Spontaneous Activity in Education

1. The Child Possesses an Innate Drive for Self-Construction

If we are convinced of this, we must admit as a principle the necessity of "not introducing obstacles to natural development"; and instead of having to deal with many separate problems—such as, what are the best aids to the development of character, intelligence and feeling?—one single problem will present itself as the basis of all education: How are we to give the child freedom?

Natural growth. Just as a physical body develops spontaneously, guided by nature to achieve its proper proportions and functions, so too does the child's psychical life possess an inherent tendency towards self-organization and expansion. This profound truth, often overlooked, implies that our primary role as educators is not to "create" or "mold" the child's spirit, but to remove obstacles that impede its natural, miraculous growth. We are not the creators of spiritual forms any more than we are of physical ones.

Spiritual hunger. This innate drive manifests as a "spiritual hunger," a primitive internal impulse that directs the child's consciousness towards specific external stimuli necessary for its development. Satisfying this hunger is crucial for the organization of the child's personality, much like a newborn's sucking reflex organizes its body and movements. When this impulse is met, the child engages in complex activities that foster intelligence, patience, perseverance, and other virtues.

Miracle of growth. By respecting this natural process, we allow the child to unfold their latent powers, revealing surprising spiritual qualities and an "explosive" progression in their inner life. This perspective shifts the burden of "forming character" or "developing intelligence" from the educator to nature itself, offering us peace and the opportunity to witness the profound miracle of human development.

2. Liberty, Not Abandonment, is the Foundation of Development

The principle of liberty is not therefore a principle of abandonment, but rather one which, by leading us from illusions to reality, will guide us to the most positive and efficacious "care of the child."

Beyond physical freedom. While modern hygiene has brought physical liberty to infants—abolishing swaddling, promoting open-air life, and regular feeding—true liberation extends to the child's spiritual life. This is not about neglect, but about providing precise, efficacious care that supports the child's internal development, much as a well-kept garden provides optimal conditions for plants to flourish.

Civil rights of the child. Society often overlooks the child's fundamental "civil rights," treating them as mere "flowers" rather than active "men" laboring to produce the future generation. Practices like orphan asylums and wet-nursing exemplify a profound injustice, where the child's health and property (mother's milk) are confiscated, and their inherent right to life and development is disregarded.

Consequences of oppression. When children are denied the freedom to act for themselves, constantly interrupted, or forced into passive roles, their psychical growth is stifled. This spiritual neglect can lead to:

• Rickety, weak, and inadequate spiritual organisms
• "Caprices," "naughtinesses," and "mysterious vapors" as cries of unhappiness
• Physical suffering, as the body's functions depend on the spirit's joy
  Just as a plant needs specific conditions to thrive, the child's spirit requires liberty to flourish.

3. The Environment Must Be Scientifically Prepared for Auto-Education

It is therefore necessary that the environment should contain the means of auto-education.

Beyond useless toys. Society often prepares a "mockery" for children's reception, filling their world with useless toys that they inevitably break out of a desire to understand or from frustration. Instead, the environment should be meticulously designed to offer "means of auto-education"—objects that are proportionate to the child's size and strength, inviting purposeful activity rather than mere amusement.

Scientific instruments for the soul. These educational materials are not random but are the result of rigorous experimental study, akin to scientific apparatus. They are precisely determined in quality and quantity to correspond directly to the child's internal organization and developmental needs. Key characteristics include:

• Control of error: The materials themselves allow the child to detect and correct their own mistakes, fostering independence and judgment.
• Graduated series: Objects are arranged in progressive difficulty, enabling the child to distinguish and classify attributes (dimensions, forms, colors, etc.).
• Stimulus for internal formation: They provoke and sustain prolonged attention, leading to internal elaboration and growth.

A staircase for the spirit. This prepared environment acts as a "staircase" for the soul, providing steps for ascending intellectual and moral development. It is the "terra firma" from which the spirit takes flight, offering a refuge and support system. The teacher's role is to prepare this environment and then allow the child the freedom to choose and engage with the materials, responding to their inner needs.

4. Polarization of Attention is the Gateway to Inner Order

This phenomenon gradually became common among the children: it may therefore be recorded as a constant reaction occurring in connection with certain external conditions, which may be determined.

