Advice and Query on Education

Elsewhere on The Good Raised Up, I've mentioned the Advices and Queries from Iowa Yearly Meeting Conservative (IYMC).  Recently, Bear Creek Meeting--which holds my membership--asked its members and attenders to consider the Advice and Query on education.

For a number of years, Bear Creek Meeting has had a practice of including its distant members in the corporate practice of responding to queries by using email. Distant members reply to the query in writing and then the meeting reads those responses at the time it considers the query face-to-face.  What's unusual is that in general, IYMC resists the temptation to conduct business via electronic communication.  I'm not sure of the history, but it seems as though these Friends considered what would be lost by excluding a long-time member who had moved out of state had they not experimented with the use of email when that technology became common.  And now that I'm a member of Bear Creek, living 5 hours from the meeting, I participate in their query process by email as well. 

Below is the original advice and query on education; and then my submitted response to that query.

ADVICE

"Friends seek an education which integrates our intellectual, emotional and spiritual dimensions and enables us to face difficult moral issues with courage.  Friends promote learning throughout life and encourage freedom of thought and inquiry in all educational pursuits. Our complex and changing world demands that we learn to think and act creatively to meet its challenges.

"We learn from our direct experience of situations that surprise us and on which we later reflect; often from interacting with people from backgrounds that are quite different from our own; and from turning to nontraditional literature, media, and other sources of information. The Light shows us parts of humanity that we normally cannot see or seldom consider.

"Friends should be mindful that we rely a great deal on implicit education. Our children and others learn from the examples of how we live our lives, and hearing what we say during meeting for worship and meeting for business.  It would be helpful to newcomers if we were more explicit about our faith and practice with them. 

"While the religious education of our children is primarily the concern of parents, everyone benefits when the entire meeting is concerned with nurturing them. If a spirit of common concern is present, children will gain a sense of belonging to the larger community, and, knowing they are loved and respected, will be able to face the mysteries of life with trust. We encourage the participation of children in the life and work of the meeting."

QUERY

• How can we most effectively foster a spirit of inquiry and a loving and understanding attitude toward life? 

• In what ways can we encourage an educational process that is consistent with the values Friends cherish? How do gender, race and class based expectations affect the goals we set and the way we learn? 

• In learning about diverse communities, do we look for material that they themselves have written, filmed, or otherwise created and distributed? Do we stretch ourselves to break away from white-centered resources that may unknowingly, or intentionally, reinforce racial or middle-class bias?

• What are people of color, especially women of color, saying about the way forward? Do we give them as much weight as we do older Friends, white Friends, or long-time Friends?

• Do we take an active and supportive interest in schools, libraries and other educational resources in our communities and elsewhere? 

• How do we prepare ourselves and our children to play active roles in a changing world?  What are younger people saying about their educational needs and desires?

• What effort are we making to become better acquainted with the Bible, the teachings of Jesus, our Judeo‑Christian heritage, the history and principles of Friends, and the contributions of other religions and philosophies to our spiritual heritage? 

MY SUBMITTED RESPONSE

My experience among Friends in general and IYMC Friends in particular is that a large part of our education actually doesn’t come from book learning, libraries, and other conventional educational resources.

Rather, we learn from our direct experience of situations that surprise us and on which we later reflect; from interacting with people from backgrounds that are quite different from our own; and from turning to nontraditional literature, media, and other sources of information. The Light shows us parts of humanity that we normally cannot see or seldom consider.

For example, when I think about questions that would draw me out around what I have learned from the movement for Black lives; the nonviolent protests at Standing Rock; the solidarity work in support of undocumented immigrants… Well, this query doesn’t invite that sort of reflection.

Without personal, direct relationship with people who participated in these significant historic actions, my “education“ would be limited to whatever the mainstream media might convey. But my friends of color, and my contacts within the indigenous community, teach me and educate me not just about what happened but also what a just, inclusive community could be like.

A more useful query for myself has been, “What *non-white* sources of information am I drawing on regarding racial tension, social class oppression, etc.? When I worry about an entire group of people’s circumstances, do I look for material that they themselves have written, filmed, or otherwise created and distributed? Do I stretch myself to break away from white-centered resources that may unknowingly (or intentionally!) reinforce racial or middle-class bias? What are younger people saying about the situation? What are people of color, especially women of color, saying about the way forward? Do I give them as much weight as I do older Friends, white Friends, or long-time Friends?”

These questions are not what first comes to my mind! They rise up when people of color insist that their lives matter, their experiences are valid, and we should believe them and support them and learn from them.

Blessings,
Liz