Winston Churchill said, “We shape our buildings and then our
buildings shape us.” Well, the same is true for our communities. Communities
that are fragmented and dysfunctional produce people who are – you guessed it –
fragmented and dysfunctional. On the other hand, communities that bring people
together and build connections – communities that are inclusive, nurturing and
accessible – produce people who are connected and empowered.
And healthy communities don’t just happen by accident. Like Churchill said, they
have to be carefully and intentionally “shaped” so that they will then shape us
into the kinds of people we want to be. We build our communities around values
that both reflect who we are and influence who we can become.
Another word for this shaping process is education. Education is much bigger
than anything our schools can do alone. It is happening everywhere, all the time
– when we read our local paper, when we walk through downtown, when we visit a
local park, when we patronize a local business, when we participate in a local
election. The quality of our experiences during these daily activities teaches
us what our community really values and then shapes us according to those
values.
So, with that in mind, here are a few questions you can ask that will give you a
better idea of the kind of education your community is providing you:
1) Am I able to have a real voice in the decisions that affect me and my family,
and do I know how to make my voice heard?
2) Are there a sufficient number of public places that bring the diverse members
of my community together so we can build common ground?
3) Is there an ongoing and accessible public dialogue about important issues in
my community, and do I know how I can participate in this dialogue?
4) Is my community thinking long-term and planning for generations to come?
5) Does my community support small businesses, economic innovation and
entrepreneurialism?
6) Does my community value and support participation in the creative arts?
7) Do I have access to locally grown food and locally made products?
8) Is it possible for me to both live and work in the same community?
9) Is my community safe for walking and biking? Can I get many of my basic needs
met without using my car?
10) Do people of all ages, from children to senior citizens, have regular
opportunities to work and play together? Is the knowledge and wisdom of our
elders being respected and utilized?
11) Are there opportunities for everyone, no matter what their ability level, to
do real work and make real contributions?
12) Does my community take care of its own – the sick, the needy, the weak, the
disabled?
13) Does my community respect and foster sustainable connections with the
natural world?
Questions like these can create the conversations we need to be having, and it
is in these conversations that we will discover the work that needs to be done.
Democracy doesn’t just happen by accident. There has to be an infrastructure in
place that both allows and helps it to happen. And when these “buildings” have
been shaped, they will then shape us into the educated and empowered citizens
that can make our communities – and our democracy – work. And isn’t that what
public education really means?
Jim Strickland lives in Everett, Washington with his wife and three children. He
is a community-based educator in nearby Marysville where he works to promote
non-coercive learning and the development of true learning communities. Jim
invites response from readers who are interested in joining the conversation on
integrating learning with the rest of our lives. He can be reached at
livedemocracy@hotmail.com.
This is one of a limited number of articles from Natural
Life magazine that are available on this website for free. To read more articles
like this, please
subscribe to our digital edition.
