Teach PD to school children?

[Love]

Hi!

I was recently investigating the career of school counselor, trying to decide whether it was right for me. And then I thought that I might actually like to teach courses, like goal setting, networking, finance, effective talk, dealing with people, etc. that all might fall under personal development. And I was worried that as a counselor I wouldn't be able to get students those tools that they needed. So my question is: has anyone ever taught PD to school children (High school students included) and if so, in what capacity have you done that?

Thanks for the help!

[skydust]

this post is an alpha reflection for an intention i made recently its nice to see it. im thinking of starting up a school in some years, that is based around personal development. it would be for children and it would teach things like healing, IM, superstring theory, psychic skills etc. i feel like it would help the development of the planet greatly if kids learnt these things that most of us only learn when we are adults. they would be more compassionate people.

i still have to figure out how this can be combined with general knowledge. all i know is that i want specialized and highly evolved teachers in each area who know what they are doing, and teaching.

so, maybe you would like to help me make this happen?

[Alex]

It's definitely a great concept. When I was in the Landmark Forum in August they were offering personal development seminars both for teens and young people. I also noticed that some people attending the seminar with me were teachers and that landmark had set up programs where the teachers could use some of the techniques they learned in classroom settings. I'm not saying this to say that someone has already thought of this, but to suggest looking at similar institutions that are already in place.

Anyway you sound like you are going to put your heart into this and I think its a great cause so I wish you great success, both of you.

[ticktockclok]

I'm a high school kid. If teens or any kids at that were interested in personal development, they would look into it themselves. Putting us in courses for these kind of things never works. Our middle school did something like it, and still does. Everybody hated it, and we would just laugh at the idiotic movies and speakers over lunch.

Skydust, good luck. I believe that this psychic type stuff works, but it won't get through to school kids. Most people have the inbuilt stereotype that the title of a professional psychic is "Psycho".

[jbischke]

The biggest problem with schools these days is that children don't learn how to learn. I think if certain elements of PD were taught in schools then this problem would largely disappear. That would change everything.

[ticktockclok]

Originally Posted by jbischke

The biggest problem with schools these days is that children don't learn how to learn. I think if certain elements of PD were taught in schools then this problem would largely disappear. That would change everything.

Thats very true. Most kids at my school can't recall a single thing from the previous year, for example. Nothing is committed to long-term memory. Just cram for the test/final the day before, get a good grade, make the teacher happy, keep moving on along the system....

[Akashic_Librarian]

I think what we need to do is intergrate things into society from a YOUNG age, so they couldn't grow up thinking Psychics were fakes and Psycho's (some are though :-\ ) I think we should teach NLP in schools aswell because someof my peers have real trouble learning and it makes me kinda sad that they won't have as good a chance as I will in life, because they can't learn very well.

[Nneka]

I have the idea for such a school also. I agree with ticktockclok that there is an even more fundamental problem with kids wanting to learn anything. They seem to only show up to class because they have to.

If we do want to change the world though, the earlier we can start introducing these concepts the better.

In Spirit,
Nneka

[Love]

I definitely feel that there are things we tend to learn as adults that would be useful to know as youth. And I think that whether youth find what you have to say pertinent or worthwhile depends upon how you deliver it. I have no doubt, ticktock, that like you said, it could happen that students laugh at speakers or techniques. But I feel that students laugh at many things; they can laugh at gym, physics, english, etc. I wouldn't want that to stop me or other people from trying to teach any given subject.

I do think the special school idea sounds very promising, skydust. Nneka also posted a wish for a special school in the "If Bill gave you a billion thread."
(S)he wrote:
"If I got a billion dollars from Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, or anyone else, I would open a school for K-12 that does spiritual enrichment, explores different cultures and religions, financial literacy, and teaches the usual reading, writing, and arithmetic. There would be a lot of experiential learning with annual trips to different countries for all ages."
I don't know if spiritual enrichment includes psychic development, but I think both your and Nneka's ideas take a distinct step away from traditional learning, into really grooming the young for more competence in both youth and adulthood.

My own interest is in working with existing schools, especially inner city schools, because that's where I find the most despair, lack of goals, and lack of a sense of internal control. I guess I would want to step into to middle schools and high schools to do a type of an intervention prevention type thing. I'm no expert on PD--I'm just starting to learn and gain control myself, but from what I've experienced in these schools, I know more than they.

I would want to know how to go about it. What would a program look like? Workshops or classes? Several classes or just one? How could I "sell" this program to a school? If you have any ideas, I'm all up for sharing. Everything is only beginning to play around in my head right now. And thanks for pointing out the landform program, Alex, I'll have a look into it. I guess the biggest thing that I feel needs to happen is to teach children/young adults how to be metacognitive. And I think that that is doable.

[Nneka]

I don't know if spiritual enrichment includes psychic development,

My idea is for kids to get as round an education as possible and come out with a really strong foundation. I had not considered psychic development. I think that skill requires an accompanying psychological maturity. Also, I think it's something that can be explored once you have a good foundation and you understand what you believe.

