This is how I taught Helen Keller

Helen had a severe illness while she was still 19 months old, and she had been deafblind for that illness. She was living in total darkness, till the age of 7. But the following education has changed her life! This kind of education was so magical that Helen opened up her other senses, and learnt more after a month. This education not only thought her to read and write, but to talk as well. She grew up to be a famous author, speaker, and philanthropist. She contributed her whole life for the welfare of blind person and for education as well.

It is absolutely a miracle of education that a deafblind woman could achieve such high triumph. And the one who created this miracle is Annie Sullivan. She, herself used to be a blind orphan too. She wasn’t even 21 yet when she was educating Helen. Although she never learnt the way of educating, nor professional trainings, yet she was a great educator.

The success of Helen’s education is definitely a great victory on the humans’ spirit. Sullivan has only educated this one child, a mischievous and stubborn one! This is a victory. This, is what willpower is, and it is what determination is. In addition, this is also a result of love and contribution. Plus, it is a “natural” educating system’s victory, and it is this education that shows the origin of human’s education.

Conduct and encourage them to ask “Why”

Continuously asking “why” could lead a child into the world of thinking and rational. We should hinder them from learning. What we should be doing is encouraging to ask more, and through this they could think. This could lead them into a positive state of learning.

Sullivan used to hate and dislike all the silly questions kids asked her. But after meeting Helen, she knew that this shows that they’re entering the world of thinking and rational.

When kids’ observation, thinking, and distinguishing ability improve, it stimulates their thirst for knowledge. They might start thinking and talking nonsense but we shouldn’t prevent them from it, but to let them express their thought. We must answer their questions in a language that they could understand. Fulfilling their satisfaction with lies is a great mistake.

While we encounter questions that we, ourselves don’t even know the answers, we must have a heart to discover and learn with them.

(Example: Helen once asked Sullivan about the origin of life. Sullivan then took the growth of plants as demonstration. The way they breathe in nature, grow, blossoming flowers and fruits, growing seeds, and this circle of life continuously operating. Then she took the difference of chicken breeding eggs, and human with their child as example.)

The search for the ultimate life is the need for spiritual growth

Kids’ questions are often profound, but adults are often superficial, and would just fulfill kids’ satisfaction with lies, and thus weakened their passion to learn more. Those who could ask will have the ability to understand the simple meaning of the answer. We must trust them.

Of course the kids temporarily couldn’t understand the rather profound part of the answer. But aren’t we walking forward on a road of understand and discover?

Some might think that he/she should avoid profound topics that he/she couldn’t explain. Actually it depends on how well you understand it.

For example, a kid asks: “What is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo?” How would you answer that?

Then we would have to think of the point of view to explain it to them. If you said that you would get whatever you wanted after chanting, Then, the kids would probably ask you “what you’ve got so far?”, or even “why are you still living in such a small house?”

As we all know, it is often that an adult’s faith, from the beginning, is just to change their karma. Whereas those who join because they’re are touched by Nichiren Daishonin, or 3 of the presidents are rather rare. Plus, most within them joined because of financial problems, sickness, or problems on relationship.

But most of the kids won’t be able to understand all these problems occurring in the reality world. If you were to tell them you would get whatever you wanted after chanting, then you’re nothing more than superficial.

I would do my best to let the kids understand this great spirit. I would tell them this way: “By chanting, we could be more courageous, and we could gain the wisdom to do things that could help the others and ourselves. Nichiren Daishonin determined to the most intelligent person in Japan while he was 12. He has such courageous heart because he wanted to help the people around him, and at last, he did it. He succeeded as he endured and overcame every problems and difficulties with a strong. He enables us to have the opportunity to improve ourselves, becoming a courageous good person.”

Of course this is just an example. Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism is to let us see the great mounts of buddhism even when we’re being in total darkness. I believe that when we’re implanting such good motivating words in the children, they would overcome their problems with Daimoku!

Children’s learning ability

Children’s learning is under an unconscious state, without us knowing it, they learn happily and mastering language and knowledge.

The source of language is life’s experience and need. Language and knowledge has a special bond that couldn’t be broken. They link to each other and depend on each other. The first condition of learning language is the mastery of knowledge. Thus, we mustn’t teach language just for the sake of teaching them language, but to use language as a key to share our thoughts. In this way, we could combine language and knowledge together. To use the language fluently, a person has to have a rich ideological content, also a rich experience from life. When we have something in our heart to share with other people, and to understand their thinking, language would come in handy.

If kids are being in a suitable environment, they could teach themselves. What they need is guidance and caring, and not scolding. While teaching, we must first find out a kid’s interest, and make it as a starting point for the next lesson, make sharing of thoughts as the purpose. We must guide and inspire them on their interests, and cautiously answering questions that they asked.

Kids don’t have to understand every single word in the book to read it. We just have to guide them a little and give them some explanation.

We must believe that there’s potential and possibilities in every child. We should inspire them correctly to let their potential to unfold itself into great dreams. I teach with this belief. We shouldn’t spoon-feed our kids with things so called general knowledge as it would limited their potential and the higher wisdom might not be able to brought out.

Sullivan respected Helen’s characteristic, and inspired her according to her lifestyle. She did her best to help Helen opening up gigantic doors of nature, society, and people’s heart with a world she could feel and touch. She helped her to understand the world as others do, understand the value of life, and to understand the value of a life with happiness.

President Ikeda’s guidance

It is often that we take educating as nurturing plants like grass and trees. What we nurture is seedlings, the origin of those plants. Those who fertilize and weed are us, but those absorbing the fertilizers from the earth are the plants itself. Nurturing, is giving all kinds of support to help the plants grow robustly.

We are the ones who should be the kids’ future, rather than saying kids are our future. It is because we must help construct their lives.

If children are being in an unhappy and sorrowful atmosphere, they’ll lose their confidence and might even look down on themselves. If this goes on, they could become inferior, easily giving up, and might even do something that would harm other people or themselves. If they do not know how important they are, they wouldn’t even know how important other people are. We, ourselves are such important existence! Having unpredictable possibilities! It is the fundamental mission of education to let the children be aware of all these.

What is this kid’s good point? – We must use this point of view to see a child, and have contact with them. And lastly, our deep and rich feelings are the things that make it work. To the kids, there’s nothing better and there’s no other environment more suitable than having a teacher that understands them.

Humans could only learn through the experience of “personal feelings” and “feelings to life”. If it was plainly knowledge, we could just get ourselves a book and flip through the pages. But when it comes to humans’ most important “activity”, only spontaneous experience and communication between other people could build it up.

The origin of humans’ education is love. Those nurtured by love would never discriminate others with “war”, but would be willing to contribute their whole life to the society and the public.

Labels: j. Thoughts sharing