1. Effective leaders - the principal works with teachers to implement a clear and strategic vision for school success.
2. Collaborative teachers - the staff is committed to the school, receives strong professional development, and works together to improve the school.
3. Involved families - the entire school staff builds strong relationships with families and communities to support learning.
4. Supportive environment - the school is safe and orderly. Teachers have high expectations for students. Students are supported by their teachers and peers.
5. Ambitious instruction - classes are academically demanding and engage students by emphasizing the application of knowledge.

I was so pleased when I read this, because at Summa we have designed our Academy to meet all Five Essentials. With education that awakens, enlivens, and enriches students so they reach their full potential. We respect students’ strengths and family values. We work hard, listen, and learn together. We have gathered together effective leaders with a clear vision for education; collaborative teachers who are creating a culture of mutual respect; parents who are involved in their student’s development and emerging greatness; an environment built on child development principles with individual learning styles advising teaching tools; and classes which are geared towards academic excellence.

Summa Academy has four simple goals for each child:

1. Academic excellence and a mastery of all the important skills needed to maximize their educational potential.
2. The social ability to bring greater perspective, understanding, compassion, and problem-solving to the world we live in.
3. The ability to self-reflect in a way that builds confidence and helps a child know their place in the world.
4. An enriched— never diminished—ability to find joy and wonder in themselves, the world, and people around them.

Summa Institute serves anyone who wants to awaken their potential. This includes families, children, parents, teachers, and other professionals who work with children and families.

Reference:  http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/surveys

How does joy arise?

When we are respected we know joy. When our gifts are appreciated we know joy. When there is opportunity to express our strengths and have support to meet challenges there is joy. When the wholeness of our being is nurtured joy is everywhere.

Joy vibrates in our being, often quiet, sometimes bursting. Frustration in learning does not diminish joy; stress does. Joy can never be reduced to fun or momentary happiness. Being in touch with all of our feelings feeds joy; denial blocks it.

At Summa Academy, joy lives. Blame, shame, threats, reliance on rewards and punishments, standards that don’t match the needs of the child, condescending teachers, lack of open communication between parents and teachers, neglected interpersonal issues—these block joy.

We at Summa Academy recognize these blocks. Surprisingly, we don’t waste time worrying about them for we are dedicated to optimal well-being. In an environment sustaining well-being and in community with people dedicated to it, these blocks rarely arise and, if they do, have little chance to gain power. 

Readers of this blog know of the ways that the Summa Academy environment sustains well-being—interpersonal learning, project-based learning, personalized learning plans, multi-age interactions, 11:1 student to teacher ratio, …I could go on and on, for every aspect sings of well-being. Less well understood, perhaps, is the dedication of the people who comprise the Summa community.

Parents enroll at Summa along with their children. They learn Natural Learning Relationships and participate in project-based Learning. This commitment shines for their children and is reflected throughout the Academy and at home. Teachers undergo a four month teacher training course which brings depth of meaning to teaching.

Natural Learning Relationships insures that joy will always be at the center. Centered in optimal well-being, focused on the whole child, validated through field work, research, and most importantly, parents and teachers, NLR places relationship at the center of learning and growth. Joy becomes a shared and mutually enriching experience.

As we begin to share our work with the community and students, teachers and parents engage for the September opening of Summa Academy, there is a great joy in the air. We smiled together last week when one of us suggested this tag line for the Academy: Education as it ought to be. For we know that delivering on the four goals of Summa Academy brings joy to all of us.

Rivalry occurs when there is perceived scarcity of a desirable object. A zero sum moment follows: I win only if you lose; you win only if I lose.

Children will vie for objects. The objects change as the children grow but the perception of scarcity perseveres: I want it, there is not enough for everyone, I must assert control and ownership.

As parents we have limited resources, especially time. Don’t lose hope. We can take significant actions to prevent rivalry and to dissolve it if it occurs. Here are three; we will go deeper into these and conflict resolution at the presentation at Summa Academy Tuesday night at 6:30.

