Hello everyone, this is Yamada Maki, usually at the Suo-Oshima office.
This time, I had the opportunity to visit "Nature School TOECK" in Anan City, Tokushima Prefecture.
"Nature School TOEC" was established as a place where people involved can grow together, valuing education that does not praise, does not scold, and is based on acceptance. The school operates an elementary school, kindergarten, and free campsite, creating an environment where people can demonstrate their innate independence.
When I talked about how I had vaguely thought as a student, "I want to create a world where there are no hungry children," I was introduced to the "TOEC Free School Seminar" held by TOEC. Then, I remembered that I knew the name but didn't know much about it, and vaguely thought it sounded interesting, and that's how I decided to go.
What is the "TOEC Free School Seminar"?
The target audience is "those who are involved in nature experience activities for children, those who work with people such as teachers, childcare workers, and caregivers, those who are aiming to become such workers, staff of forest kindergartens and democratic schools, and those who dream of creating such places in the future."
The purpose of the seminar is written as "Learn how to create a space where people can grow." In other words, the main target audience is people involved in education, and at Toek Farm, where children attend, participants will be explained the philosophy of the activities, toured the actual site of activities with children, experienced creating a space, and experienced a free school. The seminar will also provide a space for participants to think about and discuss themes, making it a place for learning together.
If you are interested, please check it out↓
"Toek Free School Seminar"
However, when I looked at the website, it only had a general idea of what it did and I didn't really understand.
I wanted to participate, but I was worried that the main focus would be on education and that I might feel out of place.
Now, let's arrive at Toek.
When I actually attended, I found that everyone there was involved with children and education: school teachers, kindergarten principals, free school staff, students studying education, etc. The atmosphere seemed different from that of ordinary kindergartens and schools, and my first impression was that the people who came to learn here were definitely there to learn something.
It seemed like everyone cared about the children.
However, I was wondering from what perspective I should listen and speak, as I am neither a teacher nor a parent. However, the discussion did not only focus on education, but also touched on a variety of topics including work styles, agriculture and peace issues. I felt that there were things I could talk about from my perspective, and I was drawn into the flow of the seminar.
There were many things I saw, heard, and felt during the seminar. I would like to talk about three memorable events.
So we're going to talk in a circle like this.
Do what you want to do
We had the opportunity to see the time the children and staff actually spent together.
Starting with a morning routine (morning meeting), we listen to everyone's stories divided into "things they want to talk about," "issues they're having trouble with," and "things they want to do." Of course, it's okay if you don't have anything you want to talk about, and it's OK if you haven't decided what you want to do yet. Once we've heard everything from everyone, the day begins.
Unfortunately, it was raining that day, and the Toek road on the riverbed was muddy and had many puddles. I thought the children would play inside today, but they went outside to play as usual. And they went into the mud of the rice field. I wondered what they would do, but they added more water to the rice field so that it would accumulate even more.
I thought the staff were putting raincoats on the children to protect them from the rain, but they were running around in the mud so I wondered what purpose they had in it.It seems that the raincoats protect them from the cold wind and make them less likely to catch a cold.
One child said, "The weather is just right today," and it seemed that for him, rain did not equal bad weather.
The children were very free-spirited, and they started a bonfire because it was cold, and since they had a bonfire they decided to make roasted sweet potatoes.They lived with a free-spirited way of thinking that I usually don't think of.
Intrigued by the water that occasionally dripped from the tent, I spent the whole morning wandering around the area, and when the time was right, I would poke at the rain that had accumulated on the tent canvas.
I thought that the things that everyone said they wanted to do in the morning might not be fulfilled, but the staff member asked, "Maybe you wanted to do this." The child was already having fun playing other games and no longer wanted to do what he wanted to do, but I felt that even if it was a small wish, it was remembered and that being asked helped to digest it, so I thought it was important to have the determination to check even if you can't fulfill everything.
What is healthy?
