Instagram story viewer> @_born_wise> Posts

Gill Howarth | Born Wise

@_born_wise

6.3K

followers

2717

following

Learning is alive
Learning beyond school
Growing human potential
Imagination • Myth/Story • Creativity • Nature • Life School • Village Learning

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Back in the late 90s, on the first day of year 10, my Media teacher told our class that a LEAST 75% of our schooling had been about babysitting us so our parents can go to work and contribute to the economy.

I don’t think anyone else was listening to him. 🤣

But I was. I remember thinking whaaaaat????

I came home and asked my mum if it true.

She said yeah…probably

I remember this huge epiphany feeling.

I was 15 years old and I felt I’d just been handed a huge truth. Or part of society’s veil had been stripped back

And I thought WHY don’t they just tell us that?

Why not make school less of a big deal and just a place we can hang out and play and be kids and create stuff?

Why all the facade around making it appear something it’s not?

And now, more than 30 years later….

Why are we STILL pretending? 🤷‍♀️🤯

#RethinkingEducation
#HumanCenteredLearning
#ChildhoodMatters
#LearningBeyondSchool
#BornWise taken in Perth, Western Australia by @_born_wise

5k

278

5 months ago

I’m feeling a bit sick this week.

Not so sick I’m bound to my bed.

But more that under the weather, tired feeling that means I’m laying low and spending my days imagining what would happen on my street if I was to string up a giant, communal washing line….

One that runs the full length of my street…

And what would happen if we no longer needed an oven in every single household…but instead pooled our resources and prepared food to share with the other families we live close to.

I suspect our rebellion is in simply coming together…

I decided these ponderings were too long for Instagram so substack it is…

If you feel like reading the kind of daydreams that celebrate the end of appliance stores in place of raising the wellbeing of women and children then please head over and have a read.

Link in the stories.

Tell me what you think?

Anyone up for communal washing lines?

❤️🙏🏻💃🌱🧚✨

#bornwiseeducation #play #nature #relationships #playbasedlearning #emotionalintelligence #outdoorclassroom #researchlearning #imageofthechild #reggioinspired #keepersoftheearth #naturepedagogy #earlychildhoodeducation #projectbasedlearning #wellbeing #natureconnection #1000hoursoutside #natureasteacher #wearenature #naturallearning #imagination #asenseofplace #placebasedlearning #womenscommunity #togethering by @_born_wise

335

50

2 years ago

RAISING BOYS, CHANGING CULTURE ❤️

He stopped mid-game and asked, “Is this okay?”

I was setting up a space at the farm when a pack of kids ran past me, completely lost in their world of play. They didn’t know I was watching. I paused for a moment to listen.

They were playing a game of capture — two bases, two teams, trying to drag each other “to jail.”

One of the oldest boys at BornWise — strong, fast, confident — had captured two girls from the other team. He had them by the arms, pulling them back to his base.

Then, he paused.
He let go of their arms.
He turned to them and asked:

“Wait… is this okay with you? Can I do this?”

The girls both said yes.
And then they carried on playing.

But I stood there, rooted.
Completely still.
My heart skipped.
Hope rising.

Because in that small, ordinary moment — something extraordinary happened.

A boy used his power and strength not to dominate,
but to ask.
To listen.
To check in.

And I thought:

What if I had grown up in a world where boys stopped to ask if touching me was okay?
What if power always paused to ask permission?
What if play was practice for empathy?

These kids are growing up in a different way.
They’re learning to honor consent, even in games.
To separate pretend from real, and to respect both.
To know that words, action.

What do you hope the next generation unlearns?

#BornWise #ConsciousChildhood #RaisingEmpathy #EmotionalIntelligence #PlayWithPurpose #NewEarthChildren #CultureShift #RaisingKindHumans #HopeInMotion #raisingthefuture by @_born_wise

386

74

a year ago

Our annual Mother & Son gathering is coming up at the end of this month. I can’t wait. 🤎

Running alongside @tara__aldridge and @wildmovementperth, this is an event I hold particularly close to my heart as a Mama to three boys and someone who believes we learn through relationship.

An afternoon of earth skills and nature immersion, guided by the wisdom and knowledge of Steve @wildmovementperth, with a space held and magically curated by @tara__aldridge.

We explore the Mother + Son relationship as a group of parents, educators and mentors…and, of course, the boys themselves.

There’s space for deeper connection, reflection and conversation… but also plenty of movement, laughter, play and just FUN.

Our next gathering is at the end of this month. Get in touch if you’d like to join us. 🌿

We’re also thinking about creating something similar for the older boys/teens, so let us know if that’s something you’d be interested in too. taken in Perth, Western Australia by @_born_wise

35

21

12 days ago

We spoke to the kids today about the Melbourne schools’ decision to ban cartwheels. Wanted to hear their thoughts.

And it’s a good opportunity to talk to the kids about how to navigate decisions you don’t agree with. How can you have your say? Share your side of things?

And a different perspective.

The kids thought the ban was kinda silly.

Some of them were shocked even.