Celebrate differences—Children whose unique strengths are recognized and supported grow in self esteem and fulfillment. Perceived scarcity falls away. There is no motivation for rivalry for children are seen and nourished for who they are. Celebrating differences implies flexibility in family values. We cannot compare children against a rigid standard. “Why aren’t you more like your brother” is a recipe for rivalry.

Proper boundaries—Boundaries become places of learning and growth when they emphasize relationship and not objects. They must match the child’s age-specific capacities. And they must be framed so that the child knows our love is not compromised by the sibling rivalry. “I love you.  I know it is difficult to give up the object, but we always have one another.” This doesn’t mean the child will melt in your arms (though that does happen). In the long run, however, they will get it that the most important “thing” is who we are together.

Make sure your children know that their love counts—Seek their opinion. Listen when they speak. Show them great respect. Laugh at their jokes; ask questions about their stories. And give whatever time you can without reservation. When they know their love counts they are contributing to the abundance of relationship and thus much less likely to obsess about scarcity.

There is so much more. Hope to see you today!.

As will all capacities, social ability develops in relationship. It isn’t a question of teaching it, but of creating the relationships and academic milieu in which social ability shines.

At Summa, social justice is a natural outcome of social ability. When social abilities are developed then social justice prevails. Common prejudices—racial, gender, sexual preference seem cramped and unnecessary. Tolerance, actually a genuine curiosity about all sorts of people, is the natural norm.

Social ability takes different forms at different ages. At Summa, we also know that social ability begins with a child’s self awareness. Our ability to bring greater perspective, compassion, and problem solving to the world starts with ourselves and extends into all of our relationships.

BodyBeing children, 0-8, organize their world to optimize their Rightful Place. Mediating their world sensorially, they have limited emotional range. It is their curiosity and enthusiasm that bring forth social bonding. Egotistical and “me-centered,” one of their primary learning modes is imitation. Therefore, the Summa staff realize that who we are and how we be is an essential component for BodyBeing development of social ability. They are looking to us for how to do it. Moralistic preaching has little meaning.

In addition, providing the curriculum for children to safely explore interpersonal learning within the context of their natural egotism and without unfair expectations allows the fundamental appreciation “I am here, I belong, this is my world” to be actualized. The foundation of social ability becomes solid.

FeelingBeing children (9-13), on the other hand, birth into profound emotional and interpersonal capacities. FeelingBeings organize their world to develop Trust—trust in themselves and trust in others. Mediating the world through feelings, they work to decipher their own affective states and those of other people, both real and fictional, as well as the feeling qualities in music and art.  Social ability capacities expand to include the field of interpersonal dynamics with depth, subtlety, and nuance.

This growth brings many new unknowns to the child. Summa staff guide the children in their exploration through mentoring. Feeling mentorships allow students to identify their emotional moment and self reflect on its value. It is never about judgment, never reduced to good v. bad. No matter the emotion—including the so-called negative ones such as jealousy, contempt, boredom, etc. The mentor invites the child to notice the several feelings of the moment, to place them in context of their social situation, and to reflect on their value and meaning. Then FeelingBeing children, secure in self-trust, can fulfill their natural need to engage the social world. 

The curriculum of the Summa Academy allows them to do just that. For example, the project-based learning curriculum includes values clarification activities, complex theater games, and multiage interpersonal projects. In fact, all project-based learning for FeelingBeing children, and much of the rest of their curriculum, creates the opportunity to explore trust in feelings and to communicate about their social experience. As the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, Summa truly provides rich, diverse nourishment for the development of social ability capacities.

Summa Academy has students through 14 years of age so that the developmental needs attendant to the transition to adolescence can be met. In their new stage, named IdealBeing in Natural Learning Relationships, children organize to optimize autonomy. As the imperative is for the youth to self govern in ways never before considered, they express, even assert, ideals and then try on various identities to match those ideals. This identity exploration is in the service of self discovery and self government.

