Education happened here

Even a week later, the joy of it all hasn't worn off. I love to teach first years because they are poised for maximum growth, and it is such fun to help them along on the road of lifetime learning. But first years themselves are not the only reason to volunteer to teach First Year Seminar again and again (it's a labor-intensive course, especially if from time to time, as I have done this year, you decide to explore a new topic. I guess continuing to learn myself is part of the labor of love). The other major reason I love to teach FYS is the student teaching apprentices. I ask them to join me, two each year, not only for what they can give to the students--and give they do--I have only had one disappointment in my twelve years--but for what I hope I can give to them as well. I have kept in touch with several of them over the years as they have become part of our lives.

One portion of that gift is an opportunity to learn how to make constructive comments on drafts of papers. Another is to take charge of one class period a semester. Both of my TAs this year quickly acknowledged what difficult but exhilarating work that is. A. led the class in an exercise from his own disciplines (history and political science) that he designed to prepare them to read an ideologue who had been put in prison exactly because of his ideology, a person who, if we can understand him, will help us all understand our contemporary world better: Sayyid Qutb and his Milestones. J. was in charge this week, again giving the students a tool to help them understand any kind of text, written or visual or oral, by applying the rhetorical criteria of ethos, pathos and logos to Martin Luther King, Jr's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." In between I tried to give them yet another tool for doing critical analysis, that of understanding the difference between pre-modern, modern and post-modern views of truth. Both the fellows led lively, engaged classes, but it is A's I want to tell you about.

There, enough introduction. Because we are trying to get at the idea of freedom inductively, through the various texts of people who have had freedom physically taken away from them, A realized that the definition of ideology he had learned in a poli sci theory class provides a way to get at notions of freedom. In fact, he said that ideology is a belief system based on ideas about freedom and human nature (with four criteria...not necessary to reiterate here). We applied his visual model first to the aftermath of Katrina (who are the actors, what is the obstacle, what is the goal, how do you get there?) and then four of our previous authors. Most of the students were fully engaged (though the three of us still struggle with how to engage the rest), but one fy, G., stood out. Normally he is quick to articulate the critical points. What he couldn't understand that day was since our views about human nature/freedom are based on personal perceptions of them, how could they then become a part of the (objective) system. He fretted about it aloud as he tried to fit this new knowledge into his own worldview. Finally, he said he wouldn't make the whole class listen as he thought out loud about this. Instead, he went back to his dorm room and wrote a two page letter to A and me sorting out his confusions/understandings on paper and emailed it to us for our responses.

Do you see why I am still floating on air? The magical thing we call education happened in class and out of class. Important ideas, thoughtful and wonderful people--does it get better than this? I had been ready to follow up on A's presentation with a shortened version of a talk IVP editor Jim Sire used to give called "Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?" But there wasn't time....There's never enough time to do everything that needs to be done! I did follow with my own Truth Circles explanation the next class period. It worked perfectly here not only for G's sake but for the sake of understanding why Qutb is so angry with western modernism. However, I did pull the "Why Should...At All?" book and Sire's other, better known one on worldviews, "The Universe Next Door" from our shelves and bring them in for G. As though he has time for extra reading, but he said he would get to them because he has made huge strides on the road of lifetime learning. A (and J) and I are on that road too. With good companions.