Paz, ¿un estilo de vida pasado de moda?
La sociedad moderna se caracteriza por sus grandes avances tecnológicos, por la globalización del comercio, por la rapidez de las comunicaciones, pero sobre todo por la apertura y aceptación de los cambios de pensamiento que se alejan de aquello que era considerado tabú, moralidad y buenos modales.
Vivimos en una época en la que, si no se habla con palabras antisonantes, se está fuera de la onda, si no se usa la ropa que resalta el cuerpo construido en gimnasios y clínicas estéticas no se está a la moda, si no se poseen los objetos marcados con las firmas más caras, no se tiene un lugar respetable en la sociedad. Todo esto genera envidia, codicia, rencor, exalta el egoísmo y promueve la lucha de poderes. Soy más que tú porque tengo más que tú; soy mejor que tú porque luzco mejor que tú. Y lo aceptamos y entramos en el círculo. Todos. Sin darnos cuenta, todos los días le damos fuerza a este movimiento que nos aleja cada vez más de la esencia de la Paz.
En nuestro vocabulario cotidiano no utilizamos las palabras “concordia”, “camaradería”, “avenencia”, “aquiescencia”, “placidez”, “moderación”, “sosiego”… tantas otras.
Recuerdo que mi abuela me decía “Ven, estate sosiega”, y nos quedábamos en silencio. Y me sentía muy feliz.
La moda, a lo que la sociedad moderna nos convoca todos los días, es completamente opuesta a lo que es “estar en paz”. Los juegos, las películas, los libros, las noticias, las pláticas, las imágenes que se nos presentan, así, sin buscarlas siquiera, nos llevan a un estado de constante estrés, de desasosiego, de debilidad espiritual. Debemos ser concientes de esto y regresar a los orígenes, a las raíces que nos dan fortaleza, que sacan lo mejor de cada uno de nosotros. Tomemos la decisión y actuemos para alcanzar la paz.
Es fácil: Decir la verdad, compartir nuestro tiempo, dedicar espacio para escuchar a nuestros hijos, tomarnos un momento para hablar con los amigos, saludar al vecino, sonreir al desconocido que se cruza en nuestro camino, dar el paso al auto que necesita girar delante de nosotros, frenar para que cruce el peatón que espera en la avenida, pedir por favor los servicios y agradecer a quien nos los ofrece. No es difícil. Tomemos la decisión y actuemos para alcanzar la paz generando paz. Todos los días, en todo momento.
Y bueno, para cerrar con un párrafo de nuestra amada María Montessori, que buscó siempre la forma de inculcar, de mostrar y demostrar a los niños el amor por la paz a través del trabajo diario en una sociedad de concordia y camaradería, leamos este fragmento de “Educación y Paz” que dice:
“A los seres humanos se les educa inculcándoles que son individuos aislados y que deben satisfacer sus necesidades inmediatas compitiendo con otros individuos. Se requeriría una poderosa campaña de organización para que el hombre entienda y estructure los fenómenos sociales para que proponga y persiga fines colectivos, y así generar un progreso social ordenado”.
Seamos una comunidad “pasada de moda”, aprendamos a vivir los valores que nos llevan a estar sosiegos, a vivir con moderación y sonreir a nuestros semejantes. Construyamos una comunidad de paz. Dejémonos guiar por la cordura y buen sentido naturales de nuestros hijos.
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De un granito de arena a una montaña
Contáctanos, ¡los niños de Otoch Paal te lo agradecerán!
centrocomunitariomaya@gmail.com
en Facebook: Otoch Paal
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Responsibilities that release
“The little child is the creator of the adult mind. This creation should be studied in the sequence of its phenomena. We must know child psychology if we help life. We must study its deep and mysterious psychology, observe the line of development and find what assistance we give at the right time.
