Coloring Outside the Lines

I don’t color a lot anymore, but when I do, I color inside the lines.  As a matter of fact, I take a bold color and outline the shape that is already drawn in black.  I have to ask myself, “When did this start?”  When did I become so dependent on boundaries?  As I begin to formulate my philosophy of Education, I find myself wanting to set firm boundaries.   I want to look at just the purpose of education in the middle school math room.  If I set that as my boundary, I might state, “The fundamental purpose or goal of math education is to provide the building blocks needed to form a firm foundation for the subject and prepare the student for the next level."

With this definition in mind, the fundamental role of teaching, then, is to be the one who effectively conveys the information.  Let me define “effectively conveys,” because, as you now know, I need a bold outline.  In order to effectively convey something, a teacher must have both the content knowledge and the methods to impart that knowledge to others in an inspiring way, such that the student receives it, retains it and utilizes it.

Oh, that’s so nice and neat. 

But wait, who is that?  John Dewey has come to join me in coloring this page.  He just took his first stroke and guess where it lands…that’s right, outside the lines!  In his article, “My Pedagogic Creed,” (School Journal vol. 54 (January 1897), pp. 77-80), Dewey discusses the “unconscious education” where “the individual gradually comes to share in the intellectual and moral resources” of humanity.  Dewey touches on formulating altruism, as the student begins to “conceive of himself from the standpoint of the welfare of the group.”   Dewey asks me to consider the social aspects of education, the connection to home life, the use of exams to “test the child’s fitness for social life.”  He asks me to put aside subject-matter and focus on social life.  I guess as an educator, I will be teaching more than middle school math! 

Hold on a sec!  Here come my colleagues from Education 2250.  Each one has a crayon and they are…you guessed it!  Coloring outside the lines!  They bring out ideas like the value of what is taught, the balance of the overall curriculum, developing reasoning and judgment, preparing students for survival,  value-based education, external pressures of funding and defined curricula, teacher/student relationships, and the revolving roles of teacher/student (who is really teaching whom?).

There is more to this picture of education than the shapes in bold.  I like what I’m seeing outside the lines!

What is Education?

“What is Education?”

      I sat in the Foundations of Education course (2250) and looked at the board.  At first, I thought the question easy.  My classmate, Mariasol, echoed my thoughts when she succinctly stated, “Education is the transfer of knowledge from one person to another.”  However, the more I heard the discussions of my classmates and the more I thought about it, I found the definition of education elusive.  For every thought, two more began to formulate in my mind, changing the facet of my view, as a diamond turned in light.

      The simple definition of education began to broaden in my mind as my classmate, Sun Ray, mentioned the concept of education for the purpose of the “greater good.”    My limited view immediately placed us in the American society, guided by laws and Judeo-Christian morals.  Yet, whose greater good do we need to consider in defining education?  Society’s?  The individual’s?  Then, Mr. Chenven added a new facet to the concept of the “greater good” by mentioning societies beyond the one in which we live.  Education for “the greater good” may vary from society to society and from individual to individual, just as the view of a diamond changes when looking at it from various angles and in varying degrees of light.  

     Does this mean I need to set parameters around my definition of education?  Perhaps one parameter is the setting in which the education occurs, such as a school, church or family.  Will the definition of education change based on the setting, just as the look of a diamond changes when set in silver or when set on a backdrop of black velvet ?   Already, I sense an area that I need to explore:  To set parameters in my definition of education or not. 

     Another thought for defining education came from a classmate whose name I cannot remember.  (I do, however, remember one of his truthful statements about himself, which was he has water molecules tattooed on his body, so I shall refer to him as “H₂O Man” until I find out his real name).  “H₂O Man” brought up the thought that an education must be valued by those being taught.  That brought several questions to my mind:  Must a student value what he or she is learning to qualify as an education?  Must he or she even want to receive the information?  And, on the opposite side, must the educator value what he or she teaches?  These questions turn the diamond that is education a bit more, so we can see more facets.

     If “Education” is simply the transfer of knowledge from one person to another,” then can I safely assume that the educator has the knowledge (in either content or skill) and has the means of effectively conveying that knowledge such that the student receives it and, perhaps, even retains it and utilizes it?  I may start here in formulating a definition of education.  As I continue to phlog (philosophically blog), I must move from the simple to the complex, from definition to philosophy. 

     As I ponder the meaning of education, I realize it will take far more than 8 weeks of phlogging and a completed philosophy of education paper to capture every aspect.   My current view of education is a diamond in the rough.  It may take a lifetime of cleaning, cutting, polishing and turning the diamond in the light to see what I can discover as I develop my philosophy of education.