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When
you visit an Education for
Life School...
you will find that each classroom seems unique. There
is no standardized “look” to the classrooms
no set outward curriculum that each teacher follows, and
no fixed style of learning for students. What then, are
the distinguishing features of an EFL school? This pamphlet
highlights the subtle, yet essential factors that define
Education for Life and determine the quality and scope
of a child’s school experience.
First
and foremost, EFL teachers are trained to appreciate that
life itself is a school. Throughout our lives, the events
that come to us offer a series of lessons that can lead
to an ever-deepening sense of personal fulfillment and
happiness. Put slightly differently, life continually
offers us the opportunity to expand our consciousness.
From this perspective the primary goal for the years of
formal schooling becomes the development of the skills
and attitudes that will help us take full advantage of
these life-lessons.
A
hallmark of an Education for Life classroom then will
be the modeling of a cheerful openness to life and the
unexpected lessons that might come our way. Although teachers
will bring appropriate lesson plans to class, there will
always be a readiness to embrace and make use of whatever
special experiences a particular day presents. In the
early grades opportunities for growth might present themselves
through an unexpected visitor, unusual weather, or a spontaneous
incident from the playground. In later years there will
be a concerted effort to involve students in the broader
streams of life outside the classroom. In every instance,
an EFL teacher will strive to help students discern whether
their responses to new events produce an expansion or
contraction of consciousness. Specifically, the teacher
will guide students from reactions of fear toward courage,
from judgment toward compassion, from sadness toward joy.
In our school’s philosophy this directionality of
attitude is referred to as Progressive Development.
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This
focus on the gradual expansion of the student’s
consciousness leads naturally to the next essential component
of an EFL classroom, a child-centered curriculum. While
every school must address the standard topics of modern
education, the EFL curriculum will be child-centered in
the sense that the teacher looks primarily to the students’
readiness for particular kinds of growth in determining
the specific activities that will take place in the classroom.
By knowing each student’s interests, talents, and
potential, the teacher is able to present the lessons
in a manner that maximizes student involvement and progress.
Thus while a teacher may work with the same basic material
over a period of years (fractions, world history, etc.),
each class will manifest a unique expression of the learning
process. EFL curriculum categories such as Understanding
People, Cooperation, and Wholeness, as well as our small
teacher/student ratios, facilitate this approach to learning.
The
emphasis on a child-centered curriculum also contributes
to a feeling of mutual respect between teacher and student.
In paying close attention to individuals, the teacher
develops an appreciation for each student’s positive
qualities. Children, on the other hand, sense that the
teacher is seeking to adapt the learning process to their
interests and abilities as opposed to imposing a rigid
program of prearranged lessons. In this way teacher and
students can partake in the excitement of co-creating
the curriculum. The final characteristic of an EFL classroom
is also rooted in the goal of preparing children to find
happiness and fulfillment in life. In responding to life’s
challenges, we have four primary tools at our disposal:
the body, feelings, will, and intellect. The proper development
of these “Tools of Maturity” lies at the heart
of Education for Life. In our schools we emphasize one
of these tools in each 6-year cycle of the child’s
growth.
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The
stage from 0–6 encompasses the “Foundation”
or preschool years. During this period the child
is primarily occupied with learning to relate to physical
realities, especially those of the body. An EFL preschool
will promote physical vitality through a healthy diet
and generous amounts of exercise, sunlight, and fresh
air. Frequent nature outings will be interspersed with
activities specifically designed to promote physical agility
and coordination. The Foundation Years are also a time
for cultivating the physical senses through creating a
beautiful classroom environment and involving the children
in painting, crafts, music, dance, and other activities
that refine the children’s capacities for hearing,
seeing, feeling, etc. Storytelling and role-playing are
popular venues with this age for sharing initial insights
into human behavior. The preschool years also provide
an opportune time for establishing lifelong habits of
cleanliness, cooperation, and kindness.
The
next cycle of growth covers the period from 6-12, the
“Feeling” or elementary years.
During this stage we shift our emphasis from the body
to working with and through the child’s emotions.
For
a beginning step, children are helped to notice the different
kinds of feelings and their varying effects on people.
Students learn to appreciate and cultivate the uplifting
influences of kindness, cheerfulness, and even-mindedness.
Conversely, they can learn to redirect the disturbing
energies that produce anger, greed, and jealousy. Techniques
for working with these energies include breathing exercises,
affirmations, yoga, and meditation. Of crucial importance
during these years is the cultivation of the calm, centered
state that leads to clear intuition. As their capacity
for refined feelings develops, students learn to discriminate
between the positive and negative effects of different
kinds of activities and environments. Teachers will also
utilize feelings as a powerful stimulus for other kinds
of learning by emphasizing the awe of nature and scientific
exploration, the sense of order and symmetry in mathematics,
and especially the encouragement to be gained from the
study of inspiring and saintly people.
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Properly
understood, the “Willful Years”
from ages 12-18 present some of the greatest opportunities
for the child’s development. Adults can help students
avoid the self-involved negativity and rebelliousness
that can plague the junior and senior high school years
by encouraging positive applications of the will. Realistic,
yet challenging goals must be set for these young people;
goals that are in accordance with their own higher sensitivities
as well as their individual talents and interests. Through
faith in their positive potential and consistent adherence
to appropriate disciplinary procedures, adults can support
the students’ efforts to gradually learn such lessons
as perseverance, self-sacrifice, responsibility, and self-control.
Classroom applications of this approach will emphasize
a “hands-on” style of learning where students
can apply their energies to life-like situations. Science
projects, debates, service projects and challenges of
physical endurance are especially appropriate for this
age group. A primary goal of the EFL teacher is to help
each student identify and realize individual areas of
expertise, thus providing a basis for the healthy development
of the will. In an EFL school students of this age are
asked to share in the responsibility for financing field
trips and other special activities, even to the point
of earning part of their tuition.
The
final EFL cycle covers the “Thoughtful”
or college years from 18-24. During this period
the intellect is trained to work in conjunction with the
three complementary tools of the body, feelings, and will.
Intellectual insights are coordinated with the energy
and enthusiasm produced by physical vitality, the intuitive
feel for the rightness of an idea that comes from clear,
calm feeling, and the ability to overcome obstacles that
results from a dynamic application of the will. In this
way the intellect becomes an effective tool for gaining
the insights needed to lead a productive and fulfilling
life.
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