Feb 27, 2018
Real-world problem solving, youth empowerment
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Real-world problem solving, youth empowerment
Real-world problem solving, youth empowerment
In recent years, we’ve seen a movement to participate in social change by K-12 students. Whether they are raising money to support a cause, finding solutions to problems in their environment, or actively participating in organizations and government, students are asking to have a hand in making their world better.
How self-directed learning makes your child a better contributor to society
Get inspired: x x x x Learn more about democratic schools: x x Check out these college alternatives and alternative degrees: x x x x x x x Message me & ask me questions, I’ll be happy to help you out!
A story about a boy named “Abe
Abraham Maslow, known to his friends as Abe, was a Russian-Jewish boy born in 1908. During his childhood in New York City, he had a lofty dream to change the world. That idea began to take root when Abe attended the University of Wisconsin. He chose to study psychology, simply because it was socially practical and useful. His degree led him to a position as a professor of psychology at Brooklyn College.
Abe felt that each of the major theories of psychology was valid in its points, but he believed they were still missing something. So he combined them all and developed Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. But his work still wasn’t complete. During World War II, he analyzed the traits of prosperous and emotionally healthy individuals, which he later coined as self-actualization. Abe genuinely believed that the highest functioning individuals were ordinary people that had all of their basic needs met, and therefore could focus on greater thoughts, ideas, joys, and fulfillments.
By 1954, Abe published the book that spiraled him into fame, Motivation and Personality. Up until this point, most of the psychological research was negative, and his work was all about positive perspectives.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy is a simple pyramid with five levels, which begins with physiological needs on the bottom level and progresses to more psychological needs with each superior level. He claims that you cannot move to the next level without being fulfilled at the current stage.
1. Physiological Needs. Everyone requires basic food to remain healthy, enough water to stay hydrated, and adequate sleep to function well. If these needs are unmet, a person will devote all of their energy to satisfying these requirements.
2. Safety. Assurance that you will have a roof over your head, a job that provides enough money, a healthy body, and a family is key components of the safety level. These are predictable, comfortable, and reassuring.
3. Love and Belonging. After our physiological and safety needs are met, humans require intimate relationships. This includes love from family members and sexual intimacy with a spouse, but also authentic friendships. Without these essential components, a person feels worthless, lonely, and invaluable.
4. Esteem. Self-esteem and self-confidence come from higher levels of achievement combined with respect from others. I experienced first-hand in high school how the respect and support of my parents and the school staff gave me courage and confidence to reach higher and to achieve great things.
5. Self-Actualization. The final stage and the one Abe encourages us all to strive towards is self-actualization. Once all other levels are met, we are able to better problem solve and be creative. We can better accept facts and act without prejudice towards others. We can accept our self for who we are and can appreciate life to the fullest. Self-actualizing people are independent, honest, aware of others, more objective, creative, and original. The Democratic environment and the Judicial Committee process at Makarios Community School promote and support self-actualization through everyday activities that require problem-solving and awareness of others.
Psychologists agree that self-actualizing people:
Have an accurate perception of reality.
Admit their mistakes and failures.
Find it easy to be spontaneous.
Are better able to “major on the majors” and “minor on the minors”.
Don’t mind being alone.
Aren’t easily swayed by cultural fads or unanimity of a crowd.
Tend to be more empathetic, kind, and caring toward others.
Value and respect all individuals.
Have few yet deeper friendships.
Better understand how things are interconnected, and therefore are more creativeWrap that all up into one person and bam - that’s the kind of kid you want to raise!
Why you should push your kids up the pyramid?
We no longer live in a society where we are battling to survive plagues, maintain crops through a drought, barter my chickens for your grain, or keep our roof from caving in. People of the modern world generally have full bellies, a large roof over their head, and a decent social life.
Maslow stated, “I think of the self-actualizing man not as an ordinary man with something added, but rather as the ordinary man with nothing taken away.” We can provide our ordinary kids with all of their basic needs so that they can do extraordinary things in our world.
Obviously, you should feed, clothe, bathe, and house your children in such a way that they feel safe and secure. But also love them deeply for who they are. Support their blooming personalities and their instincts through the choices they make (even if it means they wear stripes and plaid together).
Affirm their character. Remind your children they are valuable, smart, worthy, unique, courageous, adventurous, etc. It can be as simple as “I’m proud of you for putting away your clothes before choosing to Minecraft” or as complex as “I admire how you are always brave. It’s not easy to stand up to the bully who is making fun of your friend.”
Challenge them mentally. Ask your children why they do what they do. “Why do you like to pack your own lunch?” “Why do you like to swing more than slide?” “Why do you like to collect Pokémon cards and what do you gain from playing the game?
Encourage their friendships. We know that some friends come and go while others last for a lifetime. And none of us would be the person we are today without friends to walk the road with us. Foster your kid's friendships as if they were your own. That may include hosting a sleepover for teenage girls and GI Joe birthday parties for rowdy boys.
When you fulfill all of the basic needs, your child is free to rise. Cover levels one through four so you can push your child upwards to the top tier. Then they can dream about changing the world, and then actually do it.
Learn more about how a democratic free school like Makarios Community School provides a self-directed learning environment for your child(ren) to find their passions and the freedom to pursue their dreams.
