SPRING FLOWERS

(a poem by 11 years old  Emma)

Last night,

My dad brought home

A bouquet of fresh flowers,

Wrapped in brown paper and string.

We placed a vase of fresh water

On the table for the flowers.

We untied the string,

And the sweet, sweet aroma of their beauty

Escaped, and glorified the room. 

 

I wondered, how, in these depths of winter,

Spring never fails to crawl in.

How light always finds darkness

How company finds loneliness,

How truth finds lies.

How good wins over evil.

AUTHORITARIAN AND HUMANE PEDAGOGY

Assuming that school is an instrument for the development of the human spirit, in general, we should also assume that it is an area of ​​love, respect and support. A place where the human spirit, regardless of its age, feels free, joyful and inspired to develop. A place where learning outcomes, achievements and victories go hand in hand with the development of free spirit, creativity and intellectual challenges.

Probably every teacher has thought about what kind of a teacher they want to be - a rigorous one who can achieve good discipline in class and make students fear, stand still, execute commands and instructions without question, have no voice or choice and obey him completely. Or just the opposite - an understanding, humane person who does not punish, because for him, punishment is a humiliation of the individual. Who sees you as an individual, respects you as a person, is interested in your opinion, listens to your thoughts, seeks your advice to improve the learning process, manages to motivate you with the methods of persuasion so that you yourself want to do something because he believes that you are a unique phenomenon with limitless possibilities that can be developed comprehensively. A teacher who inspires you for victories and successes because he is inspired by his work.

The first type of teacher is traditional, conservative and represents authoritative pedagogy, generally speaking, in which the teacher is an active adult with unlimited authority and the student is a passive element who has virtually no choice and who must do what adults decide is good for him.

Authoritarian pedagogy is based on commands, instructions, coercion and punishment. These are known to pain situations in which an adult instructs, commands, orders, coerces, punishes. And the child protests with disobedience because it wants to be heard, understood, respected as a person, but not punished. When you are commanded or the teacher is shouting at you, you can hardly listen to timid and rare motivational speeches by the same person.

Being a student is not easy. Because you are totally dependent on the adult world, your teachers. Your voice is not important, they make decisions for you and you just have to hope that their decisions are right, honest and in your interest. Very often the classroom is like a battlefield, in which the teacher and the students explain themselves loudly, they raise their tone, they shout, mutually accuse each other of lack of understanding, creating an atmosphere in which the creative process that needs to fill the space of the lesson, it becomes a torturous process in which angry words fly in the air and inspiration shyly waits for the heated atmosphere outside to calm down, but sometimes this does not happen. Unfortunately, this is a very common scenario that can be seen in every school in every country in the human world. What kind of personality brings up that kind of atmosphere and pedagogy? Angry and disrespectful, who do not respect other people? It is possible. It can also nurture indifference to learning, to hatred of the school, because it becomes a place that makes you feel restless, guilty, constantly deserving of punishment.

The second type of teacher is a very rare occurrence because of the simple fact that getting to the truth that children have also personalities who live their lives now and not prepare for the future means that you respect them, listen to them, learn from them and you are inspired by them. It means that you continue to develop yourself spiritually as a person free from limitations and control, who does not see the learning process as a form of control. Teachers of this type, although rare, are also representatives of so-called 'humane pedagogy' (according to Shalva Amonashvili). This type of pedagogy and teacher-student relationship relies on the individual approach to each child, the child's only desire to do something, their inner self-motivation, their inspiration, their desire to understand the need to take responsibility and to learn gradually it does so, not through coercion, but through free choice and will, supported by an adult who believes in his potential.

STORM

(a poem by 11 years old Emma)

In the peace and quiet and dead of the night,

A small wind blows,

It rattles the chimney like a sinister ghost.

People curl up in their beds, shivering.

The wind grows stronger,

Hurtling recklessly in every direction.

The trees thrashing around,

Casting trembling shadows through windows.

Next comes the endless rain,

Beating on the windows like a drum,

Like a heart beat.

The rain tries to escape

From the howling echo that is the wind.

The rain tries to be independent from the wind,

To create its own path in life.

The rain battles on tirelessly throughout the night,

Until it finishes victoriously, tired but content.

Independent.

It is free from the ferocious wind,

Until the next storm in life.

АВТОРИТАРНА И ХУМАННА ПЕДАГОГИКА (или за Училището на бъдещето)

Ако приемем, че училището е инструмент за развитието на човешкия дух, най-общо казано, то би трябвало да допуснем и, че това е пространство на любовта, уважението и подкрепата. Място, където човешкият дух, независимо от възрастта си, се чувства свободен, радостен и вдъхновен да се развива. Място, където учебните резултати, постижения и победи вървят ръка за ръка с развитието на свободния дух, творчекия потенциал и интелектуалните предизвикателства.

