Why Educate?

I just returned from a trip to Boulder, the place where I first really began to become me. There's something about that Rocky Mountain air that breathes life into my soul, and imbued with a little Rocky Mountain high I'm going to write.

In my eighteen years as a student and one year as a teacher, I don't think I ever heard someone say why education is truly important. Of course, there are grades, jobs, "opportunities," etc. But so what? Honestly, who cares? I certainly don't think these are the reasons why education exists. If you think back to what the traditional models of education, people explored that world through various subjects and studied multiple areas slowly and methodically. They understood the world (or at least attempted to) through the words of famous writers, the paint strokes of influential artists, the mathimatical equations of the world's brightest, and the spectrum of sounds created by musicians. Education was long, daunting and meaningful. There were long one-on-one conversations, massive libraries, trips and travel; in essence, education was a way of life for one's youth. It was the molding of boy into a man. But education is no longer taken seriously like this. It has become one of the boxes to check off on our itemized checklist of life. The other day I told a woman I was an English teacher and her immediate response way, "Ugh, I hate reading. Oh English was awful." It struck me as a tragedy that this woman, now in her forties or fifties, was never shown how remarkably interesting it can be to explore the world through the eyes, the heart and the soul of a wise writer. 

All of our subjects, whether they be chemistry, French, computer apps, history, maths or English are essentially the same. The connections between the most divergent subjects are infinite, and the subject we teach is merely our individual vechicle that we have chosen to travel down the highway of life and glance out the window. We all look at a mountain and see the same thing but something totally different simultaneously. The chemistry teacher thinks about the fascinating composition of the rock, the French teacher is reminded of the Alps, the computer apps teacher may think about how a picture of the mountain could be scanned onto a computer and then manipulated (I actually have know idea about this field so I'm just taking a guess here), the history teacher may think how that mountain could have served the surrounding people during the Great Depression, the maths teacher may see fascinating geometric shapes, and the English teacher may wonder about how Hemmingway would have written about that mountain. In essence, all the ways we choose to explore that mountain are a reflection of our internal selves. Once a student is able to look at the world from multiple perspectives, he or she is able to look at the one thing that really matters using multiple perspectives--him or herself.

I believe a meaningful education teaches the student how to explore the world first and then how to explore his or her own internal landscape. The deeper a student looks at the world, the deeper he or she will look into him or herself. The deeper one is able to look inwards, his or her gifts to the world blossom more fully and beautifully. I think teaching is really the business of developing souls, heart and conciousness. But why is no one talking about this? Have we really lost sight of the purpose of education so much that we've actually forgotten why education even exists? I'm beginning to think that we have. I'm not convinced we know why we send our students to school and why we show up to school everyday. 

Declan Kiberd, the most amazing teacher I have ever met, once told me that the most obvious questions are usually the ones that are overlooked and never answered, and as I think more and more about my new job, I believe he is absolutely right. Why educate? I think once that question is answered collectively (within a school, a district, a state, heck, a nation), there will be a huge, massively exciting rehibilitation of the educational system in this country. I love to see people begin to talk about developing their students' souls and teaching them how to passionately connect with the world. Classes would become so much more three dimensional, departments would collaborate rather than compete for materials...well now I'm beginning to describe a teaching utopia and that seems like dangerous territory. But who knows? The possibilities could be endless, and that's one bandwagon I'd like to ride. Heck, I'd love to drive it.