From today's Times and News-Star
An administrator in the state’s
education hierarchy said recently that the main objective of the system is to
train students for the workforce.
The same day that opinion was
offered, I read a note from a teacher that referenced a William Butler Yeats
quote: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
So…which one is it?
Obviously, we need know-how.
We can’t “think” a roof up over a barn. And you can’t light a fire with wet
wood. Inspiration is no good without some tools.
But the smartest or handiest
student will go only so far without confidence and a dream. A fire. People were
becoming newspaper editors and bank tellers and school teachers before there
were colleges, so there has to be more to education than filling the pail.
Right?
When stuck on educational
questions, I consult my friend Other (say it “O-thur” – it’s an unusual name,
unless you’re rural.) Other has been in the technical school arena for about a
quarter of a century. He’s got to fill the pail for sure. But I asked him if he
saw that as his main purpose.
“I do train potential graphic
artists for the actual workforce,” Other said. “Even hook them up with
employers. It's great to make the right match and see both prosper.
“Sometimes it's a
grind-it-out, show-up-every-day, understand-layout-and-design principles,
learn-to-use-the-software kind of education. But my main focus has always been
to inspire or motivate or at least provoke. Whatever it takes to challenge
someone to maximize what they've got and desire to get more. To value time, to
listen and observe, to seek criticism and consider it, to read, to be honest
and dependable, to do unto others.
“I tell them that they could
learn graphics at home from a book or online. But the more important stuff
requires them to be in class. Beware if you are placed in my path. I assume
it's no accident and I have an obligation to make a mark on you. You get
everything I've got. Not just my personal graphic skill set and experience. Barely
that.
“You mainly get what I was
given. The words and inspiration gleaned from the best I've known. The
instructions, the warnings, the writings, the memories from my mentors. Miss a
class and you might miss...
“Miss Windham's inspiration
from the sixth grade at Queensborough; or Mr. Nichols’ Lakeshore math memories;
or Coach Ziegler's inspiration from Northwood; or things learned from Mrs. Barr
or Miss Leary or Coach Farrar or others; or priceless stuff from parents and
grandparents; or well-said things from books and columns and sermons; even
nuggets from Andy Griffith and company; or experiences from a life lived with
the benefit of all that.
“I've turned out some
printers, some graphic artists and more than a few who ended up doing something
else. I hope that most of them can reflect on my input and realize some
benefit.”
Other is a teacher I wish I’d
had. But, as it happens, it’s all over for him in the classroom, at least as
things are now, come May 15. State budget cuts and whatnot inspired his
superiors to ax him. All those years and he gets a “Seeya!”
“Pretty humbling,” Other told
me, “or worse. So now I’ll have to start backing up my big talk. And start
living like God is in control and not me or them.
“I'll try,” Other said, “to
apply what I've learned in class.”
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