Just One Day

Most days in any school do have a mundane feel to them—indeed, we educators covet a painless, crisis-free day. But if you were watching from a worm’s eye view (just taught that kind of perspective, so prized by 15th century artist Andrea Mantegna, the other day!) as people shuttle from class to class, sit down for lunch, finish up some math problems, cram for a French test, I guess most days feel kind of plain-brown wrapper. Ah, but to those of us who are lovers of school, even the seemingly ordinary days really are more like Our Town which when unwrapped is like a great iceberg—what we see on the surface goes much deeper than we realize. (yes, I know I mixed the metaphors…sue me.)

Anyway, last Wednesday was not ordinary at all. And as I look back on that day, January 13, 2010, it is one of the most wonderful days of my whole KA experience.
First of all, I taught a complex lesson about the Renaissance—but I will devote a whole blog entry to that in a couple of days. The day was remarkable because of something so serious in the afternoon, and then an evening event so silly—a gross food eating contest—that sets that day apart. You know I think I better handle just one topic at a time in this blogisode…stay tuned for an upcoming blogisode about the gross food eating contest…guess who participated??????

Anyway, last Wednesday afternoon the school was divided into the four grades, and the winners of each section of English class participated in a declamation contest. “Declamation” is one of those wonderful, old-fashioned traditions from prep schools, one maintained and cherished at Deerfield Academy to this very day. Each student prepares a speech, a declamation, and then offers that speech in English class. Then each class votes on whose declamation was the very best. Then each of the class winners competes against each other in front of the whole school.
Too bad more schools don’t honor this tradition of rhetoric, poise, sharp writing, and public speaking. In the Renaissance (all this month we are studying the magical Renaissance in Art History class) declamations were a part of every young man’s education. In order to be an effective and productive citizen of a city, a young man needed to be successful in Declamations.

I had heard how well the class speeches were going, and last Wednesday afternoon I looked forward to hearing as many as I could in the one hour after school devoted to the public declamations by grade. I heard several from the junior class, then zipped over to the venue for the seniors, for I wanted to hear my student Faisal offer his declamation.

Faisal is a young man who was my first interview with a prospective student two Januaries ago. I have taught him now twice, and he earned a superior grade on the AP exam last spring. He is a worker bee and a delight to know. However, he makes no bones about how he does not enjoy public speaking. I knew he did not relish this opportunity for public speaking as some would.

Faisal eschewed the choice that some had made speaking about a sad moment in their lives for their speeches, or how much they enjoyed KA, or something else light in subject matter. Instead, Faisal did exactly what those Renaissance scholars would have advocated 500 years ago—a speech of moral and civic courage. Not only did Faisal write a captivating speech, but this speech about his own world, his own people, was delivered in a majestic, confident tone. I asked Faisal if I could put his speech on the blog for everyone to read his speech, and he agreed. Here is the text to Faisal’s declamation:

The Arab World
"A moment comes, which rarely comes in history, where we step from the old to the new, when an old age ends and when the soul of a nation finds utterance."-Jawaharlal Nehru. That moment seems unattainable for the modern Arab world even when the environment feels ripe for reform, change and prosperity. We are the characterization of unfulfilled potential; countless moments and opportunities were offered to us only to find the overwhelmingly lethargic nature of Arabia prevail in inhibiting growth and development. A void of educated leaders and a lack of emphasis on human development coupled with a fixation on the Arab-Israeli conflict and a reactionary interpretation of the ideals of Islam has guaranteed intransigence at every point of the threshold.

The “Israel complex” Arabs seem to hold is best identified through the 2008 Brookings poll which found that 86% of Arabs classify the Palestinian-Israeli issue as one of their top 3 priorities. So much of our gusto has gone into protesting Israel’s formation on Palestinian land that it has sapped our energy to take constructive strides towards achieving our goals. After its establishment in 1945, the Arab League released declaration after declaration boycotting Israel and calling for its removal. Its agenda did not address why it was so easy for Israel to forge a nation at the epicenter of the Arab world. Nor did the Arab League look at ways to re-build the 21 other newly independent Arab states. Arab obsession with Israel is so intense that it did not provide the motive for unification and development a common enemy usually induces- as was the case during Otto Von Bismarck’s unification of Germany in 1871.

Islam has been falsely interpreted to prevent reform and hinder the moderate Arabs’ plight for modernization and widespread modification of an outdated social and political system. Arab extremists have used religion as an excuse for stagnation by referring to acts of democratization and social development as un-Islamic. This has made sure Arabs lag behind in issues such as women’s rights, even when the founding of Islam in 600 C.E brought significant reform to the conditions of women in Arabia. Mistaken interpretation of Islam has also contributed to widespread censorship in the educational process, in addition to over emphasis on religious studies at the cost of a secular learning. Arabs forget that the prophet Muhammad once stated, “Seek knowledge even unto China.”

Research and the development of human capital is the only way to guarantee Arab success. Countless civilizations have forged success through increased expenditure on research and development such as Russia’s Peter the Great. Education is the way of the future and it is severely lacking in the Middle East. “A listing of the world’s top 500 universities, compiled annually by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, includes… six Israeli universities, but not a single Arab one.” The quality of education in the Arab world is primitive and does not equip students with critical thinking skills needed for innovation and advancement. Today’s Arabs have no resemblance to their ancestors who “studied astronomy, alchemy, medicine and mathematics with such success that, during the ninth and tenth centuries, more scientific discoveries had been achieved in the Abbasid Empire than in any previous period of history." Today’s educational void has guaranteed exceptionally high poverty and youth unemployment rates in the Middle East.

We have listened to our family members debate the issue and we have formed our own ideas. Now it is time for us to take action. The energy for achieving a moment where we move into a new era is planted in us, the youth of the Arab world. We must work hard for this cause. We must not talk about this issue and then leave it to someone else to handle because we have seen what that attitude produces. I recently came upon a letter that a nationalist wrote in exile to his wife; “I’m sorry it had to be us, I’m sorry I put the nationalistic cause above the well-being of our family. It is a necessary sacrifice for the greater community.” Our task is clear: we must honor and develop the work of our ancestors and finally see through the moment “where we step from the old to the new.”