All change! Education and Young People

I've written extensively over the past decade about the erosion of the soil of society. This is an erosion of our personal soil, as in a thinness of imagination, depth and spirit. It is also an erosion of our social soil, as in a weakening of our relational ties, historic roots and attachments to place and community. Finally, it is an erosion of our civic soil, as in a fragmentation of our social cohesion, a breaking of our civic contract and a weakening of capacity to heal ourselves as a society in the face of our growing pathologies in the West.

After a decade of speaking extensively to grown ups about this condition, I have come to a decision to focus my work, in this next stage, on the young people who will inherit this barren land my generation will leave behind. I feel profoundly sad about the legacy we are leaving and determined to do what I am able to address it.

To that end, my own attention and work is moving away from adults, toward primary and secondary school education. I am leaving the work with companies and adult leaders largely in the hands of capable others, who I have trained and equipped to use the tools of Human Ecology and the lessons of Undefended Life and Leadership. These include Teleios, the fulfilment partner of The Leadership Community in the corporate sector, as well as trained Undefended Leader course facilitators. I don't plan to leave the arena of adult training completely, but will continue to educate future church and corporate leaders where I can, whilst my priority is toward the education sector.

I am increasingly committed to educating young people and schools about a Human Ecology Approach to personal and social formation. A growing number of schools over the past years have invited my wife, Jo, and I to work with them both in the UK and abroad in partnership. These include Monkton School, Thomas's London Day Schools and Wellington College in the UK. Abroad, we have also worked across schools in South Africa over the past three years and this summer begin a new relationship with the Association of Christian Schools in Australia who have invited us to key note their biannual National conference. We are responding to these invitations as fully as we can and are thrilled at the opportunity to work with fertile minds and abundant soil in schools and colleges.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting a short series of thought pieces about personal development, through the language of 'cultivating our land'. I hope these will be a gift to you in the Advent season.

(c) Simon P Walker 2011