Our oldest daughter, Emma, started school in September 2003. Her reception teacher was in her first year of teaching and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d been dutifully drilled in the importance of target-setting during her training.
At five years old, Emma was set the following target:
‘Wait for Miss … to ask for help and ideas.’
When Emma reached the end of Year 1, she came to me looking glum and gloomy on a bright, sunny morning at the very start of the summer holidays.
“I’m bored, Mummy. I don’t know what to do.”
I was stunned. I stared into the clear blue eyes of my little girl. What had happened? Where was the inquisitive, imaginative, creative soul we had loved, nurtured and encouraged? Was this a result of formal education and being told what to do from 9 am to 3 pm, Monday to Friday?
I still have Emma’s copy of ‘Tidy Up, Trevor’ (a gift from her Aunty Helen). It’s part of the Red Fox Mini Treasures series and the perfect size for little hands.
It’s a wonderful story of Trevor the terrapin’s journey from boredom to adventure as he engages his lively, inquiring mind with the contents of his cupboard: ‘some knotty knitting and a crumpled kite’… ‘his blue boat and a rubber ring’… ‘his train set and racing cars’…
‘”Guess what, Mum?” said Trevor. “I’m not bored any more.”‘
I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘The Treasure of a Lively Inquiring Mind’ and the influences at work to dull, darken and bury that treasure. I continue to teach young people who are currently unable to access mainstream school for a range of reasons. I continue to dig for the treasure of a lively inquiring mind. The refrain from Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Caged Bird’ continues to speak to me:
‘The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And its tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.’
I continue to stand in the face of the ‘fearful trill’ of challenging behaviours from my students. I am convinced they long for things that are yet unknown to them. Above all, I hear their cry for freedom.
Read with Julia 