I had the opportunity to talk at length about a variety of topics, but the one that left the biggest impression on me was the topic of "health."
On the first day of the seminar, when I was being given an overview by the kindergarten staff, the word "healthy" came up a lot. I thought to myself, "I've been thinking a lot about that word too!" and immediately wrote it down in my notebook. I listened to what this person meant by "healthy" and decided to make it an agenda for the subcommittee meeting on the second night.
When asked what "health" is and whether being healthy means being happy and energetic, I felt that this was not the case, and began to think about what state one must be in to be "healthy."
The answer that emerged was that "healthy" is not something you "become" but something you "are moving towards." We tend to sum it up with words like 100% or perfection, but there is no such thing as 100% in the first place, and a state that can be said to be 100% healthy may actually be "not healthy."
The morning after this exchange, everyone was doing yoga facing the sun in front of the TOEC building. I found myself thinking, "This is what being healthy means." I felt like I was able to think about being healthy precisely because I had peace of mind. While writing this article, I suddenly realized that the Osaka dialect phrase "bochi bochi yana" (it's okay) is probably closest to being in a healthy state.
There was a person who was studying yoga and he was teaching me.
By the way, at the monthly meeting in the Suo office, we had a topic on the topic of "How to work more healthily", and I had always wondered what "healthy" meant, which is what made me start to wonder about my own "healthiness". It's a topic that I feel a little embarrassed to talk about with the people I'm always with, but I hope I can deepen my understanding of it.
Spend your time however you like
On the third day, the participants were given the opportunity to spend their time however they wished, just like the children. They sang, danced, made mud balls, searched for insects, and spent their time however they wished.
By the way, I spent a lot of time in the big rice field, running around, playing with a ball, and completely submerged in the mud.After that, I joined the other members who were singing and sang along with them.At the end, so that I didn't have any regrets, I dipped into the mud again, and finally ended my time by soaking in a fire-fired bath.
Since I became an adult, I have never played in the mud and gotten my clothes dirty, so I had a really good time. It felt like I was just playing, but I also felt like I was getting back to myself, and when I suddenly heard the voices of the people around me, I realized that such a fun space really does exist. It was moving to see adults playing to their heart's content, even more so than the children playing to their heart's content.
Even though I did go to the public bath that night, when I got home and tried to clean my ears after a shower on my last night, I was so surprised to find so much mud and sand coming out of my ears that it made me laugh.
I also went in and got covered in mud.
Thoughts looking back
After finishing all of this, I felt that just as there is a saying that goes "work like you play," the children were practicing "learn like you play" (in fact, TOEC had a saying that goes "learn while you play"). By having someone listen to you carefully, you also learn to listen carefully, and by having an environment where you can cry when you want to, you can become convinced that your feelings are not wrong. However, as you grow up, you may become bad at expressing your feelings, or overlook slight discomfort as if it's no big deal.
When I went back to the beginning to think about what it means to be an adult, I found that it means "1. A person who has reached adulthood. 2. To be mature. 3. (A child) To be quiet and well-behaved."
Full-grown? Mature? Quiet? I couldn't really accept it. I feel like the distinction between adults and children is just made by someone somewhere, and there's really no difference between them.
The TOEC Free School Seminar was certainly a place to learn how to interact with children, but I felt that it was not about making something special just because they were children, but about returning to the basics of human interaction. How we receive information is closely related to our own mental well-being and mental composure, and I think it was a big discovery for me to realize how difficult it is to just listen.
By interacting with someone different from usual and spending time freely this time, I felt like, "Ah, I'm alive." I'm not always dead or anything, but I definitely felt like I was alive there, and I felt like I had the capacity to accept what is there as it is, and it was an opportunity to reflect on my daily life.
Meeting different people means seeing the same things from a different perspective, and even if you're looking at the same thing, you can make different discoveries.
It's difficult to have free reign over everything, but I would like to be able to keep my mind free.
YAMADA Maki