Opinion Articles

*Passion for life should be curriculum priority
By Dr Wayne Tinsey
Dr Wayne Tinsey is Director of Schools in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. His reflections precede Education Week which begins on Sunday 15th May 2005.

Joseph Campbell, the great teacher of world mythology, suggested that, even more than wanting to know the meaning of life, most people these days are craving an experience of life. Christian education will surely stress the importance of life: full, creative and lived humanity. Jesus says of his mission, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” As St Irenaeus proposed: “The glory of God can be seen in a human being fully alive.” This theme is surely central to the Christian tradition. Christian faith is much more than affirmation of a particular creed or set of truths. It is a commitment to, a stance or posture towards life!

A turning point in my career as a teacher came when I learned that a former student had committed suicide. This girl had been in my religion and home room classes for two years. She was pretty and intelligent but a ‘loner' with a troubled home life. I've had other ex-students die, but the way that this girl ended her own life was tragic. At the age of 21, she drove herself to a quiet park in Sydney , locked the doors of the car and incinerated herself. Surely a horrible way for anyone to die….

When I learned of this girl's death I thought of the words of Leo Buscaglia. He asks, “What does it matter that we teach young people to read, write and do maths, when we as a society can't teach them the sacredness of life?”. To what avail were my religion lessons when this girl didn't pick up a sense of the dignity and beauty of her own personhood? As Yeats once said, “Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.” Surely this fire is a passion for life!

It seems to me that we run the risk of teaching everything to students except the most essential thing: life and the essence of full, creative and lived humanity. We assume that they learn to be a human being by osmosis. But when we look around, it doesn't appear to be working by osmosis. In the 1800s Henry David Thoreau suggested that most people ‘lead lives of quiet desperation' and it seems that little has changed. He implied that many people go through life as observers rather than active participants. The guiding intent for all curriculum should be humanization – educating people to become fully alive and free human beings. All curriculum should help learners to make and keep life human – for themselves and others.

Recently I read the chilling words of Carl Jung which, as a parent and educator, give me great cause for reflection. Jung says, ‘Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their children, than the unlived life of their parents.' As parents and educators we must remember to live! To be passionate about life! To embrace our potential! To make our schools temples to human potential and oases in the midst of despair and lack of hope.