Now we know that we must use these hidden energies and to do that we must first know them. We must make a development plan to guide the child gives us through the powers he is revealed to us as we observe it. We must proceed with our own ideas or our prejudices, not by preconceived method, but observing the child. The personality of the child is half haughtily to the great problem of education. He is the only existing master plan. This child presented to us with his wonderful occult powers, is who should direct our efforts. When we say that the child is our master we mean that his revelations are what we consider as our guide. If you do not understand this, does not make sense. Our starting point must be the revelation of these features of the human individual. I say we should take the child as our teacher. You probably will object saying we should educate the child, we should give this or that information, he must learn this and that. But I tell you do not have these biases, because when your energies are released, the child is capable of learning than before. So, I say that this is the Method of the Child, not the Montessori Method. ”
Reading these words of Maria Montessori taken from one of her lectures delivered in 1946, can make you feel a great release, while a large responsability.
The responsability we have as adults is based primarily on preparing an environment that is conducive to the child in order to develop every skill. Education based on freedom of choice that the child exercises by doing what is asked by his inner needs, necessarily requires us to show him a world where he will be able to find the answer of every question generated through the simple experiences of everyday life.
Preparing a positive environment definitely liberates us, because the child will learn to be responsible of his actions and will be able to accept the consequences of the mistakes, as wonderful learning opportunities.
Conversely, in an environment that does not full fill the needs of the child, we adults are creating tyrants who keep us painfully enslaved to their whims.
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Responsabilidades que liberan
“El niño pequeño es el creador de la mente del adulto. Esta creación deberá ser estudiada en la secuencia de sus fenómenos. Debemos saber la psicología del niño pequeño si queremos ayudar a la vida. Debemos estudiar su profunda y misteriosa sicología, observar la línea de su desarrollo y encontrar qué ayuda debemos dar en el momento preciso.
Ahora sabemos que debemos utilizar estas energías ocultas y para hacer eso debemos primero conocerlas. Debemos hacer un plan de desarrollo con la guía que el niño nos da a través de los poderes que él nos va revelando mientras lo observamos. No debemos proceder con nuestras propias ideas o con nuestros prejuicios, no mediante un método preconcebido, sino observando al niño. La personalidad del niño se encuentra con altivez a la mitad del gran problema de la educación. Él es el único maestro existente en este plan. Este niño que se nos presenta con sus maravillosas energías ocultas, es quien deberá dirigir nuestros esfuerzos. Cuando decimos que el niño es nuestro maestro nos referimos a que sus revelaciones son las que debemos tomar en cuenta como nuestra guía. Si usted no entiende esto, no tiene sentido. Nuestro punto de inicio deberá ser la revelación de estas características del individuo humano. Yo digo que debemos tomar al niño como nuestro maestro. Probablemente ustedes objetarán diciendo que debemos educar al niño, que debemos darle esta o aquella información, que él deberá aprender esto y aquello. Pero, yo les digo que no tengan estos prejuicios, porque cuando sus energías son liberadas, el niño es más capaz de aprender que antes. Entonces, yo digo que este es el Método del Niño, no el Método Montessori.”
Leer estas palabras de María Montessori tomadas de una de sus conferencias dictadas en 1946, pueden hacer sentir una gran liberación, al mismo tiempo que una gran responsabiidad.
La responsabiidad que tenemos como adultos está basada principalmente en preparar un ambiente que le sea propicio al niño para poder desarrollarse íntegramente. La educación basada en la libertad de elección que el niño ejerce al hacer lo que sus necesidades interiores le piden, nos obliga forzosamente a mostrarle un mundo que satisfaga y responda a todas las preguntas que se generan a través de las simples vivencias de lo cotidiano.
Preparar un ambiente positivo nos libera, definitivamente, nos libera, pues el niño aprenderá a ser responsable de sus actos y aceptará las consecuencias de sus errores que serán maravillosas oportunidades de aprendizaje.
Por el contrario, un ambiente que no satisfaga las necesidades del niño, ayudará a construir adultos tiranos que nos mantendrán dolorosamente esclavizados a sus caprichos.
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First day at school
The first day is always wonderful, it has a mixture of excitement, of anticipation, of a great desire to know so many things. Children always have the desire to know, but the first day, they arrive with their eyes brighter, more open, a more honest smile and the excitement of the reunion … or fear of the meeting, to discover what it is, with whom, how, where. What a thrill!
