I took an intro to Education class my sophomore year at U of M that was instrumental in confirming my desire to teach and igniting the beginnings of a passion for learning about the education process. The process, I used to think, was limited to formal schooling and a few meaningful experiences out of the classroom that helped one become the person they are. I also thought it was somewhat static, and that therefore the point of "school" was to race to the end and then get the reward of a job. How baby-boomer of me.
Dewey, as I first read him four years ago in that intro class, was too brilliant for me. Too out there. I didn't really understand how what he was saying was different from my existing schema of the education process except for that he talked a lot more about personal relationships, which I didn't see relating. With the benefit of hindsight after completing a year of service as a volunteer tutor and mentor in the Detroit Public Schools, I now understand just how much "education" I was encountering in school that I wouldn't have considered so at the time. I was learning to socialize and have productive academic and professional relationships, I was strengthening my understanding of people and how they interact. Dewey was both radical and normal at the same time to a younger me.
Reading his creed for the second time and considering how much my perspectives have changed in just a few short years, I am drawn to the concept that we never stop learning. I think Dewey made that abundantly clear, but never as poetically as in the line "I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living." Therein lies the inspiration for this blog's URL. Education never stops, but society has dedicated twelve years at the beginning of our lives to formally partake in a politicized education process. Now, six years removed from that system, I am still trying to articulate my own creed. So far, Dewey's distinction is the only thing I am completely sure I would steal verbatim. Education is not a race, nor is it temporary. Everything after those twelve years is really just harder to observe unless you adopt a mindset like Dewey's.
As a history teacher, I am also struck by his profession, "I believe that the school must represent present life." The present life did not come from nothing. Soon, we will all be living what are now just "future lives" which will have in turn come from the present. Thus, as we learn for the present we should also learn from the past. We can represent the present in terms of the things we have already witnessed and with a mindset focused on preparing for the future. Again, it is all part of the process. I hope this blog helps contribute to my own process of living as a teaching intern these next eleven months. I'm sure I will fail plenty, and learn a lot, and I will try to reflect about it here as I strive to become a great teacher. After all, any great thing I do is really just a series of small things (Van Gogh, in case you're wondering).
Jimmy, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts. Dewey is so remarkable. He speaks to so many people in so many different ways. I enjoyed your discussion on your journey to finding your way. Education certainly is a process of living. More colloquially stated, every day is a school day. So many people believe school ends after high school or even college. I’d argue the learning really begins after the formal education. We often learn through failure, and I know I’ve struggled to find my place. I wonder if my formal education fully prepared me for such failure. Ultimately, we can only learn by doing. In response to your blog title, I’d say that life is simply “a series of small things.”
ReplyDeleteJimmy, I think you are really on to something with the fact that teachers are never done learning and need to continue to do so in order to truly facilitate learning with their students. Unlike other professions, one cannot truly, I believe, become and ultimate master because there is so much content and its always changing. This is where the tools and platforms that teachers use become extremely important for fostering learning in students.
ReplyDeleteI think it so awesome that you are becoming a history teacher. It so important like you said for not only the present but also predicting the future. Failure to do results in one not really having a future.
It is so interesting to get your perspective on Dewey's creed, especially as you had read it before in a previous class. As we rush through reading after reading this summer, and most likely for this rest of the year, I wonder how our perspectives will change. What will we think of Dewey once we have spent some time out in the real world? You do have more real-world school experiences, having spent a year in Detroit Public Schools, than I do, but can you imagine what changes in your current perspectives may occur after spending time in your own classroom and fighting an educational system that is not supportive of these ideas?
ReplyDeleteYour post is insightful and was very interesting to read. As a science person that doesn't have much perspective about history, it is so cool to see how you think about education as well as our past and future.