“Barefoot Walking” by Frits Ahlefeldt – FritsAhlefeldt.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Life is a journey of lessons. There is no test, no failure, no right answer, no curriculum and the only standards are the ones that come from the true spirit of our common humanity. We are forever teachers and students on this learning journey called life. My hope is that by sharing some of my life lessons as a teacher and a student, I will somehow help support and inspire others on their learning journey of curiosity, self-discovery, connections, reflection and enlightenment so that they too might find their love song and share it with the world.
We are living too much from the head and not from the heart, from standards driven by data created by computers/non-human entities and not by human intuition and heartfelt intentions. Bullying is at an all time high among students and teachers. School shootings and other tragedies are also at an all time high. Anxiety, depression and stress-related illnesses are manifesting in students and teachers every day because the toxic, negative spirit of the educational system is playing out in the schools and the classrooms everywhere across this country. Where has our sense of shared humanity and the spirit of community gone? Empathy, kindness, love and understanding have been replaced by spreadsheets and checklists and expectations to produce mathematical data to prove or disprove everyone’s worth.
How do I know all this? I saw it in my students and in my colleagues. I saw it at the district, state and national levels of education. But mostly, I learned about it from personal experience. As my heart became more and more broken by what I saw and felt in my soul, it manifested in my body to a point where the doctors were testing me for MS, ALS and telling me that I would probably be in a wheelchair in five years. My spirit was broken, and I had to leave the profession. Had I failed or just fallen from grace? Who was I, and what was my purpose? How was I ever going to mend and heal my broken heart so that I could once again answer my calling and let the “light” of my passion shine brightly? Would I ever again be able to share my love song of learning through the spirit of curiosity, self discovery, connections and service to the greater good of humanity?
The answers to these essential life questions, as always, came in the form of lessons. I had spent my whole life carefully crafting lesson plans for my students that would spark their curiosity and take them step-by-step on a personalized learning journey that would help them find meaning and direction. Well, that’s exactly what the Universe planned for me, and it came in the form of walking halfway across Spain on the ancient pilgrim trail of the Camino de Santiago. There were no quick answers, no multiple choice selections or true/false solutions that were “one size fits all”. Like any true and meaningful lesson in life, we are given multiple opportunities to figure things out, one step at a time. We all become confused, lost, stumble and fall. And we never really achieve mastery or perfection, contrary to what we are taught in school. That is the gift of being human and the real treasure of the learning journey of life. It is all about the lessons and the questions we choose to ask in order to become more aware of the choices that will empower us and move us along our learning path to discover our love song and our passion that we will share with the world. It is not so much about the answers as it is about the questions we choose to ask and the reflection of ourselves that we see in them.
How to use the spirit lessons:
They can be done in the order they are presented, and rotated throughout the school year OR you can go inside your heart in this present moment and see feel what is yearning for in order to take the next courageous step on your teaching journey today with your students. This is personalized learning, so you choose!
In Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, children can earn badges when they have accomplished a task and learned something. At conferences, participants can earn professional badges that indicate sessions they have attended and the topic they have learned about. On the Camino, I had to obtain stamps from two different establishments along the way as evidence and markers of my walking journey and “progress” on the Camino path. In keeping with this idea, I have developed some “stamps” that I feel best mark the learning journey to wholeness in the classroom for students and teachers and that align with my top three take-aways from the Camino and what I feel is true School Spirit. Also, like on the Camino, there are two places or stops along the way on your School Spirit journey to renewed hope and wholeness. These can be used all teachers and learners, both in and outside of the classroom…in life’s “Real World School.”
By following the path of these characteristics and integrating them into your daily school life, you will find your way back to integrity in education and your calling as an integral part of the process of lifelong learning. You will be home again in your passion, purpose and path.
Suggestion: Get a journal or a plan book. Every day, write the word SPIRIT and the steps that represent each letter (S = serenity, sincerity) and so on. At the beginning of the day or better yet, the night before (so your heart and soul can dream on it and create the energy for it!) choose one of the “Essential Questions” and one of the “Can Do” statements for each one and set your intentions for the day around that statement. At the end of the day, write down a brief description of what you did to fulfill your intention on each of the rays of sunshine below that shined as a ray of hope for you and for others.
Example:
Serenity
Essential Question: “How can I create more calmness and peace?”
Can Do Statement: “I am calm and centered on what is real, important and meaningful.”
Event or action described on ray of sun: “When the students seemed confused, I slowed down and took the time and necessary actions to understand what they needed in order to move forward.”