While taking a Christian Education course in Seminary I was given the task of going to church and view my home church through the eyes of a visitor.  I went to church the following Sunday with my notepad in hand ready to take notes.  Upon entering the church (late as usual) I saw trash cans in each corner of the fellowship hall, bags of trash beside the wet bar (yes, we have a wet bar in our fellowship hall, doesn’t everyone?) and the nearly empty parking lot told me very few people were actually at church.  Upon closer examination, what I had thought were trash cans were actually kegs of beer left over from a huge wedding that had lasted until nearly five in the morning (which explained the lack of attendance in the church).

This seemingly small task had a lasting effect on the way I’ve understood education and my role as an educator.  Just as the results of a sacramental celebration led to me being very weary of writing up a report on my home church through the eyes of a visitor, we, as educators, should also examine the environment of our classrooms.  

What does the environment of our classroom say about what we are teaching?  Now, I’m not just talking about what’s hanging on your walls or what furniture is in your room- I’m talking about it all.  The environment- everything from the materials within the textbook you are using to the way the desks are arranged to the “Stupid People Suck” coffee mug on your desk- what does this say about the learning that is supposed to go on- how might a visitor view your class upon first inspection?

We often teach without teaching- by choosing certain stories and leaving out others, we are teaching the importance of some but what are we saying about those voices we are avoiding?  Most commonly we look at teaching from racial biases, but what about theological and philosophical biases as well?  What voices are we giving to men and to women?  Whose voices are we listening to from history?  Whose experiences are we allowing to shape the overall environment of our classroom?

This blog (many years in the planning, but little in the line of actually executing) plans to be a place for discussing the learning that occurs within and without the classroom- expanding that concept of classroom experience and environment beyond the traditional confines of the traditional class.  Feel free to join in the discussion- after all, what’s the point in throwing opinions out for no one to discuss?