In preparing for a talk I'll be giving on the topic of education this weekend in Oakland, I came across this quote by Abdu'l-Bahá, which is an extract from one of his talks. I love its emphasis on the importance of learning beyond book-learning.
"Among these children many blessed souls will arise, if they be trained according to the Bahá’í Teachings. If a plant is carefully nurtured by a gardener, it will become good, and produce better fruit. These children must be given a good training from their earliest childhood. They must be given a systematic training which will further their development from day to day, in order that they may receive greater insight, so that their spiritual receptivity be broadened. Beginning in childhood they must receive instruction. They cannot be taught through books. Many elementary sciences must be made clear to them in the nursery; they must learn them in play, in amusement. Most ideas must be taught them through speech, not by book learning. One child must question the other concerning these things, and the other child must give the answer. In this way, they will make great progress. For example, mathematical problems must also be taught in the form of questions and answers. One of the children asks a question and the other must give the answer. Later on, the children will of their own accord speak with each other concerning these same subjects. The children who are at the head of the class must receive premiums. They must be encouraged and when any one of them shows good advancement, for the further development they must be praised and encouraged therein. Even so in Godlike affairs. Oral questions must be asked and the answers must be given orally. They must discuss with each other in this manner."
-Abdu'l-Bahá, “The Bahá’í World”, Vol. 9 (1940–1944) (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1945), p. 543) [145]
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You might enjoy Bronson Alcott's book How Like an Angel I Came Down which talks about asking questions of children and seeing that out of the mouths of babes comes great wisdom. (He was Louisa May Alcott's father and founding Transcendentalist. A terrific teacher of children)
Hi Ginger Tea -- thanks for this recommendation. Sounds interesting - I will see if I can get it from the library.
I always find it amazing when I see how Abdu'l Baha talked about some of these things in like 1910, and how today, almost a 100 years after, we are just starting to scratch the surface in terms of bringing these things into our education system. This kind of learning is now the "in" thing to do - and its considered quite revolutionary in the field of education, to not teach thru books but thru experiences, to use stuff like games to teach children things. So all this is considered path-breaking now in the field of education... :)
Nikhil, that's an interesting point. Ginger Tea had mentioned transcendentalism, which started even earlier (early to mid 19th center). The Waldorf model of education arose in the early 20th century and the Montessori method in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. It's unfortunate that we're still barely scratching at the surface, but at least there's movement. Hopefully one day we'll all get there.
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