DEFINING VALUE-BASED EDUCATION

By Dr. Deirdre Mullan RSM Thornhill College Culmore Road, Derry Northern Ireland
( II European Meeting on Values Education - "Ms all de las palabras / Beyond Words". Derry, Northern Ireland. February 2001)

For a number of years I have been thinking about the art of education. In 1990, I attended a conference for women religious in Ireland and each participant was asked to say in a sentence something about their ministry. Without hesitation, I replied "I touch the future. I teach". (1) When I ponder what is happening in some colleges and schools today, I am both frightened and frustrated by the fact that too many students see college as a proving ground rather than a training ground. Many teachers and students spend their time trying to convince others that they are knowledgeable rather than concentrating on knowing. Admitting ignorance is hard. Yet if the truth were known, we all know very, very little. Having a degree should not give people power. Real power is being able to make the choice between good or evil, life and death, between empowerment and nurturing of people or putting people down. Education is too often viewed as the exit route to a better lifestyle rather than the beginning of a journey, which will take a lifetime. Today values have become words mired in controversy, embraced and reviled that we scarcely know how to use them, without turning them into slogans. Mahatma Gandhi cited the major structural and collective sins of our time: 1. Politic without principles. 2. Wealth without work. 3. Pleasure without conscience. 4. Knowledge without character. 5. Commerce without morality. 6. Worship without sacrifice. 7. Science and technology without humanity. Success to day is all too often, defined by the power of the wealth that one holds. All the symbols, ranging from who occupies the best office, to the size of the paycheque, the Rolex watch, exist side by side with mind dulling drugs, divorce, abortions, suicides, etc., etc.

Value based education has expanded from the medieval foundation of education, to include a greater range of human talent and a much more inclusive number of human beings, holding on to the dream that perhaps someday everybody might be liberated by and education that stands in the service of human freedom. Yet, when we try to figure out what valued based education might look like, we still make lists. While we can no longer expect that the classics are enough to make a person learned, and while there has to be some academic input to fulfil course requirements (credits in the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, foreign languages, maths and English) we may be tempted to forget the ultimate purpose of liberal education, that is the formation of qualities to help students become decent human beings. What qualities do we associate with an educated person? William Cronon, the author of Uncommon Ground (2) has suggested 10 qualities. They listen and they hear: Educated people know how to pay attention to others and to the world around them. They hear the emotion in the voice of the other, they can follow an argument, track logical reasoning. The quality of an educated person is that they can hear with respect. This idea of hearing reminded me of the words of the Woman Poet, Gertrud Kollmar when she said, "You hear me speak. But do you hear me feel?" (3). Gertrude Kollmar did not survive the Holocaust, but some of her poems did and her question reminds each of us of the effort we must make to hear both words and feelings. They read: Skilled readers know how to read more than mere words. They recognise and understand great works of art, music and athletic achievement. They read for the sheer joy of reading and they read to understand our world. They can talk with anyone: Educated people can talk to anyone -a high school dropout or a college president. Moreover when they talk they participate in conversation, ask thoughtful questions, and listen to the others point of view. They can write: Educated people know the craft of putting words together. They can express what is in their hearts and minds so as to teach, persuade or move the person who reads their words to think and reflect about life and their part in it. Educated people are puzzle solvers: The ability to solve problems, to be comfortable with computers, to look at a complicated reality and break it into pieces, figure out how it works and then put it back together again, is the mark of the educated. This involves a cosmic consciousness because part of the challenge of the modern world is to respect the integrity of the world by replacing what we as human beings have destroyed. Rigor and truth seeking: A truly educated person loves to learn. They understand that knowledge serves values and that these need to be in constant dialogue with each other. True rigor is noble, good but it is also dangerous if it is not placed at the service of a larger vision that also renders it humane. We must never forget that the gas chambers of Europe were invented by the educated. Teach students to Respect education and to Beware of education.

Educated people are tolerant and humble: A truly educated person has the ability to step outside their own intellectual range and emotional prejudices and open themselves to other perspectives. The liberally educated person opposes parochialism and celebrates the wider world. Without encountering people who are different we will never appreciate all that we have in common. Encourage students to travel, to embrace new cultures while honouring their own, to respect diversity. They strive to make the world a better place: Learning to get things done in the world in order to leave it in a better shape is one of the practical implications of education. As the great Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the accomplished concert organist, theologian, missionary and medical doctor said "You may have a great education, you may have the name of a great college behind you, you have great careers ahead of you, but if you do not block out at least a small part of your life to give to others, you will never be truly happy." (4) Teach students the examine at the end of each day: How has the world become a better place today, because of me? They educated person nurtures and empowers: No one ever acts alone. The achievement of power, the exercise of talent, the celebration of diversity is the recognition that the triumph of one is in fact the triumph of all. The liberally educated person understands that we belong to a community and that the well being and success of the other is crucial to my own. What is education? It is about Connection: The liberally educated person is able to make sense of the world by making connections. If we want to measure how institutions are doing we need to look at how we encourage people to connect. Liberal education is about nurturing the human spirit, exploring human freedom and realising that education is never really complete. In he act of exercising our freedom, we do so in such a way as to make a difference in our world. Education without goodness that is without ethics is arrogant and dangerous. Unethical behaviour thrives in darkness, and can only exist when ethical leaders remain bystanders in the face of evil. If we who are in the business of educating the young want to measure and assess our efforts we need to look at how our institutions nurture human freedom in the service of humanity. What do we mean when we talk about liberal arts education? I believe that some education comes from books while other comes from experience. The best comes when the two work together. Too often, facts are simply facts until they are made meaningful. Add emotion, a memory, and respect for difference, some enthusiasm and an experience has been created. In my book, thats education!

(1) Astronaut-teacher McAuley. (2) William Cronon: Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature and Natures Metropolis. Chicago 1992. (3) Quoted in Carol Rittner and John K. Roth, eds. Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust. New York. Paragon House, 1993, vi. (4) Paul H. Hahn (Xavier University) Commencement address Mt. Aloysius College. May 6 2000.