KPES

The Three Principles of Teaching

THE FIRST principle of true teaching is that nothing can be taught. The teacher is not merely an instructor or taskmaster; they are helpers and guides. Their role is to suggest rather than impose. They do not train the pupil's mind directly; instead, they show the pupil how to refine their tools of knowledge and support them throughout the journey. The teacher does not simply hand over knowledge to the pupil; they demonstrate how the pupil can acquire knowledge independently. The teacher does not extract the knowledge that lies within; they guide the pupil to discover where it resides and how to bring it to the forefront. The notion that this principle applies only to adolescents and adults, while excluding children, is a narrow-minded and outdated belief.

THE SECOND principle is that the mind must be engaged in its own development. The idea of forcing a child into a mold shaped by the desires of parents or teachers is both cruel and misguided…
To compel nature to forsake its own path is to inflict lasting damage, stunting its growth and tarnishing its potential. It represents a selfish domination over a human spirit and is detrimental to society, which loses out on the contributions that an individual could have made…

THE THIRD principle of education is to progress from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from what exists to what can be. We must not uproot nature from the soil in which it must thrive or inundate the mind with images and concepts that are foreign to its actual environment. If anything needs to be introduced from the outside, it should be offered freely, not imposed upon the mind. Genuine development relies on a free and natural growth.