The link between the gardener and
the teacher has fascinated me over
the years.
At Yewfield in the Lake District
of the UK, while walking around the
garden, I learnt how weeds are dominant
and take over a patch and how you just
cannot take all the weeds out. So you
control their spread, while keeping
them there to do their bit. Weeds are an
important part of the ecosystem. The
teacher in me heard this example and it
fitted in with ‘a bully’ in a class. You can’t
just get rid of them, but you bring order
into the system by other interventions.
And when I watch a gardener who with
all attention and love wipes the underside
of leaves, makes the right combination
of soil to put into her pots, where some
plant will blossom, the teacher in me
again resonates with that feeling of care
and concern.
There is no one single or right way
to nurture the environment for the
growth of the child. Nurturing, by its
very nature is a dynamic and creative process. Like each plant, each child is
fragile, but with the strength to take on
the world. Our committed love, attention
and care can facilitate this process.
A builder makes a building out of
what he has imagined and it comes to
completion, whereas a gardener stays
committed to the plants in all the seasons
and is part of its life cycle. So it is with
a teacher—one grows and evolves with
the children.
The gardener cannot control the
growth of plant. His or her only commitment
is to nurture the seed, pause and
observe. One cannot make a plant grow,
the plant grows by itself. All one can do
is to provide the conditions for growth.
One doesn’t blame the plant for not
growing, for not blossoming or for
wilting. One can only intervene in the
environment and facilitate the growth
of the plant. And this is yet another
important fact when one is with children.
One cannot mould them, make them
into this or that. If you try to do that you
destroy them.
Not all seeds grow the same way,
not all blossom at the same time. Some
grow with a wild urgency and some,
so quietly. Not moulding the children,
not grafting them to yield in particular
ways, opens up a world of discoveries,
where there is freedom to watch and
learn as they grow with the gardener.
There are seasons of plenty, and seasons
where, to an onlooker, there seems no
movement
Like a gardener the teacher must
take good care of herself, not be out in
the blazing sun just because one has an
idea of hard work. The moments one
takes to pause and to look at the colours,
smell the flowers, all lend themselves to
action in nurturing the environment.
To take a moment to pause is to take in
the joy of their blossoming.
Working in the junior school is like
being in a plant nursery. You have all
these tiny seeds with all the potential in
the world embedded them. To discover
the right soil for each seed, the right
amount of sunlight and water, and then
watch them grow is the challenge I face
every day.
In the junior school space where I
teach, there is a sand pit, trees, lots of art
material, some equipment for exploring
like magnifying glasses and magnets,
toys and games, as well as books and random material like cloth, cardboard,
pipes and ladders. All this is in the
environment and depending on the
interests we see in a child we bring out
more appropriate resources.
Now the children—the seeds—are
free to learn. One watches them and has
a feeling of watching bees that are
buzzing with a passion to live each day
fully! Making houses, setting up shops,
planning weddings, cooking, painting,
collecting iron filings, reading, constructing,
doing crochet, creating puppet
shows, and much more. The children
find many possibilities and are involved
with their hearts through the day.
So what is our role?
We are the facilitators in the space.
Not only with the activities the children
are engaged in, but more in helping them
relate with each other and the space.
Teasing, talking rudely, comparing, and
excluding, these are habits that they
often find themselves caught in, and to
help them pause and acknowledge these
movements seems to be our primary
role. Together finding confidence, trust
and comfort with each other, being on
one’s learning journey without conforming
to received ideas and habits, is the
essence of our relationship. Through
these interactions the children discover
a ground that is secure and alive.