Locations of Learning: How Setting Predicts Greatness
James DuganFall invokes the memories of our school days. The longs walks through golden groves of elm trees sparkling under the azure cloudless sky of late September brings back the felicitous memories of old friendships and activities before the times of bills and mortgages. Forbes.com's wonderful vignettes of The World's Most Beautiful Colleges bring all the visceral reminiscences of our old alma maters as it celebrates the architectural wonders and natural settings of the top campuses who are able to combine the aesthetic with learning.
No matter the urban or rural campus, or something in between, the article brings up the multi nature of learning and why the internet and online learning will be hard pressed to replace our cathedrals of humanistic intellectual pursuits. The place of college, and its organization of buildings and inherent setting, from color to size to space, is as important to the developing mind as the material dispensed by the professors. The top beautiful colleges are also some of the top performing schools. Similarly, the list also produces the serious and secular pursuit that is secluded from the mundane undertakings of outside society. One is left to surmise that the environment of learning creates the student and not the other way around. A solemn, beautiful campus makes the indelible impression that the scholar’s learning and pursuits must be equal to its sublime achievements.
So is it the place that creates expectations? Neatness and awe in nature makes humans reach for perfection. The organization and beauty of a place is often reflected in the student. The tone of a campus or school and their underlying reason for existence is translated in the nature of the student. Many colleges, high and elementary schools, forget to implant this ideal in the younger years. Learning is work. Learning is tradition and through the tradition and work, success is not only attainable, but expected. The pride for one’s appearance and work comes from the example the place provides.
The implications of these ideas are that atmosphere is an essential element for our children’s education. Not only should we judge the SAT scores or standardized tests, but be critical of the tone for learning a institution presents. A parent wants to insure the learning of their child by eliminating as many variables that could prevent success. Impressions of a place, as proven in the Forbes article, are a powerful attribute and one that is well worth the investigation and price if they align with your philosophy of learning.
Where does your child do their homework? Does it create a serene atmosphere where serious study is undertaken?
Where did you learn the best on your education? Did it provide an atmosphere that was conducive to the importance of the endeavor?
What type of school, in superficial attributes, would you want for your children or grandchildren, if your goal is the full development of the mind?
We send our children to the local schools. We think all universities perform the same tasks basically. Yet we have learned that some schools create better students than others. Could the answer be in the setting? Setting creates the atmosphere of beauty and order that is translated, consciously and unconsciously, into the student. Setting is just as important in real life as it is in fiction for the development of the plot and characters, and maybe even more important than we want it to be.
Reader Comments (2)
I agree with your points. I can vividly remember the quad where I went to college at La Salle and how the old buildings and sycamores created an atmosphere of serenity in the midst of North Philly noise. I think I did my best work in the classrooms around this square. Incidentally, some of my communication classes were in a building on the other end of campus and I ended up dropping that major after my freshman year. Perhaps it was the setting more than the curriculum.
Either way, your points about education being steeped in tradition and hard work are dead on. We cannot expect any thing of value to come from settings that people don't respect. It is why for ages man has put his greatest architectural efforts into churches, edifices of governmental power, and museums of fine art. The external is often a mirror for our internal selves and as your piece points out, the difference between without and within is often smaller than we think.
The concept of setting as influence for learning is solid.
I remember visiting many colleges and universities with my sons as they were choosing which ones were right for them. Armed with the lists of "Must Haves"
they were all also influenced by the settings and locations of the schools they chose. There is a feeling or inuition that tells you "This is the right place."
I think also that community is an important aspect of learning. The colleges that do a good job of inclusion and building a solid community are the ones that are successful in turning out intelligent, well-rounded, and responsible graduates.
These characteristics of setting and community are also important in the workplace. I work in corporate America in a very large company and most folks there are at the top of their games. They go above and beyond every day.
Some of it is expectation; but much of it is the character of these people.
I have gotten to know many of them over the years and I see how we are in a setting that encourages excellence and we are part of a community that believes in hard work and success.
I think what you experience in college goes with you and aids you in your work.
Great post!