Mr. Kyle on the Prairie

MY PHILOSOPHIES

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Learning happens all the time. 

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Learning is an ever present process. Children and adults alike are constantly taking in stimuli, processing it and turning it into knowledge. As educators our job is to guide that process, to channel it into productive means.  We cannot control what a child learns but we can always provide the means and opportunity for them to build knowledge and do great things.

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Education through empathy

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Human beings are born learners. We have a natural thirst for knowledge that never truly goes away. However, through failure, through strife, and the various pitfalls in life - that desire becomes refined and even cautious. We loss the desire or the confidence to try to learn new thing. Figuring out how someone learns and what motivates them is the key to reawakening that craving. I have spent nearly a decade working with the some of the most challenging people I had accesses to. Working in residential facilities and with behaviorally challenged clients I have learned methods to motivate the unmotivated and reason with the unreasonable. Most of all I have learned that it is our individuality that is key to both our successes and our failures. Who we are and how we see a situation determines how we address it. Understanding how someone perceives a situation and what drives them makes guiding and teaching them much easier.

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Creativity begets creativity

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In my opinion there are few things in life worse than being bored. And while boredom may serve a function, to spur us into action, that action can be difficult wrangle let alone master. Especially for young minds, it often just leads to trouble. However, a situation fraught with creativity creates inspiration. And inspiration is all but impossible to ignore. It guides us and drives us to engage in a very specific activity. When teaching a new skill, it is imperative to attempt to ignite that creative spark. For me the best way to do that is to get excited by the inherent "coolness" of learning or creating something new, in hopes that my excitement will become infectious. I always look for new things to explore and different ways to expand upon old ideas. I always try to teach my self a new skill, a new instrument, a new "something"! If we want kids to be excited about learning we have to model that behavior ourselves.   

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Honesty really is the best policy...

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Kids, especially ones with difficult histories, can be pretty attuned to deceit. So, the first step to building a report with kids is being honest. Set clear boundaries and expectations of what you will and will not tolerate. If you say you will do something, do it. If a kids asks a difficult question, don't lie or give half-truths. Give them the answer. If the answer is not an appropriate thing for a kid to hear, explain to them the question isn't appropriate right now and provide some other form of guidance. If part of a project is going to be a little dull and full of hard work. Don't try to engage them with false bravado, be up front about it. Explain that to do the fun part we have to do the boring stuff first. And above all, be yourself. The more comfortable you are in your own skin the more comfortable they will be taking direction from you.

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