Education, not just a classroom thing

As a member of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), I value education. When people ask why I’m not working toward teaching in a classroom, I usually answer, “I love education, but the classroom isn’t where I’m called to.” A main reason for that is I see education everywhere, and we often neglect other places of learning. There are some things that the classroom cannot capture on its own.

Discussions about “school” dominate our conversations. It is part of our daily lives, and not just in North America. On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Pakistani student Malala Yousafzai recently spoke about her love  of education and its suppression in Pakistan. Unjust education practices roused a will to fight in the young Malala, but it was a fight that used dialogue, not weapons.

She is a product of real education — a young person who has learned how to stand up for herself and her community in peaceful, effective ways. But Malala, who was barred from a full education because of prejudice against girls, didn't learn this in school. Her life experiences, though harsh and unjust, taught her lessons that might not necessarily have been learned in the classroom.

This is not to say that the classroom isn’t valuable. In fact, it is probably the most effective way to gain audience (and more importantly, dialogue) with youth and their peers.

I agree with British professor and education consultant Ken Robinson on most of these issues. He boldly states that schools kill creativity, and believes in changing the education paradigm to better fit the needs of our students and teachers.

Salt and Light Catholic Media released a new series called The Church Alive, with the second episode focusing on Catholic Education. Hosts Cheridan Sanders and Sebastian Gomes engage in lively conversations with people ranging from cardinals to volunteers to strangers on the street, asking what they think about Catholic education and how it is distinct from public education.

Among my favourite quotes, Gomes points out that theology informs all disciplines, not just religion. “It’s all about synthesis,” he says. “How can I take all these little things that I’ve learned and put them together in a coherent way?”

I believe school should be a place where students can be recognized as individuals with value within a community of needs, a place to learn how to put others before themselves, a place to reach high and fall short in a supportive, loving environment. Many of the most neglected teaching tools like art, religion and outdoor activities are the first to be discarded as unimportant, yet are the most valuable tactics we have for exploring other subjects. This vision places value on experiencing, not just knowing, and anticipating the tangible alongside the intangible. This is a holistic approach to education instead of a compartmentalized one.

Education is an encounter with the real. It is a chance for young people to creatively explore, actively question and critically discuss in a safe environment with peers and adult mentors. Yet I believe that more than ever we are moving further away from genuine conversations, experiences and values. Our education shouldn’t be a shield against our environment, it should be a clear lens into it, but with a message of hope.

If we exclude faith or religion from this conversation, we not only miss a rich component of school, we miss a real context for our education.