I do not know where our personal experience ends, and our education begins - but I know that the two are interconnected and nonexclusive. I have learned so much in my life in classroom settings, and on educational campuses. But my personal connections and beliefs were shaped almost solely by my experiences in life. I am the person that I am, as a result of experience. Theories, books, and knowledge have mostly served to help me understand the experience that I am living into.
As a professional educator, it is always my hope that my students' understanding of history, humanities, and social science will help each of them better understand their experience in this world. I know that for me, my experiences in Italy, California, England, New York, etc. have shaped my perspective more than any single academic class.
So, I have been lucky. I have lived an amazing life, and have been surrounded by people who are always looking out for me. And thus, I have enjoyed opportunities to travel to magical places, and to meet incredible people. And it has shaped me. As a teacher, I am trying to return the favor to my students. I am trying to provide them with opportunities to be in amazing places, with amazing people. I need to give back.
So I have a planned trip to Chicago with 40 of my students (and four other teachers) in the Spring. My biggest hope is that this trip can provide the same positive experience for my students, as it has for me. It is not so much the museums, or architecture tours that they will enjoy - as it is the opportunity to soak up the sights, sounds, and spirit of a new city. I believe it was Proust who said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Chicago will be our new landscape, but it is a means to an end. The end is to return home with new eyes.
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