Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Emerson: "American Scholar" Post
Would Emerson approve? In this blog response, I’d like you to look at Proctor Academy through the eyes of Emerson. How does the school both foster and hinder a Romantic/Transcendental outlook on life – through its classes, experiential programs, schedule, sports offerings, social life, rules, etc.? When writing this response, please pay particular attention to the central aspirations and beliefs that Emerson espouses in his essays “Nature,” “Self-Reliance,” and “The American Scholar.” Specifically, I want to you to describe two or more aspects of Proctor you think Emerson would approve of and at least one aspect that you think he would disapprove of. Overall, do you think Emerson would approve of Proctor Academy? Why or why not. (Please take some time to craft your response. Responses should be 10-20 sentences long, roughly two paragraphs. Please include at least two short quotations in your response to back up your points).
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Ralph Waldo Emerson would not approve of Proctor's way of connecting with Nature, although we have many classes and activities that try. "And, in fine, the ancient precept, "Know Thyself", and the modern precept, "Study Nature," become at last one maxim."(80). Although Proctor is surrounded by Nature, we do not use it to its full advantage. We are too connected with our technology, smartphones, iPads, iPods, etc. We are so preoccupied with these things that we don't the full force that Nature has to offer. Emerson would not approve of this way that we are treating nature.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Emerson would approve of how we use books. Our library is huge. The librarians are always there if someone needs help finding something. Teachers even take time in class to go to the library and use books for projects. "Books are the best type of the influence of the past, and perhaps we shall get at the truth- learn the amount of this influence more conveniently- by considering their value alone."(80). Books are valuable. They give us information that technology will never be able to. Overall, books are a big part of a Proctor classroom and what Proctor is as a whole. Emerson would also approve of they way we use action. If someone needs help with a problem or can't figure out how to do something, they turn to another for help. they may not go directly to that person but watch their actions and try to take from that. All in all, I believe Emerson would approve of Proctor, even if we don't fulfill all of his beliefs.
We say that Proctor was built off the ideas of Emerson; the man who crusades for the recognizing of nature in our learning. However, I would say Emerson would not like the way we run our school. When was the last time our teachers told us to go outside and just observe nature- let it tell the story? "A man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from a society," Emerson writes in he essay of "Nature." We run our lives in a very orderly fashion and neglect the art of true learning from our Earth itself. Nature can teach us valuable lessons that no one else can. It can teach us about ourselves because "it resembles mans own spirit, who's beginning, whose ending, he never can find...(found inThe American Scholar)." Perhaps it is our mistake for avoiding this lesson for very long because "we are embarrassed with second thoughts." We don't want to alter the system that we have been using for so long and admit to the mistakes we have made. We are here to learn, but from what? We cannot simply abuse the usage of books by using them to teach us. Books are "guides," and our true classroom should not be shrunk into a building, but the whole outdoors is where true learning originates. "The scholar is that man who must take up into himself all of the ability of time, all the contributions or the past, all the hopes of the future."
ReplyDeleteHowever, Emerson would appreciate the times where we do not lock ourselves up in the isolation of a classroom, but learn through the world. Our off campus programs starting with the day we enter would surely impress Emerson. Wilderness Orientation gives us the chance to through away our electronics for five days and experience the real world without distractions of commercialism. Ocean classroom is another strong example of using Nature as our primary source for learning. I also agree with Mackenzie that our usage of books will also grant satisfaction to our school. "Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst." Yet it is true that we do use books too much for learning than we should, and turn to nature less and less, we do often read for pleasure, and use it as the recourse it was supposed to be- not an encyclopedia. Hopefully, we will try to insure "a right way of reading" so that we can get the true benefit of the book. Although there are good and bad things that Emerson would take notice to about Proctor, there is no doubt that we are a school who tries to educate their students as best they can.
