Monday 7 February 2011

Education X. The appreciation of beauty.

Two days ago I took my twins to the mountains. They are 10 month old. We went into a beautiful valley, there was snow, but the valley was wide and full of sun light. And it was very silent. Although both of them were at the beginning somehow agitated, slowly they quiet down, somehow they "melted" into the general quietness of the place.
I was carrying one of them in a kid carrier, on my chest. At one point I stopped to look at a small water stream. I was looking at the stream and something unexpected happened. I heard him giggling. I looked at him and he was looking at the water stream and smiling and giggling with excitement.
And I realized he was happy appreciating the beauty of the stream.

I always thought it was very important in education to educate to appreciate beauty. I did not know how. But when I heard my son giggling at the water stream, I realized the "seed" of appreciation of beauty is already there, probably in all of us. We do not need to educate for it. We just need to expose children to beauty....and in that interaction beauty will act on the "seed"...and make it germinate....
(no need to educate, no need for sophisticated approaches and educational techniques......all the material is already there....the seed and the beauty.......and, now, writing this, I have a doubt, a question: the seed and beauty, are they different, separate, things?.....)

(dedicated to N.C.D.)

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous00:39

    really beauty thoughts...
    i agree with you, simply to expose to beauty, no to teach it.
    really beauty.
    your son would be proud of you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:33

    Beautiful thoughts indeed. Your sons are surely getting the best upbringing possible, surrounded with streams and nature; taking a child on a long walk where he will be able to absorb the moments is a luxury in todays 'me first' society which has unfortunately become a technological nightmare. Keep taking the little ones on a walk, and maybe read some poetry to them while the rustling sound of the stream forms the perfect background music...

    ReplyDelete