In Aquinas’ Theory of Transmission, he highlights the responsibility of teachers as they are to pass on knowledge, not merely “pouring water into a sieve”, where the student is required to absorb and digest. Aquinas depicts three things in the character of those who are to teach: stability, clearness, and purity of intention. With stability, the teacher may never stray from the truth; with clearness, he is to teach without obscurity, and the purity of intention, he may seek God’s glory and not his own.
In understanding how teaching is to be taught at its best, I chanced upon this message written on the eve of Maria Montessori’s death. It inspired me tremendously, and continues to do so, every time I take a second read. How beautifully Montessori viewed the little children as, “all-powerful” and how teachers are given such great a gift to care, teach, love and reach out in their purest of intentions to the little children, educating them in the faith and being beacons of light to the world.
Message to Catholic Teachers On the eve of her death, Dr. Maria Montessori sent this message to Catholic teachers gathered at a meeting in London, England.
Never, as in this moment, has the Christian faith needed the sincere effort of those who profess it. I would like to ask all of you, who are gathered in this meeting, to consider the great help that children can bring to the defense of our faith. Children come to us as a rain of souls, as a richness and a promise which can always be fulfilled but which needs the help of our efforts for its fulfillment. Do not consider the child a weakling: the child is the builder of the human personality. That this personality be Christian or not depends on the environment around him and on those who guide his religious formation. Do not think that because the child cannot understand in the same way that we adults understand that it is useless to allow him to participate in our religious practices. The staunchest and deepest faith is generally found among the unsophisticated people whose women take their children to church while they are still breastfed: the child’s unconscious absorbs divine powers while the conscious reasoning of adults is only human. You who enjoy the great gift of belonging to the Catholic faith must intensely feel the great responsibility you have for future generations because, among you, there are those who have renounced the world to bring the world to God. Take then, as help in your task, with faith and humility, “the all-powerful children” (Benedict XV). Take as your special task to watch that their limpid light be not dimmed. Protect in their development those natural energies implanted in the souls of children by the guiding hand of God. May God be with you at this meeting, and may He guide you in your conclusions and decisions.
Maria Montessori
heyy… haha… well, fst and foremost, lemme say tt i dun normalli ‘proclaim’ my thoughts (for lack of a better word.. i just got back from the G2′s bdae party, so yea.. lol..)
haha.. i rem you sending this article out durin EW meetings, and well, for what its worth, i quite agree with Dr Montessori.
now, i know that im not as much of a believer as you (trust me, i know that for certain), but it is certainly true that what she says about children is true. haha.. perhaps the reason why ive always kept my faith no matter the situation and influence (there was this friend of mine who tried for my entire JC life to convert me, thou im not sure its relevant) is due to my parents introducing me to the faith when i was young. i rem that they bought comics and storybooks about our faith and all, and i guess its left quite an impression on me. i guess through it all, whenever times got too difficult, i always turned back to God. and yes, i know that ive drifted away from God sumtimes in the past, but i guess that it was that early foundation that kept drawing me back to Him, and well, to shape a little of who i am today.
eh, im not sure if ive ever shared this before, but ive read alot of stuff since sec sch till now, and one of the most influential authors has been Frank Herbert, author of Dune. in there, i ‘learnt’ that every man is an island, and whatever actions we take need to be calculated and thought through to gain maximal benefit, and, well, that love is second to power.. haha.. i guess as a young teen i was quite impressed by his deep characters and realistic, in a sense, universe, that i began to live by that which was set out by him. till date, ive not really delved into an in-depth analysis of what he was trying to say, but i guess what ive learnt of our faith, of which the foundations were laid when i was young, was almost the opposite of what Frank Herbert proposed. well, i didnt really realise it, really, till last year during EYR, but ive learnt that its.. haha.. sorry, i digress.. lol.. suffice to say that im thankful for the impressions that my parents have instilled into me when i was young.
furthermore, i dont agree that only children are impressionable, but i believe that the teenage years are crucial, too. Dr Maria said that a child unconscious absorbs divine powers, but i believe that simply laying those foundations may not be sufficient. rather, when one is at their next most impressionable period of life, that of the middle teenage years – during the ‘rebel years’ that most teen go through, and question most of the things that are happening or have happened to them, is when the correct form of ‘fuel’ has to be added to the ‘fire’ such that our faith never dies.
i have to admit that ive been lucky in that my family has always been involved in church work, and thus it has rubbed off me (and i realise im rambling and diverging again, but bear with me yea? haha).
eh, im not sure if i understand what St Thomas Aquinas is saying, “he highlights the responsibility of teachers as they are to pass on knowledge like, “pouring water into a sieve”,”
shouldnt it be that teachers pass on knowledge like pouring water into a bottomless basin or pool? such that knowledge passed down will not be lost, and can be retrieved and analysed in future where newer truths or interpretations can be gleaned off it? i remember as a sec sch kid, i read this insanely long trilogy, and everytime i read it again, i gain new insight into what the writer is trying to portray via the characters.. yea.. shouldnt tt be our approach to knowledge?
