The Link #23 - Wholeschool — An Initiative in Child Education

An educational initiative in the U.S. has come to our attention since the last Link, one which we find creative and potentially significant. We have seen, at different times before this, schemes to translate the basic concerns of Krishnamurti’s educational insights into practical courses and curricula. All have had merit in different ways but haven’t progressed further, perhaps because of a lack of resources or an inability to ‘harden the theory up’ into practicality. This one, however, appears to have been thought through comprehensively and in considerable detail. It is called Wholeschool, is aimed at 6 to 11 year olds, especially those in the home school environment, and we are enthusiastic about it.

Rather than attempt a second-hand summary of the programme, we are including here a large section of its outline received by us in December last year, as it will speak more clearly for itself than we can do. The only editing we have done — solely in the interest of space — is to exclude about half of the lessons described for each level. If any reader is interested enough to want to contact the creators of the programme, you may do so by email after accessing the website (www.wholeschool.org), or directly at rnhager@wholeschool.org. They are, needless to say, looking for funds to enable them to put the programme into the public domain, and any help in that regard will be gratefully received (donations are tax deductible in the U.S.).

Observing Me — A Journey in Self-Awareness

The Wholeschool.org primary course Observing Me is a self-discovery tool for 6 to 11 yearold children that explores what it is to be human on a level currently unavailable in educational curricula for the general public.

The Format

The course consists of 27 lessons, categorized into one of three levels: Red, Yellow and Purple. The student will begin with the introduction, then proceed with any of the Red Level topics. The program will not allow students to select from any other level until all Red level classes are complete. Likewise, all Yellows must be completed before proceeding to Purple. In this manner students have freedom of choice regarding the subject area covered on a particular day, yet concepts that hinge on an understanding of certain topics will not be covered until the student has explored those topics. The Red Level relates to the physical realm of the body and the world. The Yellow Level relates to the “self ” and its role in our lives. The Purple Level presents a look at the possibilities in each of us.

Each lesson is prepared in a multi-media, multi-experiential format designed to engage children, peak their curiosity, and leave both student and facilitator with daily “ahas”. The lessons begin at the computer and have visually exciting, interactive and imaginative discussions. But students do not remain at the computer for long. These lessons are designed to make concepts real and true for students, and thus must be experienced. Students will perform all sorts of creative and discovery activities, drawing from tools provided in the Activities Kit. Further, they will write out or draw some of their self-discoveries or reactions to scenarios to be included in the Journey Book, a workbook that becomes a “time-capsule” keepsake about themselves.

There is frequent interaction with a Yeti that the child has found and befriended. The Yeti is fascinated by these strange creatures called humans, and is continually asking the student about “your people”. At the same time, the student is given a look at a species whose experience of life differs from that of humans. Through this relationship the child will have an increased ability to view cultural or species traits that are normally part of our invisible background.

Finally, there is an introductory lesson in the value of focusing one ’s attention, both inward and outward. Students learn to find a quiet place within them which will be used throughout the course to help kids focus on a particular part of themselves.

The Course

The Red Level helps students investigate What Is. Nine classes help children explore the physical realm with regard to their bodies, their minds, and the world around them in this level.

Monsters in the Closet — A Look at Emotions: What actually occurs inside your body when you hear a scary noise in your closet at night? How come people sometimes want to hit or throw things when they get mad? Children look at the human brain, especially the Limbic System, to learn where emotions are created and how they manifest in us. By putting masks on the unsuspecting Yeti, we learn how our bodies react physically to various emotions. A cartoon visit inside the brain shows us that, frequently, our emotions are automatic reactions to a perceived threat. We also learn about the 44 muscles of the face, 40 of which exist solely to let the world know how we feel. Students begin an Emotion Log so they may begin to notice what occurs within them when emotional.

Ears Looking at You — Your Perceptions: Kids explore their five senses through various activities, and learn what happens next after you see or hear something: A recording of what we experience outside our bodies is stored as electrical signals and sent to various parts of our brain. We learn that light and sound are made up of waves by playing with prisms and by recording our own voices into the computer to view the sound wave recording. Next, students get to see the entire known light and sound spectrums and see the relatively small range we humans can pick up. We see how other animals often have different ranges than we do. Did you know a dog hears 10 times better than we do, and a wolf 100 times better? Elephants communicate across miles of desert on a frequency almost too low for us to hear! Finally, students learn how other senses can develop more power when one or more is disabled.

John & Marsha — The Story of Relationship: What is relationship? What does it mean to relate to another person? Through exploration, we see that much of how we relate to others is based on the story we have about that person. “She did this.” “He said that.” “I thought this.” “They went there.” And so on. Is there more to a relationship than the story it is? In this lesson, students will explore various meanings and types of relationships in their lives. Finally, we look at the way we listen in our relationships — do we actually hear one another, and experience other people for who they are? Or are we sometimes just listening for a break in the conversation so we may speak again? Students will have an opportunity to experience being truly present with another person and to practice being present with themselves.

