A couple of years ago I sat in front of the State College School Board to voice an opinion on the high school renovation project. In a statement I made the argument that a school’s greatness is not measured in buildings and facilities, but rather in the quality of the people teaching there.
Before I made my remarks I carefully thought about what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. My mind began to recall some of the valuable lessons learned from great teachers.
I realized the lessons that had the most value did not involve dates of important events (1066, 1215, 1776), or memorization of lines from literature (‘But soft what light through yonder window breaks’), or even mathematical equations (the Pythagorean theorem).
While all those things are important, I believe that things learned like empathy, critical thinking, and historical perspective have greater significance in an inter-connected world.
I go back to my 10th grade World Cultures Class led by Doc Wilkerson. ‘Doc’ was an innovative teacher unafraid to take risks. He brought in an Israeli man who lived through the formation of the Nation of Israel and presented that history through his eyes. The next day a Palestinian woman recounted that era through her family’s story.
The stark contrast left us wondering how two people could possibly have been describing the same historical era. I certainly left the classroom feeling as though I could see each person’s side of the story and the passion they felt for their cause. We stood in the shoes of those on either side of an issue.
In the year 1984 the Iron Curtain loomed across the heart of Europe and the threat of mutual assured destruction still reigned. Doc Wilkerson brought us Cold War literature put out by the United States government detailing the size of both the United States’ and the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenals. The next day we saw literature produced by the Soviet Union. The numbers of the two sides didn’t match up.
‘Who is right and who is wrong?’ he asked us, ‘and more importantly, how do you know?’
We learned critical thinking. We could not simply accept the information without considering the source of the information.
The idea of historical perspective came in at about the same time. In ninth grade we read Huck Finn. A year later a controversy emerged in the State College School District. Some parents and teachers felt the repeated use of an offensive racial slur in Twain’s classic was cause to remove it from the curriculum.
Although we’d read the book the previous year, my 10th grade English teacher Carol Gentry talked to us about the book. She helped us understand Twain was using the language of the time and to look beyond the words. We focused on Twain’s portrayal of Jim in a more human way than others portrayed blacks at the time.
We had to place Twain as well as the character of Jim into the context of that time in history.
That lesson came back to me. Before a Penn State football practice, Michael Robinson and I were discussing Abraham Lincoln. Michael commented that Lincoln was more of a racist than what he had been led to believe in his high school lessons.
I found myself suggesting he judge Lincoln not by today’s standards but to compare him to the people of his age. He would find Lincoln’s views to be way ahead of the curve of his contemporaries.
I felt as though I had passed along one of the lessons I’d learned.
This past week I finished the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. I saw in words written during a long and difficult struggle the concepts of empathy, critical thinking and historical perspective.
His ability to put himself in the shoes of South African President F.W. de Klerk, his counterpart in the struggle to end apartheid, proved valuable. He understood the history of the white ruling National Party, he critically analyzed their position and was able to utilize that information.
His ability to use those tools to turn an adversary into a partner for peace helped transform a divided nation in a manner that was far more peaceful than anyone had a right to expect. At one point in the book he went so far to suggest that his movement could not undercut de Klerk and have him appear weakened. He knew he needed a strong de Klerk to enable them to work together.
In this nation, in these times we may be losing the concepts of empathy, critical thinking and historical perspective. Many on each side retreat to the comfort of their own media whether it be Fox News or MSNBC to hear opinions that reinforce what they already believe. The 24/7 news cycle forces decision makers to react to the news of the day rather than focus on the long term.
In times like these we may be well advised to heed the lessons learned by Nelson Mandela or even some of the lessons learned from excellent teachers right in one’s own school.