Source : Makarios community school
Summerhill school
Summerhill school, for those who don't know about it, is a school in England which is one of the most amazing things I've heard of. It's a democratic school, which don't really survive well in England, and no one knows that better than Summerhill, as the government was very set on shutting them down until recent years. The whole point of summerhill is that it's a democratic society. People are in positions of power yes, like leaders of houses or people in charge of 'lights out'/'curfew times', but ultimately, everyone in the school has their fair say; each member of the school had one vote. Twice a week the students, and staff, all attend a meeting to discuss issues and to do justice to those who have done wrong or been wronged, or to put rules or motions in to place. It then, of course, is no surprise, that a rule was passed making all lessons optional. At the beginning of every term the students are given a timetable which they fill in with the subjects THEY want to study. While this can include English and maths, these subjects can be replaced with more vocational lessons including woodwork, art or even magic trick classes! And even then, you have no obligation to show up to classes. The students can literally do nothing but play the entire term, but that's the beauty of the system. The founder of summerhill, A.S Neill, held a philosophy to do with this boredom; he believed that eventually a time comes for each student where boredom must be replaced by curiosity, and this is what he believed forces the students to motivate themselves to learn- because of what they want to learn, rather than what a curriculum dictates. So I hear you ask, is the school actually viable? Well yes, it is. Though the school doesn't particularly agree with report cards or standardised testing, there was an Ofsted report completed for the school in 2015, which inspected the school to see if it was fit for purpose. Remarkably, summerhill outperformed my own school judging by this report, summerhill being literally 'outstanding' in many areas. What was most obvious from my research into summerhill so far, was that students attending democratic schools are happier and safer than those who don't. In a recent survey, 0% of students who had attending democratic schools said they would attend any other kind of school. Which begs the question, how on earth are we still following the factory model for schools?
A highly functional democracy
I think we’re all asking the questions. Is democracy failing? Has our democracy been hacked? How could that happen? What do we do about it? Are there other options? How do we let go of the patriarchy? If we do, can we really thrive in a democracy where everyone gets a say?
Well, I’m not about to answer those questions for you. I am going to share something I’ve recently gotten to observe that proves to be a highly functional democracy where I see my little boy thriving every day. Even at home, he is thriving again after several years of struggle and resistance around school and lots of other things, including not getting his way about something he wanted to do that us as parents did not. What he is experiencing at school, he is bringing home and teaching us how to better hear each other’s’ voices and take votes to make choices that best represent the desires of the group, while ensuring everyone’s ideas get recognized. It’s amazing how just being heard eases the realization that it’s not going your way this time, but it might the next time we have ideas and vote.
I remember one of the things, Margaret, a student of Makarios Community school, told my husband and me on our first tour of the school. “No one here has any more power or worth than anybody else. That’s why we call the teachers mentors. They might know more about some things because they’ve been around longer, but we are all on the same level. They listen to us and care about our voice. We make the rules together too. Everyone matters, everyone has power, and everyone gets a say.”
Jordan and I love seeing this modeled so close to home and are playing with it now in our own home. As we do, there is a natural easing into more trust of our children’s uniqueness and sovereignty. We see the newly researched and proven idea that we as humans are not separate and in competition but connected and cooperative beginning to take root and work for us in our home. What we are experiencing is more peace, more connection, more trust, more cooperation, and a lot more fun!
Freedom is our birthright and believing in ourselves as separate and finite beings in competition with one another has cost us our freedom and our ability to thrive as a democracy. I really love the research of Gregg Braden who brings to light the new scientific research regarding our true power, connectivity and the natural tendency to collaborate. I see this sovereignty, connectivity, and collaboration at work every day when I walk into Makarios, and I am grateful to be experiencing more of it in my life, partly as a result. We deserve freedom! Our children deserve freedom too and they, like we the people, are capable of governing themselves.
At Makarios, they function under the four agreements, which are stated simply, be impeccable with your word (aka be kind to yourself and others), take nothing personally, make no assumptions, and always do your best. The thing is because everyone has a voice, and the environment is founded on mutual respect and the benefit of the doubt, it totally works! From there everyone proposes and votes on the rules, and they come up with some groovy solutions for perceived problems or things that are not functioning ideally. They all get to think outside the box and be innovative creators of their little reality. They are all thriving as a result.
This Thanksgiving, I offered our experience of Makarios as one of my biggest gratitudes, particularly as I see the state of our government that is in shambles.
And, I ask you, if this moves you if you are wondering what can you do amidst a world of things that just aren’t working, maybe you would be willing to invest in this thriving community. Because we are One, when we bless others, we bless ourselves. So, if you bless Makarios in any way, whether it’s through intentional prayer and gratitude, just knowing that this exists as an option for humanity and holding it sacred, or by giving financial resources, we all win! Makarios is currently accepting financial donations, which will be matched up to $50,000 by a single donor. So, your financial blessing will be doubled and go toward building playground equipment, giving the amazing mentors a raise (they deserve it!), running the school while keeping tuition costs down, offering scholarships, so Makarios is accessible to everyone, and more.
After all, Makarios, in Greek, means blessed or happy and isn’t that what we all want. To be blessed and happy. So, if you bless Makarios, I trust that your blessing will be returned to you multiplied. Thank you!
Kelci Hart Brock is a change artist who is inspired and enlivened by her children, inner and outer, be alive and live a wholehearted life full of fun, freedom and frisky energy! Guided by Mark Twain, she enjoys writing and sharing her journey with others in fun and creative ways. Her recent playful interest includes compiling a book called "Mommy, what's the F~word?", which encourages parents to stop lying to themselves and their kids and start telling the wholehearted truth, in order to build a faith-full foundation of connection, freedom and true+sustainable joy.
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