“Education is not a preparation for life …”
The Art of Education, the idea and the research that defines the process of defining education that fits every child, came from my graduate studies in education. Other than the research that led to The Art of Education, I also worked towards teacher certification in my graduate studies. The coursework completed a long time ago, I dreaded taking the actual certification examinations. From the idea of taking a test to prove competence in a field that is all about immeasuable competencies, to the actual preparation and the taking of the test; I dreaded it all. I did not however realize the depth of my dread until I finished taking the tests 2 days ago. As I walked away from a 5-hour exam, I was bathed in the same sense of relief that overcame me after a spelling bee in 4th grade and after finishing entrance exams in grade 12. Preparing for and taking examinations has always put all of my life on hold — everything stops until I am done with the examination. It almost feels like I stop living when I am getting ready to take an exam. That is why I dread them – its like I am dead while preparing for them.
At a deeper level much of education feels like I felt while preparing for these tests. Even when I designed my own graduate coursework and loved all the research I did, I dreaded the actual academic pieces of the work – writing papers so they were academically right, annotated correctly, with a complete bibliography and more. All the juice I got out of conducting research and coming to life-changing conclusions were shrounded with academic protocols. Why was that so? Why does it feel like education stands in the way of living life, of being with life, as a preparation for life instead of being life itself; like Dewey said?
I think its because we try so hard to contain learning, to define it, to categorize and compartmentalize it, and then worse yet to measure is. Learning does not happen at defined times, in precise ways that are similar for everyone. Learning happens all the time, in all kinds of places, in ways that are unique to each individual. Yet, we work so hard to define a specific time of day when a concentrated amount of learning should happen. Then, we insist that some bodies of knowledge are more important and need to be learned over everything else because they will furnish a way of thinking and being 15-20 years down the line. Then, we teach all this critical content using the same method for each child. Yes, sometimes there is an effort to diversify but still, for the most part, one method is used in most classrooms. And, then we crown the experience with measurement. Measurement of — learning that is out of context, applicable at a time in the future, taught in a way that might not always work for a learner. We struggle, wrestle and contrive a contorted process, that we call education, to define the fundamentally creative and hard-to-define process of learning.
It feels like we are trying to catch and stuff ocean waves into a bottle. We cannot do it. I think we need to start riding the waves instead. I am ready to do that, wholeheartedly again, like I did when I taught at PSCS. Only this time, I will do it through The Art of Education, working with families and children to help them create an education that fits the particular child instead of the other way around.
"Education is not a preparation for life, it is life itself." – John Dewey