A while back, my friend, Alan Bender at IU, asked me to make a priority
list of
the most important roles of education. Before I could reply, I got hit with
that cerebral
hemorrhage, went on medical leave, and I admittedly forgot to answer him.
Then, a few
days ago I read a message from a student whom I'll call Gloria. Here is some
of what she
wrote:
At first when I came into the class I was not crazy about meeting the
White
students, shaking their hands, and introducing myself during those
"treasure
hunts" on the first days of class. I thought you were crazy. And I
sure did
not like your idea to divide the class into communities where we had to
be
strangers and that had to be gender and racially mixed, especially
because
there would not be another African-American person in my community with
me. To be honest I had never stepped outside the box and made any
attempt
to be friends with a caucasian even here at VSU. I went to school with
90%
African Americans this was so different and frightening. After working
nearly
half of a semester with three non-African-Americans, I have realized
how wrong
we all are. They're nice. We (Blacks and Whites) are not as different
as I
thought
we were and I now am beginning to understand Dr. King's dreams and I
realize
now that it is up to each of us Blacks and Whites to make his dream
that we judge
each other by our character rather than by our skin color come true. I
think
because of all that I feel myself feeling more confident about myself
and less
self-conscious. I'm more willing to give anything a try and
worrying less
about
screwing things up and what others think about me. I am surprising
myself more
and more each day, and that is all because of YOU! .... I've heard the
same thing
from
other African-Americans and even from some Whites. The "madness" of
your
methods are not crazy. They are as sane as can be. You are really
making a
difference dividing the class up like this. You know the saying: as
long as you
effect one person you have done your job....well you have had such a
positive
effect on me and all my views. I just want to say thank you for doing
your job...
Her message stirred my memory. So, with apologies to Alan for my
belatedness,
here is my reply to him. I don't like lists. I don't think a list tells the
story. It's
like asking me to list the order of importance of the liver, stomach,
intestines, brain,
lungs, adrenal gland, skin, and heart in my body. They each have a significant
role to
play without which the others can't function. Now, I have never played an
either/or or a
most important game in education. I'd be the last one to play down the
importance of
acquiring information or the development of thinking skills or the use of these
skills in
applying the information. I do believe, however, that there is much more to
the body of
education if it is to function in a healthy manner. After all, we are talking
about
people. So, the intellectual skills must be fused with people skills.
Academic well-being, if it is to lead to economic well-being and
personal
well-being, must be partnered, if not driven by with, as Daniel Goleman would
say, with
emotional and social intelligence as well. I think about that a lot when I
call myself a
"wholeness teacher" or a "character educator." I see myself not only as a
professor of
history, but as a life coach as well. I work hard to help them break down
barriers, build
bridges, and forge community in each classroom. I help students learn not only
history
and its importance, but I find ways to daily address such characteristics as
self-discipline, self-esteem, honesty, self-confidence, integrity, faith, love,
hope,
perseverance, commitment, endurance, empathy, resilience, fun-loving, humility,
compassion, respect, fairness, daring, courage. I am more convinced than ever
that the
quality of our lives and the level of our performance and the depth of our
learning and
extent of our caring are determined more by our attitudes than our bank of
information and
skills. If students can learn more than information and thinking skills, if
they can
acquire social and emotional skills, if they can learn people and communication
skills, if
they can learn to care about and believe in themselves and for one another, if
they can
appreciate their own and each others uniqueness, if they can respect the
importance of
each other; if they can accept different opinions and beliefs, if they acquire
the courage
to fail and the daring to make mistakes, if they leave our campuses with
bachelors of
experiences rather than with bachelors of grades, if they graduate as
innovators rather
than merely as test takers, if they start on the road to becoming true
life-long self
learners and visionaries, todays classroom just may lead to a better society
tomorrow.
If we can find ways to weave all this into the fabric of each of our classes we
will make
a difference and help each student help her/himself become the person she or he
is capable
of becoming.
My answer to Alan, then, is that education is all about helping the
mind create
and the heart both guide and control.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier
http://therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/
Department of
History http://www.newforums.com/Auth_L_Schmier.asp
Valdosta State University www. halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
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