Just because we have schools, does not mean we have education

Just because we have schools, does not mean we have education. Just because we have healthcare insurance, does not mean have health. Just because we have a government, does not mean we have leadership.

Parker Palmer spoke similar words at a talk I attended at Hamline back in the Spring of 2008. I have a better idea now of what those cryptic platitudes mean.

The level of education I have witnessed in our schools in the past decade are insufficient. Children spend more time mindlessly following orders or doing activities which do not lead to greater learning. Worksheets are comforting for most children. 'Fill in the Blank" , "Multiple Choice." But do they learn anything from these experiences? Since I made my decision last May to spend this year subbing I hvae committed myself to the quest for something greater. I want to witness an environment that is child centered in which students are self-directed and largely self-sufficient. Adults and teachers should be resources but not the only resource. They should be guides on a path to learning not enforcers of a strict code of "sit still and shut up." My two visits to the same MN Waldorf school have been encouraging. And in Montessori, I think I have found my answer. More on that later.

As of today, I have healthcare insurance again. Do I feel "healthier" because of it? No. Increasingly, the things that I have found to make me feel better are not covered by my healthcare insurance. Many are free: meditation, walking, exercise. No one can put a price tag on these, and they are tasks left solely up to me. But my healthcare does not pay for my current therapist, a buddhist inspired healer. And my healthcare does not pay for the nutritional supplements that are currently healing my mind, my will, and my spirit.

I have been on anti-depressants for over 12 years. Have they helped me? Mostly not. Have they healed me or strengthened me? Mostly not. If I have a seratonin defficiency, then at best they keep more of it circulating in my body. It's a bandaid approach. A very expensive band-aid. Back then, my psychiatrists kept telling me "there is no test for depression, we can'tscan your brain and see whether you're depressed or not." I guess technology has changed. Because there are blood and urine tests they can do now to read the levels of "microtransmitters" in your system. The bottom line: my healthcare insurance will not pay for my omega - 3 or omega -6 supplements, folic acid, vitamin D, or a host of other supplements that will HEAL my body. They will make me stronger and more resiliant.