Learning Does Not Require Teaching

Most educators have spent years learning how to teach. But the more we observe children, the more we begin to separate learning from teaching. Children, especially in their youngest years need no such instruction to learn. They pick up language, understand relationships, notice patterns in the world, all without formal lessons. Their learning is raw, alive, and often invisible to our frameworks.

We don't need to schedule learning for toddlers. They're already engaged in a constant form of inquiry - turning, testing, tasting, watching. They are guided by innate intention and self-regulation. Adults too possess the instinctive desire to learn, though it often gets buried under other concerns and priorities.

As a community of educators, we often say we want learning to be "learner-centric". But if we really mean that, we should probably begin not by asking what or how to teach, but by asking: How do humans learn? And what exists in their toolkit of learning? The tools of learning then start to become visible: questions.. curiosity.. unhurried time.. lack of fear.. lack of bias.. community and care.. What else?