Education as Soul Formatioin

Occasionally, in the mindless drift through a Facebook feed, something worthwhile catches my eye. One such video featured a principal's message to parents. Exams were just around the corner, and he warned them to keep a careful eye on their anxious & stressed students. However, the principal's advice did not end there. He told parents that in every classroom, there is a future artist who does not need to know about geography or algebra. There is a future engineer who does not need to know Shakespeare & Spanish. Essentially, in this principal's view, the way education is measured does not correspond to it's usefulness in the life of each individual student.

I do not know this principal, nor do I know the details & context in which he writes. Yet his sentiment, namely the failure of education to meet the needs of individual students, arises among the High School students I know and public school teachers I respect. Common Core, SAT's, standardized GPA's and performance standards instigate sighs & screams depending on the student or teacher . The project of such standardization, it seems, concerns measurable ways to evaluate how efficiently a student is learning and how skillfully a teacher is teaching. So, amidst the waves of standardization, voices like the principal on Facebook speak up. The project of a standard education, both for the principal and for the advocate of Common Core, concerns the usefulness of education.

I see two dangers arising from the principal and the Common Core legislator. I will start with the former. Our friend, the principal, correctly sees the strengths of his individual students. Surely, there are future artists, doctors, musicians, engineers, and teachers whose future role will not require them to exercise the excellence of every field they have ever studied. ScienceTechnologyEngineeringMath programs are one way students find opportunities to exercise their natural proclivities. Yet, one ought not undercut the importance of a full, well-rounded education. It is here that our friend the Common Core legislator finds his stride. Students, in order to thrive in their future role & occupation, will draw from all fields of study essential to human life. It would not be fair to the STEM student to simply neglect literature, geography, and foreign languages. Yet, every move towards standardization tends towards big-picture goals rather than the practical realities of the present, the realities teachers and students find themselves in today.

In both of our friends, the Facebook principal and the Common Core legislator, the project of education concerns the flourishing of the student. On this we ought to agree. Should we tend towards standardization to make sure we cover the bases? Should we implement specialized education tailored to each student's gifts and aspirations? Both of these are good questions. However, it seems to me (who I readily admit, am neither a teacher nor an education legislator) that, perhaps, a better question concerns the project of education itself. Let me put it this way: is education soul formation?

Now, at the use of the word "soul", you might fear that I am importing a strictly religious/spiritual category to the realm of public education. As a Christian, I indeed do not separate my narrative from it's practical implications for the world. But, you and I may agree that "soul" here can mean the complex, inner life and thought process of each human being seated in consciousness and cognitive biology. Even so, I still argue that education might best be thought as soul formation.

For example, if the project of the student is to learn literature, not to learn literature for literature's sake but to prove an evaluated proficiency on an exam, then literature is a means to an end. Literature becomes a check-list towards either a career in literature or an unrelated field which required a literature credit in High School. Literature for literature's sake is lost. However, should the project be to become formed in the discipline of literature, then the student learns literature to become a lover of literature. Or, at least, an appreciator of literature.

Ultimately, my argument to shift the education conversation towards soul formation is by no means a reprimand to either the Facebook principal or the Common Core legislator. Not a reprimand, but a reminder. I intend to remind myself, and those in a position to teach and form the education system, that the soul matters. Not just in a religious context, but in every context (If one can dichotomize in that way, but perhaps more on that later.) Because then the question is one of becoming, the secret ingredient to future flourishing. How do we walk with students to become fully human? By nourishing and educating every part of the soul that strengthens their vocation. STEM students ought to write well. Future artists ought to immerse themselves in another language or the rigors of the scientific method or propositional logic. For then, in every future doctor, there is an author, artist, and musician too.

-HGM