Sea Snail Education Model (SeSEM)
The Sea Snail Education Model (SeSEM) is a genuine and brand new model based on principles of integration/ holisticness, and the understanding of oneness and unification both of the creation and of the Creator. The "Treasure Discoverers (TreaD) Children's Houses" project we began implementing in June 2016 is compatible with the principles of SeSEM. Click here for the daily program of this project, the workshops and activities conducted as well as the routines applied, etc.
We continue to work on the guidelines of the Sea Snail Education Model (SeSEM) with our volunteer educators. Below are the headlines and a very brief summary.
Also see:
History of Modern Education
Developing the Education Model
CHAPTER I
** What is "integration/ holisticness", and "oneness and unification"?
We use the concept of holisticness (integrative approach) in a way both parallel to and in addition to the way it is commonly used today, so as to include the mana-yi harfi / other-indicative perspective, to mean "tawhidi".
Tawhidi: based on tawhid (the unity of God and Its attributes as they are reflected in the unity of the holistic universe)
Tawhid is not just "one-ness", it also signifies unity, unification, making wholly. It unifies and makes one, the creation and it unifies and makes one, the Creator. This world+the next world, holistic+mana-yi harfi/ other-indicative
1. Tawhid in creation:
The one who made this flower is whomever is the one who made the universe.
2. Tawhid in Divine Names/Attributes
What is the tawhid of beauty (jamaal), where Jameel (the Absolute Source and Owner of Beauty, the Absolutely Beautiful One)is a Divine Attribute of perfection? It means whomever made this flower beautiful, is the source and owner of all the beauty in the universe.
3. Unification of all Names/Attributes
Whomever is the Jameel (Beautiful) is also the Rab (Sustainor), meaning being able to see all attributes within the "constellation" of an attribute.
4. The tawhid of Rububiyah (God's Sustainorship, nurturing, upbringing, training, educating of all things and humans in particular) (the mana-yi harfi / other-indicative perspective in evaluating events)(ta'wil al-ahadith)
There is One who is teaching me and those I interact with, through every experience.
*** What do these four aspects of the tawhidi perspective imply for the application of an education model based on a tawhid understanding?
A. Antisecularism: not separating the deen, the tawhidi belief perspective from all aspects of everyday worldly affairs. We deem it wrong to teach revelation-related subjects and sciences separately: the education of the imaan (confirming the message of revelation, through reason, observation and the use of all human intellect, emotions and other qualities, with certainty, without contradicting oneself, one's humanity) based perspective should be applied to all aspects of education: moral, spiritual, scientific, conceptual, artistic, etc.
B. Not separating disciplines
C. Not separating ages
D. Humans are whole and cannot be disintegrated or separated into disjoint aspects. The mind, emotions, free will, body, etc should all be taken into account in an integrated fashion.
E. Not separating humans from the universe- the conscious awareness of being God's Vicegerent on earth
***not separating children from the nature
F. Not separating children from the cause and effect chain, the natural order and flow of life (teaching children to operate within God's creative routines)
G. Approaching child education with a mana-yi harfi (other-indicative) perspective
H. The tawhid of Rububiyah (God's Sustainorship, nurturing, upbringing, training, educating of all things and humans in particular)
***not separating this world from the next world
I. Not separating languages: ensuring each child to be multilingual or at least have some experience with more than one language
***not separating ethnic groups
J. Administration of the children's house
1) The organizer team
2) The children's council
3) The parent/guardian meetings
4) The educator meetings
5) Economically holistic: not separating socioeconomic classes
6) Ideal population size
K. Operation of the children's house
1) Condition of parent/guardian attendance: not separating the child from her/his family
2) Educator and parent/guardian education
3) How many days a week and how many hours a day should a children's house run according to SeSEM
Unstructured time,
Semi-structured,
Structured
4) Fathers contribution and attendance
Chapter II
**Why is education, training and upbringing necessary, why do we not simply let the kids be?
Definition of deen: the path we follow in revealing the potentials of our pure baby/child nature with the consciousness of tawheed (the unity of creation and unification of Creator) and living with and according to this consciousness.
It is necessary but insufficient for the education model to simply be compatible with the pure baby/child nature. For the potential in this pure baby/child nature to become apparent, we need more.
We observe the stages in the development of a seed into a tree. When a human makes choices in life with his/her free will to grow the tree in its own seed of the pure baby/child nature, then those choices and whatever is created according to those choices made, are the "deen" of that human.
**The individuality of the education of deen.
A child who does nothing but play by herself/himself (or other children) all day long may keep the seed of their pure baby/child nature preserved, but their potentials of a tree may not grow sufficiently, why?
1) Introspection, recognizing and expressing emotions & thoughts
2) Conscious awareness of the body
3) Wise perspective
4) The tawhid of Rububiyah (God's Sustainorship, nurturing, upbringing, training, educating of all things and humans in particular)
5) The training of the ego
6) The training of the free will
7) Pre and post-traumatic support
8) Survival skills: to strike a balance between having a wide variety of amateur skills and some areas or skills of expertise, is important both for being multi-faceted and in order to survive with thriving and freedom
-to have a profession or craft expertise that can be traded, not to be a qualified worker for a business owner
-survival skills (hunting, bow&arrow, sword use, sewing, gardening, animal husbandry)
-house chores (cooking, cleaning, soap making)
-home economy and trading skills (this is in addition to having a profession or craft expertise, because if you have your own store, clinic, office, etc rather than working for someone else, you are at the same time a trader, a businessman) (mathematics, awareness against wastefullness, consciousness of socioeconomic classes and justice)
9) Dumping not all the content of school curricula but the main subject headlines instead