School started. It's been amazing. Just like I expected.
At the beginning of the year I was a little overwhelmed, mainly because I had gotten out of the habit of keeping up on assignments and remembering what is due when. Also, I started doing classes in a new school, so I had to try to get used to using the new website. But I'm getting used to stuff again, and my classes have been so great.
There are two classes in particular that have made me think, and realize just how complacent I often am in my own thinking. An example of this is when my teacher asked us to define what family is, in the context of family being a necessary pillar of freedom as a society. I went into class expecting to have to think a little harder today, but when I asked myself this question, I really didn't know.
Of course my first response was a family is a man and a woman with children. Pretty basic stuff, right?
But then I started thinking more. What about those families where a parent is abusive? What about the impossibility of having two parents? What about a couple unable to have children?
There are many more considerations that we thought about, and I don't feel like sharing my conclusion with you. Because that's not the point of this post, and you should probably make your own conclusion on this.
The real point of this post is that education comes through us thinking and using our own minds to try to make sense of what we learn. It isn't what teachers give us. It's what we make of it.
Going back to the family question, if I had just listened to the teacher and the other classmates I wouldn't have gotten very much out of it. I would have been like, "Okay, I guess this is what a family is." Participating in this allowed me to realize that this is a complex situation that requires us to try and understand the viewpoints of others and of our own selves. It allowed me to view my own thought process more clearly. It allowed me to gain further capacity for critical analysis of different things in the future.
As part of a midterm message about working on assignments and such, my teacher Mr. Szczesny sent this to all of his students:
"The content you learn is one thing, but the study habits you learn are another and more potent thing."
In considering your question in class, here is a thought. From my perspective, family consists of people ( or peoples) who have learned to love each other more than themselves. So from Christ perspective thats everybody...it's a lot to consider. Put that with our lesson on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteSister Robison, I love that definition a lot. It kind of reminds me of Lilo and Stitch, "'Ohana' means family, family means nobody gets left behind."
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