Art of Climbing Trees

Education

Education is about stimulating and waking consciousness for the purpose of reaching our Maslow/Siksika^77a potential (individually and together). It is perhaps best and most satisfyingly achieved by allowing freedom to grow¹¹⁵ by preparing ‘healthy soil’⁶², supporting the student as a navigator of possibilities to discover what genuinely resonates, and as a co-operator with other students and education facilitators (although tree climbing and Crazxy Ping Pong³⁵⁶ will be compulsory, obviously). A learning environment which sets the scene for student autonomy and a desire to find purpose and mastery of an art. The idea is to learn how to think, to make our System Two mode of thought second nature¹⁵⁷, to process feelings and inevitable traumas, and to ‘know thyself’. We might focus on the so-called four (or five) Cs of thinking: caring thinking, collaborative thinking, critical thinking, and creative thinking (and clowning⁸⁹). 

Learning what it means to be a balanced human being who forms a part of a healthy, resilient community may include intentionally deepening emotional intelligence, self-reflection and self-care, understanding boundaries, intimacy/sexuality, developing the imagination, control of brainwaves⁵⁸, ethics, plant and animal sentience and dignity, playing down the word ‘mine’¹⁰¹, co-operative³⁵⁶ or wild play¹⁷³, practice gentleness, the value of resources, creative expression, storytelling, healthy eating, healing ourselves and one another, including knowledge of basic medicine and therapies (see also ‘Health care’, above), peace-talks/diplomacy/Non-violent Communication¹⁹⁹/co-counselling, Parallel Thinking practice¹⁹⁵. (See also ‘Education – Patriarchy’ below). 

We’ll be aiming to put an end to hand-me-down traumas as quickly as possible, which will also involve knowing healthy boundaries, our rights to respectful treatment, learning to recognise gaslighting, abuse and specifically the traits of a sociopath/psychopath/narcissistic behaviour, and instil confidence and knowledge of how to engage help. (Resources/safe spaces and services will obviously be greatly increased to this end – see ‘Policing/restorative justice – Carrots and Sticks’ below).

If we’re building some kind of loose curriculum, we can also ask what fundamental qualities a citizen may need to become a reasoned, compassionate and creative voice of a citizens’ assembly. Students then need to understand UE political and economic structures/processes and how to access them, as well as gain meaningful experience in practical citizens’ assembly rehearsals. (And young people will be invited to participate as early as possible in the real thing.)

Time spent in a school setting can vary between structured lessons that enable student-led co-operative ‘investigations’⁶² and total freedom of students to explore individual interests, with all the necessary tools and resources available¹¹⁵. (Employees of Google can use 20% of their time for experimentation, and half of Google products arise from this time, demonstrating the enormous value of individual freedom for ideas generation). People are, of course, different, needing more or less structure and guidance, and the teacher/facilitators will be prepared for this. 

Students can also request additional information and materials and ‘professionals’ from beyond the school, if necessary, to support their interests. Parents/carers, with short working weeks (see ‘Work’ above), can be integrated into the practical life of schools – and can be the first pool of ‘professionals’ to draw from – making those professions/skills feel more tangibly attainable. The teacher/facilitator could have time (within school hours) to pursue their own interests and self-development, and students can learn by observation – giving a tangible and daily sense of real-life occupation. The system will also allow periodic sabbaticals to give the teacher/facilitator opportunities to refresh their energy and inspiration. All of this can alleviate the pressure that often currently drives teachers to exhaustion and a lacklustre or even damaging educational experience for students.

Transposing the results of Karl Duncker’s Candle Problem¹¹⁴ experiment for education: If, for students, the financial incentive of the experiment is grades and praise, then we can surmise these incentives are actually detrimental to learning, so take the focus away from monitoring progress formally.

The pace of change causes each generation to face new challenges, and from there, the world is reinvented again. So, although there is the responsibility to prepare the young – the young must feel ownership of their destiny. The only caveat is finding ways to impart an understanding of our Environmental Manners and the responsibilities involved with being a hyperkeystone species (without provoking teenage rebellion and the eventual destruction of the planet, again); why, for example, certain knowledge and resources were prohibited/ring-fenced by their great grandparents at the first global citizens’ assembly. Which particular facets of our story/history to emphasise become of great importance if potted histories are being written/imparted, as they always have. 

Dieter^116a explained how his children’s freer schooling was sometimes at odds with the style of education he had received. At times his children were challenging and teaching him a new way, which involved a greater degree of trust and communication. Parents/carers may at times need to humble themselves, as their children evolve, so that each generation can be more Eutopian than then next.

The industrial and information revolutions asked for particular skill sets from workers – many of which will remain useful. We should be free to draw what we want from humanity’s shared knowledge base and push the envelope in physics and technology, but energy and resource scarcity (at least in the short term) will likely place a greater focus on living more embodied, somatic lives locally that ask us to fill niches that service more immediate and grounded needs: working with our hands and crafting, repair and engineering, taking care of the soil, biology/botany etc. 

Too many studies reveal the negative neurological consequences of screen time on children, in particular. So, the use of screens for people under the age of 12 will be discouraged, and schools will no longer use them ubiquitously as teaching aids. 

Please try using the (efficient) ‘Six Thinking Hats’ method of parallel thinking for sharing your ideas.
It helps us to organise our thoughts and feelings. Wear the Black Hat for critisism/doubts; the Green hat for creative suggestions; the Yellow for positive responses, Red for gut feelings; White for information. I am wearing the Blue Hat now, when I say we are here to design Eutopia.

Simply write ‘Black’, ‘Yellow’, ‘Green’, etc, before your given response. Then, start a new paragraph for ideas of a different coloured hat.