The "discovery" moment. The observation of a three-year-old girl deeply absorbed in a set of solid insets, repeating the exercise forty-four times, marked a pivotal discovery. This "polarization of attention" became a constant phenomenon, revealing that when a child finds an object corresponding to an internal impulse, they engage with profound concentration, leading to a complete transformation of their personality.

Transformation of the child. Once this deep interest is ignited, the child undergoes a remarkable change:

• Becomes calmer, more intelligent, and expansive.
• Develops extraordinary spiritual qualities, akin to a "higher consciousness."
• Disorderly and fluctuating behaviors organize into a coherent spiritual creation.
  This process is not gradual but "explosive," much like a baby cutting its first tooth or taking its first step, signifying a fundamental shift in internal order.

Internal discipline. The most evident external sign of this internal organization is the emergence of discipline. Children, once restless and disorderly, begin to respect the work of others, wait patiently for desired objects, and move with grace and self-control. This discipline is not imposed but arises spontaneously from within, as the child's personality unifies and strengthens through purposeful work and sustained concentration.

5. Intelligence is the Key to Freedom and Self-Formation

Deeply instructive is the revelation made to us by the children, that "the intelligence" is the key which reveals the secrets of their formation, and is the actual means of their internal construction.

Beyond animal instincts. When a child is left "free as a man" in an environment suited to their intelligence, they do not devolve into "animal instincts" but direct their activity towards purposeful actions like washing, cleaning, or cultivating plants. Intelligence, therefore, is not merely a faculty for learning, but the active means by which the inner life constructs itself and relates to the environment.

Hygiene of intelligence. Protecting and nurturing the intelligence is paramount. It should not be exhausted for dubious ends or oppressed without discernment. The first indication of intellectual development is "quickness"—rapid reactions to stimuli, swift association of ideas, and quick judgment. Sensory exercises, by isolating stimuli and allowing repeated engagement, awaken and intensify these central nervous mechanisms, making the mind more permeable and responsive.

Order from chaos. The child of three often carries a "heavy chaos" of impressions. Sensory exercises enable the child to distinguish, classify, and catalogue external things, establishing a fundamental order in the mind. This internal order is crucial for:

• Recognition: The child "recognizes" objects by their attributes, placing them in mental categories.
• Efficiency: It saves time and strength, allowing for greater work without fatigue.
• Reasoning: It lays the foundation for judgment and logical thought by enabling the abstraction of dominant characteristics.
  This ordered mind, like a well-arranged library, becomes a dynamic force for further intellectual conquests.

6. The Will Develops Through Purposeful, Self-Chosen Action

The powers of will are established by exercise.

Action and inhibition. The will is not merely an impulse towards movement, but the intelligent direction of movements, encompassing both action and inhibition. In children, the two opposite activities of the will (impulse and inhibition) have not yet combined. Free action, guided by purposeful exercises, is the necessary "gymnastic" to establish this equilibrium, leading to coordinated movements and social habits.

Persistence as character. The true foundation of will is "constancy" or "persistence" in work. A child who manifests perseverance in a chosen task, concentrating and absorbing themselves, is elaborating a "constant man," a man of character. Interrupting this process to impose external learning or shift focus destroys this internal construction, confusing the means with the end.

Decision and clarity. Decision, the highest function of the will, is always the result of choice, which requires clarity of ideas and the habit of sifting conflicting motives. Children, through self-education with materials that promote comparison and judgment, develop this "knowledge" that prepares them to form their own decisions, making them independent of external suggestions. Suppressing a child's will by deciding everything for them leads to timidity and an incapacity for self-direction.

7. True Imagination is Rooted in Reality, Not Fantasy

The imagination has created when it has started from creation: that is, when it has first taken in existing truth.

Science and creation. Modern imagination, unlike that of past ages, is based on the positive researches of science, transforming the external world through concrete works. This "creative power" stems from first taking in existing truth, reflecting a divine attribute of realizing thought. Scientists, through exact observation, prudence, and patience, have entered the "Promised Land of truth," bearing marvelous fruits for humanity.

Artistic imagination's foundation. Similarly, artistic imagination is not a vague divagation but a composition built upon sensory material collected from the environment. The axiom "Nihil est in intellectu quod prius non fuerit in sensa" (Nothing is in the intellect which was not first in the senses) holds true. The more accurate and perfect these perceptive observations, the more vigorous and truthful the artistic creations will be, as seen in the works of Dante or Greek sculpture.

