Etymologically, a teacher is one who “points out”, who “says.” An educator is one who draws forth—a galactic difference. How does a person gain the escape velocity to leave the culturally sanctioned teacher and attain orbit as the freer Holistic Educator?
What happens? In most of the recordings for the coming podcasts I asked that question of the Holistic Educators. Their answers surprised me.
Several had been teachers for years in mainstream schools. They had tenure, decent incomes, pensions, and success in delivering the curriculum to students. In a word, they were set. And yet, they left that security, and incurring significant expense, went back to school to get advanced degrees in Holistic Education. They reengaged students as educators, often working in Independent Schools or Charter Schools. Why?
One educator said: “Something was missing and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I read that Holistic Education includes the spiritual nature of the child. Whoa! Can that be done without organized religion? And then I knew that I had been trying to do exactly that my whole career but was stymied again and again by the rules, regs, and tests I had to live by. That was it. I was done. I went home and told my partner. He just smiled and we took out the budget to reorganize our finances.”
Another said: “Intense spiritual practice removed the blocks. I looked around. There are many possibilities for adults but few for children. And yet all agree that wounding in childhood leads to problems for adults. I went where the need is greatest.”
There are other perspectives; you can find one in just about every podcast. But I cannot resist one more:
“I don’t know how, why, or when. But now I don’t know how I could have seen it any other way.”