Children gradually begin to rediscover their materials, to work with them and suddenly, everything becomes harmony, new children feel invited to do the same, the Guides begin their work of observation and work according to the needs of each one of the small people that share the day. Life in a Montessori environment is full of meaningful movement, all with a specific purpose.
Given this freedom of movement, comes to mind a passage from Raniero Regni:
“Humanity will continue to be comprised of many people who speak of freedom but few free men. If the purpose of education is liberation and reconstruction, the medium can not be different from the result. Liberty is not the true purpose of the education, but the creation of children who are less unhappy adults capable of changing the world.’s cosmic purpose, freedom is the means to achieve that result. ”
Thanks to parents who entrust us with the most precious to them: their children.
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Primer día de clases
El primer día es siempre maravilloso, tiene una mezcla de emoción, de expectativa, de grandes deseos de saber tantas cosas. Los niños siempre tienen deseos de saber, pero el primer día, llegan con los ojos más brillantes, más abiertos, con la sonrisa más franca y la emoción del reencuentro… o el miedo del encuentro, de descubrir qué es, con quiénes, cómo, dónde. ¡Qué emoción!
Los niños comienzan poco a poco a reencontrar sus materiales, a trabajar con ellos y, de repente, todo se vuelve armonía, los niños nuevos se sienten invitados a hacer lo mismo, las guías comienzan su labor de observación y trabajo según las necesidades de cada uno de los pequeños. La vida en un ambiente Montessori está llena de movimiento con sentido, todo con un propósito específico.
Ante tal libertad de movimiento, me viene a la mente un párrafo de Raniero Regni:
“La humanidad continuará a estar constituida por mucha gente que habla de libertad pero por pocos hombres libres. Si el fin de la educación es la liberación como reconstrucción, el medio no puede ser diferente del resultado. La libertad no es la verdadera finalidad de la educación, sino la creación de niños que serán adultos menos infelices capaces de cambiar el mundo. La finalidad es cósmica, la libertad es el medio para llegar a obtener ese resultado.”
Gracias a los padres de familia que nos confían lo más valioso para ellos: sus hijos.
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Un nuevo ciclo escolar. ¡Bienvenidos!
Trazando letras en charola de arena
María Montessori decía que no podemos saber las consecuencias de la supresión de la espontaneidad de un niño cuando está empezando a estar activo. Podemos incluso asfixiar la vida misma. Que la humanidad que se revela en todo su esplendor intelectual en la era dulce y tierna de la infancia debe ser respetada con una especie de veneración religiosa. Es como el sol que aparece al amanecer o una flor apenas comienza a florecer. La educación no puede ser eficaz si no ayuda a un niño a abrirse a sí mismo a la vida.
Un ciclo escolar más en Otoch Paal con nuestros corazones listos para dar un ambiente preparado a nuestros niños.
¡Bienvenidos a la aventura de aprender en este ciclo 2013-2014!
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New school year. Welcome!
Otoch Paal Montessori Practicing writing on a sand tray
Maria Montessori said that we cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child’s spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself. That humanity which is revealed in all its intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration. It is like the sun which appears at dawn or a flower just beginning to bloom. Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.
Another school year at Otoch Paal, with our hearts open to give a prepared environment to our children.
Welcome to the 2013 – 2014 learning adventure!
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The secret of childhood: normalization and deviations
I have found this interesting conference given by Dr. Sheafer Zener. There is a Spanish translation available in our Spanish section.
THE SECRET OF CHILDHOOD:
Normalization and Deviations
Lecture given by Dr. Rita Shaefer Zener, on the AMI 3-6 course
Nakhon Pathon, Thailand, April 2006
Permission given to Michael Olaf Company for reprinting
Introduction of the concept Normalization
At the beginning of her educational career in San Lorenzo, Rome, Dr. Montessori was moved many times by what she observed the children doing. She wondered if their accomplishments were “the work of angels”. She would say to herself,
I won’t believe this time. I will wait until the next time to believe. (The Secret of Childhood).
