Education as a Site of/for Ethical Transformation and Taking Action. Yikes! What a mouthful, right? Well, let me start with a simple question: when was the last time you were astonished? Really. Take a few moments to think about it. It’s my belief and a perennial one at that, at least in educational realms, that we are invited to nascantur in admiratione—to be born unto wonder—within the classroom and beyond.
Our hearts expand and spirits rise when we are astonished, they expand for a wider, wiser sense of community, and sing for a cause greater than ourselves—gender equity, mindfulness, and laughter, to name a few.
Indeed, we are summoned to be born unto wonder in this lifetime, yet how often do we pause, notice the present, and really utter, "now this is a wonder-ful moment," namely, a moment full of wonder? How often do we find ourselves sharing with a friend, “I am astonished by the ah-ha moment a student of mine had about democracy today.” Or, “I am marveling at the connections these groups of learners are making during this interdisciplinary unit on environmental justice.” Or, “I am in awe of the real collaboration that is transpiring amongst colleagues on Exhibition and finding community experts.”
The thinking here is, if we ourselves as educator-activists are not taking time to experience said astonishment, then how are we to imbue that hallmark of education within learners, their families, or our colleagues? The birthing process, nascantur in admiratione, takes time. We as educators are obligated in this current, digitally-drenched era, to create a "site," if you will, for birthing unto wonder to transpire.
This birthing has the potential to happen within our daily, weekly lessons and lives. I’m convinced activism emerges from wonder. Our hearts expand and spirits rise when we are astonished, they expand for a wider, wiser sense of community, and sing for a cause greater than ourselves—gender equity, mindfulness, and laughter, to name a few.
Activism comes from the root words, act and action. The activist is willing to act on behalf of those marginalized, forgotten. The activist is eager to take action due to some injustice happening within their local or global community. How potent is our action when 1) it is advocating for someone or something other than ourself and 2) it is a consequence of our astonishment? Look to a variety of historical and contemporary social movements for evidence from brainpickings. When the collective can be individually and personally mid-wifed unto wonder, well, that's when we can have a movement of intoxicating joy and liberating truth.
