The Taste of Salt

Working Title:  “The Taste of Salt”

Author:  Joe F. Walenciak; Chairman, Division of Business, John Brown University

Date:  January 6, 2007

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”  --Antoine De Saint-Exupery

For many years, education has consisted largely of students sitting at the feet of a master teacher, grasping the gems of wisdom that fall from carefully-scripted lectures and guided learning activities.  Those days are gone…or at least they should be.

As a business educator, I have stood behind the podium for more than 25 years.  Originally, I was a disseminator of information.  I spoke, and students wrote frantically to capture every thought so that they could pass my exams.  And so they learned

That model of education is inadequate today.  Young people today are active, visual learners who need educational opportunities that integrate meaningful application into the learning process.  “Learning by doing” should be a more prominent component of the tools we use to train future generations.

In business, we know that our students have to be multidimensional people.  First, they need a clear global perspective, and they typically don’t get that from lectures.  They get it from experience and interaction.  Second, they need skill sets that help them function effectively as they serve their organization, its people, and its community.  That includes the skill of working with others, which is also learned through experience and not through lecture.

Third, business students need to be prepared broadly for life.  Our students will have to deal with the major global problems, and they will develop new approaches and answers by seeing the world from different perspectives and at a variety of levels.  That kind of analytical and creative thinking does not come solely from business preparation, but also from the arts, history, math, and sciences.  We need whole people who “live large” and who can bring new ideas into existence in meaningful ways.

Finally, we need people who are passionate about life and work.  Passion is not taught.  It is ignited.  If Antoine De Saint-Exupery is right about building the ship, then the question for us is this.  How do we teach our students to “long for the endless immensity of the sea”?  How do we give them that “taste of salt” that will ignite passion in their lives?

At John Brown University, we involve our students in community development programs in Central America.  Since 2003, we have called this program “ADVANCE Guatemala.”  “A” – Address the pressing needs of the people.  “D” – Develop the fragile economy.  “V” – Validate marginalized people and groups.  “A” – Activate minds through education.  “N” – Nourish discouraged hearts and depressed spirits.  “C” – Cultivate local ownership and initiative.  “E” – Exit the process but not the friendship.

Every year, groups of students go to rural areas in Guatemala to change people’s lives, but they come back changed in the process.  One of our projects involves stoves.  Poor, rural Guatemalans often cook over open fires on the floors of their small dwellings.  Children fall into those fires.  The smoke causes many health problems.  Carrying wood is a daily chore that damages backs and necks and contributes to deforestation.  The stove project is part of a larger development effort that includes education, business, health, community involvement, and more.  It is an opportunity for business students to apply their business skills, but they quickly learn that business alone is inadequate.  Passion is ignited as they apply what they know to help real people in meaningful ways, but they also learn that they need to keep learning.

This year, ADVANCE Guatemala has expanded into similar programs in Mexico, Honduras, Panama, and Nicaragua.  JBU students of various majors will be involved in a variety of educational programs, medical relief, and development work in these areas.  They gain practical experience planning and implementing projects, resolving conflicts, dealing with setbacks, working with a diverse group of people, assessing outcomes, communicating, and making things happen.  This is education that would never happen while seated at a desk.

Reading, writing, and math will always be important skills.  For many, our education is a right that we often take for granted and perhaps even waste.  In Guatemala, where public education is not free, education is oftentimes only a dream, especially for many young girls in poor, rural villages.  Hope and education become synonymous, and without education, there is no hope for a different future.  When I meet rural Guatemalans who fight and sacrifice so that their children can receive a basic education, and therefore a better future, I am humbled.  I am also reminded to do all I can so that the opportunity of education is not wasted for my students.

Education really starts when students leave their desks and work with real people and situations.  The world is a powerful classroom.