Unfolding Childhoods Magic

Author: An Interview with Joseph Chilton Pearce
Issue: LILIPOH #38 - Fall 2004: HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE
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Joseph Chilton Pearce is a renowned educator and author. His third book, Magical Child, has been in print continuously since 1977. Altogether, he has written seven books, co-authored an eighth, and produced a number of articles. All but his second book are still in print. The most recent is The Biology of Transcendence.

The interview was conducted by Polly Giantonio. Polly was introduced to Chilton Pearce as a young mother when she read Magical Child. The book strongly influenced her decision to homeschool her two children, ages 13 and 16.

LILIPOH: What got you interested in child development and education?

JCP: In Magical Child I wrote about that—how my very young pre-school son learned to play the piano quickly and easily, sitting in my lap—to the point that by age five he was considered quite precocious and was studying with an excellent pianist. His mother, however, was concerned that he would become “one-sided” if he went on being completely absorbed in music and insisted that he attend school and learn to read and write. We put him in a small private school, and within a few months his freely-expressed musical facility began to falter. Little by little his coordination between the hands was not as good, nor his sight reading. Even his perfect pitch declined, and by age seven he had lost much of that original spontaneous capacity. To find out why this happened was one stimulus that led me to an in-depth study of children’s development.

LILIPOH: And you learned something about the current education system, as well, I would guess?

JCP: Yes. Although individual teachers are working wonders in spite of all the insanity, by and large the system is in shambles. Preparing children for the work force kills the spirit and doesn’t meet any matrix-model needs. Research clearly shows that the state in which a learning is presented is what is learned, primarily. Subject matter comes later, if at all. If a learning state is one of anxiety, what will be learned first and foremost is the anxiety. Below our awareness, our system will be reluctant to retrieve whatever other learning takes place.

LILIPOH: Could you explain matrix-model needs?

JCP: The notion of matrix is central. Our lifelong development is a series of matrices through which we move. The prime matrix is the mother, of course, and if the growing child is provided a corresponding matrix at each stage of development, you can’t keep that child’s brain from learning, growing, expanding. In the safe-space of a true matrix a child can use all its life energy for the subjects at hand, easily absorbing and learning that which is appropriate to his or her age.But if there is no assurance of safety, the child must use a good portion of its energy in defense mechanisms, which divides the mind, splits attention. So first and foremost, Waldorf education aims at providing children with a safe space where they know they belong and are welcomed, wanted, and safe—the ideal learning situation.

At each new stage of development, the child’s brain-mind is prepared for and ready to absorb the new potentials appropriate to that stage of growth, and if appropriate models for those potentials are given in a safe space, learning is automatic, spontaneous and natural.

LILIPOH: Could you say a bit more about the stages?

JCP: Life begins with three critical matrix periods: the nine months in the womb, the nine months in what is called the “in-arms period” following birth; and the ninth to eighteenth month we refer to as the “toddler period.” In these three periods nature establishes the foundation on which all future life is built. The quality, character, and nature of the first two matrices are determined by the mother, and the third by family and cultural influences. Together these matri