In what ways do you experience Love, Cosmogenesis-Cosmic Education, and Observation as the cornerstones of the Montessori approach?
In what ways do you experience Love, Cosmogenesis-Cosmic Education, and Observation as the cornerstones of the Montessori approach?
Welcome everyone to our dialogue playground. The beauty of our exchanges will manifest as we observe ourselves in this process… pausing and reflecting, acknowledging other participants as we weave a tapestry of meaning.
In this dynamic, breathing is built-in to our process. I am curious to see some responses to the driving question at the top of the page. This will initiate the dialogue and morph as we go along.
In what ways do you experience Love, Cosmogenesis-Cosmic Education, and Observation as the cornerstones of the Montessori approach?
When I was teaching in a Montessori classroom I experienced “love” of and for the children, so much so, that when it was absent in word or deed I felt that too.
Cosmogenesis-Cosmic Education in its fullness is new to me. I have had “awe and wonder” for some time and know how to pass it on, but I will have to work at truly understanding what Swimme describes as “inventing new ways for drawing into our lives the creative energy of the universe and experiencing myself as a mode of the whole creative universe.”
I feel that I grasped the concept of observation in order to know how and when to “follow the child”. But it got me into trouble because other adults (parents/administration), would conclude that I wasn’t engaging enough when in fact I was observing. Time and space were limited; expectations great; often something would go wrong in another part of the classroom when I was observing elsewhere.
I appreciate your contribution, Sheryl. I love the idea of growing into awareness and thinking deeply about these cornerstones.
Additionally regarding “inventing new ways for drawing into our lives the creative energy of the universe and experiencing myself as a mode of the whole creative universe.” I want to create my own version of visual art depicting Indra’s Net to reflect on daily myself and engage others in contemplating. (Thank you to Phil S. Gang for recalling memory of poem.) Versions of Indra’s Net would be on classrooms walls to inspire thought/writing/art/drama.
That is a great idea. Wish I could recall where I found the perfect representation for me. I think it was in a book. I’ll have a look. I am smiling because the TIES program is really an application of Indra’s Net, making it challenging to translate for the academic hierarchy, but students totally get it.
Hi
Just curious. I’m not seeing anyone else’s comments. Just mine and Phil’s response to mine.
Hi Sheryl, we’ve opened up the dialogue to the Syntropy cohort . . . thank you for getting us started!
On Saturday we will make sure everyone knows this is available going forward.
Hmmm I believe I’ve read/watched everything but I did not find Bohm’s “3 levels of dialog.” Where is that discussed?
I would like to contribute to this dialog but it seems made of smoke for me. I attempt to grasp somewhere and find myself with nothing. What I offer so far is that when I am outside myself in the classroom, I am most open to seeing what is going on for the children and to relating with the children most genuinely. Being outside myself means once I’ve made plans, I must let go of them a bit before the children even enter the room
Hi Mary.
Individual: a thread of inquiry that seeks to loosen our tacit addiction to the ‘self-world image.’
Collective: inquiry is carried into a group setting, where this same loosening of personal identity enhances the flow of meaning among participants.
Cosmic: a deep, interconnected conversation that occurs at a level where all things are fundamentally connected and can be understood as part of a unified whole, allowing for a shared understanding beyond individual perspectives and limitations, essentially signifying a dialogue with the universe itself.
Lee Nichols, Entering Bohm’s Holoflux
Here is a link to the whole article if you are interested: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o8kvyod5zt1pkmwxpgiup/Nichol-EnteringBohmsHoloflux.pdf?rlkey=9ndibkj3xdhzkne0j6hbyycoj&dl=0
About being “outside myself. This offering was cast because the Montessori family thought that, in time, people would concentrate on the details and forget the essence. It is a meditation of sorts, which can be cloudy until, one day, clarity emerges. The last session is meant to provide us with the skills of working with adults and acknowledging that the essence is in the details and the details are in the essence.
I keep circling around this question: In what ways do I experience Love, Cosmogenesis-Cosmic Education, and Observation as the cornerstones of the Montessori approach?
It’s not a tidy answer for me — more like a living question that keeps unfolding.
Sometimes Love feels like the atmosphere everything grows within — not something I do, exactly, but something I notice is either present or missing. Cosmic Education feels less like a curriculum and more like an invitation, a reminder that every small thing connects to a vast unfolding story. And Observation… I don’t know. Some days it feels like reverence, other days like listening for something I can barely hear.
Like you @Sheryl, Indra’s Net keeps coming into my mind. Maybe because it holds the paradox so beautifully: each point shining individually, each reflection holding everything else. When I started sketching it (I’ll share a glimpse of that drawing here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WpPjdVEjFrezg_ToHo2_RiZlnN28wq3_/view?usp=sharing), it surprised me how easily I got lost in the connections — how drawing one jewel meant sensing all the others. It made me wonder if that’s what we’re always doing in Montessori: noticing the shimmer of each being while somehow holding the whole in our hearts.
I don’t have answers so much as threads I keep picking up. I’d love to hear how this question is moving in you all.
I have experienced a gentle cool breeze of sorts, very subtle, flowing through the rug (or table), between me and the child, when they connect to a material. That’s the best way I can describe the experience of love, cosmogenesis, observation, and dialogue in the classroom so far.