Neo, the Hippo, & You — Distinguishing Thought & Memory: Shhhhh! Listen: What is that rambling going on inside us all? Is it like a voice? Is it an image? What are our thoughts? Students learn about and explore four levels of thinking and three types of memory through various activities. We see that memory plays a role in all types of our thinking, and that all knowledge is memory. Students also learn about the electrical symphony of synapses firing off within our brains which, some scientists believe, defines and shapes the self we are.

The Yellow Level investigates the concept of “self.” When you say “yourself ”, whom are you talking about? In nine classes, children explore the many different ways the self manifests in us and in the world, and what occurs as a result.

I Am Not Alone — Self as Attachment: Why is it that grown men and women will scream at the tops of their lungs, pound on the ground, or burst into tears over a game of football? Have you ever met someone obsessed with his car? Boat? Lawn? There is a peculiar phenomenon unique to humans whereby we identify so strongly with things, people, or groups that we imprint a bit of ourselves on that thing or person. There are people who will charge into burning buildings to save a family heirloom, and most parents will do it to save their child. Because we are that person, thing, or situation to a degree that survival of that person or thing means the survival of self. In this lesson, children look at various forms of attachment to physical objects, people, or groups, such as religious or political groups, sports teams or singers. Behind these attachments is a fear of solitude. Propaganda in all forms plays on this fear. Humanity is, as a species, fearful of being empty and alone. So we run around trying to fill ourselves up with other things, people or groups. In this lesson, we will also look at solitude and find value in it.

Through the Looking Glass — The Self Mirrored in Relationship: John is talking to Marsha. But is John really experiencing Marsha as she is, or as he thinks she is? And what about Marsha — is she really talking to John as he is or John as she thinks he is? Through a humorous animation, and a personality quiz between student and parent, we discover that we have an image of ourselves, separate from whom we are really, and we have an image of the other person, separate from whom they are really. If the other person also experiences these images (which they do), there are six people trying to get their points across whenever two people speak! Who is really talking to whom?! Next — is it really true that opposites attract? That’s what they say, but is that true? Also, when y ou become upset with another person, is it ever true that you are seeing in them something you dislike in yourself? Students explore a transfer of “self ” in their relationships and find personal responsibility in the actions of others.

I Think, Therefore I AM! — Self as Thought & Memory: Describe yourself to me. Okay, good. Now do the same thing while pretending you can’t remember anything that happened before five minutes ago. Who are you now? We define ourselves with our memories. A video of “Clive”, a hospital patient whose hippocampus (memory center) was damaged due to disease, really brings home how lost we are as individuals without our memories to fall back on. But we also define ourselves by our thoughts and beliefs — we are willing to die to keep our thoughts and beliefs safe and right. Watch the news one day to see what people do to protect their ideas and beliefs. But really much of our thinking is also memory based — what thoughts or beliefs can you identify that do not bring into them a story or fact from a memory. In fact, everything we do is based on how we did things yesterday, or how others did it — is it true that we experience the present as the past? Students will look objectively to see how much of what we are is defined by the past and our memory of it. So when are we present?

What’s So in the World — The Relationship of Self with Our Planet: In this lesson, students really take a look at what self-preservation, self-glorification and self-gratification multiplied by 6 billion are doing to our world. It isn’t really pretty to see, but human consumption and land exploitation is threatening our entire planet ... and yet we continue merrily onward. A recent study reports that Americans consume 5 times as much on average as Mexicans, 10 times as much as Chinese, and 60 times as much as people from India. Children are encouraged in this lesson to open their eyes and realistically see the future of our planet given our current consumption rates and destructive patterns. What are concrete examples of how putting self first can hurt our world? Given how people are in our world, is there much future? What do you think the world will look like really in 50 years? Will it be better or worse? Why?

The Purple Level stresses transformation and possibility. Eight classes are designed to create insight into what students “don’t know that they don’t know” and unconceal what is possible for them.

Honor the Children — Know Your Neighbor: We meet five children from around the world and learn from them what they like and don’t like, what they enjoy playing, what pets they have and so on. Students are invited to explore whether they could be friends. Then the student answers questions about his or her likes and dislikes, what they enjoy playing, what pets they have, and finally, what religious and worldviews they hold. Now we again listen to the five children answer the same belief-oriented questions. Students are asked to explore within and see if their desire to be friends has changed based on cultural differences. Do we really have any choice what corner of the planet we are born into? Did anyone ask y ou which continent y ou’d like to hav e par ents in? But the geogr aphic corner of the world we were born into dictates our view of the world. If you were from the South Pole, would you be a better or worse person? Students are encouraged to create a box of their own beliefs and acknowledge that they themselves may retain or change any and all walls of that box. Then they are invited to explore the possibility of respect without agreement.