After 40 years of work, spreading her scientific pedagogy around the world, Dr. Montessori was willing to say that
Normalization is the single most important result of our work. (The Absorbent Mind, p. 204).
She had given up all her other work—medicine, anthropology, psychology, and even prestigious positions to lecture in Universities—in order to concentrate on bringing this message to the people of the world.
The message is that there is much more to childhood than is currently recognized. She saw the normalized child as a new level of humanity. Children all over the world and in all socioeconomic levels have exhibited this new level of humanity. The normalized children possesses a unique character and personality not recognized in young children.
Normalization is a technical word borrowed from the field of anthropology. It means becoming a contributing member of society. Dr. Montessori used the term normalization to distinguish one of the processes that she saw in her work with the children at San Lorenzo in Rome. This process, the process of normalization, occurs when development is proceeding normally. She used the word normalization so that people would think that these qualities belonged to all children and were not something special just for a few.
When does normalization appear?
Normalization appears through the repetition of a three step cycle. The building of character and the formation of personality that we call normalization come about when children follow this cycle of work.
(1) Preparation for an activity which involves gathering together the material necessary to do the activity. The movement and the thought involved in the preparation serves to call the attention of the mind to begin to focus on the activity.
(2) An activity which so engrosses the child that he reaches a deep level of concentration. This step is what all educator and parents recognize as important for education.
(3) Rest, which is characterized by a general feeling of satisfaction and well-being. It is thought that at this point some inner formation or integration of the person takes place.
In our Montessori groups, we see this third step as the time a child is putting away the materials, perhaps talking with friends, and is exhibiting a aura of satisfaction with himself and the world. We recognize this cycle as the normal work cycle in a Montessori environment.
A Philosophy of Normalization
Dr. Montessori explained the process of normalization philosophically as well as practically. She borrowed the term, horme, from Sir Percy Nun, an English philosopher. Horme refers to life force energy. It can be compared to the elan vital of Henri Bergson or the libido of Sigmund Freud or even to religious terms, the Holy Spirit.
Horme is simply energy for life. It must stimulate and activate the individual because that is its nature. When the child is surrounded by plenty of suitable means (work of development) for using this energy, then her development proceeds normally.
Characteristics of Normalization
There are many personality types of course. However, when children enter the process of normalization the same characteristics appear.
There are four characteristics that are a signal that the process of normalization is happening:
(1) Love of work
(2) Concentration
(3) Self-discipline
(4) Sociability.
All four characteristics must be present for us to say that a normalized type common to the whole of mankind is appearing—no matter how brief the appearance of the characteristics. The process is usually invisible to us because the process of normalization is hidden by characteristics not proper to the child. (The Absorbent Mind, p. 202)
Love of Work.
The first characteristic of the process of normalization is love of work. Love of work includes the ability to choose work freely and to find serenity and joy in work. (The Absorbent Mind, p. 202)..
In the fall I like to observe new three-year-olds who were phased in during the month of September. Some of them have six weeks or so in the group and have their little routines of the work that they love. Some still have no clue about “their work”. Kindly and experienced adults lead them into various activities. Some of the activities evoke concentration but most of them do not. It usually isn’t’t until the child has learned to do several orderly activities that the missing element of choice will enter the child’s work life.
Concentration
The second characteristic of the process of normalization is concentration. Concentration appears as individual children in a group became absorbed in their work—each one in a different, freely chosen activity.
To help such development, it is not enough to provide objects chosen at random, but we [teachers] have to organize a world of ‘progressive interest’. (The Absorbent Mind, p. 206).
We must continue to present the next appropriate challenge. The frequency of continual periods of intense concentration will depend on the child and on the teachers’ knowledge and attitudes about guiding the process of normalization.
Self-discipline
The third characteristic of the process of normalization is self-discipline. Self-discipline refers to persevering and completing cycles of activity that are freely begun.