The development of social ability during IdealBeing occurs within the context of relationships with family, peers, school, and community. Out of respect for this noble endeavor of self discovery and attendant identity explorations, Summa students, parents, and staff co-create curriculum and accompanying social engagements. Teachers at Summa Academy inquire carefully into the student’s choices to insure that their meaning and purpose is known. Core curriculum is tailored to meet the identity explorations of the students. Opportunities are many and varied.

Also, many IdealBeing children have intense social justice ideals. Summa helps create ways to explore and pursue them. There is no judgment as to the value of the ideal, save that it does not involve harm to person or place.

Where appropriate, student at Summa Academy engage service-based learning that reaches out to people and organizations of the greater Portland community. We know we are all interconnected and continually create opportunities for students engage and learn with and from others.

Those of you reading the Summa Blog have heard by now that Natural Learning Relationships (NLR) is an accessible and practical approach that is intended to enhance the lives of all those who are in relationship with children (parent or professional). It is a synthesis and extension of the best ideas in child development. Easy to assimilate and easy to apply, NLR brings the world of the child into focus. It is a comprehensive whole-child view of child development. It asks two critical questions: 1. How do children perceive themselves and the world? 2. What is optimal well-being for the child? What you probably haven’t heard is a brief description of how Natural Learning Relationships came about.

How Natural Learning Relationships came about

When my daughter was born, to me she was a manifestation of the sacred. Raising her well became a primary focus of my life, so I began to take classes at the University of Hawaii and became interested in the education of children. About that time, I met my future husband Geoffrey Luvmour—who most of you know as Ba. He was studying for a Master’s in psychology and education at the time. He was using his work with children in a pre-school as his research for his thesis. We were each involved in a meditation practice and lifestyle that strengthened our work together and led to many insights about children and human development. We fell in love, married, and gradually the education of children blossomed into our life work.

I continued studying with a focus on psychology. It seemed that a great deal of unnecessary suffering could be avoided if education were designed differently and not solely for academic achievement. Our lives took on new meaning as insights emerged from our studies together that served children’s well-being in family life and in education.

Ba and I began to take an active role in our local community by offering classes for children. We formed a parent cooperative with talented craft-persons in the area who would be willing to teach using their skills and expertise. The Community School, as it was called, became very popular.

People began approaching us with questions about our understandings of children. Why did we find being with children so easy? What were we doing? Why didn’t we have to punish them or reward them to get them to behave properly? Inspired by their interest we began to design programs to show what we were doing and how to be with children in a way that was developmentally sensitive. We documented our understandings and how we were applying them, and from this NLR was born. Because we saw the likely implications of NLR for our lives immediately, we wanted to meet the challenge of bringing NLR forward in a wide variety of contexts.

We formed a non-profit organization for the purpose of providing educational enrichment programs to families and children (now known as Summa Institute). Specifically we wanted an experiential expression of the practice of NLR.  Together, Ba and I have led hundreds of family immersion programs and retreats, co-facilitated hundreds of Natural Learning Relationships seminars, and co-authored five books and numerous journal articles. This theoretical contribution by Ba and me began in 1993 with our first book: Natural Learning Rhythms: How and when children learn.

The theoretical underpinning of NLR is both a synthesis and extension of the works of developmental psychologists (e.g., Mahler and Gessel); Cognitive psychologists (e.g., Piaget, Kohlberg, Dewey); humanistic psychologists (e.g., Adler, Maslow, and Rogers); transpersonal psychologists (e.g., Fromm, Wilber, Jung); anthropologists (e.g., Bateson and Mead); holistic educators (e.g., Froebel, Dewey, Steiner, and Montessori); developmental theorists (e.g. Erikson); and our spiritual nature (e.g. J. Krishnamurti, Aurobindo, Merton).

