Latest / The Grammar of Classical Education / Week 140: Pefect Garden or Wise Gardener | Small Shifts - Lasting Formation #17

Transcript

Week 140: Pefect Garden or Wise Gardener | Small Shifts - Lasting Formation #17 · The Grammar of Classical Education

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Grammar of Classical Education,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: a podcast that examines the philosophical foundations of classical education,
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: and then seeks to help classically minded educators bring those ideas to life
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  SPEAKER_00: in their classroom, co-op, or homeschool settings.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Dr. Darlene Gomes, from Leading to Wonder, and I am so glad you've joined us today.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, or welcome if you're joining us for the first time.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you are here for the first time, you are joining us for our final garden walk.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: You may want to jump back to the beginning of our series,
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Small Shifts,
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Lasting Formation,
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  SPEAKER_00: to get the whole big garden picture,
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: because today we're wrapping up with a little stroll through our garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: A slightly longer episode,
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: but as I'm sure you know, beautiful gardens can't be enjoyed at breakneck speed.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's so hard to believe that as of the recording of this episode, it's the end of August.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And as we take our garden walk,
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  SPEAKER_00: it is a wonderful time to remember that it's not like a museum walk
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  SPEAKER_00: where everything is pretty but quite stationary.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our garden certainly isn't a finished work.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a work in progress.
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  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes we get so busy tending the garden that we forget to stop
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  SPEAKER_00: and enjoy what has actually grown.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I'd like to do today.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take a walk,
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  SPEAKER_00: look around,
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  SPEAKER_00: see what's growing,
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  SPEAKER_00: and perhaps as we enjoy the beauty before us,
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  SPEAKER_00: We'll remember a few of the things we've learned throughout the course
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  SPEAKER_00: of this series.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's start right here with the Boston Ivy.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember when we planted that tiny seed of wonder?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about wonder as the beginning of education,
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  SPEAKER_00: that moment when something catches our attention and makes us want to know more.
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  SPEAKER_00: So much of learning begins with simply noticing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Noticing something beautiful, something interesting, something that doesn't make sense.
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  SPEAKER_00: You see, wonder doesn't give us all the answers.
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  SPEAKER_00: It simply opens the door.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps that's one of the things we most need to remember as teachers.
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  SPEAKER_00: If we want to lead our students to wonder, we have to be looking for it as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh my.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then there are those beautiful climbing roses and look at that trellis.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think structure gets a bad reputation sometimes.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about structure as though it is the enemy of creativity or freedom.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: But look at those roses.
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  SPEAKER_00: They needed something to grow on.
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  SPEAKER_00: The trellis doesn't prevent the rose from flourishing.
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  SPEAKER_00: It actually gives them a place to grow.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: You see, procedures, habits, routines, expectations, they don't just make classrooms orderly.
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  SPEAKER_00: They make it possible for true learning to take place.
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  SPEAKER_00: Structure doesn't squelch flourishing.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's actually what makes it possible.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and then look at those sunflowers.
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  SPEAKER_00: I have to admit, I love those sunflowers.
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  SPEAKER_00: Look at those faces.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are still turning toward the light.
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  SPEAKER_00: The liturgies and rhythms of our classrooms help to form our students.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those things quietly tell our students what matters.
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  SPEAKER_00: A reminder that for us,
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  SPEAKER_00: the question isn't just what am I teaching,
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  SPEAKER_00: but what am I teaching my students to love?
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  SPEAKER_00: A very different question.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's the lavender.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those precious moments when we remember that value comes in contemplation, simply slowing down.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Time.
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  SPEAKER_00: A seemingly scarce commodity in our classrooms, goodness, even in our lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Time is needed to stop, to think, to really see what is in front of us.
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  SPEAKER_00: In a world of quick finishers and speedy living,
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  SPEAKER_00: let's encourage our students to learn to contemplate.
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  SPEAKER_00: And to do that, We have to become people who are learning to contemplate as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, but that takes us to our precious peonies.
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  SPEAKER_00: A beautiful reminder that not all growth is visible.
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  SPEAKER_00: Even when it looks like nothing is happening, beneath the soil, something is growing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we seriously wonder, is any of this making a difference?
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  SPEAKER_00: But remember, just because we may not see it, it doesn't mean that it isn't happening.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some of the most important work of formation takes place beneath the surface.
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  SPEAKER_00: And over in the corner, we see the olive tree.
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  SPEAKER_00: A regal reminder,
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  SPEAKER_00: looking over the entire garden,
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  SPEAKER_00: that teachers may grow a little gnarled, but it's growing.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's valuable.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's that determination to continue growing that makes a teacher's fruit last.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like the beautiful olive trees in Greece, 2,000 plus years old and still producing fruit.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hang in there, teachers.
