Mindful Monday: Do we need to go back to school?

Today's topic is based on the article from The Huffington Post:  Schooling Ourselves: The Opening of the American Mind  Please take a moment to read it, if you haven't already.

The gist of this article is that American education needs to change, and I don't think many would disagree.  However, it's this quote that pinpoints the author's stance:  "Education as an acquisition of knowledge without the expansion of consciousness is no education at all. It is a dead end, unless the acquired knowledge is brought into working reality with human and world conditions, environment, social and other responsibilities that will tell the tale of our future as humanity."

I left the classroom to teach mindfulness to students because of this idea.  I feel that the primary thing I see we are failing at right now is our nearly exclusionary focus on academic subjects at the expense of social-emotional education.  We are raising a generation of children who are "book smart" but not "street smart." They can ace the ACT, but aren't aware of (or don't care about) what is going on in the world around them. They will attempt to climb the corporate ladder, but will wonder why their relationships fizzle, will be unaware of what is happening beyond their corporate walls, and will probably succumb to a stress-related illness or two. And, they might not be successful at climbing that corporate ladder, either, because they may be unsuccessful at working with people. They will not be responsible citizens and will not make educated choices when voting for leaders or on issues because they will be unaware of the social issues of the day. They will be at what the author refers to as "a dead end."

It used to be thought that American students were trailing behind those from other countries because we needed to turn up our focus on math and science.  Then, the focus was on reading.  But, here we are . . . still trailing behind. I have tried to live my life by one word: balance.  Too much of anything isn't good.  I think this pertains to how we learn and work, too.  We all need balance in our life, and students need to learn how to balance their own lives in order to be successful in whatever they do.  As educators, we need to provide that for them.  Provide the academic instruction AND the opportunities for expansion of consciousness.  Those were the things that were thrown out to make room for testing and test prep. Those were those "teachable moments" that teachers used to look for and expand upon, that we no longer have time for. Those were the things that made teaching and learning so exciting and rewarding.  Remember???