You ARE the World Part 2 — The Soup of Life: In Part 2, we look at waves and particles, how the stuff of life — the stuff that is us AND the world exists both ways. Science is discovering that in this world, everything acts at times as an individual and at times as a group. Through video presentation including huge flocks of darting swallows, schools of fish, wheat fields bending in the wind, we see that there are countless very visible examples of this dualistic nature. Scientists are finding that even the most microscopic particles display this same duality. If light weren’t like a wave, we couldn’t see a rainbow. And if it couldn’t at the same time be a particle, the automatic doors at the grocery store wouldn’t open when you walk through. Students also look at this duality in relation to the observer: the very act of watching a thing changes a thing. Somehow the action of the observer plays a role in what shows up in this world. From this vantage point, we really are the world we see and we affect it just by showing up in it.

Death Is Part of Life — Live Now Fully: The Universal Fear of all humanity is mortality. Religions are based on what happens after death. We spend our lives fearing our demise. Some people structure their entire existence around avoiding death. But what value would life have without death, and isn’t it a part of the very same circle. In the fall, children play in the beautiful falling leaves. We don’t think of them as grotesque or scary. But they are a dead part of the tree — they have died to become these beautiful colors. Human beings who are close to death — very old — can be scary to young children as well, because they are frightened by the frailty of the body. In this lesson, we meet some old humans and establish relationships with them, find out what they’ve witnessed and learned in their lifetimes. We find out if they are afraid of death and why or why not. Students must also seek out and interview an old person so they may experience a bond with an older human being, and glimpse their future. But also they may see there is still a vibrant person living inside the old, frail body. By dispelling fear of dying, is life different?

The Possibility for Being Part 1 — Observing Life: Are we truly insightful and observant? Let’s take a mundane item such as a strawberry or a pinecone. How would you describe them? Have you really ever fully focused on a strawberry you ate or a pinecone you kicked? In this lesson, students will practice focused observation — attentiveness to things around them — and discover there are many vital details we leave out in our hectic mad dash to finish life. In fact, we may be missing quite a bit of the experience we are rushing through. Also, are there things we simply don’t see because our “filter” of believable or knowable reality doesn’t allow them in? What could be going on that we’re not seeing, that our senses pick up but we don’t register? Before you have a place in your world for “balance” you won’t ride a bike well. You can read about balance, watch movies about balance, discuss balance, but you won’t balance. When you finally “get” balance, you really “get” it on some level within you, and you can now ride the bike. But try explaining balance to someone else. Next, students try an activity called “Lucid Waking”, whereby one focuses attention on the experience of each of the five senses, thereby enhancing the experience of the present. Finally, students notice how often they are not actually being present in what they are doing. When you’re doing dishes, are you really doing dishes? Or are you doing the dishes, thinking about tomorrow’s football game, and planning what you will wear? What is the difference between experiences we observe fully and those we are distracted from? What possibilities lie in being open to anything showing up?

The Game of Me and You: Students look at the possibility of life in a Me and You World, as opposed to a Me or You World. How would the rules of the game differ? We most often are trained to view the world as having winners and losers, those who are right and those who are wrong. Guilt, distrust, resentment and jealousy tend to show up in a Me or You World, while compassion, empathy and empowerment show up in a Me and You World. Many of our impulses are sourced in a fear of losing or hurting the self, as we have seen over and over in this course. Is it possible to be aware of these impulses, yet not be run by them? Students play The Balloon Game with two sets of rules — one with a winner and a loser, and one where both players win if they empower each other to do well. They then act out a Spaceship Game exercise, learning that more heads can be better than one when problemsolving. And the best way to help someone is to teach them how to help themselves whenever possible. Don’t you feel better about yourself if you can fix your own sandwich when hungry, rather than having to find someone to make it for you? The Me and You world can be experienced from time to time around us — a phenomenon of connection can exist among groups of people. A video journey to a southern Mexican town, an aboriginal tribe, and a small town in America where “nobody locks the doors here” shows us that trust, empathy and empowerment do occur. Unfortunately, crisis is a common way for this connectedness to show up — look at how people in New York City were to each other following the 9/11 crisis. But what if people disagree? As we learned with John and Marsha, we create images of people that we relate to. Students now practice “un-creating” set images of people in their lives. They choose a behavior they dislike in a loved one, and then promise that the other person will show up differently. When we take responsibility in our relationships, people show up differently. Does humanity as a whole have a possibility for growth through self-knowledge?