Health & Fitness
Educating a Crowded World
According to UN, the global population hit 7 billion. Now, we need schools that encourage problem solving, not one-size-fits-all schools that treat children like data.
It takes three Olympic-sized swimming pools to hold 7 billion M&Ms, according to the Washington Kids’ Post. And now, according to the UN, there are 7 billion people living on earth. Each one of them is traveling along his or her own singular path through life. Each person’s genetics, personality, experience, aptitudes and passions are as unique as his or her path. For as many people as there are alive today, no two are the same.
We can look at education the same way. If we really are like M&Ms-- each of us a different color, but tasting the same inside, then every child ought to have the exact same experience in school. Teaching would mean little more than following a recipe. Children would be treated like data, and school confectioners would test each batch of chocolate to be sure it tasted just like the last.
But if you believe that each child is a wonderful and unique individual, then education ought to be a personal, intimate and organic experience. There wouldn’t be a formula that our teacher-chefs follow: instead, there would be a smorgasbord of flavors, ideas, and activities every day in school.
In our time of global change, booming population and economic uncertainty, our children need problem solving skills and flexibility of thought. Creative approaches to scientific, sociological and ecological problems are essential. These can only be accomplished on a stomach full of nutrition ideas and a diet rich with inquiry-based learning. A Montessori approach to education, like the one at Evergreen School, fits perfectly with our need to respect the individuality of each child-- especially in an era a population growth and change.