[skydust]

thanks everyone. i have heard from many sources that children are more intuitive and some can even see auras and have obe-s when they are small, but that they block these things off when they grow because people just tell them they are imagining things, and because our society isnt very open to these things in general. the idea with the psychic development would be to develop something already naturally occuring in many children, before they shut it off. that way they would grow up with it and it would be a natural part of their lives. this psyhic thing would be brought in gradually, starting with perhaps just visualization exercises.

i just feel its the next step up in consciousness/awareness of the planet and i want to help it along.

just to clarify, it is absolutely not about forcing something onto the kids that they dont want to do.
the school would encourage the individual interests of the children, and what they would be taught would greatly depend on that, as i believe that if everyone did what they loved, the quality of the work done would be much higher and people would live more fulfilled lives.

also it would cut out all the unecessary indoctrination that kids today are subject to. for example, what and how history is taught would have to be greatly revised. and gym class would be more like martial arts, horseriding and yoga.

ok im rambling

[Lauxa]

Have you heard of the Sudbury school?

This is the education philosophy I like the best. I think there is room in this model for a great many PD topics to be taught without forcing it on the kids. Of course, if the kids aren't interested in learning it, you can't teach it to them. Right now, I either want to homeschool or send my kids to the Sudbury school.

[Pat P.]

I believe one faces PD when is ready for the subject. Although now I feel that I would have benefited from an early exposure to PD in high school, I wouldn't have been very receptive. In a way, I needed to make mistakes and to be drawn into personal development in order to embrasse it (LoA).

In the hypothetical situation of doing some work with young people, I would do the following:
1) Start with operational issues such as time management or goal setting, all as tools to aliviate the stress of the school work. I'd ask them what issues are more pressing or out of control in their lives and I'd start from there. I'd
challenge students to come up with there own strategies and solutions.

2) Once you have a critical mass of people interested, I'd work with them in higher or more difficult subjects, such as power of intention, meditation, etc.

Hope it contributes to the discussion.

Pat

[Nneka]

Originally Posted by skydust

thanks everyone. i have heard from many sources that children are more intuitive and some can even see auras and have obe-s when they are small, but that they block these things off when they grow because people just tell them they are imagining things, and because our society isnt very open to these things in general. the idea with the psychic development would be to develop something already naturally occuring in many children, before they shut it off. that way they would grow up with it and it would be a natural part of their lives. this psyhic thing would be brought in gradually, starting with perhaps just visualization exercises.

i just feel its the next step up in consciousness/awareness of the planet and i want to help it along.

just to clarify, it is absolutely not about forcing something onto the kids that they dont want to do.
the school would encourage the individual interests of the children, and what they would be taught would greatly depend on that, as i believe that if everyone did what they loved, the quality of the work done would be much higher and people would live more fulfilled lives.

also it would cut out all the unecessary indoctrination that kids today are subject to. for example, what and how history is taught would have to be greatly revised. and gym class would be more like martial arts, horseriding and yoga.

ok im rambling

Skydust, I hear you loud and clear. I feel like children can see things very clearly in the unseen world. It would be great to harness it, but that also comes with great responsibiltiy (or maybe not). I would not feel comfortable developing those abilities in kids without the accompanying "training/information/knowledge" (I'm searching for the right word) to take on the responsibility that comes with it. I certainly don't want to deter or squelch it.

[John Hill]

I've never taught it to school kids but I incorporate some personal development teaching in my work as a personal trainer to people who are interested, I usually wouldn't mention it to more "conservative" people.

Everyone loves it and nowadays when I have a training session with those people, they always have a heap of new questions which we both like to talk about. As they learn from me, I also learn from them. I wish I had been taught a PD class at school.

My PD website link is below.

John

[Michael Chui]

I wrote this not all that long ago, and it pertains to the subject:

raccaldin36: Progression of Educational Maturity

It's pretty long.

[skydust]

Originally Posted by Nneka

Skydust, I hear you loud and clear. I feel like children can see things very clearly in the unseen world. It would be great to harness it, but that also comes with great responsibiltiy (or maybe not). I would not feel comfortable developing those abilities in kids without the accompanying "training/information/knowledge" (I'm searching for the right word) to take on the responsibility that comes with it. I certainly don't want to deter or squelch it.

yes, it would definetily take responsibility, and that is why i would make sure they had the best teachers available. i would just be the principal as i dont see myself teaching kids, at least not yet! but then again this whole thing is at least 10 years away, so plenty of time to develop.

sorry to hijack your post love, im afraid i dont know the answer to your questions. i would probably just market myself and approach schools telling them what i have to offer and some would hopefully get interested in hiring me.

[Love]

Discussion always leads us somewhere new, skydust, so what's happening on this thread here is just perfect.

Pat, I agree with your approach. I think that in going in to a school it would make more sense to start with more "sensible" topics likes time management before jumping into something like the LoA.

But I do see an issue popping here on this thread, which is whether people should be given help if they feel they don't need it. I honestly feel that sometimes the answer to this question is Yes. If a person's never been exposed to the other side in a meaningful way, sure, go ahead and help them. You can't want something if you don't know what it's about. At the same time, I wouldn't want to keep beating someone over the head with the same spiel if they'd already gone and tried the thing and didn't like it.

[The Probabilist]

I wrote an article, but it is too long to post here.
Some food for thought and further insights on the matter.

10 Challenges within the Educational System