Getting to Know Yourself

I am interested in the psychological aspects of the method of integral upbringing. Psychology has been an applied science for the past 100 years or so. Throughout this time researchers have developed various methods and tests, projective tests, and trainings. Can the experience acquired by materialistic psychology be used in the program of integral upbringing of children?..

We have to enable every person to see himself from absolutely every angle, to come out of himself, to evaluate himself objectively and agree with the fact that he can be in completely different guises. One has to learn to accept all people: Yesterday he was that way and today he is different. It’s very important to internalize that the perception of the world depends on me, on my mood, on the level of my development, and that it could change entirely. Whatever I am permitted, others are permitted, too. But all of this requires very serious study...

Psychology attributes great importance to two notions called “mixed messages” and “direct messages.” A classic example of a mixed message is to tell a joke, while a direct message is to answer a child’s question seriously and directly. What is the more correct way to interact with children: To answer their questions directly, or is there room for jokes and games?..

Another important aspect in psychology is the “experience cycle,” the preparation and choice of how to act, the act itself, and the completion and integration of the experience that resulted...

Currently, the process of upbringing and education is structured sequentially, so if a child falls out of the process at some stage due to an illness or some other circumstance, it is often very difficult or even impossible for him to reenter it...

When we describe this method, we underline that the best result is achieved when a child goes through all the phases of development, starting from the right kind of conception, through the prenatal period, followed by the period of nursing, and so on...

Suppose a group of children carried out some kind of project and completed it. Should we reward them in some way? Can an adult praise a child?..

Are there any age related rules? For example, should children aged 9-12 be given more information about the animal kingdom, while older children should be told more about social phenomena?..

What do we expect from the visits to these places? The children should associate themselves with the person or the phenomenon we show them, both positively and negatively. They should feel involved. Then we will have achieved a positive effect, even by visiting a prison, for example. A person wanted to steal something or to break some law, and this is what happened to him as a result...

In the process of interacting with children, someone usually becomes the “teacher’s pet.” That is, instructors tend to like some children more than others. What’s the right way to handle this?..