I often think about a C.S. Lewis quote–who doesn’t?–as I think about the landscape of education: “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.” We often speak of education with battle imagery: “I’ve got to get ready for the invasion of 8th graders into my classroom,” or as a violent force of nature that must be conquered. There’s maybe some truth in that, at times, but our job isn’t to cut down jungles, to hack and slash at the vines and branches of culture today, but to irrigate the deserts of falsehoods and despair with the Living Water of Truth that streams from Christ Jesus.
“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts”
We hope to instill in our students life-giving truths that will serve them in the desert of this world–and I’m not talking about the subjects that we teach. I’m talking about our shadow curriculum, the curriculum behind the subjects. Will our students, wherever they go next, write a 20-page paper that they work on and research for a year? Probably not. Will our students, wherever they go next, fill a whiteboard full of Calculus equations? Probably not. Will our students, wherever they go next, do Chemistry labs? Probably not. And you know what? That’s just fine. That’s not the true telos–the end goal–of our education at TRA.
Our goal is to teach our students grit and perseverance in the midst of a world that tells them that ghosting a relationship is fine, that quiet-quitting is how you leave a job. All our projects and all our work is geared toward instilling skills in our students so that when they graduate, whatever they do next, they’re prepared to stand out and lead by example through their hard work.
Last week, we had our first official Partnering with Parents Night (formerly known as The Bridge), talking about grit and perseverance and how we hope to instill those virtues in our students. These Partnering with Parents nights are not intended to be lectures or sermons from the school to you, the parents, but conversations started, thoughts considered, and inspiration kindled (on both sides). In January, we’re going to be talking about The Long View of Education. If you’ve got kids in elementary or middle school, why in the world would you keep your kids at TRA through graduation? We’ll be trying to paint a picture of how everything comes together in upper high school and the holistic view of education at TRA. Please, come join us for this conversation!
-Tyler Howat, Dean of Academics