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  SPEAKER_00: There is something beautiful in that dedicated determination to continue growing.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And moving along to our hydrangeas.
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  SPEAKER_00: So beautiful.
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  SPEAKER_00: Actually, since our episode on the hydrangeas, I have been seeing them everywhere.
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  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely glorious in their displays.
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  SPEAKER_00: And a great reminder that there is so much more to the bloom than that visible flower.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember that with hydrangeas, it's the soil that helps determine the color?
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  SPEAKER_00: And we, as good,
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  SPEAKER_00: wise gardeners,
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  SPEAKER_00: are responsible to create the space where a child can grow and bloom,
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  SPEAKER_00: all in different shades,
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  SPEAKER_00: all in different hues, all different individuals, thriving in healthy soil.
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  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of the soil, we can't forget about those weeds.
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  SPEAKER_00: Every garden has them.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's so important to see, though,
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  SPEAKER_00: that they are not just annoyances, but they're actually telling us something.
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  SPEAKER_00: That repeated behavior that drives us crazy,
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  SPEAKER_00: that lack of attentiveness, that resistance, that restlessness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the question isn't simply, how can I fix it?
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  SPEAKER_00: Because maybe a better question is, what's causing it?
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, by the way, That doesn't mean that every weed has a deep philosophical explanation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes a weed is just a weed.
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  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes it is a sign that we shouldn't ignore.
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  SPEAKER_00: And another thing that's easy to completely overlook and ignore are the ferns.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that brings us to the woodland ferns.
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  SPEAKER_00: As
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  SPEAKER_00: teachers, some of our most faithful work will never be noticed by very many people.
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  SPEAKER_00: There won't be applause.
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  SPEAKER_00: There won't be a social media post about it.
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  SPEAKER_00: There won't even be necessarily a measurable outcome at the end of the week.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes teaching simply means showing up again and again and again.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just being faithful.
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  SPEAKER_00: Doing the ordinary stuff and doing it well.
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  SPEAKER_00: Trusting Faithfulness matters when nobody is watching.
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  SPEAKER_00: A fern reminds us that not everything beautiful needs to be in the sunshine,
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  SPEAKER_00: but it does need to be connected, just like those ferns are.
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  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of connected,
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  SPEAKER_00: There is then the mint,
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  SPEAKER_00: the beautiful containers of minty delight that can grow so wildly out of control
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  SPEAKER_00: if not carefully managed.
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  SPEAKER_00: The everyday joys of teaching,
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  SPEAKER_00: the fun, the giggles, the unplanned tangents, all add that fragrant minty delight.
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  SPEAKER_00: But they definitely need to be containerized.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then there are those beautiful,
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  SPEAKER_00: somewhat fragile orchids where we learned that there is a difference between
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  SPEAKER_00: an orchid owner and a wise orchid gardener.
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  SPEAKER_00: It would be nice if there were a set list of tricks and tips for teaching.
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  SPEAKER_00: But with our growing orchids,
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  SPEAKER_00: education is formation, and formation takes time, patience, and dedication.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as we walk,
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  SPEAKER_00: we really can't help but notice the wildflowers,
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  SPEAKER_00: beautiful borders throughout our garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: A fun little reminder that there needs to be an environment of growth,
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  SPEAKER_00: but that each student grows differently and all growth is tended and celebrated and
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  SPEAKER_00: the environment matters.
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  SPEAKER_00: The physical space,
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  SPEAKER_00: the emotional space,
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  SPEAKER_00: the relational space, the rhythms, everything around us matters.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can become so focused on fixing individual problems when sometimes we really need
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  SPEAKER_00: to step back and look at the whole garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: What environment are we cultivating?
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  SPEAKER_00: And part of that cultivation comes with the compost.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not the most glamorous thing in our garden, but look at what it does.
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  SPEAKER_00: Reminding us that nothing is ever wasted.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I think that there is something beautiful about that.
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  SPEAKER_00: You see, things don't always go according to plan.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lessons flop.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ideas don't work.
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  SPEAKER_00: Students struggle.
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  SPEAKER_00: We make mistakes.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when we look back and think, well,
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  SPEAKER_00: that didn't go the way I planned,
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  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps even those things can become nourishment,
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  SPEAKER_00: things that we can learn from and later adjust and grow.
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  SPEAKER_00: We become wise gardeners because of them.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes what we thought was wasted actually becomes part of what helps the garden to grow.
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  SPEAKER_00: And finally, there's the rain.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can prepare the soil,
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  SPEAKER_00: we can plant,
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  SPEAKER_00: we can build the trellis,
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  SPEAKER_00: we can pull the weeds, we can prune, we can provide the right conditions.
