Bird Droppings December 10, 2024
Understanding the symbols of life

 Symbols express and represent meaning. Meaning helps provide purpose and understanding in the lives of human beings. Indeed, to live without symbols is to experience existence far short of its full meaning. Ways of expressing and representing meaning include the symbol systems of mathematics, spoke and writing language and the arts.” The Sacred Tree

For several days, I have been pondering this simple paragraph. It has bothered me in more than a spiritual way. What if a human being does not understand symbols, sits thinking in terms of education, and is unable to move through existence without understanding? I see this as a significant issue in education. We tend to facilitate achievement in each subject not based on understanding but on acknowledging symbols that are not understood.

I recall a comment from a math teacher as I questioned a certain problem. We do not need them to know why. Simply knowing this equation creates this graph. That was several years ago. Math curriculum and testing have become a joke in many parts of the country. The number of failures has increased. I started thinking, especially in math, if at an early age, we simply want the correct answer and not why it is correct, when math becomes more difficult, how will a student solve the problem without someone showing an answer? We are teaching math wrong, was my corresponding thought. We need to go back and teach the symbols.

I often find my discussion on a spiritual level more so than on an educational curriculum subject, although the bulk of my education has been in curriculum and education. Understanding the symbols is a key component of understanding our existence and place in the world. This applies to reading art and to written language. Teach the symbols first. When children can understand the symbols, they can piece together the parts of the whole. Without the pieces, the whole is insignificant. I watch students graduate frustrated because they know little of what has been taught. They have simply been doing the minimum to get to the next level and the next and out of school. They are missing the pieces along the way and can never truly see the whole puzzle presented.

So today, just a thought for more thought: How do we really teach symbols? Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts as you proceed through this week and the weekend ahead, and always give thanks. Namaste.
My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
bird