education > information via Mr. Green

Mr Green (John Green) provides some much-needed delineation.

information=facts
education=knowing which facts are really the important ones




If you're really in a crunch for time, watch from 0:25 to 0:37 and from 1:40 to 3:07. But, seriously, this man is one of my idols. And you will miss an informative, funny bit about lemmings if you stick to the aforementioned parameters. If you don't have 4 minutes for one of my idols, why are you reading this right now?

I don't want to turn into a fangirl here, but I do want to elaborate on the previously mentioned idolatry. Isaiah thought ancient Israel didn't take it seriously enough, and I don't want to make the same mistake.

John Green is one of the leading authors of YA lit today. He has published Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

His writing is funny, he catches the teenage voice admirably, and he does not stray far from life, nor its more trying, complicated, undeniably difficult issues--intertwined with more complexity, being heightened by hormones and identity-searching--familiar elements to anyone who has ever been a young adult.  He has a YouTube channel which has so many causes but I will only list my favorite: Don't Forget to be Awesome. He is also a father. A loving father. He waves a flag for enthusiasm and creativity that is impossible to ignore.

That being said, he is one of my idols.

And the need for disambiguation between information and education has never been so needed. Many people think they can teach themselves, and it's true--you can. Good luck. Context, though, is the relevant issue. I think that an ignorant person would say that context is just another group of facts, however true context is not seeing all of the different colors in a rug, but being able to see all of the different shades of red in a tapestry woven of only red threads, seeing which shades outline the pattern. Context gives not only information but importance. It gives someone priorities.

And I think being a teacher, we provide context. We show our classes what are the important facts, because we show them that yes, not only is there a hill right there, but that hill is actually in the middle of the only road to enlightenment, thus it becomes more than 'just' a hill.

Eventually, we teach students how to determine their own context. The context of their lives. What actions/events have meaning, and why. In my paradigm every action has meaning. Will they adhere to this philosophy? Probably not. Until they are on the verge of being 25.

But this process, of learning what facts are important, is education. It's more than facts, more than information. Education is showing someone how to understand what they see. And by teaching them how to recognize the important elements, they are able to change the picture, by changing those key elements.