Of Education, Learning, School and the School of Life
After spending (much too much) time with the written words of such ilk as Plato, William James, C.S. Lewis, Focault, Derrida and others, I decided to attend a one and one-half week seminar at an ‘alternative ed’ school — I went camping with the Indians.
They have been running their school for many generations. In a manner that parallels, but is not identical to the education-system-today-in-the-West they are thankful for those who maintained their school system over the generations. They name and respectf those who refused to give up and shut down their schools, who persevered despite: Being ‘defeated’ and removed to Reservations (why was Adolf Hitler fascinated by the Reservations?); The Mankato 38 (thanks to Abraham Lincoln, who ‘freed’ the slaves); and, near-total annhiliation of their culture, language and people (for some, The Apocalypse has come-and-gone).
They have their own Socrates, their own Horace Mann, their own John Dewey and their own Sir Ken and they recognize someone/thing preceded those individuals.
After being with them a while, they made a few cryptic remarks and left me alone for an individualized educational experience. The Curriculum was:
Dark Matter