Many educational approaches talk about how important it is in today’s world to translate theories into practice. The maxim is that theories translated into practice are most useful if they address issues and problems of the day. That notwithstanding, the developmental approach of Natural Learning Relationships goes beyond this maxim because NLR is practical by nature with information about how the child sees the world. NLR enhances the life of all those who are in daily relationships with children (parents, educators, and other professionals) because it is a map of the child’s worldview at each age of development. A map of the child’s worldview is practical in that we can use this information to communicate, design curriculum, know the boundaries of the child’s perceptions, and create relational environments.

Theory vs. Epistemology

Natural Learning Relationships is not a theory. A theory is an abstraction about a possible future based on observations and evidence from the past. Natural Learning Relationship is an epistemology—a way of knowing. As an epistemology Natural Learning Relationships speaks directly to the way we know our world. The child’s way of knowing is emergent and relational to development, context, and everything in that child’s world. NLR is a multi-dimensional map of the developmental stages throughout childhood inclusive of the way the child organizes the world and the relationships and nourishments that bring forth optimal well-being.

Maps, of no matter how many dimensions, can only sketch out what is in a territory. It is only by using a map to traverse a terrain that we come to realize what must be experientially actualized in order to actually travel the territory. Thus Natural Learning Relationships is not trying to convince anyone of its veracity. Rather, NLR is a map indicating the territory of how how children grow and learn to invite each of us to participate in the mutually beneficial endeavor of meeting our children’s developmental imperatives. In other words, NLR comes to life when it is used and the meaning of the map is enlivened in each person using it.

Definition of Bullying
Whether the bullying is direct or indirect, the key component of bullying is that the physical or psychological intimidation occurs repeatedly over time to create an ongoing pattern of harassment and abuse.

Cyberbullying includes sending mean, rude, vulgar, or threatening messages or images; posting sensitive, private information about another person; pretending to be someone else in order to make that person look bad; and intentionally excluding someone from an online group.

Misconceptions about Bullying
In spite of the sad fact of its presence and the national attention given in an attempt eradicate it, bullying remains prevalent in many schools. Many programs have been initiated; few succeed. Why?

Let’s play a game first. I will offer a statistic or fact about bullying and you give your opinion as to whether it is true or false. Answers are below.

1. 50% of bullies are bullied by a sibling at home if they have one
2. 80% of parents do not know bullying has occurred
3. Boys are bullied more often than girls
4. 7% of America’s eighth-graders stay home at least once a month because of bullies
5. When bystanders do intervene in bullying, it stops 57% of the time within 10 seconds
6. 40% of bullying happens when adults are not present
7. 45% students believe teachers see bullying; 71% of the teachers believe they see it as it happens
8. The effect of bullying is the same no matter the age of the child

The answers are revealing.

1 is true, but, typically the study did not take into account bullying from other segments of our society such as media, emotionally or physical abusive parents, teachers and school administrators, and cultural biases. (More on this later.)

2 is true. Please consider this deeply as the study that named this covered several countries and a large sample size.

3 is false. Each gender gets its share of bullying.

4 is true. This one seems especially frightening as it implies hopelessness and confusion.

5 is true. But bystanders rarely intervene, despite impulses to do so.

6 is false. It is 67%.

7 is false. Only 15% of students believe teachers see bullying. That 71% of the teacher believe they are aware of it shows how deep the disconnect goes.

8 is false. I will explain why in the talk on the 28th as it involves an understanding of how children of different ages organize their world.

There are other statistics that will surprise you, but the point is that there are many misconceptions about the how, why, where, and when of bullying. And those misconceptions have proven fatal to many anti-bullying programs.

The Failure of Bullying Prevention Programs
Summarizing much research it is fair to say that anti-bullying programs suffer for these reasons.

