Life, is a journey of self discovery.

Life, as a journey of self discovery, has been a main discussion point for me of late with two students, in discussion around bullying and being bullied.

Wikipidia explains a journey of self discovery as:

"The term "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues or priorities, rather than following the opinions of family, friends, neighborhood or peer pressure." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-discovery

We talked about the need to understand yourself, the need to understand how you react to different stimuli and in different situations, and the need to understand why others have decided to react in a certain way.

I don't know how much of this the students actually understood, but it's a step in the right direction and if we continue to have these discussions with them, they may see themselves and their lives in a different light. People who are most comfortable with themselves, are usually those who are most comfortable with others.

So as I was thinking about other students in our care, and how we inhibit or support their growth of themselves, I think about those who are completely disengaged from learning. I think about those who have behavioural issues, and are constantly coming up over and over at support hui. Some of these students have hard lives outside of school, but some don't, and are just bored, disinterested, and completely turned off school.

So in order to re-engage them? We have to look past the student, and past their outward symptoms, and look at what they are trying to tell us. Learners are amazing at telling us things, without actually saying anything - their behaviour, their body language, the way they talk to others.

The obvious answer is to engage them in something, anything that will stimulate their thinking and allow them to explore more opportunities in their own lives. To offer them opportunities that are all about them, and their own personal wellbeing.

Because if life is a journey of self discovery, then it is a different journey for every person. We can't make all learners walk the same journey any longer in schools. If we want to see change in New Zealand's mental health crisis, and if we want to see change in our students' opinions of "school", it must be individualised, to allow full expression of the self.