This man Emerson who is high into the ideas of learning from nature and not by others would agree with Proctor. All of the amazing opportunities that proctor presents to its students with the abroad class rooms and the extra work teachers do to support us as scholars and as people. As we know Emerson believes that to learn people must learn from nature and not just read things that other people have written. The world and nature supply all of the knowledge that you could possibly need to know, you just have to get out there and explore. Proctors terms abroad on Euro, Spain, Ocean classroom and Costa Rica are all opportunities given to us to explore in nature and search for the answers to life as a scholar and as a person. But Emerson would not approve of the huge library full of the writings of other people. People must work independently to get work don and gain wisdom. This is what proctor lives buy the true ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Compassion, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Emerson would approve of Proctor. I think a main thing he would like is part of our motto that says, "Learn to live, and live to learn." Emerson would like this because he wants be people to learn, and like to learn. He thinks the only way to advance our society is to learn, but not all through books no teachings. Sometimes we need to learn life through living, and through nature, which is something that is promoted at Proctor. One aspect Emerson would like is the off campus trips offered. Emerson would love ocean classroom because you learning a lot through one of the biggest parts of nature. Another aspect Emerson would like is the independency that is needed to live on campus itself. You have a lot of things to take care of on your own here and you need to be responsible to be successful. One thing Emerson wouldn't like here is the homework. He wouldnt like the homework because it is mostly book work and just learning lesson after lesson from these books, and he doesn't agree with this teaching method. Overall Emerson would like this school because we stand for good things and have good core values.
ReplyDeleteEmerson would completely agree with what we have at Proctor. Yes, it could be more radical, we could cut off from all technology and hold all of our classes outside but isn't that Mountain Classroom? Everyday life here integrates nature a lot more a than a stereotypical high school. We get to walk outside between every class. We apply our knowledge all the time when we learn it. We discuss our text and bring more into it that just a block of words. Every student is required to go on Wilderness Orientation and those are four or five days, completely cut off from everything in the wilderness. You are forced to go away from the real world and look into yourself. To give yourself some time to reflect on the world around you and who you truly want to be in this community. No, we do not spend all of class time sitting in a field, but you can feel free to do that any time you want in order to receive a higher learning. No one is stopping you. I spend at least two hours outside every day. Just walking in between classes is getting a grasp at nature. I'm sorry if this isn't "Emerson" enough for you but it is a high school, we do need a little bit of structure. This is as close as one can get in a high school setting to Emerson's values.
ReplyDeleteI think that Emerson would have torn views on Proctor. We have off campus programs like ocean and mountain that allow us to learn from nature, and we are an experiential based learning school, however connecting with and learning from nature is not promoted enough.
ReplyDeleteAt Proctor we have amazing opportunities to connect, and learn from nature that includes immersing oneself in nature. Ocean and Mountain Classroom give students the opportunities to learn from and create a relationship with nature. "The first in time and the first in importance of the mind is that of nature" (Great Works 80). Emerson thought that all scholars should learn from nature because it is the primary source. He would love the idea of total environmental immersion because he thinks that it is important for the correct education of scholars to create a meaningful relationship with the primary source of education and knowledge.
Emerson would also like the idea that Proctor uses experiential learning instead of from books. "Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it thought can never ripen into truth" (Great Works 82). Emerson would love the idea that Proctor students are in small classes based on discovery instead of lecture. That students can learn their own way and experience the material instead of have it regurgitated back to them from professors who had learned it the same lecturing way.
It seems that the Proctor community has become less captivated with nature, and more captivated with Snapchat, Vine, and Facebook. Reducing our lives into 5 second videos and looking for excuses not to play in the rain is becoming more common. Emerson would be repulsed by the thought that we would rather learn "fun facts" about fish from Buzzfeed than go outside and discover the facts ourselves.
Ralph Waldo-Emerson's ideas were based off of great learning and self understanding for all and I think that Proctor does a good job of portraying that in our moto "Learn to live and live to learn". However, there are many things about our school that don't follow Emerson's beliefs. Our school is a technology based environment and its is actually a requirement for all member of the Proctor student body to own either an iPad, laptop or both. This takes away from our interaction with nature because kids would rather be wrapped up in social media than experiencing nature. I think that proctor has done a good job of trying to make this a unique, nature based learning environment with the different off campus and on campus opportunities such as mountain classroom, ocean classroom and after school activities like woods team. Another part of Proctor that Emerson would agree with is our schools wilderness orientation. During this orientation we are sent into the wilderness to get in touch with nature and make new friends and learn and also learn about nature. I think that as a community we are all pretty in touch with nature but there are deffinately some things that we as a school could do to make it a more transcendentalist community. Overall I think that Emerson would have very mixed feelings about the proctor community.
ReplyDeleteRalph Waldo Emerson would probably agree and disagree with proctors ideals. This is for several reasons, in proctor we teach about nature but we don't let it teach us like Emerson wanted. If Emerson was running the school many classes would be more exploratory. This means that we wouldn't just sit inside for an hour and learn about animals, trees, environment, ect. We would be outside discovering it ourselves like we were meant to. Not to mention the massive amount of electronics that we use. But all that said, that doesn't mean he won't like some ideas of proctor. Proctor Moto "learn to live and live to learn" fits very well with his ideals and we are, as a whole more experiential learning based even in our classes. This would cause Emerson to have split feelings with how we run things at proctor.
