Child Centered Education

Children are the harbingers of the propositions advanced in Child Centered Education with a primordial-connection to the world, with an urge to belong, explore and experiment. Primed to learn, from their first moments, the ensuing adventures could be what will set your child on the road to discovery, happiness and personal well-being. Whether grappling with the mysteries of Language or Mathematics; transfixed at the awesomeness of life; singing to his heart’s content; or immersed in nature, every opportunity must be wholeheartedly embraced. Copper-fastened by a discipline, redolent of expectation, challenge and surprise, teaching, is as variegated, as the imagination is creative. Acquiring those fundamental skills of engagement, in the process, may be what will ultimately enable them to navigate their way between the cognitively demanding, the spiritually uplifting and the social, seamlessly and effortlessly.

Agnes McEvilly took the usual ‘certificate in education’ route to primary education, followed a few years later by a Bachelor of Education Degree. Ever eager to intersperse theory with practice, an MA in philosophy and education followed.

It was whilst pursuing the MA that she was introduced to the writings of Martin Heidegger, a twentieth-century German philosopher and educator; and Michael Oakeshott, a twentieth-century English educationist and philosopher. Both thinkers have had a profound influence on her conception of education.

Later, and after an induction into the mechanics of early years’ education, she devoted the rest of her career to this sector.