• They do not know how to evaluate change in the children. While the self reporting of students is helpful it is also unreliable for young people often have other motivations than “objective” reporting when describing their perceptions and behavior.
• Most fail to direct interventions at the social ecology that promotes and sustains bullying perpetration, such as peers, families, cultural and media messages, and the mores of the school.
• Many of programs do not address the changing demographics of communities and fail to incorporate factors such as race, disability, and sexual orientation. In other words, most children are left behind for each child has unique circumstances that influence their attitude and behavior towards bullying.

The Answer
There are three critical factors in a successful response to bullying.

• Complete buy-in by the entire educational community to bully prevention. This includes parents, administrators, teachers, and students. It means clear communication about what bullying is and what appropriate responses are.
• An understanding of the background and capacities of students is essential. It is absurd to attempt an anti-bullying program without intimate knowledge of the students.
• The program must have several different components so that it connects to the diversity of learning styles and backgrounds of the students.

There are a few programs heading in this direction. I will give specific examples on the 28th.

Responding to Children Exposed to the Bullying Culture
Decades of study have shown that punishments, and threats of punishment, do not deter bullies. Likewise, though interaction from bystanders does inhibit bullying, rewards and other inducements do not increase their participation. On greater concern, cyber bullying is on the rise and, given that it mostly happens anonymously, there is little chance for parents and educators to know about it, let alone respond to it.

Success in responding to individual children requires that we know them intimately and so can appreciate the constellation of challenges they face when confronting bullying. It means engaging them according to their developmental capacities, especially that of social justice. And it means seeing them in the context of family, school, community, and nation. With such intimacy many opportunities and interventions appear that go a long way towards mitigating the negative effects of bullying. Among these are restorative justice, peer mediation, role playing and many more. I must emphasize that these are only successful within the context of relational intimacy.

I hope to see you on the 28th when we can go into greater depth on all of these important points. Be well.

This blog focuses on the Goal #3—The ability to self-reflect in a way that builds confidence and helps a child know their place in the world.

Development of the capacity to self-reflect is critical to well-being in children. Children able to self reflect develop an internal locus of control. They gain confidence in their ability to assess and to make decisions. Less likely to be swayed by external rewards, punishments and threats, self reflecting children gain mastery of themselves and so express their strengths and have the courage to meet challenges.

Reflection has two relevant meanings: a) to shine brightly by casting a light and b) to consider deeply. When we self reflect we are shining light on who we are—our feelings, thoughts, expectations and motivations. We come to know ourselves and so become comfortable in our skin.

Clearly, children of different ages have different capacities. Can a 6 year old self reflect? A 10 year old? A 13 year old?

Summa’s answer: emphatically yes—within the limitations of that stage.

Here’s a situation that happened with a 7 year old boy. He was crossing a street without looking.  It was a moment of high tension. His father shouted and he stopped. His father pulled him back to safety. Intelligently, he kneeled and spoke with force but not too much drama about the danger and how important it was to be careful. The boy, downcast, averted his eyes. His parents crossed the street and continued to the restaurant.

I was with them at the time and know the child well. At dinner I asked the boy to recount the incident. He demurred by just shaking his head. A bit later, in a natural way, the parents related their experience. The boy listened carefully, and then spoke of his confusion. His dad asked him what he was doing when he wandered into the street. He brightened and told us a story that was “writing in my head.” His dad’s shout was like “waking from a dream.” And then he added this capper: “I felt like I was bad because I made my dad mad.”

I won’t go into the revelatory, albeit short dialogue that then occurred about the difference between making a mistake and perceiving oneself as bad except to say that it was not a top-down discussion but a participatory one involving all of us.