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  SPEAKER_00: But we cannot make it rain any more than we can force the growth.
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  SPEAKER_00: There are quite a few things in education that are simply beyond our control.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's an important lesson for us as teachers to remember.
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  SPEAKER_00: We want to do everything right.
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  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, we are not in control of the full garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are gardeners.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are not the master gardener.
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  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, there is a lot of freedom in remembering that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, such a beautiful and varied garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: And to some degree,
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  SPEAKER_00: maybe a little stressful contemplating how you can continue to be
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  SPEAKER_00: the perfect gardener.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as great as that sounds, that's really not the goal at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the goal is more properly set as, Lord, help me to be A wise gardener.
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  SPEAKER_00: Perfect is really an unreachable goal.
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  SPEAKER_00: Wise is a process and gardeners grow as they garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as we close this series, every garden has a gate.
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  SPEAKER_00: Eventually we have to walk through it and into another season.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're going to be doing beginning next week.
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  SPEAKER_00: We're going to leave our garden for a little while and open the gate to something new.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to tell you everything about it just yet,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I'm quite excited because while this garden series has been about the work
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  SPEAKER_00: of cultivating the conditions for growth,
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  SPEAKER_00: our next series will give us an opportunity to explore a deeper and older part
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  SPEAKER_00: of our educational landscape.
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  SPEAKER_00: So stay with me.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot more growing.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And while we're talking about growing,
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: I just wanted to briefly tell you about some other things that have been growing
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: behind the scenes.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Over this past season,
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've been cultivating the beginning of a publishing arm for Leading to Wonder.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the first things that Heritage Light Press will be putting out is
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: a handwriting book that I've been working on called Handwriting and the Heart.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Practicing cursive through the ABCs of Scripture.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And really, this project grew out of many of the same convictions we've been talking about here.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Formation happens through ordinary practices.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Beauty matters.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Words matter.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Attention to details matter.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes something as simply as putting pencil to paper can become part of that formation.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to share more with you about that as it takes shape.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And Few other things growing around Leading to Wonder as well,
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: including the Lantern and Leaf Society,
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: which is beginning to take shape for families who want to cultivate a love
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: for literature together.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be telling you more about those things in the newsletter and over
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: the next coming weeks,
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: but for now, Let's not turn our garden walk into a shopping trip.
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  SPEAKER_00: We have one more thing to do.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's time to turn and take one last look at our beautiful garden before we walk
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  SPEAKER_00: through the gate.
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  SPEAKER_00: We've planted.
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  SPEAKER_00: We've tended.
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  SPEAKER_00: We've waited.
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  SPEAKER_00: We've pulled leaves and enjoyed blooms.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: We've watched things grow.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: We've learned and made mistakes.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: We've discovered, perhaps again, that we are not actually in control of everything.
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  SPEAKER_00: The garden belongs to the master gardener.
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  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the most faithful thing a gardener can do So as we step away
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  SPEAKER_00: from our garden for a little while, I want you to take that thought with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: The garden isn't finished.
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  SPEAKER_00: There's always growing to do.
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  SPEAKER_00: There will always be another weed,
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  SPEAKER_00: another seed, another season, another lesson, another opportunity to begin again.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's good.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because we don't have to finish the garden.
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  SPEAKER_00: We simply have to be faithful gardeners.
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  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for taking this walk with me.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me in this little garden we've been cultivating together.
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  SPEAKER_00: I hope that along the way, you have begun to see your classroom a little differently.
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  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps the real gift of a garden walk is that you can come back to
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  SPEAKER_00: the same garden, but you won't ever see it the same way.
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  SPEAKER_00: So keep tending what you've been given.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep looking for what is beautiful.
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  SPEAKER_00: And remember,
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  SPEAKER_00: as wise gardeners,
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  SPEAKER_00: we are only tending what truly belongs to the Lord, the Master Gardener.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: I trust that whatever your teaching situation,
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: whether it's in a classroom or co-op or homeschooling,
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: that you have found these ideas not only encouraging, but challenging as well.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can listen to all of the episodes of The Grammar of Classical Education
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: I also have available a weekly teacher's newsletter that includes some teacher tips
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: and freebies.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can sign up for that at the Leading to Wonder newsletter found at darlenegomes.substack.com.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about me and Leading to Wonder, please visit the website leading2wonder.com.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: No spaces.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to reach out if you have any questions or if you're interested in
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: the virtual or in-person workshops that I offer for schools,
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: co-ops, homeschool educators, and parent groups.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Again, my name is Darlene Gomes and thank you for joining us.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Until next week, remember, as E.B.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: White said, Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.