BrewsterConnections(PDF) - Brewster Academy

Reflecting on
the Relevancy of
Early Philosophy
How is it possible that the writings of a 16 th century French
philosopher and essayist can grab your attention in such a way
as to cause you to reflect on education today from the frame of
reference of the 1500s? What could possibly have been written
about educating a child in 1580 that was so prescient as to be considered in a
seminar for heads of schools in 2012? What makes these writings as applicable
today as when they were written almost 500 years ago? The answer to these,
and other questions, were each taken into careful consideration at the recent
Heads of Schools Fellowship Program at the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College
Columbia University, in which I had the good fortune of participating (see page
14 for a Q&A on my experience).
So often is the case where, as heads of schools, we are called upon to act and
make decisions without much time for reflection. To be in a situation where
it’s all about reflection and thinking differently about contemporary issues in
independent school education was a readjustment process of some degree, and
refreshing. To have the luxury of time to consider different facets of education
that are confronted by heads of schools on a daily basis, and to do that with 19
other heads from around the world, was invaluable.
First, it was gratifying to be able to draw upon my personal experience to put
into context what was being read and to consider how these were related to our
individual settings. As Heads, when we were students the first time around, our
level of experience was limited by the stage of our careers that we were in at the
time. Approaching these same issues with a broader frame of reference allowed
for a much deeper level of consideration of the topics before us. Besides what
was taken away from the experience regarding the general topics with which we
were presented and perspectives that were offered, the importance of taking
time to reflect and consider issues was an equally important element that I have
come away with from participating. I was reminded of what retired Lieutenant
General Hal Moore said about the importance of taking time for reflection. While
heads of schools are not in the throes of battle (although at times it feels that
way) as Lt. Gen. Moore was, the principle of taking time out for reflection in
the heat of things is solid advice. Too often we only look at what it is we need
to do and do not spend enough time on why we are doing what we are doing,
and whether there might be a different process to bring into play other than
the way our experience is telling us how it should be accomplished. Spending a
full two weeks on contemporary independent school topics, along with larger
issues facing secondary education, was confirming with regard to how each of
our schools was addressing these topics, yet it also was mind expanding in that it
allowed us to talk about things without concern of being judged or evaluated to
consider new ways of thinking and approaches to our challenges.
But back to my original question about what can be learned from a 16 th century
philosopher and essayist that has relevance to the 21 st century. Certainly there
are any number of conclusions that can be taken from the writings of Michel
de Montaigne (certainly framed by our own experiences, as we are the product
of our experience), but one of the more salient points from his writings on the
education of children speaks to a viewpoint through the lens of the 16 th century
that is as commonly held today as it was then. “I know nothing about education
except this: that the greatest and the most important difficulty known to human
learning seems to lie in that area which treats how to bring up children and how
to educate them.” To underscore his point, he turns to the use of metaphor and
how raising and educating a child is just like farming. You can spend time plowing
and preparing the ground before planting seeds, but it’s in the cultivation and
nurturing of the young plant that can determine its outcome. The challenge
becomes supplying the proper amount of fertilizer and water to the plant to help
it thrive toward producing the desired end product. Yet, even with the proper
amount of nurturing, events along the way, like weather and amount of sunlight,
can alter the shape of the plant and what kind and how much fruit it will bear.
Because of this indeterminate outcome, he suggests that we should guide
children along the way to be their best and help them find their chosen path and
to not place too much emphasis on how they will turn out based on how they
act along the way; that flowers bloom at different times and rates and to rush a
blossom is to potentially spoil the flower. As a late bloomer myself, I can easily
identify with Montaigne’s admonition about not locking a child into a path based
2 BrewsterConnections – Spring 2012