Dr. Montessori says: After concentration will come perseverance . . . It marks the beginning of yet another stage in character formation . . . It is the ability to carry through what he has begun. The children in our schools choose their work freely, and show this power unmistakably. They practice it daily for years. (The Absorbent Mind p. 217)
Sociability
The fourth characteristic of the process of normalization is sociability. Sociability refers to patience in getting the materials one wants, respect for the work of others, help and sympathy for others, and harmonious working relationships among members of the group.
There is only one specimen of each object, and if a piece is in use when another child wants it, the latter—if he is normalized—will wait for it to be released. Important social qualities derive from this. The child comes to see that he must respect the work of others, not because someone has said he must, but because this is a reality that he meets in his daily experience. (The Absorbent Mind, p. 223).
Sociability also refers to the human response to turn to other people after finishing a job. If the work when well, then the social interactions are “colored” by the emotional satisfaction of the job.
Introduction of the concept Deviations
At the same time that Montessori was distinguishing the process of normalization she distinguished another process which she called deviations. She saw that the process of normalization and deviations is going on all of the time. It is what children are engaged in.
If you do not like the word deviations in referring to human beings, one option is to think of deviations as defenses. We are all familiar with the idea of being defensive. Another option is to think of a deviation as a detour. In Italian as in Spanish the word desviaciones refers to a detour in the road. Deviations or detours in development result from road blocks in the developmental process.
I like to think that hormic energy, or life force energy, runs through us like a crystal clear river. If the energy runs smoothly without barriers and stays within its river banks, we see normalization. If this river, this force is repressed and not allowed to flow in its normal channel, it will seek other ways to move.
The hormic energy may be damned up for a while producing an artificial passivity. Every now and then the dam will let loose a big burst of energy. The emotion that comes with that burst of energy may cause turbulence in the person’s life. If energy is held in, The life force energy cannot be expressed in ways appropriate to the situation.
On the other hand if the river banks are not well defined, the water can spread too thin over the countryside. Just so, the hormic energy without any boundaries can spread out too thin and over too large an area of life. If the child has insufficient order or limits in his life then there is not enough life force to carry out anything much. The horme is dissipated.
The Process of Deviations
This process is not one big drama. It is the drama of everyday life. When the horme can’t go in the normal three step cycle for the building of a person then it moves into these other cycles that we call deviations or detours. The child feels threatened and reacts to save herself. She has to defend herself.
A deviation is a defense created when development cannot proceed in a normal way. All children have some deviations. If they are not straightened out, they will become worse in time. Dr. Montessori says that the defects in adults can be traced back to a lack of development in the first years of life.
There are many Types of Deviations
Dr. Montessori has categorized deviations in several ways. It is interesting to see how she reaffirms their presence while giving them different titles. There is overlapping between the various categories. However, each order she places them in gives us much to think about.
(1) Deviations Fostered by Adults
By the time a child is three years old, deviations are so common that many of them are fostered by adults and thought to be normal for children. For example: some adults find these characteristics desirable states of being: over-affectionate attachment to persons, submissiveness, play, laziness, overeating, and instability of attention.
By now the psychic energy is separated from the movements of the child from lack of purposeful activities in the environment. This type of adult often abandons the child to her toys, the television, or the computer. True, toys stimulate activity, but usually it is like a flash and once used then the toy no longer can give the same attraction.
The child’s immaturity in the real world and the excess of unused psychic energy combine to form an unreal world where the child can alleviate her boredom and discomfort. She becomes like the adult who is not content unless she is being entertained constantly. So easy it is to foster this deviation and heap toy after toy upon the poor child while denying her part as a worker in the family.
For some children the way to feel safe is to hang onto an adult or an older child. She is the one whose movements have been supplanted by others so many times that her drive to independence is thwarted. It is as if she doesn’t’t know herself apart from the other, even after the age when she should. This too is an easy deviation for some to foster when that affection fills avoid in the other’s life.
