Real learning is interactive

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

Once, the intellectual elite sat on the lawn at the feet of Socrates, listening and often questioning. Now students often sit in classrooms of brick surrounded by landscaped lawns in ever burgeoning college campuses meant to keep each generation of virile youth in virtual isolation for four years.

They have often been shielded from real life and the work that human beings were meant to engage in. Have college graduates actually gained what is necessary for them to succeed or do they succeed in spite of putting in four years locked up in four walls? Does college just put off adulthood or is it something that actually is necessary to attain a career that pays enough to repay college loans and provide for the good life?

I remember attending a college class where one professor actually read aloud each day from the textbook used in his course. He even required students to attend his class to get a passing grade. How frustrating was that? I would guess that there are millions of dollars that could be saved by eliminating college buildings where only lecture classes are held. Then we could provide more opportunities for students to be involved in the greater community and learn the real lessons of life in appropriate venues affording interaction. Teachers faced with having to administer standardized tests do their best to include real learning opportunities, but the demands in the classroom can be overwhelming.

Free public education doesn't begin until kindergarten and ends at high school graduation. There is emphasis at every stage on passing tests so you can move on to the next level. Our granddaughter has recently completed her preparation for teaching in the public schools. Already she wants to write a book about learning for life instead of just teaching students to pass the achievement and SAT tests. Getting high grades on tests, she says, doesn't guarantee that you have learned how to get along in the work place or to communicate with neighbors and friends. Believe me, I am still learning about all this.

Maybe it is time to provide opportunities for all age groups to intermingle, learn from each other, and listen for a change. Oprah Winfrey has committed to at least three more Challenge Day programs showcasing the deep listening and open communication being carried on in schools around the country. Instead of students walking lockstep through overcrowded halls and the "ins" shutting out the "outs," this program provides a chance for each student taking part to really listen to all other students who for once can let out what is in their deepest core and without censure. Students who have never shared their pain at being singled out for mockery can be themselves and know that they are appreciated. At the end of this "being real" session, even husky young men weep unashamedly and for the first time every student has been heard and appreciated.

Listening deeply to another person, face to face, might even replace emailing at will without thinking of the consequences. It might even add substance to the glitz and glamour of the holiday season.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 935-8663.