A lot of children, like I did, move away from words because of the fear - which is something you have to take out of education: the fear of worrying about what marks you'll get, detention, worrying about letting people down, your parents, teachers.
I'd love the chance to learn ballroom dances, but it's scary to be in the spotlight.
The theory of evolution explains to us what our ancestry has been. It does not explain away our worth. Why should we be afraid to learn more about what we are?
What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.
Maths is like learning a language: you need to learn the basics to get going, but a lot of adults go into blind panic about numbers and switch off.
Most people stop learning out of fear. They are afraid they cannot learn.
When you act like a teacher, it's usually because you're afraid to be the student.
