In a Universe Far, Far Away

Today I have the privilege of presenting from a friend's debrief from her own teaching experience--in the eastern part of Indonesia. It's amazing to see her pedagogy, and how closely it mirrors my own reading of Burke and Rousseau:

Oh ya, about my citizenship class… my class is learning about the constitution, the history and the importance of it, also how it applies in the real life of Indonesia. So I assigned my students to do a survey in the community about what people think of the constitution. They were surprised when they found out that more than 50% of the samples knew nothing about it and even didn’t care about it. And I challenged them “What can we do?” (our class’s motto this semester is think global, act local) So my students made a plan to go back to the society and make the principles of Indonesia country be known in the society. So I approved their program. After some preparations, finally last Tuesday we went into the society. The students were working in two groups. The first group easily met friendly people, and they did their mission smoothly. The other group got rejection from the people 2 times and it made them start to be discouraged. I was afraid that they would be really discouraged and not want to go out any more. So I prayed to God for this group. In our walk back to the school, a man called us and asked who we were. Then I introduced my group to him and asked if he and his family had time to meet my students. And they said yes! So the group 2 talked with the family and really had a wonderful discussion. I’m amazed by God. He didn’t only give my student a family for their project, but He’s chosen this family to bless my group. The family was a Christian. The mom shared Gospel to my students. She emphasized to my students that God is working in Indonesia, He loves Indonesia. I’m amazed how this little project can turn to be a great blessing both for the people in the school’s neighborhood and my team. At the end of our short trip, all of my students were happy and were excited to write a paper about their project.

Some observations:

• It's interesting and inspiring to see Inquiry Based Learning here, with students asking questions and discovering truths not just about the Indonesian constitution, but also about their own community. And it seems like students might easily reproduce both paths to discovery--for the Indonesian constitution and for their community.
• The active community engagement also fits with Burke's social context. It seems to me that a subtext of Burke's "lead people into the path of discovery" is for students, fairly rapidly, to become teachers in their own turn; and doing so by taking their learning and inquiries outside the classroom… is this not some of the original rationale for homework? Both taking learning outside the classroom, and getting input and shared experiences with someone other than the teacher?
• The teacher's social engagement and sense of deep commitment with group 2, also… just, wow. One of the things I felt so often was missing in my own education was a teacher's genuine concern not just for my intellect, but for my very self. How ably can a student follow in a teacher's path of discovery, if along that path either one--and especially the teacher--remains emotionally disengaged? How open is the path to discovery, really, if the focus remains merely on the content of the learning, and does not also include meaningful care for the student?
• The involvement of the Christian family in Group 2's project also sticks out, again speaking to Burke's communal subtext. How great it is for students to see that a whole community supports their education, rather than feeling like the path of learning is one that they must walk alone? 
• Proponents of secular education might bristle at the Christian references, but I think it's important to observe here Jesus' adage that a tree is judged by its fruit. The evident motivation in the students--their desire to reflect and write about their experiences--seems to me to indicate pretty well not just that the lesson was sound, but the teaching methods, as well.

Naturally, I am glad to see some of my own thoughts and values being lived out in a far corner of the world, but I think it's also a spur and a challenge, wherever I might teach in the future. Even as I see that it is not all on me to teach the students laid to my charge, it also is my responsibility as a teacher and a scholar to engage more than the interest of those students. Thanks for the call and the reminder to invest deeply in their lives so far as I can, and to involve the larger community.