I was reminded today of the importance of the education process and the possibility it has to uniquely shape individual lives.
To close a course on conflict and culture my professor asked the class, as a closing ritual (ritual being one of the key topics we covered during the term), to bring one half page designed in such a way through words, drawings, pictures, or symbols on a theme the class developed earlier in the week: Breaking Barriers Through Change. How you wanted to represent the topic was up to student.
Today, the class spent an hour, our chairs arranged in a circle, presenting our designs and explaining what they meant. It was evident that for many of us the class had struck a certain chord and had changed our perceptions of the world around us. It was a borderline emotional experience and an incredible testament to the professor's ability to facilitate a class to the point where it takes on a life of its own. The half pages were taken from us at the end of class and will be returned tomorrow, compiled as booklets for everybody to take home.
It was not typical way to close a university course.
"I'm not going to talk very much," the professor said. "It's more important at this point that you do."
Those who are accustomed to the usual class setting where the dissemination of knowledge from one mouth to many notebooks is the norm may feel uncomfortable with something like that and might call it unprofessional.
I call it unconventional, but innovative.
I have less notes from this class than from any other I've ever taken but yet I feel like I have learned much more. There are concepts here that I will take with me for the rest of my life. It is hard to argue that there is far more merit in genuinely gained knowledge than in a three-inch binder full of hastily scribbled notes.
Also, this is a class where I know everybody's name and at least a little bit about them. This occurred through class discussion and in-class group work assignments. There a few other classes I have where I can say I've been able to meet everybody in the room. Here I have 25 acquaintances I didn't have before.
The point here is that we need to rethink how we educate ourselves. Too much time is spent talking about grades, papers, and exams, and excuses for why you got a B instead an A. Not enough time is spent actually learning from each other, teaching each other, and genuinely grasping concepts and ideas that you did not have a handle on before.
Earlier in the semester the class talked about "The moment when the penny drops", that "Aha!" moment where you find get it. These are moments of revelation and excitement. They can be daunting as you quickly realize what you believed for so long needs to be changed and that you are entering new mental, emotional, and academic territory.
In short, today ended up being a general discussion of those moments and by the end of the hour there may as well have been a pile of pennies in the middle of the room.
University needs these moments of sharing, community, and reflection. University needs these classes that educate you in such a way that you can take what you studied in class and apply it to the world outside. University needs these kinds of professors who can breathe life in a classroom and elicit knowledge, not simply divulge it, allowing their students to genuinely understand.
University should be about breaking barriers.
I believe the barriers we need to be breaking are of our own construction and the changes we should be experiencing must come from within ourselves. If, by the end of the semester, there isn't a pile of pennies on the floor, you may have to ask yourself, What are we really doing here in the first place?