Critique of childish fantasy. The common belief that young children are characterized by vivid imagination, and that this should be cultivated through fables and unrealities, is a profound error. What appears as "imagination" (e.g., a stick as a horse) is often a manifestation of unsatisfied desire or sensitive poverty, not a gift of nature. Indulging credulity, a mark of immature minds, prevents the child from developing the intelligence to distinguish truth from falsehood, and ultimately hinders true creative capacity.

8. The Teacher's Role Transforms to a Humble, Scientific Observer

Even after the first desultory experiments hitherto made, a new type of mistress has been evolved; instead of facility in speech, she has to acquire the power of silence; instead of teaching, she has to observe; instead of the proud dignity of one who claims to be infallible, she assumes the vesture of humility.

From orator to observer. The traditional image of the teacher as an authoritative, infallible orator who imparts knowledge is obsolete. The new teacher, operating in a school transformed into a "scientific laboratory for the psycho-genetic study of man," must become a humble, patient, and precise observer. Her primary task is not to teach, but to prepare the environment and then "see" the spiritual phenomena unfolding in the child.

Qualities of the scientific teacher. This transformation requires specific qualities:

• Capacity for observation: A trained eye to perceive minute, essential details of the child's internal development.
• Patience: The ability to wait for phenomena to unfold naturally, without imposing external timelines or expectations.
• Humility and self-abnegation: Renouncing personal ideals and convictions when confronted with the child's truth, akin to a scientist purifying himself from error.
• Spiritual preparation: Beyond biological knowledge, an understanding of art, love, and holiness, as the teacher observes and serves the "inner life of man."

A priestess, yet a servant. The teacher's dignity now stems from her ability to facilitate life's unfolding, not from her intellectual superiority. She becomes a "providential force," a maternal guide who, like a priestess in a temple, creates an environment of silence, simplicity, and work where the child's spirit can meditate and grow. She offers herself as a "stimulus" for the child's affections, responding with delicate devotion, always present but never intrusive.

9. Moral Education Cultivates Sensibility and Love, Not External Control

Love is the contact between the soul and God; and when this exists, all the rest is vanity.

Beyond codes and rules. Moral education is not about memorizing codes or being driven by fear of punishment. It is about keeping alive and perfecting "psychical sensibility," an internal sense that distinguishes right from wrong. This internal sense, which religion calls "Love," is the fundamental force that preserves life and fosters good, far more effectively than external laws or social pressures.

Love as a biological force. Scientific studies, particularly in biology, have recognized love (e.g., maternal love) as the powerful force that preserves animal species, explaining survival more profoundly than the "struggle for existence." This natural phenomenon, observed even in insects, demonstrates that love is an inherent, vital force, existing before and accompanying creation.

The teacher as a spiritual object. For the child's moral development, the teacher and other adults serve as "stimuli" for their developing feelings. Children's pure souls derive nourishment from us, fixing their hearts on us, and through this love, they exalt themselves in intimate spiritual creation. The teacher's "response" must be full, prompt, and complete, like the didactic materials that passively offer themselves for intellectual growth, reflecting the luminous rays needed by the child's soul.

10. Traditional Education Actively Harms the Child's Natural Development

Every method of scholastic education is in some way prejudicial to the normal development of the child.

Physical and spiritual deformities. Traditional schooling, with its rigid structures, bare environments, and forced immobility, is a "place of disaster" that actively distorts the child's body and weakens the spirit. It produces:

• Physical ailments: Spinal curvature, myopia, organic debility, all diagnosed as "diseases of school children."
• Spiritual oppression: Children are reduced to passive recipients, their wills annihilated, their natural impulses suppressed, leading to neurasthenia and a lack of character.

The fallacy of emulation and punishment. The system of prizes and punishments, based on "emulation," is a "ruinous condition." It stimulates children to exhaust themselves for external validation, often rewarding mediocrity or physical inferiority, while punishing natural activity or kindness (e.g., helping a peer). This system fosters vanity, ambition, and an unconscious acceptance of injustice, rather than genuine moral growth.

A call for liberation. The "naughtiness" of children is often a "struggle for spiritual existence," a desperate attempt to live and grow against adult interference. By stifling their natural desire to touch, act, and learn independently, adults inadvertently create enslaved, inept, and ungrateful individuals. The solution lies not in imposing more control, but in an "act of liberation," allowing the child to pursue their internal needs and develop their latent forces in peace and freedom.

Last updated: December 30, 2025