After reading chapter 5 on educational traditions, I certainly see a little of each of them seeping into my philosophy. Certainly, they are not mutually exclusive, oppositional forces, but instead a reflection of values, priorities, and approaches that should be able to interact with fluidity in all of our classrooms. Overall, though, I think I'm mostly a progressive spiritualist and as I see it, the two go indelibly hand in hand.
On page 55, the authors quote Vivian Gussin Paley as saying "The key is curiosity, and it is curiosity, not answers, that we model. As we seek to learn more about a child, we demonstrate the acts of observation, listening, questioning, and wondering." They go on to quote Eleanor Duckworth to say "Certainly the material world is too diverse and too complex for a child to become familiar with all of it in the course of an elementary school career. The best one can do is to make such knowledge, such familiarity, seem interesting and accessible to the child." Taken together, these two quotes summarize my intellectual perspective on my role as a teacher rather succinctly. In this information intense, conceptual age, if we view our job as simply filling vessels, we are surely doomed to failure. But if we understand ourselves as stewards of wonder, curiosity, self-confidence, and the unquenchable thirst for knowledge, we must speak directly to the human hearts of each individual student. And it is here that, for me, the spiritual comes into play.
On page 71 the authors ask "What makes an educational experience sacred - what gives it spiritual dimensions?" What an amazing question! And one which I will be pondering for a long time to come. I think, ultimately though, a sacred learning experience has to contain personal meaning and transformation. The question is, how do we facilitate transformation? How do we know that it's occurring? To bring my thinking around full circle, I think it begins by placing the student and their humanity at the center of the process; by regarding them as a credible and valuable source of knowledge of and for themselves and the whole learning community.
Oh Karen!!!
ReplyDeleteIf possible, PLEASE consider middle school should you find that educational opportunity. There is something in your words that resonates so deeply with me and my own teaching philosophy and those kids so often get lost in the cracks because so few can blend the best of both elementary and High School.... Something tells me you could.
We are not "filling vessels" :) If we truly reflect on the meaning of that statement I believe most of us would be appalled at its implications. After all, what are we filling them with and how do we know if its what they need? :) They come to us full operational humans. With a thousand different individuated needs, hopes dreams and ideas about what is, ALL of which needs honoring and recognizing. If that isn't a sacred realization, what is? :)
I, like Amy, was really struck by your comment about filling vessels. We have to get to know our students in order to better understand what their needs are. It's a little intimidating to think that these are all very different needs, but I think we as art educators have the greatest chance of individualizing our responses to guide students because the world of art is so varied. "If we understand ourselves as stewards of wonder, curiosity, self-confidence, and the unquenchable thirst for knowledge, we must speak directly to the human hearts of each individual student." What beautiful thinking, Karen!!
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