Education and Artistic Expression

  "Childhood is an important stage in life, not a preparation for a future life but a genuine, bright, unique, unrepeatable stage in life. And how that childhood is spent, who leads children by the hand during their early years, what enters their hearts and minds from the surrounding world, determines what sort of people today's infants will become." - Vasily Sukkhomlinsky, The School of Joy In my conversation with Myrtille Brookson, a Thinking into Results coach, we delved into her perspective on TIR and SEL and she shared: “I resonate deeply with this quote by Emily McDowell”: " Finding yourself" is not really how it works. You aren't a ten-dollar bill in last winter's coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people's opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. "Finding yourself" is actually returning to yoursel...

I recently conducted a workshop on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) for teachers, aiming to provide them with support in their interactions with children. During the workshop, I emphasized the importance of teaching SEL competencies as a foundation for child development. This notion reminded me of Vasily Sukhomlinsky's book, "The School of Joy, [1] " where he highlights the significance of teachers cultivating emotional connections with their students. Sukhomlinsky argues that emotional culture is an essential aspect of pedagogical culture, and fostering multifaceted relationships with children is crucial for a teacher's growth. This concept resonated with me, prompting me to incorporate Toshiro Kanamori's documentary, "Children Full of Life [2] ," into the workshop. I chose Kanamori's documentary because I believe his approach to SEL offers valuable guidance for educators seeking to nurture these skills in their students, enabling them to thrive ...