The teacher of our 7-11 year old students, Karla Hernando Flores, asked me to come into the classroom and talk to the kids about the vision and history behind our school, Habla. I'm used to talking to parents and adults about Habla, but how do I talk to a group of kids that are learning English in a way that they will be interested and understand the mission of the school from their point-of-view? Wouldn't it be great if everyone, in all occupations, had to explain what they do to seven year-olds; it forces us to cut through all our work-related jargon and, instead, find the essential words that describe what is at the heart of our work.
The students in Karla's class were making books as art objects. Robert Possehl, a fantastic bookmaker and multi-media artist, visited Habla from Chicago to teach at our 2009 Teacher Institute. Robert taught our teachers how to make different sizes and types of books from paper (see Robert's work at the Teacher Institute here). Karla's students were now making books about the inside and outside of Habla. They took photographs of their favorite parts of the school and wrote about their experiences. My job was to help them see Habla from a historical perspective.
So now I was in front of twenty students, all looking up at me expectantly. I knew I couldn't use my usual default words to talk about education - words like progressive, multidisciplinary or collaborative - so instead another word came to my mind: "Habla is about magic," I said. I knew the kids in this class loved Harry Potter and other fantasy stories, so it seemed like "magic" was the perfect way to capture their attention, but as I talked, I realized that it is true, an imaginative and creative school environment is magical.
I explained, "Look at the world around us, look at the trees, the flowers, outside. That is magic. The Bible says God created the world in seven days. The Mayan creation myths you've been studying talk about how man was created from corn. So out of rough materials, new things are formed. Life is created. That's what you are doing every day here at Habla. When you put words together to write something, that is magic. When you take paint, paintbrushes and paper and create an image, that is magic. Your teacher doesn't know what you are going to make. I don't know what you are going to make. Maybe even when you start you don't know what you are going to make. But you start to create and by the time you are finished you have brought something new into the world, just like the trees grow and the flowers bloom."
Education for me, at its best, is a magical experience. I love seeing a group of new students enter the classroom. They've never been in the same space before, and over the course of several weeks they will get to know each other, begin working together, telling stories, writing, and creating. At the start of the class we don't know the journey each student will take, but it is our job to help them along their collective journey and find their voice in language and in art.