And then there is 11 year old Jennifer, who came home from school grumbling about teacher favoritism and the way the others in her (ostensibly) cooperative learning group were treating her. After allowing her to tell the story about the misbehavior of others, her mother asked if she contributed to the problem. At first she intensely denied that as even a possibility. Later, after snack, her dad asked her to tell the story again. This time she included her feelings towards the others. Her mother overheard and occasionally interjected comments such as “It must have been difficult to feel slighted” or “that would really bother me.” In other words, she just made contact with her daughter’s feelings without pressing or asking for answers. Later, Jennifer told her mother that she “really didn’t like” one of the girls for a long time. With little prompting Jennifer told of the privileges both in class and in life that Jennifer believed the other girl had. Again, her mother made comments similar to the ones she made earlier. In a few minutes, Jennifer curled up in her mother’s lap. “I guess I’m jealous of her,” she said. They then had an interesting conversation about jealousy.

Self reflection is impossible without relationship, for relationship provides the foundation of trust. Without trust children become wary and perhaps defensive. Then all they can do is respond to the external stimulus. This is a serious wound.

Recall the maxim: capacities are innate; development depends upon relationship. Without trust, without relationship, there is no development of the natural capacity to self reflect. Instead children become dependent on others to tell them what is ethical, what is worth doing, and how they should live. Their voice and power diminishes. This wound exudes loss in every aspect of the child’s being—physical, emotional, social, and, of great importance, spiritual.

Using both academic curriculum and interpersonal learning, Summa teachers know how to invite self reflection in all age children many times during the day. So yes, the ability to self reflect in a way that builds confidence and helps a child know their place in the world is a deliverable goal for Summa Academy. If it weren’t I wouldn’t work there.

At Summa, we recognize the critical need for excellence in academic skills. We accomplish this goal in the following ways:

Developmentally appropriate curriculum—Summa staff, firmly founded in the renowned developmental approach Natural Learning Relationships appreciates that children of different ages have different capacities and so presents curriculum that is relevant, meaningful, and interesting. Natural Learning Relationships also accounts for the unique learning style, strengths, and family values of each child. In short, we provide The Right Material In the Right Way At the Right Time.

Relationship based learning—We learn when we are safe, secure, confident, and respected. In other words, when there is trust curiosity and learning are willingly engaged.  Relationship based learning enriches adults as well as children.  In the old days, it was thought that when we raised our children, the influence ran from adult to child. We now know that adult development and child development are interconnected—in an intricate dance of mutual development. Nurturing development in the child leads to the emergence of new-meaning, self-knowledge, and ultimately wisdom in the adult. In other words we learn together; we grow together.

Personalized Education Plan—Parents, educators, and students co-create the academic plan. As a starting place, the student’s strengths and challenge areas are evaluated according to Gardner’s Seven Intelligences.  The plan emphasized strengths and areas of competence. This increases confidence and the student’s willingness to engage challenges. Also, attention is given to learning style so the curriculum appears in the right way.

Project Based Learning—Every afternoon there will be two or three projects going.  Students, with teacher and parental guidance, will choose their projects. Every project will include children of all ages, and therefore they will experience the many benefits of multi-age interaction. There will be consistent feedback between project learning and the main lesson so the value of each is maximized. And, in keeping with Summa Academy’s culture of connection and relationship, parent education includes participating in at least one project during the year. This builds community with teachers and all students.

Teacher Training—Academic excellence, developmental insight, familiar with the insights of great educators, versed in creating trustworthy relationship with students, parents, each other, other professionals and the community are the components of Teacher Training at Summa. It is a revolution in Teacher Training that we hope to bring to public and private school teachers everywhere.

Learning Labs—Each academic field has a dedicated learning lab. Students are immersed in the learning tools of the subject. The learning labs are:

Language Arts & Media Center

• Listening stations with storytelling center, oral history programs, and American dialects
• Computer lab
• Library – fiction, writing skills, grammar, computer & technology history
• Computer sciences
• Educational video games
• Projector & screen
• Cozy spaces with good light for reading
• Student cubbies
• Teacher desk
• Display areas for projects and work completed

