Today I came face to face with one of the archetypal tensions in education. What kind of learning should we expect of each young person at each phase in their development? The continuation of industrial Era massification of everything argues that learning should be standardized in direct and persistent denial of individual uniqueness.
I did a three hour storytelling workshop in which the featured participants was a group of really bright and generally affable 10 year olds. They continuously challenged and surprised my assumptions about their passions, strengths and capacities. I never honestly knew how each would respond to new directions and feedback until I heard and saw and felt their responses in the moment. All that mattered in their success was my capacity and interest in presence and creativity, the opposites of assumptiveness and arrogance. They did splendidly and delighted in the experience. That's how it works.
