“I only want to enjoy my childhood, ma”
Posted: April 24th, 2010 | Author: Joan Jaeckel | Filed under: Child mental health, Inventing markers for public schools inspired by Waldorf education, Teacher Training | No Comments »
The young son of Chilean biologist, Humberto Maturana, became unhappy at school because he felt his teachers were making it impossible for him to learn. “I only want to enjoy my childhood, ma.” So his father wrote, for him and all students:
The Student’s Prayer
Don’t impose on me what you know,
I want to explore the unknown
And be the source of my own discoveries.
Let the known be my liberation, not my slavery.
The world of your truth can be my limitation;
Your wisdom my negation.
Don’t instruct me; let’s walk together.
Let my richness begin where yours ends.
Show me so that I can stand
On your shoulders.
Reveal yourself so that I can be
Something different.
You believe that every human being
Can love and create.
I understand, then, your fear
When I ask you to live according to your wisdom.
You will not know who I am
By listening to yourself.
Don’t instruct me; let me be.
Your failure is that I be identical to you.”
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