And one of the boys said “Maybe the people in charge have just lost their imaginations”

Maybe he’s right.

So we made this video.

And we really really hope the people in charge will reconsider. 🌿 by @_born_wise

124

32

25 days ago

And if you know me, you’ll know how serious I am about my coffee 😍🙏

Super unimpressed to hear schools banning cartwheels and handstands.

As for cutting the arts and music????

May as well cut what it means to be human too.

(Also I could not love the natural audio of the kdis chatting more. “Everyone wearing a headband is a ninja” 🙌) by @_born_wise

54

5

a month ago

I’ve been thinking a lot about what we call intelligence.

Because for so long, school has given us a very particular picture of what a “smart” child looks like.

The child who sits still. Listens. Finishes the work.(But not too early). Gets the right answer (But doesn’t want to be challenged further). Does what they are asked (doesn’t ask why).

And again, there is nothing wrong with being that child. I was that child. Until high school at least but that’s another story 🤣

But after working with children in a completely different way, I’ve started to wonder what we miss when we only recognise intelligence when it looks like compliance.

What about the child who can spend three hours building something?

The one who asks a million questions.

The one who notices things everyone else has missed.

The one who can negotiate a friendship.

The one who can make something from nothing. Or the one who takes an idea and runs somewhere completely unexpected with it.

The one who doesn’t want to do what everyone else is doing.

Maybe some of these children have spent years being told they aren’t good at learning???

Maybe they are actually incredibly good at learning.

Maybe we just haven’t been looking for their kind of intelligence.

And I think we need all of the different types of brains.

Because the future needs people who can imagine something that doesn’t exist yet.

What would happen if we stopped trying to work out who the smartest child in the room was…

and just got really curious about what each child was “smart” at? 🤷‍♀️ by @_born_wise

106

14

a month ago

About 13 years ago, I couldn’t get away from this sense that something was missing.

I was teaching in a school, but every day i felt like I was searching for a word on the tip of my tongue…i can only describe it as if there was an itch that needed to be scratched but i I couldn’t find it

Or like i wasn’t quite tuned in to the right station? Like i was trying to whisper to MYSELF but i coudnt understand my own inner language.

Then an astrologer told me my purpose in life was to be in gardens with children, creating beauty.

TBH, that felt kinda weird. 😂 Or not exciting enough? Arrogant enough to think surely my purpose must be bigger and grander 🙈

Besides i was already working with kids in nature-based schools, so I thought… well, isn’t that what I’m doing?

Except I wasn’t.

It was ALMOST perfect. But totally wrong.

Then last week, I thought of that astrolger again. I spent Sunday in an organic garden with our community, tending the land.

On Monday, I walked through an ashram garden with wonderful women, talking about dreams, babies, fruit trees and stories.

Wednesday, I was in the garden of one of Perth’s oldest churches, talking about how gardening and learning are both better understood as ecosystems rather than perfectly cultivated rows.

I spend my days in gardens with children and wonderful women - seeing beauty all around me.

And it feels like a huge gift. Its humbling and maybe i needed fhat? How could i ever have thought being in gardens with children wasnt enough???

I don’t know where that astrologer is now, but i wish i did because I’d love to tell her that her 13 year old words were SPOT ON. It just took me a few years to catch up 🙏 by @_born_wise

46

5

a month ago

I still think about the little brown boat I couldn’t replicate to look like everyone else’s 😅

Because it was probably one of the first times I learned that doing something differently could mean being told I was doing it wrong.

And it wasn’t just in Art class. I’ve spent a lot of my life struggling to do things the way someone else thinks they should be done. It’s taken me a really long time to realise I need to find my own way…

I thought it was a flaw actually.

But now I I think it was just me learning to understand myself… and what I have to offer.

And my little lumpy, lop-sided boat means I don’t ever expect the kids I work with to replicate a perfect copy of the chosen model boat. Because I’m not interested in things that look the same.

And besides…I think kids are waaay more capable than that.

On Friday, I asked the children to paint how they see The Wild Swans, a myth we’ve been exploring all term.

Not one child painted the same thing. Or the same way or even at the same time.

Not one of them compared their painting to another child’s.

They celebrated each other’s. But not at the cost of their own creative expression… which was the part I loved the most.

They could say freely “hey I love your swan or I love your rose” without reflecting that comparison onto their own work.

The art of comparing’s gotta be learned, right?

I know it might not seem like much…

Talking about identical boat paintings versus being invited to paint the boat you see? But these are the things my mind notices and thinks about…

And way back then, if we’d been encouraged to paint the boat we see…

I reckon we would have ended up with enormous boats, tiny boats, weathered and wind swept boats.

Some would have barely looked like boats and others might not have painted a boat at all.

And we would have learned to practice SEEING.

And truly creating. As well as expressing

Instead of simply replicating something that already exists.

But I think the question only really matters if we want to live in a world where everyone paints an identical boat…

…and those who can’t are seen as failures.

Or whether we want more possibility than that 🤷‍♀️ by @_born_wise

63

11

a month ago

Where are you belonging and where are you conforming…? Interesting question to ask yourself. And no you don’t have to belong EVERYWHERE!