Mathematics & Music Lab

• Mathematical library with historical, fiction and non-fiction, workbooks and picture books, biographies and mathematics literature
• Geometry
• Algebra
• Spatial math with manipulative center
• Theoretical and practical math
• Posters of inspirational math
• Importance of math in everyday life
• Musical Theory
• Musical instruments
• Quiet concentrated work stations
• Group work stations
• Student cubbies
• Teacher desk
• Display areas for projects and work completed

Humanities Lab

• History
• Geography
• Psychology
• Anthropology
• Sociology
• Current events
• Cultural studies
• Philosophy
• Maps, globes & posters
• Library with all subject matter represented in fiction and non-fiction
• Display areas for projects and work completed
• Quiet concentrated work stations
• Group work stations
• Student cubbies
• Teacher desk

Theoretical and Applied Sciences Lab

• Astronomy
• Architecture
• Biology
• Evolution
• Zoology
• Physics in everyday life
• Applied sciences
• Library with all subject matter represented in fiction and non-fiction
• Display areas for projects and work completed
• Quiet concentrated work stations
• Group work stations
• Student cubbies
• Teacher desk

Performing Arts & Project Based Learning Center

• Open spaces for group projects of all types
• Tables and chairs for eating lunch
• Space for physical curriculum
• Costumes and props for theatrical play

Art & Science Lab

• Open spaces for group projects of all types
• Tables and chairs for experiments and art projects
• Sewing machines
• Microscopes
• Pottery supplies
• Art supplies of all types
• Building materials of all types
• Woodworking tools
• Display area for children’s projects and art

Kindergarten I and II

• Sensory trays
• Sand letters
• Art & craft stations
• Water table
• Imaginative play
• Costumes
• Seasonal displays
• Music
• Reading
• Cozy corners
• Tables for group lessons – Montessori style
• Places to display children’s projects
• Student cubbies

Many parents ask: Can my child re-enter public school or high school with the necessary academic skills. Our answer: empathically yes! And PPS guidelines for each grade level are available in the Academy Director’s office for parents to reassure parents with this concern.

Come to the Open House and see the facility in which Summa Academy academic excellence is accomplished. And bring your questions. We look forward to seeing you.

My Executive Director, Amber Kara, has posed a question to all of us. What is the difference between change and emergence? After all, change happens, then something different exists. Isn’t that emergence?

No. But is this is a valid topic for a Summa blog? What does emergence have to do with the education of children, families, and professionals?

The current paradigm of learning is logical positivism—something is real, is knowable, if it can be measured, counted and replicated by following a stated methodology. There is a fixed reality and it can be found by using the scientific method.

Emergence is a (relatively) new paradigm. The difference between it and other paradigms have been described in a previous post. Here is a brief encapsulation of the dynamics of Emergence (capitalized now as it is the proper name of a well respected paradigm):

Healthy initial conditions + open communication within the environment—> greater complexity—> new healthy initial conditions.

Initial conditions refer to the moment of engagement. Consider your moment as you read this. Scanning it at work? In the midst of a rock concert? Quietly concentrating while considering whether Summa is right for your family? Obviously, the conditions in which you engage this blog influence the value of your experience.

Open communication with the environment means the ability to interact with your world in safety and trust. It is a term coined by Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine for his work with molecules. Prigogine found that molecules in a nurturing environment (initial conditions) select that which allows them to self organize to greater complexity. Now, more complex forms of molecules emerge. We create open communication at Summa in the space between. Greater complexity means the ability to inhabit a greater variety of niches while bringing forth greater relevance, meaning, and growth—which, of course, is a new healthy initial condition.

Important points to note about Emergence:

• There is no fixed, final body of knowledge. Paraphrasing renowned physicist/philosopher David Bohm, knowledge itself is emergent. This reveals logical positivism as severely limited.
• Humans are open, dynamic systems continually emerging. (And so we wave goodbye to those who believe that early childhood is everything.)
• Emergence is non-linear. The results of a given event become the initial conditions for the next event. As entropy only refers to closed linear systems, it is fair to say that the concept of entropy is, well, entropic.
• Children are emergent beings with the ability to self organize to greater complexity. Dysfunctional behavior arises when initial conditions and open communication are thwarted. Certainly, children are not little vessels waiting to be filled with data.
• Fixed notions of who the child should be, such as “competitor in the global marketplace”, undermine learning. Academic excellence thrives in Emergence.