ReplyDeleteRalph Waldo Emerson wold most definitely approve of Proctor. In Emerson's "The American Scholar", he states "class who value books as such; not as related to nature" (Great Works). Book worms just go to books instead of going out into nature and learning from nature. Emerson would be all for the off campus programs because they get people out into nature, not just sitting at desks all class looking at books like most public schools. Emerson's "Self Reliance" he states "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string" (Great Works) Many people have trouble and many people conquer that trouble. Proctor is all about getting people to do the right things on their own. They push you in the right direction to begin with so that you may succeed in life. They get you ready for life in college and beyond. To do so you must have self confidence along with responsibility. Emerson might not approve of the electronic aspects of proctor even though they are a great resource of knowledge and communication. He might be more about looking to the books and to nature for the answer instead of googling it. Also why spend all of this time on electronics when one can go outside and embrace nature.
ReplyDeleteRalph Waldo Emerson would approve Proctor. In his article" American Scholar", he said that instead of Man Thinking we have the bookworm, the book learned class who value books as such; not as related to Nature and the human constitution. Emerson is really oppose the bookworm. But Proctor's method to teach students is to lead students to study from Nature. In the physics class, we have experiment to prove what we learn from books and in biology class we could go to the pond to catch the fish or get some plants to research. These are really great example to support the "study from Nature". The second is that Proctor's purpose is that Live to learn, learn to live.It fit a point of view of Transcendentalism is that Nature is a manifestation of Truth. In Proctor we could learn in Europe, Spain and Costa Rica. This is what Emerson like. So Emerson would approve Proctor.
ReplyDeleteRalph Waldo Emerson would probably agree with most of the ideals at Proctor Academy. Since we live in the middle of now wear in the woods we already agree with nature and its ideals. We are pretty good at hands on learning and not so much as he calls them "Book Worms." We love the great out doors and any kid who goes to our school (For the most Part) come her for just that reason the hands on learning experience. Proctor is all about liking what you learning because if you don't like it then whats the point of doing it. Thats why we have so many different course options so you can design your schedule to what you want. So its not electronically engineered because that a never helps anyone. Also naturally people need help everyone does. So at proctor we have learning skills which helps kids a lot. Personally that is what sealed the deal for me rather than any other school was the extra help. I think the Emerson would love our school and notice that a everything we do is good and for the kid.
ReplyDeleteI think Emerson would like Proctor because first of all, our moto "Live to learn, Learn to live" fits perfectly for the ideas that he was trying to promote for his whole life. I think Emerson would like our oversea programs such as ocean classroom, Spain classroom, and mountain classroom. "We cannot simply abuse the usage of books by using them to teach us." According to Emerson, those programs would allow us to explore more about the things that we are learning. Such as the student who went to Spain for two terms, and came back with fluent Spanish-speaking skills. Before, he was only in Spanish 2, and now he is in AP Spanish. And for mountain classroom, it allow students not only learn about those life skills from the books, but also from the outside world. It is like one person wouldn't understand "sharing is caring" until he was put into the environment harsh as the mountain classroom that would let him do so. The second thing Emerson would possibly approve of Proctor would be the library. Even though he kept saying that people couldn't learn only from the books, he was still emphasizing the importance of books at the same time. "Books are the best type of the influence of the past, and perhaps we shall get at the truth-learn the amount of this influence more conveniently-by considering the value alone." Proctor has different activities on books which change every week. Such as the other week that we had the "banned books week". Additionally, the library has a great source of books from all over the world that allow us to read and learn, or even borrow. I think those are the two things that Emerson would approve.
ReplyDeleteFor the things that Emerson would probably not like would possibly be the changing rules. "We don't want to alter the system that we have been using for so long." Even though this is only part of the quote, this still fits for the changing rules. While the teachers are changing rules, they also expect us to improve. However, at the same time, we would be overwhelmed to remember all those rules. Since there are already so many rules for us to remember(I'm not saying we shouldn't remember those rules. We had to sign to agree and remember the rules before we came to Proctor) the new added rules may cause those people who do not have a good memory to go against since they can't remember. Overall, I don't think there would be a big thing that bothers Emerson a lot since our school moto already expresses his ideas.
