Depth Education Without Edges: The Art of Remembering, Unlearning and Reimagining

Abstract

The new millennium with its great advances of science and technology is allowing more people access to a comfortable life in the material dimension, but also appears to be one of increasing dehumanization. What is missing to achieve more loving and peaceful relationships, on the individual and collective level? What should be re-membered from the wisdom of the past, and what has to be unlearned so a world of well-being can be imagined? To address these questions in my research, I have created an afterschool program for children ages three to nine. Called “Knowing Myself.” it proposes to add a “third space,” different from home and school. This space is dedicated to the self-discovery of each child, and, is facilitated through free play. In this “third space,” soul is honored by accepting children’s feelings and intuitions at all times. Throughout the research, they were observed and listened to with utmost respect. This project examines the effects of a mode of education from inside out, reflecting a depth approach to a liberating pedagogy. The children were prompted to articulate their choices, feelings, mistakes, errors, intuitions, and questions, in many languages, including Spanish and English. Those elements served as portals to reveal their individual internal image or daimon. In the free play of the infinite that converges in the center of each child, a place of Love is created—a home-base from which the lifelong journey of self-discovery may be nurtured.