller. So when I first read this term, I immediately thought, oh my goodness, this is it! This is how we can talk about the co-created curriculum that we will feature at the Summa Academy. Other people are talking about how to birth curriculum in relationship with the student, the teacher and the family--co-curriculum –how wonderful and what a perfect way to express the idea.

Anyone who knows me will also tell you that I am a bit of an optimist, and often give people a little more credit than they are often due (at times). Well unfortunately this was one of those times. Imagine my disappointment when I Googled [why does spell check not recognize this as a word yet, sheesh] the term and found out that it is used commonly to mean “complementing but not part of the regular curriculum.” Blah. Not interesting. When I was a kid we called these electives. Why invent a new term when that one did just fine?

Okay, get over the disappointment and put my thinking cap on… I need a new word that represents the idea that curriculum can and should be co-created by the student, the teacher and the parent, in relationship to the student’s natural talents, stage of development, areas of need and individual passions. I know we are not the first to think of this, and it is a brilliant concept, so let’s create a new word so that we can all find one another (hello # on twitter) and bring this great concept forward. The keys seem to be curriculum, create and relationship. How about Creacurrucularship? Too long. Co-curricularship, I’m liking that one. Or relacreaculum. What do you think?

Starting school

Okay so many of you have already sent your little ones off to Kindergarten, but for us, it has not started yet. Yesterday I finally sat down to fill out the enrollment papers for my daughter’s Kindergarten year. I admit it, I had been putting it off as long as possible, and I am usually not a procrastinator. But, as an educator myself, I was apprehensive about peering under the hood of another school’s process. How could they possibly live up to my admittedly super high, reasonably so, expectations?

Most of it was to be expected, emergency info, vaccine info, pick-up procedure agreement, etc. And I am fine with this, logistics are necessary. But one form stuck out to me… the family questionnaire (hear foreboding music in the background). This form is the only one where you can offer information about your child. This is your space (two pages) to tell them about your child, who they are, your hopes and dreams for their school year and most importantly to me, your expectations. Two pages! How on earth am I supposed to relay my child, and my expectations for the school in guiding her developing consciousness, in just two pages?!

Saddled with this ridiculous challenge I sloshed my way through their questions. When I came to the last question, “what are your expectations for your child’s year?” I could contain myself no more; I unleashed my mama-bear and wrote the following poem:

I expect you to treat her with the utmost care and appreciation

I expect you to guide her through her challenges

I expect you to teach her how to be in relationship with her own power, by you being in relationship to yours

I expect you to learn from her

I expect you to help her to see other options when she gets frustrated, without making her feel bad for not knowing them in the first place

I expect you to be engaged in your own learning and self-reflection

I expect you to care more for the process that the outcome

I expect the classroom environment to reflect the learning you hope to inspire in the children

I expect you to enjoy her and to enjoy yourself in the process

I expect you to be patient with yourself as you learn how to relate to her

I expect you to encourage her, showing her new avenues for learning

I expect you to engage her on every level

I expect you to watch all the children and to pay attention to the interpersonal dynamics amongst them, offering guidance when needed, but not overpowering their learning.

I expect you to love her as all teachers ought to love their students, for the greatness that resides in each of them, that greatness which pours out of them when they are nurtured appropriately

I expect you to learn as much or more than you teach

I expect you to teach in time with the rhythm of all the children in your class

I expect you to deliver the right information, at the right time, in the right way

I expect you to relax and have fun

Is that too much to ask?

Be a builder or be a leader?

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to lead Summa Institute. What does it mean to be an Exeuctive Director? What am I trying to do? What do I want to inspire and how do I do that?

Recently I attended two education conferences, the NW Holistic Education Conference on Orcas Island at Salmonberry School and the AERO conference in Portland. At both conferences I met amazing people doing incredible things and I began to think about my role and what I am trying to do with Summa Institute. I began to deeply participate in the question that drives this blog. And an idea took root and has been growing in me over the last few weeks. It is this: I am not leading, I am building. I am a bridge builder. A bridge is built by first seeing a need (we have to have a way of crossing this body of water – and not by boat); then a plan for the bridge is created, what kind of bride is it?; when it comes time to build the bridge, one side is fixed and the other side is variable (you never know exactly where the bridge will land on the other side until you start to build it).

The need: a fundamental change in the way people relate to themselves and the other people in their lives. A need to be in relationship to consciousness, to allow it’s un-obstructed manifestation through each of us, as each of us.

The bridge: is NLR, no question.

I recently became a part of a really interesting group of people at Cooperative Catalyst (this is related, I promise). This group of people have come together to “change education as we speak”, sounds like what I want to do. While reading a post there I came across this post reference and I was struck, he said: “Here's the problem in a nutshell. What leaders "lead" are yesterday's organizations. But yesterday's organizations are broken. Today's biggest human challenge isn't leading broken organizations slightly better. It's building better organizations in the first place. It isn't about leadership: it's about "buildership", or what I often refer to as Constructivism. Leadership is the art of becoming, well, a leader. Constructivism, in contrast, is the art of becoming a builder — of new institutions.”

And so, my friends, I am coming to realize that I am not a leader, I am a builder, a builder of bridges. I am building a bridge from where we are today (a society in relationally confused hell), to one in which we care for our children and ourselves by being in relationship to consciousness, the way it is talked about here.

Baby steps

Okay, so by now most of you know that we are not in fact opening the Summa Academy this fall. Yes, that's right the building fell through, again. Why it has been so hard for us to find a building is something I am still struggling with. It just makes no sense to me, this is a city for crying out loud, isn't there one small building that is just right for us. Hell, at this point I would settle for mostly good. Alas, it is not here now, so we keep looking.

In the meantime, I have decided it is time to take an interim step, one that will get us a little closer to the ultimate goal of opening the Institute. We have an office, which is part of a wonderful space called the Warehouse (a project of Portland Green Parenting). Here we have a 300SF space that has room for small meetings, a play corner for my girls (now 5 & 2!) and a desk (with an enormous printer that my husband got donated) for me to "work" at. It is wonderful. I can come in with the girls and work while they play and there are so many great people who come through. The Warehouse houses a cafe, a community room (where we are holding parenting courses), Daisies and Dinos a children's resale shop, and Know Thy Food a bulk food buying coop. If you are ever in the hood, stop by, I am not holding regular business hours at the moment, but you might catch us on Tuesday afternoons. It feels great to have a space and I look forward to whatever comes next!

Oh and like us on facebook, if you have not done so already. http://www.facebook.com/summainstitute