September 11, 2020
Shishi, Fujian - PRC
Dear Team,
Today's lunch was disruptive and at this kindergarten, now (and I hope always) that is absolutely welcome! I am a fan of disruption. Many take disruption too far and advocate for anarchy, others conform too much. Both extremes are futile. The secret is finding the Yin-yang in it all. Adequate and responsible disorder is an art that few understand, and far less can do well.
The longer you have been at MT, the more you have witnessed this type of holy misconduct. Penny and Carmen are the most fortunate of all. They have witnessed every single moment of insanity. A few of my favorite memories of madness are:
1. MT Water Wars
2. Parents jump fires with little babies in their arms
3. Burying bones in sandpits for epiphanic learning
4. Classroom Forts
5. Secretly carrying out a curriculum of world class (though legally we should only have one outing a month)
...and many more.
Back to our lunch today. This is week 2. Lunch feels stagnant. Mechanical. ...and in the simplest of terms: BORING. I severely dislike the corona virus protocols that no longer allow us to execute our Zao Jun curriculum we so beautifully created together over the last 3 years. And so, that is what happened. I needed some ROCK AND ROLL.
To all who felt bothered: I look forward to your equal or better disruption of lunch with some artful disruption of your own. Consider this a competition. Who can turn our boring lunches into the most fun? And please, don't use your ordinary duty as an excuse! If you take the role of being on stage, and then running around chasing the kids with Vick, and then rallying all but 7 of our children to head down to an early nap, I will gladly take your place with our slow-eaters. We are a team, we need to know how to wear different hats. I can feed, wipe butts, dance like an idiot, tell a story and write a goddam manifesto in favor of holy disruption. And I love it all!
To all those who joined in the singing of QUEEN's: WE WILL ROCK YOU. Thank you.
I did make one mistake: I forgot to put the climbing toy back in its place behind the stage.
I have one last confession to make: Learning the skill of being a menace has not been easy. It requires a sound dose of luck, primarily in the form of great Mentors of Disruption. The list of blessed-wretched-havoc-makers I have learned from is not necessarily long, but each and everyone lives through me in moments like today's lunch. Among the best of them is: Dr. Seuss, renown author of books for children (ages 1 to 89.3).
Long before writing children's stories, Dr. Seuss was already stirring trouble in the world of global politics with his anti-war comics. He was loathed by many, and loved by others. (See picture below). He eventually gave up on trying to change the hearts of big children (aka adults). He became convinced that the only true possibility of revolution was to be found in the hearts of children. I have a similar story to tell on how I gave up on trying to change big people and decided to work with preschoolers but that's a story for another time: I've already been too longwinded and should probably get to some sort of point:
Consider THE CAT IN THE HAT. Think carefully about the storyline. What can we learn from this book which our MT kids probably know better than we do? Is the Cat a character we should avoid? Is his disruption a setback? Who are you in the story?
a) The bored child that finds nothing to do on a rainy day?
b) Or are you the Cat causing messes?
c) Perhaps you feel more like Thing 1 or Thing 2?
3) Or are you the foot of the mother coming home instilling fear in all those who just want to play—even if it's raining outside?
I know who I am, and how I try to live. And I want nothing more from anyone who wants to responsibly consider the art of teaching. This is not Beiling or Montesorri. This is MT!
With deep love,
Carl Emmons (MA)
MT Teaching Director
