In response to John's first post. Stringfellow Barr's essay(?) on dialogue has some very valid ideas in terms of starting a discussion about education here at EMHS. Before I launch off on a tangent, I should probably provide some background information. I don't do well with lots of text. (That's why I chose Science as opposed to Language Arts!) That said, I had a very difficult time digesting the entire meaning of Barr's writing. I may not have "gotten it," as we often say.
One question that John posed was, "What is education?" I can come up with a rote definition off the top of my head, but it does no justice in describing the process that we educators are "trained" (or have learned) to execute. It brings up a million other questions: How do we know if a student is adequately educated? Is education really any different than learning? Are any of US sufficiently educated?
Before I continue with my thoughts, though, I'll say this: I'm VERY glad that you all agreed to participate in an online forum. I hope that this can open up some channels of communication that need opening--and if "hiding" behind our computer screens facilitates this, then I'm all for it.
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It seems that there is frequently the emphasis on immediately understanding something that is presented to us - another product of our current methods of schooling. I share the feeling of not fully grasping the essay.
I think that this is what I gain from the dialogue: the grasping of the text. Through thoughtful discussion, I have become enriched by the ideas and perspectives of others. As a result, I have grown in empathy and awareness.
What is education? I read, and I wish I could remember the source, that dictionaries give us the usage of words, not their meaning. This has stuck with me. The only place I have found precise definitions is in mathematics, and we know how many feel about that subject.
My initial response to the questions is that education is the life long process of being human. It sounds strange. I mean, we are all born human, right? Well, we are born homo sapiens - the third chimpanzee (Dawkins?) - but not necessarliy human. I think education is the process of bringing forth and actualizing all that is "divine" in ourselves and coming to accept and overcome the facets of ourselves that lead to such a feeling of disjointedness with life.
Or maybe it is Sesame Street...
I wanted to thank folks for Friday's discussion. Thanks for inviting me John. And thanks to the rest of you for making me welcome. I'm interested in pursuing the culinary metaphor. I'm also wondering if we've adequately defined some of our key terms. When I heard people using the terms 'learning' and 'education,' I wondered if they really meant what I would call 'schooling'. Anyway...cheers! Bryan
It's impossible to pinpoint the answer to "what is education?" Everyone has a different answer-just visit the different classrooms at EMHS.
Since there is no comprehensive definition-that's why it becomes important to have a continuous dialogue on the subject. Only through constant discourse can we begin to understand each other. Lack of communication on this specific topic is what leads to assumptions about teaching methods, criticisms, judging, etc.
Trey, I agree that the definition cannot be "pinpointed". I am of the Socratic state of mind that it is a good idea to explore the Form of education. The discussion about education reminds me of Pirsig's discussion about quality in ZatAoMM. While an exact defintion of quality is extermely difficult, we generally know it when we see it.
In terms of education. I am not sure it is so much about a universal defintion as a shared meaning. How is the word at EMHS being understood and, based on that, how are we going about it? This has little to do with what a Moriarity or Great Falls high school are doing. As an alternative school, I think the concept is that we have a shared meaning of education when we sign on the dotted line. That shared meaning is articulated in our charter (or will be) and can adapt to times and people without losing the orginal intent (the idea of education as transmission of culture).
I am not sure how well I said this.
Bryan, I am glad you came. I am struggling with the metaphor(?), personally. I am still not sure what people are meaning when they have this buffet idea.
Any help?
Here is a website I found on education and metaphor:
http://www.teachersmind.com/metaphors1.htm
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