Co-Creationism: The Pedagogy of Interiority

The act of knowing is a function of the imagination. All knowing has an imaginative element in it. We don't see the world as it is at all. Our consciousness always co-creates everything we see. So what you are seeing is not just out there, on its own. You are always seeing it through the lens of your own thinking. Therefore, you are co-creating the world, whether you like it or not. --John O'Donohue, Irish Poet

As an educator, I greatly appreciate reading in other fields, discovering perspectives of thinkers very different from myself. Invariably I find things that help my work or show me a new way to consider learning.

Like the quote above. Read it carefully.

I know as a gardener that I help co-create the world. If I don't put my time in, preparing the soil, caring for the seed, weeding for maximum sun exposure and root expansion, my flowers and vegetables will turn out less than ideal, if they make it at all.

But, let's think about this for a second.

On a purely abstract level, what O'Donohue is saying above is that our imagination, our brain/soul identity really, is the crucial instrument in allowing us to see, understand and interact with the physical environment in an effective way. In short, we are a big player in the drama of reality, and our role is crucial to our overall ability to make sense, and derive satisfaction, from it.

The importance of this perspective in terms of education is unlimited. And, it cuts to the heart of everything I believe works and is important about helping young people develop and find themselves on this planet.

Once we see individuals as "co-creating" their knowing--and, after all, "knowing" is the heart of education, whether it is knowing science or math or history or just how to write--then we must ask ourselves: How can I help this person come to a richer place in terms of knowing--co-creating, really--their world?

For many politicians and even educators this is the crucial step that they never allow themselves to think about. For them, there is no consideration of the "knower" at all. It's about getting students to learn, dammit, show us what they can do, what their test scores are or their GPA. (It's like the Cable Guy: "Just get 'er done. Or else.") The issue is not about the "knower" for them; it is about the teachers, or the school, or the parents.

There is a complete level of ignorance about how "knowing" or learning happens, as if it is automatic, or happens through coercion or bribes, or as if students are simply machines that run at a constant rate, gobbling up inputs and spitting back outputs.

When we don't get a good result, then it's time to play the blame card and punish someone. Unfortunately, in our ignorance as a society, that currently means teachers.

But, the really profound truth is this: we have to build the inner world of the knower before we can expect him or her to interact effectively with what is happening on the outside. In fact, it is precisely their identity as a person, as a community member, as a human being, that needs to be attended to before we can expect them to master material or perform with a high degree of excellence.

Why? Because the more that knower brings to their learning experiences, the more they understand themselves, their identity, beliefs and interests, the more they will be able to understand, utilize and shape the world outside of them.

And in that regard, it means that we have to spend some time, maybe considerable time in certain cases, making students aware of, developing and challenging their inner world. Their inner world is the crucible where that mix of personal meaning and inspiration is ignited through time alone, silence, imagination and creativity.

We cannot assume that a young person is in full possession of their identity, has spent time alone, considering, reflecting, imagining and being creative. In fact, in a majority of cases today, we can assume that young people have not been doing these things. They are far more likely to have spent their young, precious lives in front of TV screens, video games, computers--completely oblivious to the beauty, mystery and profundity of the world that is inside of them.

I know this may sound radical, or completely undoable, or maybe even inappropriate for a public school, but really, it is not. It is the very work that is essential to helping these students grow and develop. Remember: we are not telling them what to think, believe or feel, merely to pay attention to it, to remember that what is inside them is a crucial element in their development as a person and a learner.

And how do we do this? I ask young people all the time to reflect on their learning experiences, to go home and consider not just academic material, but to put the examination on themselves, their feelings, hopes and desires. And then, when they bring that back to school, I ask them to share these with their classmates, to give voice to them in order to confirm that what happens on the inside and what happens on the outside together make a whole.

I do that through journaling, through presentations, through sharing in groups, through having quiet time before discussions, through writing quietly in class. But, there are other pedagogical and curricular strategies to get this to happen as well. The core of it is a sense of quiet, of solitude which leads directly to imagination and creativity. We have to slow our mind down before we can ask it to do unique and original things.

I know in today's fast-paced, high pressure, measurably accountable school environment, taking time to think, to share, to imagine and to create are not given high priority. In fact, they are openly shunned by pundits, bureaucrats and politicians who seem to know everything about everything; and thus, end up knowing nothing about anything.

As professional educators, we are responsible for the full development of that knower, especially the parts of him or her that the rest of society doesn't care about or can't take the time to nurture. We can and we should because it is the right thing to do for that person, for their family and community, and for the world as a whole.

We should consider life primarily as an invitation to become who we are... One of the amazing things about creation is its plenitude and diversity. No two stones are the same. No two fields are the same. No two waves or stars or daces are the same. No two thoughts are the same. It is amazing, really that we manage to find any similarity at all. It is there, of course, because without it we couldn't achieve continuity. But the true calling of everything is to be itself.

John O'Donohue, The Sun Magazine, April 2007