Thursday, June 02, 2005
For those who think learning is work and school is a chore, i submit the following:
"...I didn't know what the word schola meant. I thought of it only as a school. ...But the Latin word schola comes from the Greek schole which means 'leisure.' What an interesting discovery! Before you can teach, you must learn, and in order to learn, you must stop your busyness and hold still for a while. You must give yourself leisure to learn.
I saw then that there can be a sequence in the derived meanings of schola... First comes the leisure itself, the cessation of restless activity, the stillness and silence. Then comes the learning, the instructive part, framing ideas that can help--'school' in our usual sense. Finally, we can have 'school' in the sense of a 'school of thought,' a community of shared insight, a body for concerted expression of the shared vision." --from Radical Optimisim, Beatrice Bruteau
Some people spend their leisure time playing golf or cards, others go shopping or to the movies. I like to take classes and read. I find learning to have great personal reward. The world is filled with interesting facets of life, from science to philosophy, and so much more. I cannot imagine ignoring all the world around me, taking it for granted, and so I examine the areas that catch my eye. Libraries are the primary resource for information about the world. Of course, the internet has most recently given libraries and the books therein a run for the money. And then, there are bookstores. A Nirvana for all leisure-learners like me. And web-sites, like Bookworm that provide more sources for learning. So little time! So much to read!
"...I didn't know what the word schola meant. I thought of it only as a school. ...But the Latin word schola comes from the Greek schole which means 'leisure.' What an interesting discovery! Before you can teach, you must learn, and in order to learn, you must stop your busyness and hold still for a while. You must give yourself leisure to learn.
I saw then that there can be a sequence in the derived meanings of schola... First comes the leisure itself, the cessation of restless activity, the stillness and silence. Then comes the learning, the instructive part, framing ideas that can help--'school' in our usual sense. Finally, we can have 'school' in the sense of a 'school of thought,' a community of shared insight, a body for concerted expression of the shared vision." --from Radical Optimisim, Beatrice Bruteau
Some people spend their leisure time playing golf or cards, others go shopping or to the movies. I like to take classes and read. I find learning to have great personal reward. The world is filled with interesting facets of life, from science to philosophy, and so much more. I cannot imagine ignoring all the world around me, taking it for granted, and so I examine the areas that catch my eye. Libraries are the primary resource for information about the world. Of course, the internet has most recently given libraries and the books therein a run for the money. And then, there are bookstores. A Nirvana for all leisure-learners like me. And web-sites, like Bookworm that provide more sources for learning. So little time! So much to read!
