Not Just Another Brick
As I write, I am surrounded by a sea of chairs and desks. Welcome to collège Saint-Michel au Gosselies.
My two propositions are simply that, first, education is personal, and second, that we are missing a primary purpose of schooling.
As I walk down the long drive just after 8am, the bell rings for the first time. Oh, that bell to which students are such slaves. Gathering outside the classroom, we talk among ourselves until the professor arrives to unlock the class. Fifty minutes passes. Abruptly, at the over-energetic tintinnabulation of the bell, the room erupts as chairs do their daily commute, books are unceremoniously stuffed away, and students fly out the door. The next professor hoses us with words, sometimes directing our notes, yet he wants us to succeed. The next professors will not allow questions during his discourse, yet he is passionate about his subject. The next makes our hands ache with her long dictations, yet she will willingly re-explain something until we understand.
Each professor varies. Each students likes or dislikes different aspects of their styles. Often, after the bell rings, the professor stops mid-sentence, and the door vomits teenagers, I remain, sadly collecting my notes and pens, wishing I were at home, engaged with a few people, figuring out the material. Thus the hours melt into days, which become weeks, which runs into exam season. We cram and we forget, like building a huge dam that will explode after a few weeks, releasing everything as we rush out the door to the illusion of freedom that comes with vacation.
I propose that mass education is broken. Each student is different. It is our responsibility as students to learn, but why are we placed on an assembly line? We do not learn how to learn. Henry Ford had a wonderful idea: the assembly line. It works for cars. However, a uniform structure, where objects are passed from worker to worker is a system for cars or plastics or bricks. We are students. Treat us as people.
Second, school is training us to survive life; we want to live life. We made a catastrophic mistake when we decided that the value of a skill is based on its profitability in our job. During the education process, students are sorted into boxes labeled MATH or SOCIAL SCIENCE or even that box of alleged misfits, LITURATURE. We have created a fool-proof survival plan.
If we want to thrive instead of survive, we must change our view of education. Education is the privilege of a civilized people. I will never need to know Latin. Worthless? No. Latin is a tool to access the ancient politics, history, and ideas of the most influential civilization to exist. Our government is modeled after the Roman Forum and we attribute our culture from their ideas. They have given us an example of thriving. Yet they fell, also giving us a warning. We want to keep on thriving and enjoying life. Like x-ray vision, the Latin language allows us to see the cracks that led to the fall of peace and the reign of survival.
Pink Floyd The Wall is a movie by the band from 1982. In the film, we see a thousand faceless students, on an assembly line, being prepared to make money and survive--survivre--in this world. In french survivre is a combination of two words: vivre, which means "to live" and sur, which means "under". Each student is a different masterpiece and has unique learning needs.
Teachers: let your students take control of their education and do not evaluate them by their test scores. Motivate them to work well, but give them freedom.
Parents: realize that you are your kids greatest teachers. Don't believe me? A teacher needs a relationship with the student. That is where to start.
Students: we are some of the most privileged and important people on the planet. Our job is to prepare ourselves to guide the future world. How are you using your time? Who are your mentors?
Let's not survive. Let's live. Thrive.
My two propositions are simply that, first, education is personal, and second, that we are missing a primary purpose of schooling.
As I walk down the long drive just after 8am, the bell rings for the first time. Oh, that bell to which students are such slaves. Gathering outside the classroom, we talk among ourselves until the professor arrives to unlock the class. Fifty minutes passes. Abruptly, at the over-energetic tintinnabulation of the bell, the room erupts as chairs do their daily commute, books are unceremoniously stuffed away, and students fly out the door. The next professor hoses us with words, sometimes directing our notes, yet he wants us to succeed. The next professors will not allow questions during his discourse, yet he is passionate about his subject. The next makes our hands ache with her long dictations, yet she will willingly re-explain something until we understand.
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| Waiting for the Bell |
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| Assembly Lines |
I propose that mass education is broken. Each student is different. It is our responsibility as students to learn, but why are we placed on an assembly line? We do not learn how to learn. Henry Ford had a wonderful idea: the assembly line. It works for cars. However, a uniform structure, where objects are passed from worker to worker is a system for cars or plastics or bricks. We are students. Treat us as people.
Second, school is training us to survive life; we want to live life. We made a catastrophic mistake when we decided that the value of a skill is based on its profitability in our job. During the education process, students are sorted into boxes labeled MATH or SOCIAL SCIENCE or even that box of alleged misfits, LITURATURE. We have created a fool-proof survival plan.
If we want to thrive instead of survive, we must change our view of education. Education is the privilege of a civilized people. I will never need to know Latin. Worthless? No. Latin is a tool to access the ancient politics, history, and ideas of the most influential civilization to exist. Our government is modeled after the Roman Forum and we attribute our culture from their ideas. They have given us an example of thriving. Yet they fell, also giving us a warning. We want to keep on thriving and enjoying life. Like x-ray vision, the Latin language allows us to see the cracks that led to the fall of peace and the reign of survival.
Pink Floyd The Wall is a movie by the band from 1982. In the film, we see a thousand faceless students, on an assembly line, being prepared to make money and survive--survivre--in this world. In french survivre is a combination of two words: vivre, which means "to live" and sur, which means "under". Each student is a different masterpiece and has unique learning needs.
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| Studies His World |
Parents: realize that you are your kids greatest teachers. Don't believe me? A teacher needs a relationship with the student. That is where to start.
Students: we are some of the most privileged and important people on the planet. Our job is to prepare ourselves to guide the future world. How are you using your time? Who are your mentors?
Let's not survive. Let's live. Thrive.
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