Education As Life

The etymology (I love etymology! Just warning you I will use it A LOT) of education traces back, unsurprisingly, to latin. But then it gets complicated. It actually has two roots, which are both fully present in the word “education”. The first is educare, which means to rear, train. and/or mold. The second is educere, which means to lead out. If you take a moment to think about it, you’ll probably see what I see: our definition of education at a societal level leans heavily towards educare. In part, this is because we feel it is safer to deal with concrete tasks like training people about stuff and how to do stuff. We don’t like it when society determines how to rear, mold, or “lead out” individuals. We like to make those decisions for ourselves and our children. Furthermore, we are willing to give up a say in how others make those decisions in order to protect our right to make them.

My point is that education is broader than schooling, and even broader than rearing or molding. Education, continual learning and reflection on learning, is the fundamental characteristic of the human condition. Doesn’t it make sense that we admit it? How can we coexist unless we concede that we are, or should be, learning all the time and therefore the medium in which our life takes place is educational?

The blog posts and the work I do with individuals, schools, and communities is based on the premise that we thrive individually and collectively when we conceptualize life as an ongoing and dynamic education. We can accomplish amazing things if we see education as life.