Belief.
I believe in miracles. I believe the children are our future. I believe in peace. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind. I believe in the power of music to heal and communicate. I believe in recycling. We are all worms, but I believe that I am a glow-worm. I believe in finding your “happy place”. I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world. I believe in love. I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. I believe in eternal life. I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do. I believe we are meant to learn from history and the people from it. And, despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.
I believe in many things. Most of us do. Some of our beliefs are developed on our own, through knowledge, experience, or even random meandering thoughts. Other beliefs are learned and adopted (when they align with our worldview) from the great minds that have lived and thought before us, like Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, C.S. Lewis, Eleanor Roosevelt, Anne Frank, and so many others. These people have put beliefs into word more eloquent than ours and found their place in the world to extend their influence far beyond themselves.
What does this have to do with education? I believe in education. I also believe that there is little value placed on the beliefs of students. Very rarely do we ask them to tap into the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, engage their critical thinking skills which they cannot define, and analyze themselves deeply enough to evaluate their beliefs in 1,000 Times New Roman words. We are more likely test student to exhausting limits to find what they know for the 13 years they spend as a part of the system. Please don’t mistake me; I do understand the importance of testing. It’s the teaching to the testing that becomes problematic. There is so much planning and preparation for testing that many teachers feel as though their hand and the hands of their clock are bound to making sure every last little Johnny and little Suzie knows what they must know to perform on this test. Where is the time to sit in a circle, sing Kumbaya, and talk about our feelings while someone asks, “Will this be on the test?” To the best of my knowledge, the Educational Testing Service has not developed a test to measure beliefs.
Then we load the students into little boxes, using standardized test scores as packing peanuts, and poking little holes into the sides of the box to let in the parts of the world that we have deemed to be necessary to support life. We ship these neatly packaged 18 year-olds and their well-deserved high school diplomas to colleges across the country, and my, what an awakening they receive. Who could have known that higher education would be equated with higher thinking? Imagine their surprise when it is not enough to simply write two pages to answer the “what” question (what they know), but must write at least three more pages to answer the “how” or “why” questions. Even still, they might make it all the way though six semesters in their Associates program, seven semesters in their Bachelors and into their first semester of their Masters before a professor asks for a 1,000 word argument about their beliefs.
I can count on one hand the times that I was given an assignment along the lines of the very one I complete at this very moment before college. The closest one was in 10th grade during the 2000 Presidential Election. In an effort to make conscientious and responsible citizens out of us, we were told to watch the debates, read the paper, and write an informed decision of who would get our vote and why. It was not enough to cite what the candidates believed, but why that mattered in accordance to what we believed. It was the first time that I felt as though my opinion mattered – I was validated. I had to think about my beliefs in the planet, and where those beliefs came from.
Is it important to encourage students to look at themselves and evaluate their beliefs? Yes! I particularly think of middle school students, beginning to develop their identity. They are sometimes eager to tell you they do and don’t believe in as they begin to assert themselves. We should challenge them to tell us why they believe in saving the puppies but not in school lunch. In the study of history or literature, students can select a figure they think fits in their worldview, analyze the writings of Mrs. Roosevelt or the sermons of Dr. King, and tell us how these beliefs assimilate to their own. Or better yet, someone that they do not agree with, and argue their beliefs against Churchill or Lewis.
It goes beyond college preparation. In asking students to tell us what they think, or feel, or believe, we have the opportunity to validate them as a person, as a mind, as a soul. We show we care, so when they arrive on the university doorstep, they are not ingrained in the “who cares” mentality, and are able to articulate their beliefs. Our beliefs often change, as we change and adapt. By encouraging students to consider and analyze their beliefs, not only are they learning, they are learning themselves, and can mark the progression of their beliefs like they would measure their height on a growth chart, inching their way towards adulthood. Or at least be able to laugh at how a 15-year-old who believed in hugging trees grew up to a twenty something who believes in promoting recycling on a college campus – it’s a great way to get rid of those things we know general core tests when we need more room for the papers about things we believe.
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