Learning is Natural

Babies come out of the womb, and they want to learn. Some people describe this as a survival instinct, whatever they want to learn. As babies get older they still want to learn as they become young children - still survival? Part of the way education was ruined by the western middle-classes in the 60s was because educationalists recognised that children wanted to learn. And they recognised that a Natural way of learning was by discovery, and then, as is often the case with idealism, the mind lost control the ideals gained ascendancy and education suffered as discovery learning was not implemented successfully. And many traditionally accepted learning practices were lost. Whatever happened discovery learning became a mistake, and future generations are paying for an education system that had lost discipline and Virtue. Nature's Wisdom was listened to only in part.

Somehow learning has to be restored to the process Nature intended; and of course that has to be difficult as Nature did not intend for people to gain qualifications so that they could then go to speculate on the markets and accumulate wealth whilst people starve. Nature did not intend for contemporary European youth to abandon Virtue for desire, and proceed to seek out any form of experience that the mind could desire through substance abuse irrespective of the social consequences. Nature did also not intend that the wealthy would then use their social status to ensure that their young do not feel the Natural consequences of their actions by perverting the course of law.

Nature did not intend that the use of fossil fuels would become so unbalanced that the planet's environment is being destroyed; Nature had offered plenty of environmentally-friendly solutions such as wind, sea and sun. Nature did not intend that the need for such fuels would lead to war, lead to persecution of religious beliefs. The description of what Nature did not intend could go on, and what the Natural Path asks you to recognise is that there is another way. We do not have to go down the route of greed and destruction as Nature has provided a way.

That way in education is what is hoped to be developed as the Natural Path, but that description is in itself vague. At this point that does not matter too much as enough of what is Natural is clear, and would change and develop over time anyway - a changing curriculum. However what is not so straight forward is how we help students deal with the difference between the Natural Path and what is society's path - how do they cope with the stress of this difference?

This is extremely important because it is this stress that determines the motivation of students. Learning is a Natural process but after a while students lose their motivation. The learning is not relevant to them any more, I would use the phrase that Learning is not now Natural. What has happened is a recognition that following contemporary society's learning leads them to getting qualified to get a job to earn money to accumulate wealth that damages Nature. Instinctively students know this and they lose their Natural motivation.

The best solution is that the education they receive leads to employment that is socially beneficial and is not damaging to Nature; what Nature intended. What can I say here? Pipedream? Not likely?

This is not going to happen in the immediate future in the Europe - for whatever reason. So somehow Natural Path education has to recognise this, and yet keep the motivation.

Mostly students are Naturally honest, and the deception, they see in the system that presents the qualification money accumulation route, makes them want to withdraw - notably seen in adolescence. So the Natural Path approach has to be honest. No lies.

1. The Learning you get through the Natural Path is enjoyable for its own sake, it is what you are here to do.

2. The Learning you will get through the Natural Path will bring you into conflict with the prevailing system path.

3. We will provide you with methods for dealing with the stress of this conflict.

The first would be harder to justify to adults than to children. Most children say what is the point in learning obscure maths, and the most honest answer maths' teachers can give is to pass the exams. If the adult with hand on heart can say that what is being taught is useful knowledge which we as adults have recognised, then the students will not react against it. The second is also difficult because it is possibly within the realm of manipulation of children for political ends. This second must remain a principle in the following way. A curriculum should be developed in such a way that students learn for themselves the lessons they need to learn:-

If their father is a trader, then they investigate the trade. They learn about the skills needed in the trade, they find about the limitations placed on that trade. Students should learn about trade, as trade in some form is how they will live. If they learn that to expand the trade and increase their profits, government and international regulations might apply; then this is learning. It would then be appropriate to ask what would be a virtuous response.

Suppose the skills of the student lead them away from being a trader and more towards and office. Most office employees would become a member of a corporation. What are the corporate strategies? How damaging are those strategies to Nature? Should the student withdraw because they are so damaging? The students need to be taught the analytical skills to answer these questions.

And they need to be taught the personal psychological skills to cope with their decision. If they make the decision to stay with the corporation, how will they feel? How does a virtuous person feel when the company they are working for buys out another company and sacks half the workers in a non-profitable wing? This is stressful for a person who is on the Natural Path, who recognises that they are complicit in the actions as they are in the corporate structure.

Yet to be realistic, in this day and age how does one act virtuously? It is such a stress, and it is a stress that many overcome by avoidance and drugs. And it is a stress that later brings illness as can be seen by the heart disease in the west.

If handled inappropriately this Natural Path education can produce psychological problems; it has to be handled carefully. But learning about life is stressful, and it is better to learn the Truth in a supportive environment than to suddenly find out when you are not in a position to cope.

It is therefore important to find a curriculum whose symbiosis presents the understanding of the Natural Path with the Natural developmental questioning of learning children - Natural Learning.