The adult in process is the best companion for the child.

On the path of education, both the child and the adult must understand the learning process not as a mere act of accumulation and transmission of knowledge, but as a continuous invitation and genesis of itself to discover and recognize the potentiality of being. This stance distances itself from the traditional notion that assumes that previously acquired knowledge is the only enabler of being and doing; that is, that one can only act based on what is already known. Rather, it is the awareness that one can always learn what is necessary, at any time, that truly empowers.

When a child immerses themselves in their educational process, the fundamental aspect is not the information they receive, but the perception of their ability to learn what they want, when they want, and when they need it. The recognition of this potential is what grants them true freedom and ability to navigate their own growth. This awakening not only facilitates the learning of new concepts but also roots in the child the conviction that they can explore and conquer any terrain they choose in their life. And this moment of realization must be, without a doubt, one of the main objectives of the children’s educational process. This understanding is above teaching specific skills like reading or adding.

In contrast, the traditional educational approach tends to impose a “fixed mindset,” replicating content and activities mechanically, year after year, without allowing significant variations that encourage discovery. This rigorous scheme, where repetition becomes the central axis of the process, standardizes both educators and children, nullifying the possibility of new ways of understanding learning to emerge. Children are implicitly taught that they must first know in order to do, which not only limits their development but also perpetuates a static view of knowledge.

On the other hand, in the conventional school system, the teacher usually presents themselves as a figure whose personal development and path remain hermetically closed to the students, limiting themselves to transmitting the knowledge they already possess. For the student, approaching the teacher’s living challenges, their intrigues, or their own growth process seems like a utopian thought. Moreover, if we consider the role of mirror neurons, which facilitate the imitation of attitudes, it becomes evident that in a conventional academic context, where the teacher repeats the same topics year after year, a fixed mindset is imitated. The result is an environment where the teacher experiences the same year 20 times, without room for discovery and innovation. However, when a teacher adopts a growth mindset and genuinely shares their process with their students, something transformative happens: students not only absorb knowledge but also imitate attitudes of openness, curiosity, and continuous evolution. A teacher with their own growth mindset inspires students to see learning as a dynamic and living process, where both teacher and student mutually nurture each other.

Let the consciousness of potentiality (of what is possible) and not prior knowledge be the greatest enabler of learning.

In contrast to this model, a different understanding of the adult’s role in education emerges. The adult who accompanies the child should not be seen as a finished being, as an immutable source of knowledge offering predetermined answers. On the contrary, the adult who truly accompanies is one who recognizes themselves as a being in process, a being who, like the child, continues learning, questioning, and growing, and who openly shares their own process with the child. It is this adult, who is in a constant process of discovery, who can guide the child more effectively, showing them by their own example that learning is an endless path, full of possibilities.

This adult in process not only acts from their knowledge but from the awareness of their ability to learn and adapt. Being in a state of continuous growth, the adult offers the child the possibility of witnessing shared learning, a space where both grow and develop simultaneously. This dynamic is essential to create a relationship of trust, respect, and mutual collaboration, where the child understands that they do not need to have all the answers from the beginning, but can build them along the way, together with their companion.

The fallacy of the correct answer as a path to learning. This myth limits the learning process by establishing a single path to knowledge, when in reality any answer, even seemingly incorrect ones, can be valid for generating more questions and deepening understanding. The human being is an inexhaustible machine of questions, and any answer serves as a starting point to formulate new inquiries. Instead of obsessively pursuing absolute truth, we must cultivate infinite curiosity. If a child asks why flowers are red and receives the answer that a leprechaun paints them at night with tempera, this answer is not only valid but perfect. It will motivate the child to try to see the leprechaun, which will lead to new questions and experiments that will eventually lead them to discover more complex truths about biology. It is through this ever-evolving process of questions and answers that humanity has generated knowledge throughout history.

Furthermore, this vision of the adult in process is not limited solely to the realm of intellectual learning. It also encompasses emotional and spiritual development, where the adult recognizes (and shares) their own challenges and vulnerabilities, and, in doing so, invites the child to accept and embrace their own development process. In this way, learning is not confined to the academic but extends to all dimensions of being.

Education, then, becomes a space of co-creation, where the adult and the child explore together the infinite human capacity to learn, adapt, and grow. In this space, what matters is not the accumulated knowledge, but the awareness that knowledge is an always available tool, a tool that can be activated when needed. This is the true freedom that education must offer: the ability to see beyond the known and to believe in the possibility of what has not yet been discovered.

This is why it is perfectly possible for an ignorant person to teach knowledge to another ignorant person.

It is not the previously acquired knowledge, but the awareness of the ability to learn that allows the child and the adult, as beings in process, to face the world with an open, flexible, and curious attitude, ready to transform and be transformed by each new experience.

It is this type of mentality that, as a society, we need today.