Вероятно всеки учител се е замислял над това какъв учител иска да бъде - строг, който може да постигне добра дисциплина в час и да накара учениците да се страхуват, да стоят неподвижно, да изпълняват команди и инструкции безпрекословно, да нямат право на глас и на избор и да му се подчиняват напълно. Или да бъде точно обратното - разбиращ, хуманен, който не наказва, защото за него наказанието е унижение на личността. Който те вижда като индивидуалност, уважава те като личност, интересува се от твоето мнение, вслушва се в твоите мисли, търси твоите съвети, за да подобри учебния процес, успява да те мотивира с методите на убеждението така, че ти сам да поискаш да направиш нещо, защото вярва, че ти си уникално явление с неограничени възможности, които могат да бъдат развивани всестранно. Учител, който те вдъхновява за победи и успехи, защото самият той е вдъхновен за работата си.

Първият тип учител представлява традиционната, консервативна, авторатирна педагогика, най-общо казано, в която учителят е активният възрастен с неограничена власт, а ученикът е пасивният елемент, който не притежава почти никакво право на избор и който трябва безпрекословно да прави това, което възрастните решат, че е добро за него.

Авторитарната педагогика се основана на командите, инструкциите, принудата, наказанията. Познати до болка ситуации, в които възрастният инструктира, командва, заповядва, принуждава, наказва. А детето протестира с непослушание, защото иска да бъде изслушано, разбрано, уважено като личност, но не наказано. Когато с крещене ти се насаждат команди, трудно можеш да се поддадеш на плахите и редки мотивационни речи от страна на учителя. Да си ученик не е лесно. Защото ти си напълно зависим от света на възрастните, твоите учители. Твоят глас не е важен, те вземат решения вместо теб и ти само трябва да се надяваш, че техните решения са правилни, честни, почтени и в твой интерес. Много често класната стая прилича на бойно поле, в което учителят и учениците разпалено и на висок глас се обясняват, повишават тон, крещят си, взаимно се обвиняват в липса на разбиране, създава се атмосфера, в която творческият процес, който трябва да изпълва пространството на урока, се превръща в мъчителен процес, в който ядосани думи летят във въздуха, а вдъхновението срамежливо изчаква отвън нажежената атмосфера да се успокои, но това понякога така и не се случва. За съжаление, това е много чест сценарий, който може да се види във всяко училище във всяка една страна по света. Какъв тип личности възпитава такъв вид атмосфера и педагогика? Ядосани, сърдити едни на други, неуважителни, които не уважават и не зачитат другите хора? Възможно е. Възможно е и да възпитава безразличие към ученето, към научаването, омраза към училището, защото то се превръща в място, което те кара да се чувстваш неспокоен, виновен, постоянно заслужаващ наказания.

Вторият тип учител е много рядко явление, поради простия факт, че да достигнеш до истината, че децата също са личности, които живеят живота си сега, а не се готвят за бъдещето, означава, че ти ги уважаваш, слушаш ги, учиш се от тях и се вдъхновяваш от тях. Означава, че ти самият продължаваш да се развиваш духовно като личност, свободна от ограничения и контрол, която не вижда учебния процес като форма на контрол. Такъв тип учители се срещат, макар и рядко, и те са представители на така наречената хуманно-личностна педагогика (според Шалва Амонашвили). Този тип педагогика и взаимоотношения между учител - ученик разчита на индивидуалния подход към всяко дете, на това детето само да поиска да направи нещо, на вътрешната му самомотивация, на вдъхновението, на желанието му да разбере нуждата да поема отговорности и да се научи постепенно да го прави, но не чрез принуждение, а чрез свободния избор и воля, подкрепян от възрастния, който вярва в неговия потенциал и възможности.

STORMS IN LIFE

The seagulls circle hungry over the city. The birds sound anxiously in the forest. The trees are bare and defenseless in their grief of the summer. The clouds are low and black. You are alone behind the wall. You are full of anticipation for our meeting. And I fight the overhanging clouds.

Betrayal. A knife in the back of humanity. A slap in the face of divine reflection. It does not matter to you that I am also a divine reflection. That I feel the pain of humiliating me, of your attempt to put me on my knees. You are trying to break me by offering me, instead of compassion, an ice wall to hide behind so that the blows sent to me do not hit you. You stand hidden behind a wall and swallow your own humiliation and cowardice. You are so afraid to show up on my side, lest you be hurt. The darkness covered your body, which convulsed under the shock of your conscience. You want, you really want so much to go through the wall that divides us, to roll up your sleeves, and to give justice. You want to help me so much to deal with the looming black clouds above me that you are not doing anything, you are numb.

Across the wall, I meet the blows of fate with my eyes open. Today the world has decided to prove that it no longer believes in its god, and so it hits me. Through me, the world seeks to humiliate my God, to challenge him to save me at a time when the whole world is against me. The world is annoyed by the light of God I reflect. Others want to extinguish the light in me, to sink in pain, to question how strong his love for me is to save me.

You are on the other side of the wall and you are still sunk in your own spiritual darkness. You don't see a god in me to break the wall and to want to save me. Because if you can see a god in me, it will remind you that he is also in you, that we are part of one light. You only see my body, because you only know it, my soul and my heart remain unknown for you for now. Because you don't want to get to know them, fascinated by the waves of the flesh. Therefore, the wall does not move in front of you. Until you know what it is to love through your heart.

I seek silence to escape from the world. I seek silence to hear myself better. I seek silence to find the answers within my heart. The silence that will hide me from the beats of the world. I sink into the embrace of silence.