To educate, it is important to be clear about what we want to achieve with our children, how we want them to live when they are independent and autonomous from our guardianship, and what resources we have.
And for this, we need to become aware of our ability to do so, our strengths and weaknesses. Because the education of children requires a lot, since love is not enough: limits, manners, habits, values such as knowing how to share, obey, respect, use an adequate vocabulary, fulfill agreements, responsibility, and much more. And it turns out that, in the spirit of applying them all, we can get lost and make big mistakes.
For example, we know that discipline is a foundation of education. However, rigid, inflexible and authoritarian discipline has a very high emotional cost. So it is necessary to apply discipline, but at the same time be flexible and, showing authority, also be kind and understanding. Sure, sometimes it’s not easy, but you can.
For me, a comprehensive and indispensable value is respect. Respect has great power, it is something like the supreme value in education, because it is also the supreme value in human relations and in the coexistence of a family and a community. Respect is lived, taught, learned, “spread” over other values. Discipline as a value is highly relevant, but respect for discipline and in discipline has a greater impact and benefit on the person being educated. Sometimes, in order to teach habits and train in discipline, you can disrespect the other person. We will be able to train highly disciplined people, but who felt abused and hurt and whose self-esteem was hit by the authoritarianism of the greatest. Keeping in mind that others are people as worthy as we are can change the way we approach them.
#respect #education