We live in uncertain times, where answers aren’t so easily found, and when they are, they often rapidly change. The questions, however, remain. This is true, in fact, always. Life isn’t about the answers; it is about the questions. Although a baseline of foundational knowledge is important, the true purpose of education is to attain wisdom and understanding, which come to us not through answers, but through questions.
At Saint David’s, questions drive our program. We see this in action this year as we embrace our school-wide theme “scholarly and creative.”
One signature Lower School example is our recently completed collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum for a second-grade fall unit on art. During this unit, our boys engaged in an inquiry process with their art teachers and art educators from the museum. In sessions held both at the museum and at school, the boys examined masterworks by Etel Adnan, Paul Gaugin, Henri Rousseau, and Vincent Van Gogh. Guiding questions such as
How might you combine many types of lines in a design? or
Why do you think the artist used these colors? sparked the boys’ intellect and imagination, enabling them to connect what they critically observed and shared to their own lives. This deepened understanding was reflected in the exhibit of the boys’ original artwork inspired by their studies, which was held in the Guggenheim's rotunda during the unit’s culminating event.
The in-progress Digital Universe study provides a prime Upper School example of creativity and scholarship working in concert. In this interdisciplinary study, our sixth graders collaborate with American Museum of Natural History educators and astrophysicists in classes that occur at school and in field study visits to the museum throughout the winter term. With access to research-grade tools and the deep discipline expertise of the museum's educators, our boys explore questions about the cosmos such as:
How can we find life on other planets?,
What is the life of a star?, What have objects orbiting Mars taught us about its surface? The boys will transform the results of their research into these questions into visually arresting space shows that they create and narrate live for parents and faculty/staff this spring.
These are just two examples of how inquiry-based learning sparks curiosity, creativity, and enhanced comprehension at Saint David’s, resulting in learning that will be retained and meaningful.
Ultimately, to be of value the "scholarly and creative" must be connected to the moral. A scholarly and creative person constantly seeks information, broadens knowledge, and deepens understanding in an effort to creatively improve the world. Our school’s mission, with its ultimate aspiration “that they be good men” makes this clear.
Of what merit is knowledge, achievement, or success without “the good?”
