Why We Don't Talk About "Spirit" in Preschool . . . And Why We Should

Karntakuringu Jakurrpa

When we die, the arrangement of our physical parts remains the same as it was in life, yet something quite essential is suddenly, from one moment to the next, missing. The people of ancient India called this missing thing, prana. Chinese philosophers gave it the name qi. French philosopher Henri Bergson coined the term Élan vital. Having been brought up as a Lutheran, we spoke of the spirit leaving the body. Whatever we call it, this vital life force, has been an obvious reality for humans throughout our time on the planet. We feel it. We see it in others. And, perhaps most telling, we know when it has gone out of a human body.

In recent centuries, however, we find ourselves, in the West at least, talking less and less about this essential aspect of what it means to be alive. Indeed, it seems we've turned most of the discussion over to the practitioners of alternative medicine, religion, and fiction ("May the force be with you!"), where it can be boxed up and patted on the head as a sort of sweet, abiding myth. Science is ascendant and since scientists are no where close to understanding what qi is or how it works, many of us are suspicious of its existence. Certainly, we think, there must be some sort of tick-tock mechanism still awaiting our measurement and testing, something quantifiable and concrete that will explain this illusion of a ghost living in our bodily machines. Talk of qi or prana or Élan vital or spirit strays too much into the mystical and magical for our scientific age.

We have no problem talking about our bodies, of course. In the early years, we talk heaps about the importance of children moving their bodies, especially outdoors. We fret and worry over proper nutrition, eye protection, and the avoidance in injuries (at least severe ones). And, naturally, we have no problem talking about the mind. I mean, that's our business, isn't it, as educators, to develop their young minds? There are few of us who can't cite this or that bit of neuroscience to describe behaviors or defend practices. And then, there is the old mind-body connection that we insist upon. Much of what we think we know about the body and mind is rubbish, because science is always moving forward, leaving those of us on the "front lines" scrambling to keep up, but that doesn't stop us from talking about it, investigating it, and deploying what we do know (or think we know) toward the betterment of the children in our care.

Founder and director of Connecting 2 Culture, Jackie Bennet, a consultancy committed to bettering childhood services for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander populations, and presenter at Teacher Tom's Play Summit (beginning in less than a week), draws upon her culture when she speaks about spirit:

"So what does spirit mean to me? For me, spirit means my ancestors and my elders. It is my connection to my culture. It is my connection to Mother Earth and to the country where I was born. Spirit is my family -- my mum, my dad, my brothers and sisters, and my cousins. Spirit is my husband, my four children, and my eight beautiful grandchildren. And the relationship that I've had with friends and all the people that cross my path and everything in between. Spirit is my old people and my ancestors . . . They are the ones that have guided me throughout out my life to do what I do every day, every hour, every minute . . . My spirits have guided me here to share the story of my people in Australia and to talk about the adverse effects that colonization is having on our children and that the effects of it are still having on my people today . . . Spirit has brought us all together."

She speaks, not of the "science," as Westerners so often do, but rather of the reality of spirit as it manifests within her. Instead of breaking spirit down into smaller and smaller parts the way science wants to do with everything, Jackie is speaking of spirit as an active, motivating force, a unity that is not only found within herself, but as the thing, the vital force, that connects all of us. 

When we restrict ourselves to the science, I think, we sell ourselves and the children in our lives short. What I learned from talking to Jackie is just how narrow our Western focus is. Don't get me wrong, I value science, but I'm also keenly aware that when it comes to the most important questions, science remains as mute as a stone. Scientists still have no idea, for instance, what consciousness is or how it works, yet we all know, quite clearly that it not only exists, but is vital. Even something as fundamental as energy is a complete mystery to physicists. I wonder sometimes if the problem with our relentless reliance upon science, which calls on us to engage in taking things apart, in breaking everything down into pieces and equations, leads us to lose the very thing we hope to understand.

Part of the process of colonization that Jackie speaks about has been, and continues to be, the process of pushing ancient wisdom aside, of laughing at it as myth and mumbo jumbo. It has left us high and dry, however, as we increasingly concentrate on mind and body at the expense of the spirit. No wonder the world is limping along. No wonder so many of us feel disconnected. No wonder society seems hopelessly deformed. No wonder we feel helpless as we continue to destroy Mother Earth.

We must talk about spirit, as Jackie does, examining it from within and without. What does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? Science tells us, I believe falsely, that there is always a right answer and that, by definition, all the other answers are wrong, but what if truth can only be found in that thing, that qi, that prana, that Élan vital, that spirit that connects us all? Perhaps we are not meant to understand it, but rather to live it. That's the evidence before us. Perhaps spirit is what we see wherever free children play together. 

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To watch my entire interview with Jackie, please join us at Teacher Tom's Play Summit. What if the whole world understood the power of trusting children with the freedom to play, to explore their world, to ask and answer their own questions? What if everyone respected their right to learn in their own way, on their own time? What if we remembered that children must have their childhoods and that means playing, and lots of it? Teacher Tom's Play Summit  is a free, online conference that takes place June 20-25. Click here to get your free pass to all 24 of our incredible sessions with early childhood and parenting experts and thought leaders from around the world. Every one of these people are professionals who have placed children first. You will walk away from this event transformed, informed, challenged, and inspired to create a world that respects children and sets them free to learn and grow. Together we can, as presenter Raffi sings, "Turn this world around!"

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