As I ponder what is missing in so many educational settings, I am drawn to the little insights and joy of learning that children naturally have, through my 4 ½ year old son.

It's the self-challenge and the focus that results when an individual child develops their own idea, tests their own hypothesis and trials their own intuition . these are truly the 'little bits of inspiration'!

Yes, it is true that all children go through 'that' insatiable stage of asking 'Why? How? Who?' . to the point that they drive their parents, family and teachers around the twist!

'Why are some poles made of metal and others made of wood?'

'Why don't sparrows have knee caps so they can bend their legs?'

'Why is the moon out in the daytime?'

'Why can't we all have a printing machine at home to print more money?'

. etc, etc, etc .

However, I honestly believe that the time taken to explore the above questions more fully through discussions, looking at books and internet sites and interviewing knowledgeable others (like the probing conversation we had with the butcher about what a pigs trotter really looked like to help with farm drawings!) has inspired further learning and for this pint sized four year old to see himself as a 'real learner'.

It all comes down to the fact that when children choose their own path, lead their own journey and develop solutions to problems they perceive, they own the learning.

And we get to go along for the ride . a most amazing ride!

I have had many 'amazing rides' so far .

I 'witnessed the joy' that results from intrinsically motivated learning when we investigated a building site and discovered how triangles (used in roof truss frames) are the strongest construction shape.

I heard the 'aaaah!' of amazement when we visited a candle factory to explore all of the scientific concepts involved in how liquids change to solids.

I 'lived the process' that started as seeking reasoning as to why rhinos and elephants are hunted for their horns and tusks and led to a fund raising home based art exhibition to sponsor an endangered animal.

I 'jointly engaged' in the testing of a hypothesis about how many toy plastic elephants can balance in a piece of suspended plastic wrap before it breaks under their weight, listening intently to the reflective reasoning that results from a self initiated investigation.

Do we value these 'spurts' of learning as parents or teachers?

Do we value children's lead when day after day they present what often seems to be an outlandish desire to 'build a volcano', to 'design a crocodilian swamp habitat in the bath', to 'need to experience what it is like to be a termite gnawing away within a tree stump' on a bit of wood found at the park, to create a cake 'in the shape of a woolly mammoth', to use every single plastic container in the kitchen to sort out hundreds of marbles 'to be lollies in a lolly shop', to use all of the alfoil to 'design a new type of trumpet', to 'measure the length of the house' in soft toys, shoes, straws . the list goes on and on.

And how did I get to experience these 'little bits of inspiration'?

I had to exhibit a lot of 'self control'.

Control to stop the pre-planned learning about what children 'should' know.

Control to allow the child to choose and use their resources.

Control to allow the individual to devise the methodology.

Maybe that is what is the missing factor in our educational environments . they set out to 'educate' instead of being an 'educational environment' a place where knowledge, concepts and skills develop and are nurtured . . and in doing so WE are the ones who miss out on experiencing the 'little bits of inspiration'.

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