Change that occurs accidentally, or as the result of restricted initial conditions and lack of open communication, leads to less complexity, to dullness, to flatline.

Summa is an emergent educational institution(see this post). Trust, the space between (as described in this post), Natural Learning Relationships, and the inclusion of family, combine to create the right initial conditions and open communication for all participants (children, parents, and teachers) to self organize in greater complexity.

At Summa we live in an open, emergent environment and so grow together. Come to the Open House on January 26th and see for yourself.

Those who live self knowledge live beyond comparison as a way to ascertain value. The balance sheet approach to decision making never occurs.

Simply, there is a draw to well-being, to the insight and action that dissolves the illusion of separation. That draw creates the conditions for self reflection; it calls for participation and invites another into the space between.

The draw to well-being and the consequent ending of choice does not imply an idealistic or imposed perfection. Rather, it dissolves notions of an “end state”. This draw is not a striving to get “somewhere” but to participate in each moment and allow its inherent value to emerge. Again and again, freedom from choice accepts evolution, change, adaptation, emergence. Freed from perfection, the world is me, I am the world.

The impulse to choice often arises from feelings of helplessness, insecurity, and vulnerability. In choice we judge these feelings as bad and try to strategize our ways out of them. We say: Crap! I feel insecure. I want out. We then evaluate variables, pick one (usually without much self inquiry) and ride the consequences. The question, as always, is: who is the chooser? From what perspective are the various options seen? My 3 year old granddaughter chose ice cream for dinner last night.

Cultural narratives attempt to circumscribe the available choices. The Kaiser who ruled during WWI had a withered left arm and was ashamed that he would dishonor his Prussian heritage if he didn’t choose decisive military action.

Unnecessary tension accompanies each step.  So many worry about God, or Salvation, or Truth that they seek, seek, seek, which entails choice, choice, choice. Judgment about choice made in order to be Saved has led to the fallacious definition of conscience as Good v. Bad.  From Santa Claus to God to liberating The Little Mermaid (see the Hans Christian Andersen original), be good, (as defined by cultural narratives) and all will be well.

The shadow is the worry, the anxiety, the fear that you must do good in order to actualize sacredness. So seeking is the choice to suppress worry, to mitigate the insecurity.

But who seeks? What if being found is the way Home? What if being found means ending the seeking, means participating in the insecurity? Does God need you to seek? How do you know? Wouldn’t God know you? Could the Creator be insensitive to Its own creation?

Self knowledge is founded on self observation. Narratives are to be questioned. Do they serve well-being? Are they personally relevant? Do they support interconnectedness? Are the narratives oriented to the space between? Participating in this self inquiry allows self knowledge to inform narratives, rather than submitting to the dominance of the narratives.

Living self knowledge includes feeling all the all the feelings without judgment. These feelings inform rather than detract. For instance, humility and openness often accompany feelings of helplessness, insecurity, and vulnerability. The tension in the feelings becomes a source of creative energy. A quiet surrender is called for as our strategic faculties fail. Self judgment falls away. Conditioning and narratives are known. Not just recognized and not just felt but known. If they arise they become compost nourishing self knowledge. And then, as natural as breathing, measurement and comparison are eclipsed. New insight and opportunities appear and the draw to that which deepens well-being becomes obvious. There is no desire to choose.

Letting go, surrendering is not seeking, and it is not not seeking. It is not a tightrope between the two. Perhaps it is best expressed in the ancient aphorism: That which you seek is That which you already are.

May this blog remind us that we have what we need for self knowledge.