Fact or belief or truth?

As this week of importance for Jews and Christians begins-- Holy Week and Passover-- I've been thinking about belief, fact and truth. How do we help students prepare for the future beyond just ingesting information and building skills for citizenship or the workplace? Is educating the "whole child" a realistic option?

This week I heard an interesting exchange among students in my high school drama class who are normally not very engaged (just in the class because counselors told them they needed these credits). I had asked them to do a quick-write about one of the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The students at one table started talking about the right to freedom of thought. Two students said they believed that God made the Earth and its inhabitants. Another student said she was an atheist.

I didn't handle this the way I wanted. What I later wanted to do was to extend the discussion, to say, "Hey, I'm so glad you're looking at Human Rights and seeing how they apply to you personally. I applaud the fact that you are thinking. And by the way, do you think it's worth it to kill someone whose religion believes differently from yours?" I missed the chance to talk about Darwin and the history of this topic in our country, and the importance of respecting each other's beliefs, and the importance of separation of Church and State.

It reminded me of another incident that occurred in the early 1980's in my work in Oakland publc schools. We were doing a musical show that traced historical periods in the U.S. I happened to quote writers about early America, all of whom said that Native Americans immigrated to this continent many thousands of years ago. After the concert, I was confronted by a delegation of fifth grade Native American students, who accused me of prejudice and mis-information. For them, quoting various historians was quoting falsehood Native Americans were here from the beginning of history. There was no immigration from elsewhere. This was clearly a fact in their minds, not a belief. And perhaps it is a fact. I am grateful for what I learned from these passionate students.

As a drama and creative writing teacher in public schools, I find matters of belief come up fairly often. It seems important to allow students to talk about these things-- topics that are important to real lives. What is the truth? As long as we are not forcing our own belief system upon our students, I believe it's valuable to let the study of one topic bring up discussion about another, to respect different beliefs, and to explore choices. If we are so afraid of exploring beyond the prescribed subjects, we will miss opportunities for minds to flower.

Perhaps we can plant the seeds of tolerance, and learn the lessons of wars over religion. Perhaps this week I'll be able to make up for the opportunity I missed last week.