Looking online, you cannot avoid hitting philosophy when you start investigating such “lofty” subjects as existentialism, Plato, Socrates, Kant, Nietzsche, Emmerson, Sartre, Camus, you name it. Then I hit a name that I was not familiar with John Dewey.
Dewey lived from 1859 to 1952. Mr. Dewey was a professor of education and philosophy (or the other way around), but you get the messages. He was an atheist, very liberal, a believer that education was the solution to a lot of issues facing the world, and a very strong proponent of the women’s suffrage movement. Right up my alley.
What impressed me about Dewey was his educational philosophy. He suggested that “the purpose of education should not revolve around the acquisition of a pre-determined set of skills, but rather the realization of one's full potential and the ability to use those skills for the greater good.” This reminds me so much of my graduate studies in the late 1980s and my own teaching philosophy.
When I entered New Mexico State University for my Ph.D. study I befriended a very interesting set of characters; a few will always stay with me at least in my mind; although, I have regretfully lost contact with all of them. Foremost was Daniel Manuchia, or Manuch as I used to call him. Manuch was a fellow graduate student and he and I often discussed exactly this philosophy of Dewey with each other, while we both had never discussed him by name. I don’t think we even knew of him. We had a few fellow grad students who were all into grades and grade point average and in acquiring those “pre-determined skills,” but not really learning anything about life and living. I came to grad school after 6 years of working overseas and running ins with some savory characters. Daniel had much bigger plans in life as an entrepreneur and innovator. As a result, he and I were always making fun of the other students and wondering where these grade point junkies would end up in life. We had fun doing research that was not related to our studies or discussing various plans.
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| It was during my grad studies that I could finally start thinking about my hobby of growing bonsai. Manuch was managing a couple of greenhouses for the university and was growing seedlings for McDonalds (the burger place) to be distributed during Earth day (this was his idea that he marketed to the company ... my wife designed the marketing materials for him). Manuch had grown Siberian elms and this is one of the three that he had grown in 1988 and given to me as seedlings. This picture is from earlier this year (33 years old now) when it started flushing out. |
Another was Reinhard Laubenbacher, a mathematics professor at the university. He rode a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, lived very minimalistic, and prided himself on doing research that was worthless to the defense industry. We often would have him over for dinner and talk about life, philosophy and politics over wine until 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. Reinhard was another guy who was more interested in learning to live and enjoying life, rather than those “pre-determined” skills. He had a very interesting girlfriend Gene, who had somewhat of a similar outlook on life.
Alison Hill is the final person we were close to and also lost contact with. She already had a lot of life experience, maybe too much. We became close friends which lasted a long time, and I never really know what happened. All I know she too was more interested in living than her grade point average.
The other cast of characters were mostly political animals. Some were back biters, trying to get ahead, trying to make sure that their careers (in academia) were assured. Folks trying to do extra-curricular activities just to get noticed or get it on a resume. I am not sure if they ever learned to live.
During my career now 30 years later, I regret that we lost touch with Manuch, Reinhard and Allison. Subconsciously, I have followed Dewey’s advice and tried to learn to live. As an instructor I practice this as well. Dewey argues that the classroom teacher does not have to be a scholar in all subjects; but that she or he should exhibit a genuine love in the one subject the person is teaching. This should result in the feeling that students have that they are receiving genuine information and as a result they gain a better insight in all subjects taught. Dewey says it best when he writes: "teacher ought not to strive to be a high-class scholar in all the subjects he or she has to teach," rather, "a teacher ought to have an unusual love and aptitude in some one subject: history, mathematics, literature, science, a fine art, or whatever."
To end this essay, this was something Manuch and I frequently spoke about and something I found back in Dewey’ writing. Interesting how something like this brings me back 30 years ago. According to Dewey, this propensity and passion for intellectual growth in the education profession (my intellectual friends and I thought any profession) must be accompanied by a natural desire to communicate one's knowledge with others. "There are scholars who have [the knowledge] in a marked degree but who lack enthusiasm for imparting it. To the 'natural born' teacher learning is incomplete unless it is shared" he writes. As an educator I agree with Dewey when he concludes that it is not enough for the classroom teacher to be a lifelong learner of the techniques and subject-matter of education; she/he must aspire to share what she/he knows with others in her/his learning community. That is what I try to do every time I teach.
My wife sometimes jokes with me that I lecture too much or see everything as a teaching moment. Maybe that is my calling and maybe it will remain my calling until I die. Coming back to my previous post, maybe that is the best way I can contribute to changing the world.
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