Learning is in tune with life, because the human being, not only adapts to change, but has the opportunity to influence her/his environment, with deep transformations according to her/his uniqueness.
By assuming the paradigm of “Respect the processes of life”, the human being creates their own opportunities to be and be in harmony with the Pachamama. This attitude and vision are a consequence of consolidating ties and knowledge in a progressive and firm way. Furthermore, because the human being, not only has a adaptive capacity to change, but to transform itself through coexistence.
In the unfolding of life, learning takes on meaning for everyone, when it maintains coherence between; meeting the needs of survival and personal fulfillment needs. That is to say, what one does, gives her or him the ability to be alive to be herself or himself.
Even in times of imminent change, she/he discovers and reinvents her/his own undertakings, as a consequence of constant interaction in the different social environments in which she/he interacts; on which depends the development of her/his autonomy for specific decision making, and, the development of the different levels of the BEING in general. This awakens the motivation to learn for oneself.
By designing a plan to live according to the belief system that the person integrates to her/his own being, as a product of multiple experiences and social relationships that are established with others on a daily basis, projects or initiatives arise with “their own footprint”.
In this way, in free education – non-directive- (Centro Experimental Pestalozzi 1977-2005) in the early childhood stages, there are already signs of: intentionality, spontaneity and autonomy; qualities that are cultivated and flourish in spaces of freedom. The inner drive emerges in the human being since conception where the spark of life is lit, that gradually manifests itself in movement, spontaneous activity and autonomous activity progressively, which integrates as a natural way of operating, a healthy habit that extends to the following periods.
When opportunities are created to experiment in different fields, a person obtains an accumulation of experiences that become her/ his greatest treasure, who uses them to self-manage her/his life in the best way she/he feels and thinks; here and now.
The set of coherent experiences lead to social, emotional and cognitive maturation of the being, and, in concordance between these levels she/he creates her/his own activity, which allows her/him to undertake and sustain the initiatives that arise with those that satisfy needs and activate her/his potentialities. This way, her/his purposes and goals are fulfilled, resulting in each of them will be, in the place that she/he wants.
Each time it is found that a prepared and free environment favors the decision-making, it is exercised daily, when constantly choosing the activity according to her/his interests and needs; therefore, the adult accompanies her/him facilitating material resources (educational, recreational and information) with clear references – accompanies without interfering in the process-; in such a way that, each one will interpret what she/he does and feels according to her/his state of maturity.
For example: Violeta, 7 years old, enjoys artistic and manual projects, she has chosen to make different garments for the family of dolls; the materials are available to her: fabrics, scissors, threads and magazines with models of clothes. The adult observes and shows her/his availability for when the girl requires it; if it is feasible the adult will make some garment to provide a reference. It is clear, that the adult will not carry out the girl’s project, of course, the girl does not sew the fabric, because she finds it a long process, but she uses hot glue, she becomes impatient for the result, which is materialized in her desire of dressing the doll with new clothes.
Also, Leo 7 years old, wants to do math, he says he wants something “difficult”, something for older kids, the material he chooses: the colored balls and the board punched. He randomly takes a card: 3×3 = looks at it and does not know what it says, so the adult reads it like this, “three times three equals…” the child does this exercise in an operational way as the adult reads it; therefore, he places three balls each time, and he gets three rows with three balls in each, counts them and has a total of nine balls; at the end he exclaims: I already know how to read math!
“In our fluid interaction with the environment, the options are not limited to perception, but naturally extend to action as well.
We participate in a regular flow of actions and reactions in the PA * cycle, continuously adjusting and readjusting to our environment and its changes, many of which we produced ourselves. “(Dr. Joaquín Fuster, 2013)
* Cycle Perception Action = PA
In all stages of life, the development of autonomy in being human, is what there is, this potentiality is innate, which allows a person to fulfill her/his life plan through autonomous activity, which implies the self-discovery, another fantastic gift that, by aligning between decision making, wishes and goals; it will transform learning, and free you from bondage, of “having to do”, “of should be” and will assume the “want to do”. Consequently, you enjoy what you do, because decisions arise from the heart.
I remember when Pedrito at 8 years old, cultivated in his garden: lettuce, radishes and carrots, I will never forget the joy that was reflected in his eyes when the first shoots sprouted, which motivated a growing interest to keep taking care of his garden. In addition, the desire to know about the plants, insects and life cycles.
In summary, a person who achieves her/his goals, learns with pleasure in any field, and feel satisfaction in what she/he does. In turn, she/he takes care of development of her/his BEING, this is because the tendency is to go to higher levels of complexity in knowledge; since she/he is motivated to unveil for herself or himself, her/his own questions.
One phenomenon that occurs, is that, even when she/he answers her/his questions and understands what she/he is doing, she/he also leaves room for error. Nevertheless, with a persevering attitude chooses to change direction, strategy, plans and dares to try, to experiment; with this dynamic she/he opens the possibilities to solve problems intelligently and this in its own way produces astonishment or bewilderment as the case may be.
One day, a boy prepared a pizza in the kitchen area, right at the moment that he was dividing the pieces with precision to give to his guests; a visitor who was watching him asked, -Which pizza did you make? The child replied, “I am missing an ingredient for it to be Margarita pizza”; the visitor asked him – May I try it? The boy gives the visitor a piece and tasting it exclaims, “It’s delicious!” and adds, “You are a good cook!” The child responds; “Not yet, because I still need to learn a few more things.” Even though this seems like an everyday home activity, it suggests a state of consciousness in the child, which is not determined by the adult’s perception, rather, his inner voice emerges.
Learning unfolds naturally, when the proper conditions are created conducive to experimentation, exploration, motor displacement, sensoriality, operability, and research with autonomy. I am approaching to suggest that through multiple experiences, what is activated is self-learning. These dynamics strengthen the network of knowledge.
It is confirmed that the various stimuli lead us to actions – our own experiences – which are the catalysts that expand the connection possibilities of the neuronal tissue and consolidate the Cognitive Network.
Therefore, the girl, the boy, the young person or adult feels well-being and, in turn feel self-confidence – invaluable resources – to manage their own life, even acknowledges that it is she or he who has provided a state of inner harmony; this depends on the state of maturity of each person.
When we identify the authentic, from the substitute or the compensatory, based on authenticity, we will be able to creatively reinvent our inner world and the outer world preserving our essence.
We will also focus on meeting our vital needs and self-realization, which is the equivalent; to BE and to BE happy. Then we will discover that self-management and self-help tools are within
each.
Esperanza Chacón
Semillero 2
Casa Sula/Grupo Orion
San Mateo
San José-Costa Rica
June 12th, 2020.