Each day our first group and small
team discussion has dealt with Augustine, his life and his thoughts on
educators and learners. This was another special day. We reflected on our
reading of Cracked Pots and Brave Hearts:
Augustine on Teaching and Learning.
Christian was kind enough to join
Jackie, Jamie and me in our small group discussion. Our discussion began with
Jamie asking Jackie (our pottery expert)
first, if there was something special about a cracked pot, and second, how
might a potter repair a cracked pot.
Jackie told us that a cracked pot
would really not be special or of much use because of the imperfection.
However, she said that she has kept many a “cracked pot” because of the lesson
that it offered to the person who created it. Jackie also felt it is difficult
to repair the cracked pot because once the pot cracks in the firing process,
the crack will always be present. The potter might sit and reflect on the
methods used in making the pot. He or she might also become totally engrossed
in trying to determine the glitch in the process that caused the pot to crack
when it was fired. There is even a reflection experience in the potter’s life.
During my reflection period (my walk
with Augustine), it seemed to me that Jackie’s lesson on cracked pots was a
clear example of a true act of learning. Cracked
pots and Brave Hearts explained two somewhat related ideas. At the
beginning of the article, we are told, “Augustine used learned experience as a flame
that ignited his teaching.” And, on the second page, Fr. McCloskey explains, “We
need to know that at the core of Augustine’s understanding of learning (and
teaching) is a deep appreciation of life experience of ongoing personal
struggle with transformation.”
A pottery teacher, spending time at
the wheel, watches a student struggle with shaping the idea in his or her mind
into a pot. Patiently the teacher waits for the firing to take place. In that
last moment of creation, a crack shows itself and ruins the piece. The student
must begin anew.
The struggle with transformation
begins. The work experience is almost completed. The fire shows the crack and
ignites the teacher’s attempt to determine the glitch that causes the crack. The
next lesson will offer his/her students an Essential Question – What do you
think you could do to prevent the piece from cracking when it is fired?
A holy man from the 5th
century, who considered himself a “cracked pot”, has fanned the flames in our
minds for the last seven days by showing how our learned experiences can help
to ignite our teaching.
Academic team leaders, thank you
for your hours of preparation and your willingness to shine your light for all
of us.
To the three teams, Good Luck to all at presentation time tomorrow.
A
certain young lady has been on my lap a few times while I was writing tonight.
She has been actively learning how a keyboard works. She has been very patient.
It's time for her Poppie to read her a bed-time story.
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