Thoughts on David Orr (1991), Part II

David Orr’s (1991) second principle: “The goal of education is not mastery of subject matter but mastery of one’s person” (p. 13).

I have some difficulty with this principle because of the vocabulary used. The word “mastery” implies that one who cannot achieve a certain level of work is deficient. This language is highly exclusive. What should be “mastered” and how this “mastery” is achieved is defined by the dominant cultural paradigm.

Putting my disagreements with Orr’s choice of words aside...

Orr’s (1991) second principle for rethinking education reminds me of the article by Chawla and Cushing (2007). The authors review research on promoting environmental behaviour in children and youth to deduce that “the antecedents of action are much more complex than knowledge alone” (p. 437). Steve, you have said many times that there is a difference between knowing well and doing well. I agree with you and Chawla and Cushing (2007); learning facts about the environment isn’t going to change the world. What matters are people’s values, attitudes, and mostly, their actions.

A little more on Chawla and Cushing (2007):

While I disagree with the authors’ argument that public environmental action is more valuable to youth than private environmental action, I do agree that from taking action (any action) builds a sense of competence and confidence in the individual and develops cooperation (Chawla and Cushing, 2007). To me, having a sense of competence and confidence and being able to cooperate with others is equivalent to what Orr (1991) describes as “mastery of one’s person” (p. 13).

This discussion on knowledge and action reminds me of the Nasa saying: “Words without Actions are Empty; Actions without Words are Blind; But Words and Actions outside the Spirit of Community are Death.” (Gruner, 2010, p. 96). This saying connects Orr’s (1991) second principle with his third and fourth principles.

Orr’s third principle: “knowledge carries with it the responsibility to see that it is well used in the world” (p. 13).

Orr’s (1991) fourth principle: “we cannot say that we know something until we understand the effects of this knowledge on real people and their communities” (p. 13).

I will discuss Orr’s third and fourth principles tomorrow.

-Jessica