Is there any one best way to live life? If no then can there be one best way to teach. Children are dynamic and they need dynamic facilitation. Breadth of facilitation will provide depth to understand a child.
There is a notion that there is only one best way to deal with a child in a specific situation. Another notion is – there is only one best way to teach.
In our humble opinion The Best way to teach is also the worst way to teach. Some people are befuddled when they see seemingly contrary ‘ways’ of facilitation exhibited by us. For same situation – we would respond to different children differently and at times even same child differently at different times. When people expect consistency, what they see in our approach is confusing variety. People got their knowledge of “being consistent” from books, parenting guides. But to us this notion of a ‘best way’ of teaching/ coaching/ mentoring/ facilitation is not possible. For us our profession itself means no one way, no right way, no best way. For us the best way is the way to openness, to experiment and to explore.
Let’s see what mindset we carry when we conclude that one specific way is the best way –
- I stagnate – I stop thinking of alternates / options. I stop learning. I become too narrow in my view.
- I profess – If not content, then the method. Then it is no more facilitating but more of a preaching.
- I close myself – to understanding the child – for then I am with the ‘way’ and not with the child. Then the way or the method becomes more important than being with the child, understanding him or her.
If only teaching was a machine – take a way, apply it hundred times and you will get 100 same outputs. The teacher’s attribute is not repeatability (that’s for the assembly lines), the key is flexibility. To us teaching means that we’re constantly exploring and experimenting. Essence of facilitation is that we fluctuate between all kinds of actions, methods and responses This can be confusing to others. However, if we’re aware of our facilitation (action) and aware of what our facilitation did (response / consequence) – then this vicissitude adds immense richness to the a facilitator’s understanding of the child.
We want to emphasize that this playing around (experimenting) with facilitation is an intentional drive to develop facilitation skills and to learn about the child by putting oneself in constant challenge zone. Richness of facilitation lies in constantly playing with one’s belief not by facilitating in best way.
In conclusion a teacher must exhibit the most dynamic belief system. Constantly questioning, challenging, playing around and changing with one’s beliefs. Which is why there is no best belief. Which is why there is no wrong way of facilitation. Which is why there is no best way to teach.
To understand more on Role of Facilitator –https://aarohilife.org/home/facilitation-aarohi
To comprehend more on Role of Child understanding Freedom and Responsibility –
And to get clarity on Role of parents read both the above articles.