(2) Deviations Not Fostered by Adults
Some deviations, while thought to be normal, are not likely to be deliberately fostered. They are likely to be corrected. Messiness, disobedience and quarreling are so common as to be though normal. The lazy child or the inhibited child who outwardly appear to do little are constructing a thick inner wall of defense to keep out the external world. We are all aware of adult negative reactions to these behaviors.
Deviations as Fugues
In The Secret of Childhood she talks about deviations as being fugues and barriers. A fugue is a running away, a taking refuge, often hiding away as one hides ones real energies behind a mask. These are the children who are never still, but their movements are without purpose. They begin an action, leave it unfinished, and hurry on to the next. They fancy toys only to throw them away. They become conditioned to the need to be entertained.
Deviations as Barriers
A barrier is an inhibition which is strong enough to prevent the child from responding to her surroundings. It shows itself as disobedience or obstinacy. Teachers may suspect the child’s intelligence because this deviations keeps away the things that would promote growth.
The most common of the barriers produce the following deviations: dependence, possessiveness, power craving, inferiority complex, fear, lying, and psychosomatic illness.
Deviations Shown by the Strong and Weak
In The Absorbent Mind she talks about deviations shown by the strong, meaning those who resist and overcome the obstacles they meet, and deviations shown by the weak, meaning those who succumb to unfavorable conditions.
The Strong
Defects of the strong are capriciousness, tendencies to violence, fits of rage, insubordination and aggression. They are also disobedient and “destructive”, possessive, and unable to concentrate. They have difficulty in coordinating their hands. They are generally noisy, unkind, and often greedy at the table.
The Weak
Defects of the weak are passiveness, indolence, crying, trying to get others to do things for them, wishing to be entertained, and easily bored. They find the world frightening and cling to adults. They may refuse to eat, have nightmares, fear the dark, and have psychosomatic illnesses.
The Role of the Adult
Observation
We realize that in the early years there will be many spontaneous expressions of normality even when the environment is very bad or the obstacles very great. The vital energy returns to the surface again and again. The child must continuously struggle alone because no one recognizes and assists his bid for life. The child may become engulfed in her deviations.
Lay aside pride and anger
The child needs help, more than just physical care. She needs the adult who knows humility rather than pride; patience instead of anger. Yet the common defects of the adult are pride and anger. The adult is easily impatient when he is with a child. He doesn’t understand how life needs to grow. He wants the child to submit. He doesn’t recognize goodness. He can’t give confidence.
The educator has to rid himself of his anger before he can put the child’s need first. He must:
(1) know himself
(2) educate himself in his work
(3) give appropriate help
All these disturbances came from a single cause, which was insufficient nourishment for the life of the mind. (Absorbent Mind, 182 in Cleo Press edition).
To give appropriate is two pronged:
Interrupt the deviated cycle whenever it appears because it isn’t helping development.
Offer interesting activities to use up the psychic energy in a productive way.
Neither kindness nor severity help. It is the return to the normal work cycle that is self-healing.
The appearance of normalization is explosive. It must be protected. It happens in a single moment. In that moment the deviations are gone, vanished. The child is as she is. That is the first observation task of the adult. Learn to see, protect, and guide those moments. NEVER interrupt them while the concentration lasts.
These normalizing events are triggered by a certain situation. It has been found a characteristic reaction of children throughout the world. A return to a life of normality begins with just one event. Just as long ago the defense mechanism began with one incidence and then proceeded to become a fixed response.
In the 3 to 6-year-age span, we are not talking so much about a personality change. At this tender age, the personality is still in the soft, formative stage. During these years he must organize the embryonic development of many parts that were developed separately. The new child is really a true personality being allowed to develop normally.
Now we can begin our work. As these moments become more frequent and the concentration more lasting, the child may give up using her old defenses. It is not by reason, nor by threat, nor by begging that she does so. She just doesn’t need them anymore because she has less to repress now.
Why is it apparently easier for some children than others? Apparently some have had to repress less, and their normal responses are not so buried. Some have learned to accept reasonable limits to their behavior. They have some control over their impulses.
But in all children, and in us, the life force is there to be found and used in a productive way.
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