Lovers, Dreamers,
and You
“I have refused to
live
locked in the orderly
house of
reasons and proofs.
The world I live in
and believe in
is wider than
that. I’ll just
tell you this:
Only if there are
angels in your head will you
ever, possibly,
see one”
Mary Oliver (“The
World I Live In”)
I just
saw on Facebook a letter written by a school principal asking parents to go
easy on their children during exams and not to punish them if they didn’t do
well on some subjects. He gave a list of career choices that would not require proficiency
in Chemistry and Physics. He said, “there are children who will
be artists, who do not need algebra.” And I said, thank God! Where was he when
I was struggling through high school. Of course, the answer to that is he was
not yet born—but you catch my drift.
The
question becomes: why make all children take higher mathematics knowing they
will fail? You might also ask, why do children who struggle with writing have
to take English classes. The answer to that is that no matter what they choose
to do in life, they must be able to read, to comprehend the language, and to be
able to express themselves in a coherent manner. Schools took a left turn with the
emphasis on testing. The true experience children need is to love learning
itself. It's hard to love much of anything when you fail at a subject that’s
incomprehensible to you and that failure is compounded by punishment. I hope
parents will consider this as their children approach final exams.
Some of
us are dreamers and dancers and musicians. In this wide world, who would choose
to do without the people who give us the pleasures of art and music? Mary
Oliver skipped school to sit in the woods and read all day. Albert Einstein was
thought to be mentally deficient. Steve Jobs dropped out of college to take calligraphy
courses when they had no practical application to his life. Theoretical physics
demands that one be able to imagine a world beyond the one they see. Intrapreneurs
must be able to keep their fingers on the pulse of their culture and know ahead
of time what the next big thing will be. There should be no one-size-fits-all
approach to teaching and learning.
The
orderly house of reasons and proofs is necessary for scientists and researchers.
The orderly house of color, shape and texture is necessary for artists. The space
to daydream and to ponder is necessary for writers, inventors, and anyone else who
wants to create something new. This world is a very big place and there is room
for everyone. It’s Kermit’s rainbow connection featuring the lovers, the
dreamers, and you.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment