Youth & community development through rites of passage recognizes that children come of age within several interconnected environments that require them to acquire different attitudes, skills and competencies for them to thrive in each setting. Schools are one of these environments. Schools offer opportunities for the initiatory process to unfold within a community-oriented rite of passage.
“We teach students not subjects.”
All children need to be engaged in a process of transformation in order to become students who are capable of knowing how to learn well and thrive in academic settings.
Children are naturally inquisitive and predisposed to learning about the mysteries of the universe. Their natural curiosity directs them to explore and learn about things that excite them. However, academic subjects may not in and of themselves generate enough interest to ignite and sustain a child’s natural curiosity and thirst for learning, especially as they enter puberty and adolescence.
Education and youth development strategies can be enhanced when they unfold within a community’s story of rites of passage. They can not only help children transition to the role of student and scholar, they can also foster the conditions in schools that encourage compassion and a place where everyone learns with and from each other. Remembering our shared sacred story of rites of passage can help us to educate our children the rite way.
“When we get our story rite we get our future right.”
The most important story we need to get right is the one that informs us how to educate and help our children come of age. When we get that story rite - we get our future right. How well is our existing story working to educate and help our children come of age?
“Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking”
Antonio Machado – Spanish Poet
Let’s make a path together to support raising our children and help write a story that can change the future for our children and the planet.
Please travel through our new web site. Stay a while you might find a snack bar with goodies that can nourish life!
Read more about Youth & Community Development through Rites of Passage in the new and highly acclaimed book by Dr. David Blumenkranz.
David Blumenkrantz, Ph.D., Ed.M., Founder & Executive Director, the Center for Youth & Community
It’t time for a Paradigm Shift – a fundamental change in beliefs, theory and approach – in developing community-centered responses to the challenges faced by today’s Youth & Community. More here>>