and going back to the teaching point, sorry to be such a bore, haha.. well, im sure ive pretty much wasted your time so far, haha.. cuz i dun think ive written anything you dont alr know, but yea.. only teachers who love teaching should teach. my bro and myself love to teach, but none of us will never go into the teaching profession, meaning to teach as a teacher in a school, for the primary reason that its hard to do as Dr Montessori says if the system itself does not support that particular viewpoint. im sure you know, but in sg the slower pupils are more often than not just left to, well, die in exams… yea.. tts the sad reality i guess. even i myself have taught quite a few students, and well, although im quite happy that theyve made progress in the time ive taught them, but sumtimes when i recall their results, i get just alil discouraged.. sighs.. no As.. haha.. perhaps im a victim of the Singapore system as well i guess.. yea… lol..
anyway, to end off this hugeass long comment, lol.. its more like a post la.. lol.. i think that Dr M maybe quite right, but there are things that children will never understand till they growup, and therefore, this spirit of inculcating values and teaching with responsibility cannot just be done at the early formative stages. true, children are most pliable at the early ages, but it is in the later ages when they know more and start to question what they have been taught that is more important, i feel, as perceptions and values can and will change in the two short years of upper sec sch, and may stretch even to JC. then again, thats just me la.. lol.. cuz i feel that yes, in the context of God, children maybe much inclined to believe everything they are told, as they are oh-so-innocent, but it is when they are slightly older that they perceive the world and its seeming injustice and callousness that the real effort needs to be made to ensure that they do no stray too far from the divine light that God shines into our lives, no matter how faint it may seem.
yupyup.. sorry for droning on yea? haha.. as you can see, im all over the place, so sorry abt it! hahaz…
Helloooo! Thanks for the post, this is amazing to see you share your thoughts and ideas behind this post. Beauty in the change of heart indeed. It’s realizing these things that makes us see the Truth, almost. Do we rule our lives with what men tell us? Love- as the second to power, how practical. Do we not question what they say and let what is said be ideals and values that govern our lives?
It is definitely true that we are not only impressionable at a young age. The larger point behind that is, how a child can so easily learn through the immediate environment that he lives. Role modeling is especially predominant and important – as with how you are aware of the safe heaven you were provided with at the start of a young age. Privilege I must say, it’s a blessing really! How many of us have such blessings? We navigate our way though life’s experiences, it’s ups and downs.
It is at adolescence that we go through a period of discovery, where identity is being question and of course, more often than not, influenced by our peers and the world in general -rarely our parents at this age
Are we truly absorbent? Or do the inhibitions and the realities of the world start to shape us then.
What are our measurements of deriving success? Is it the As that bring us to where we want to be in life? Are these really what we hang on to, or as you mentioned, do we merely become devices of this society? It calls for more action and not simply settling for the status quo and contentment. What’s more? That’s the question we should be asking ourselves.
Bottomless pit I agree! Do keep the ideas flowing! Love the thoughts and am waiting on your articles too
hmm.. haha.. well said i guess… lol.. im not reali sure what else to add, thats why its taking so long… lol..
hmm.. the measurements of deriving success, thats the real problem i guess. for the most part, yes, i need tangible results for my efforts. but lately, i dont know.. it seems to be changing, but eh, we’ll have to wait and see i guess.. yea.. cant say for certain how it will turn out thou..
and part of the problem is society itself. there are generally a few trains of my own thought:
obey society, get caught up in the race, work to make lotsa money, buy things, get things, buy buy buy.,.. haha.. tts one..
thn theres another that says social rules are impressed upon by the powerful on the weak. and hence, they should be ignored if need be. but thn again, i guess you cant live your whole life in defiance of social rules. somewhere, some compromise needs to be reached. i havnt found that yet. hah..
thn theres the side that you seem to be on.. haha.. using maslows theory, the self actualisation level i guess? where we are not so self-centred, and we gain satisfaction and fulfillment from seeing our actions making a concrete impact on the people whom we help. i admit i do like to help people, but eh, im still on the line of i help you when i can, and at my convenience? yea.. unless youre sumone reali important to me, i dont go out of my way to help, so to speak.
and there are others, but those are the main ones. haha.. and yes, at times they do cause a headache. you need to give up yourself for the others, you need to protect yourself, you need to be rich to be happy, you need status in life, and a whole myriad of other thoughts.. argh… my head hurts just thinking of them. thn again, perhaps thats exactly what i need to do. think and ponder more.
as to your qn on what’s more, well, i guess the answer will become clear once youve reached there. sounds vague, but sometimes i think that if we keep askin ourselves whats more, we’ll never be content. on the flipside, if we dont keep asking, we can never realise our full potential. haha.. what a terrible dichotomy.. lol..
as for my article, eh, lemme get the editing done for scene 1 fst.. haha.. im almost done with that, and eh, get ready for a long, long read. i dont think ive written anything so long before, lab reports and assignements aside. and my dialogue just sucks.. haha.. tts y im gg to take up a writing elective when sch starts.. yupyup..