Developmental Education: Replacing the Failed System and Developing the Mind

Meet Tracy, she’s an infant in a world that really cares about education, and takes it seriously; in her world, education starts at infancy. When she’s just three months old, she’s going to begin learning a new language.

 At this stage in her development, her young brain is more capable of internalizing a language than ever in her life, so it stands to reason that linguistic education would start at such a fertile stage.

A world that takes education seriously would recognize that education is the foundation of freedom, liberty, and true civilization;

 Empowered by superior education, rather than superior militarily force, a civilized world applies knowledge, scientifically derived, in order to improve standards of life, liberty, and happiness.

Grounding their resources in the roots of education, and their economy in the fruits of education, a school system becomes a center for local production and consumption, full circle, replacing the mall and all it stands for; those employed by the education system are rewarded like doctors and athletes of today, thus increasing the incentive to be a part of the system.

At infancy, Tracy’s teacher is none other than Susanna, a Spanish-speaking grandmother with minimal education, and virtually no education experience. She has no degree from any college, yet she is able to perform a valid role in the school system and get satisfaction from serving her community because she fits two simple requirements: she has no criminal background, and her primary language is not English.

Susanna will cradle little Tracy in her arms for an hour, speaking to her for the entire duration, and then, when Susanna sees the hour is up, she will place little Tracy on the floor or in her crib, and begin cradling another infant.

At infancy, it truly should be the standard that a child hears and listens to another language from not only one person, but a family of foreign speakers; something as simple as housing foreign speaking families, perhaps families in need, and reapplying those forces towards educating infants will reorganize an economic structure; improving lives and even paying them additionally for cultivating an organic farm located on the premises of the school.

Based on information and evidence of ecological and social improvement, the reward system is based on reciprocation to the environment that a school demonstrates.

This very practice is what Tracy’s parents and their generation call developmental education. The process of education taken seriously uses the stages of childhood development to determine the curriculum and intensity of the subjects.

As Tracy develops into a child, around three years old being a milestone in development, she will begin learning grammar with teachers that are professors of their field; with classes consisting of one subject per day, her focus is not divided among multiple subjects; by having one focus per day, the system is allowing her to internalize and understand the subject, rather than being flung from one to another, confusing her young mind.

Along with that one subject however, Tracy has hour-long recesses or practicum’s, which consist of agriculture, martial arts, and music—all of which are community oriented and instill responsibility and discipline at an early age—all important for her growth in maturity later on.

Also, these subjects are more interactive and fun than the primary subject may be; allowing her to relax periodically will increase her willingness to learn, and ability to stay focused throughout the day—the point being internalization and understanding rather than memorization and regurgitation. This is not an assembly line, not a cookie cutter approach as commercial culture would have you believe is most beneficial to society.

Once Tracy has graduated from childhood and reached adolescence, having learned the primary subjects of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, she will begin to learn more complex subjects, such as math beginning at age 6 (early adolescence), geometry at age 8 (middle adolescence), music at age 10 (adolescence), and astronomy at age 12 (late adolescence). Her recesses will also be extended into new subjects, and her role in things like agriculture will be expanded with her ability.

Tracy has begun, at this point, to understand her role in a community that she knows and loves, and the community knows and loves her too.

Once she has graduated from the stage of adolescence into young adulthood, her teachers are no longer professors of their field, but rather librarians, bringing information to her attention as she requests it—self-study will be the praxis of this stage of education. Responsibility for learning has gone from the school system to the young scholar.

However, practical subjects like plumbing and architecture are integral to her independence as an adult; and her final subject—driving—will be a way to keep students interested in continuing education, because they will not be able to graduate without first receiving their driver’s license.

However, just because she has graduated from young adulthood, does not mean Tracy has finished learning, and indeed the final stage of education is adulthood, and in that stage she is able to explore the interior world of her own self; different from college, adult education is absolutely free for all adults, and oriented towards the free discourse of community and society.

            The world I have just described is not a science fiction concept, or a utopia; rather, like the smart phone was just beyond the horizon of our imagination not too long ago, it is a new technology. More importantly however, without innovation to the infrastructure, we are stagnant, dead in the tides of time; it is natural law that we must transcend and abolish the failed systems or be carried under by them. Stand up and reclaim your innate sovereignty; stand and the table where our lives are bought and sold, where Tracy’s life will be bought and sold, will fall as a house of cards...

The divine urge towards civilization, peace on earth, paradise, and heaven in the here and now; it all is possible, and we can claim it, all we need do is stand up, enlightening to a world without debt, without taxes, without the death of stagnancy and complacency.