The Animal School – a very human story.  

One day a hare, a blackbird, a squirrel, a fish and a worm have meeting in a wood in order to found a school. They form a school committee and each one contributes their own ideas. The hare demands that sprinting should be taken up in the curriculum, the blackbird was insistent, that flying belonged in the curriculum, the squirrel said that vertical tree climbing was absolutely important, the fish pleaded for swimming lessons and the worm insisted that drilling holes in the earth must be one of the subjects.

They took up all these subjects and disciplines in the curriculum and declared it a rule, that every animal must take all the subjects. Even though the hare got a “very good” in sprinting, it came about that he had real problems climbing trees vertically. He always fell down immediately. After a short while, he was mentally so unstable from the numerous concussions, that, try as he would, he couldn’t run as well as he used to. Instead of getting an ‘A’ in sprinting, he was now getting a ‘D’ and of course, still getting an ‘F’ in tree climbing. The blackbird was excellent at flying, but when it came to drilling holes in the earth, it broke it’s beak and injured it’s wing. Soon she was getting a ‘D’ in flying, an ‘F’ in drilling holes in the earth – and when it came to swimming, it caused her great misery. But the teachers were satisfied, because all had taken all subjects, and they called it general education.

Today’s school education is equal to a bridge to nowhere.

“Robert, what are you doing? Are you learning something?”

 – “No Sir/Miss, I’m listening to you!”

Our old educational system doesn’t show the least respect for the individual, but forces everyone into a certain pattern. This pattern could, by chance, fit a few people, but the majority go down or are destroyed or lose their natural joy of learning and ask themselves the whole day, “What am I doing here?”

But soon they have got used to it and it results in “A life philosophy of compromises,” because thanks to the school education, they lose the ability to believe in their own life’s vision – instead of this they learn to conform their desires and goals to the so called social and economic requirements.

Children are open, clear and courageous. But the older they get, the more they collect uncertainties, doubt and resistance and lose sight of their goals and ideals somewhere along the way of becoming grown ups. This we then call “development”. And later in life, this is what leads to the fact that many people really do things, that they never wanted to do, they choose professions that don’t even suit them.

To be in the wrong place in life, hurts very much.

Almost everyone is “in the wrong place,” because he who is distracted from his true nature long enough, asks others what he should do with his life, or he fulfils the expectations of others, who mean well (or not) – he gets in line and follows the masses.

The one who could have been a poet, is standing behind a bank counter; and another one, who always wanted to paint, is an accountant... Everything is upside down.

What can “Life Schools” offer children, that they can’t find in normal schools and other leisure facilities? Everybody wants to have a successful life, find his right place and fulfil his optimal task in life. Children are naturally willing to learn and want to know about everything.

Today’s schools are from yesterday! Who can use bridges to nowhere?

Learning is to easily identifyed with knowledge, intellect is often mistaken for intelligence. Psychologists have found out that, every child is intelligent, until he starts school.

“Normal schools” take us away from reality,  they miss the whole point of life and the needs of the individual. The children are still taught by the use of stiff lesson-schedules and they are stuffed with dead knowledge.

Useless information is learnt by heart – but please, word for word – for a good grade or an exam, in order for it to be completely forgotten afterwards; e.g. which rivers flow where, which battles Alexander the Great fought etc. People say, you learn for your life, it’s all for your best, study, later you will know, why you needed it. I often take the opportunity to ask people from many walks of life, among others, businessmen, employed people, managers, artists, housewives and so on:

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