Something the kids have been teaching me over the last decade or so… 🙏

If the community you’re in doesn’t allow you to disagree, say no, question or be different… you’re not really experiencing belonging.

All the children in this video initially said no to abstract painting. Not because they didn’t want to paint.

They didn’t want to paint with everyone else.

Not for any terrible reason. Just bigger personalities. Louder. More people. More energy.

They wanted more time and space.

So we saved some paint for this group of four, waited, and then… they absolutely WENT for it 💃

I LOVE their giggles in this video.

So much talk these days about community, belonging, connection and the village…blah blah blah.

But what I get to witness through children in a multi-age learning space is….We don’t find belonging in doing the same thing as everyone else.

That’s CONFORMITY.

If you have to dress the same, think the same and share the same opinion…it’s not a community but closer to another four letter word also beginning with c 🤣

This all might sound like a lofty idea to pull from a bunch of kids saying no to big group abstract painting???

But it’s the practice that matters.

Saying no. Or even just: Hey I love this idea, but I need to do it differently for it to work for me.

I’ve realised that’s an art form in itself.

And maybe if we get to practice it as kids, we don’t grow into adults desperately clinging to a fragile sense of belonging. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway… I’ve spent the week on an excursion with a group of pre-teens/teens shredding secrets as part of the @stormiemills exhibition at @artgallerywa, followed by three days of throwing paint at drop sheets in a yard with kids while listening to loud music, before finishing up the week diving into a new myth (The Wild Swans) and exploring DAYDREAMING at Fairy Friday…

Art. Music. Myth. Daydreaming.

All perfect places to let go of conformity and explore true belonging.

And I’m exhausted. But the good kind. 🤣 by @_born_wise

34

3

2 months ago

I shared this video with a friend just before and she said: OMG Gill. This is my worst nightmare.

😂

Kids. Paint. Not much structure. Music blaring. A giant canvas. Paint absolutely everywhere.

For me, though, this is when I feel most relaxed.

Different brains and different personalities and different nervous systems need different experiences.

And yet we love a space where everyone does the same thing, at the same time, in a one size fits all approach to life don’t we??

But I don’t think “one size” fits anyone tbh.

I’ve worked with HUNDREDS and hundreds of children over the past 25 years, and although I see similarities and patterns in people, no one brain is exactly like another.

In reality, this child in front of me will never exist exactly like this child in front of me ever again.

And that concept is something that both blows my mind AND motivates me…

The different ways of sensing, moving, connecting, creating and being in the world.

It motivates me to create spaces where these differences can work together or, if not together, at least alongside each other.

Like today…some kids were uninterested while some had a huge aversion to it all. Some just wanted to observe and some, like the one in this video, spent HOURS completely engrossed in it all….dancing, singing, chattering away to himself, swirling paint around and following his own ideas. Completely lit up.

And it’s not actually loud and chaotic like you might assume? It was peaceful. Playful. Relaxed. No one is “too” much.

Anyway….what’s your brain say?? Worst nightmare? Or soothing? by @_born_wise

39

18

2 months ago

Not been very present here for a while… just can’t seem to get my head in the game with a whole lotta life making the days FULL!

Not busy…I reject that word 🤣

No my days (and life!) just feel FULL and rich..🙏

AND it’s Leo season…

A season of lushness, love, creativity, courage and self expression. All that warm, generous, playful Lion energy that for whatever reason, I seem to be surrounded by…

Born Wise calls in the Leos….more specifically, a whole heap of powerful Lionesses prowling around, keeping our days fun, playful, creative and fiercely loyal.

So I couldn’t let Leo season pass without wishing some very special Born Wise Lionesses the happiest of birthdays….and telling them just how much I/we appreciate them.

And how perfect that our current project at Born Wise is all about self-expression and transformation (via creativity and imagination)!! The kids are creating in their self directed studio style learning environment and coming up with things that are genuinely blowing our minds right now

Very Leo.

But back to the birthday wishes…

🦁 Happy birthday @natalie_creative_studios_ !! Nat is our tea drinking, mural painting, funny, colourful Artist. Nat laughs a lot and has this wonderful ability to show up in our community each day and guide both the kids AND us adults towards our creative dreams.

🦁 Happy birthday @linzlovz_ Linda is def the best at hugs, listening, setting up beautiful spaces, loving a glue gun and making people feel special. Full of warmth, generosity and just the right amount of cheekiness.

🦁 And happy birthday season to our Bronnie! @wildoils Our Leo/Virgo cusp….bringing that beautiful combination of grounded, supportive, nurturing, warm hearted energy, alongside her gentle creative and design flair.

All three of these women have a way of making a space (and the people in it) feel warm, cared for and considered.

So much love for you all. ❤️

Happy birthday, beautiful Lionesses.

Enjoy your Leo season.

#BornWise #LeoSeason #CreativeChildhood #SelfExpression LearningThroughPlay by @_born_wise

63

9

2 months ago