economicmultipliers_80

Economic Multipliers (80)

Do you know what these are?

They help CREATE wealth in systems.

Parents who are good teachers are an economic multiplier for everyone.

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‘Teacher’ is an interesting concept:

• • People get formal degrees in teaching: Some teach. Some don’t.

  • People without formal teaching degrees many times share expertise through classes and writing and speaking, through workplace demonstrations and seminars and through formal and informal groups in schools, churches and throughout the community.

  • Everyone teaches directly and indirectly by the way they live their lives: Some things are worth learning. Some things aren’t.

  • Individuals who go in search of education usually seek it anywhere they can find it … their parents, their ‘formal’ teachers and every person, place or thing they come in contact with.

If someone ‘learns’ something from you, you have ‘taught’ them something. If they are ‘lucky,’ you have taught them something that is worth learning (for them).

In a perfect world, everyone would be surrounded by the best teachers and the best educational materials and resources.

In a less than perfect world, the people who surround you may not have originally been surrounded by those things themselves.

Recently I pulled up and scanned the old Boy Scout and Girl Scout handbooks (free) that can be found at Project Gutenberg (look under ‘scouting’). ‘Old knowledge’ is many times as fascinating as ‘new knowledge’ if you remember that things like first aid have ‘evolved’ over time, scientific principles have been updated, technology has advanced and many of the things that kids learn have been modified.

Handbooks like these are and have been in the past ‘roadmaps’ for acquiring an education and developing skills: They help explain why so many supposedly ‘uneducated’ or ‘less educated’ adults (relative to today’s youth) know so many things. The best ‘teachers’ drew the maps.

Many organizations throughout the world that cater to youth and developing adults provide ‘clear paths’ for learning when ‘teachers’ may be locally absent, unavailable or just simply unknown. They share their ‘to do’ lists and even training materials online and in publications. You just have to be interested and take the time.

Once again, 'teacher' is an interesting concept:

• • Parents don’t become excellent teachers because they know everything. (Kids are smart: They know no one knows everything.)

  • Parents become excellent teachers when they find ways to ‘link’ their children to the people and opportunities which make it easy for them to acquire the education, knowledge and skills that make sense for them in their lives.

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P.S. If you have any old ‘how to’ manuals from 4-H or scouting or any developmental organization that caters to kids and developing adults, Project Gutenberg might be interested. They could verify that there are no copyright restrictions, they usually publish the materials in multiple formats, and it’s such an easy way to link people to the best of the best ‘teachers.'

I myself was surprised by the extent of the ‘cookbook section’ in the old Girl Scouts handbook and intrigued by the depth of knowledge required to get many of the old merit badges in both of the scouting handbooks. And, if you ever read these, keep in mind that this was ‘informal’ education for kids and projects were completed in their ‘free time.’