Ralph Waldo Emerson would be extremely impressed with Proctor’s adaption of his philosophy. Proctor Academy provides its’ students with life-changing experiences unlike any school. One can sail a boat for three months or be immersed in spanish culture. The community, equality between students and teachers, and passion for experiential learning makes Proctor a school Emerson would be impressed by. Emerson writes in “Self-Reliance”, “The intellect is vagabond, and our system of education fosters restlessness”(73). Proctor does an extraordinary job of avoiding restlessness by offering off-campus programs and on-campus activities. The polar swim every friday is an example of a small activity Proctor supports that promotes experiential learning at Proctor. For one to have experiential learning, no travelling needs to be involved. Experiential learning is when teachers and students apply their knowledge to situations in their lives. Emerson writes in “The American Scholar”, “In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking”(80). By this, Emerson is referring to the repercussions of being a “bookworm”. A balance of studying books as a resource and using one’s studies to apply the knowledge elsewhere is an ideal situation in Emersons mind. Proctor is a place that provides situations where this is possible and at times forced upon it’s students because it values experiential learning very much. Emerson might find himself somewhat discontent with Proctor only because they do not offer more opportunities for classes and have restrictions on programs. This discontentment would be slight compared to that of other schools. Despite this, Emerson would be impressed with Proctor’s adaptation of his ideals.
ReplyDeleteThere are many parts if Proctor Academy that I believe Ralph Waldo Emerson would enjoy, and one is our school motto "Learn to live, and Live to Learn". Emerson would enjoy Proctor because it has many different offerings. These different offerings include Nature-themed projects, Emerson believes that to learn successfully, one must incorporate Nature into their subjects. I as a Proctor student would agree with Emerson in that respect, I can't personally learn if I'm locked up in a classroom all day reading chapters out of books, I like to Incorporate a little nature into my day as well, whether it be drawing the different colors of leaves on these trees or taking pictures of the beautiful scenery Proctor has to offer. Another similar belief that Emerson and Proctor both share are "Self-Reliance", here at Proctor students, learn to live by themselves, and are very independent. A few examples would be completing their homework and getting it in and on time, doing one's own laundry, gathering yourself and getting up for breakfast every morning, making yourself food at times and living and sleeping by yourself. I don't believe that Emerson would like Proctor, I believe that he'd love Proctor and what we stand for
ReplyDeleteEmerson would approve of some of Proctor's aspects as a school. Learning at Proctor is very experiential and hands-on. Hands on learning creates an atmosphere where students can learn by experience. Experience creates independence which creates a confidence that helps a student to connect with their "True Self". "The scholar is a man who must take up into himself so all the ability of the time, all the contributions of the past, all the hopes of the future." (Emerson 87)
ReplyDeleteAs well as pushing students to become independent individuals Proctor also pushes students to fully immerse themselves into their schoolwork. Emerson agrees with the statement because full immersion in the hard work that students complete and I think that he admires hard work, and making a better you. On the other hand, he wanted students work to be in and about nature because of the experience that nature gave students. "Man is surprised to find that things near are not less beautiful and wondrous than things remote. The near explains the far. The drop is a small ocean. A man is related to all nature. This perception of the worth of the vulgar is fruitful in discoveries." (Emerson 87) The immersion into nature that Emerson wants in teaching students creates a connection between all things in life. Since Emerson believed that nature could help one find them-self, one could learn more because of the comfortables of ones own knowledge. These connections that students make in nature are very important to Emerson because he thought that if these connections they made in mature would help them connect with the world because everything is made of nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson would definitely agree wit home of the ways proctors teaches students. At Proctor there is a lot of learning by doing rather than just explanation. "Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.” Emerson believes that you must make mistakes to learn. Proctor really believes in that theory and that you deserve a chance to fail so that you can learn from your mistakes and not be set back because of them. “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” Emerson also believes that reading books is not the way to gain knowledge necessarily. Sure, you can learn from books but you don’t get the same experience people do when they learn by doing. Emerson believes that learning is all about mistakes and trying what you are wondering just like how all different scientists and philosophers did.
ReplyDeleteI think Emerson would approve in many ways of Proctor. Emerson would approve of the experiential programs that Proctor offers like Ocean Classroom, Mountain Classroom and Euro-Art. He would approve because those programs focus a lot of time into learning from nature and steering away from books. "Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul." He believes that "Nature" is the way to reach your inner self and will lead you in the right direction. Books are not as pure or wise as "Nature" or the Soul.
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