A Hundred Languages – A Manifesto for Learning and Inclusion

NO WAY. THE HUNDRED IS THERE

The child

is made of one hundred.

The child has

a hundred languages

a hundred hands

a hundred thoughts

a hundred ways of thinking

of playing, of speaking.

A hundred always a hundred

ways of listening

of marveling of loving

a hundred joys

for singing and understanding

a hundred worlds

to discover

a hundred worlds

to invent

a hundred worlds

to dream.

The child has

a hundred languages

(and a hundred hundred hundred more)

but they steal ninety-nine.

The school and the culture

separate the head from the body.

They tell the child:

to think without hands

to do without head

to listen and not to speak

to understand without joy

to love and to marvel

only at Easter and Christmas.

They tell the child:

to discover the world already there

and of the hundred

they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child:

that work and play

reality and fantasy

science and imagination

sky and earth

reason and dream

are things

that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child

that the hundred is not there.

The child says:

No way. The hundred is there.

Loris Malaguzzi   (translated by Lella Gandini)

The poem above was written by Loris Malaguzzi (in Italian) and translated by Lella Gandini into English. The poem is written as a manifesto to allow children to continue be children and explore their curiosity and develop in their own ways.

But wait, isn’t this blog about Leadership? What does this poem have to do about Leadership, you may ask.

It has a lot to do with leadership. Think of it this way – replace children with your employees and the schools with your organisations. Unfortunately, the entire poem still holds true.

We have employees who have a hundred ideas, perspectives and gifts that they have. But they are stifled into complying to their bosses and the organisational culture. If they want to show their individuality, it is frowned upon, sometimes explicitly, on their face and sometimes implicitly and behind their backs.

So lets not just allow but encourage our employees (and ourselves) to be their true authentic selves and listen to their idea and perspectives, include them as whole individuals with all their idiosyncrasies and create space for them to express themselves, all the while, funnelling their uniqueness, ideas and perspectives to unleash creativity and innovation to achieve our collective goals as teams.

PS: Watch me read the poem here.