(…and I’m not even being paid for it!)
Here in Borneo we’ve had a lot of time to think, and one of the things I find myself thinking about with relative frequency is Quest. I keep meaning to write these thoughts down, but there are so many that up until now the task has been too daunting. Yesterday, however, during my kindle time (we’ve got a lot of required reading here in Borneo and dragging books around would be pretty tough, so instead all our reading is on Amazon Kindles) I came across a quote that really helps me convey why Quest is so fantastic:
“What we already know frames what we see, and what we see frames what we understand.” Quest has hit upon an education style that presents knowledge in a way that promotes seeing and understanding more effectively than the traditional model. I’ll elaborate:
I really like details – history and biology are my favorite subjects. But while I can memorize the proteins and processes of the Krebs cycle or the names and dates of the Battle of the Bulge, the truth is that I’m memorizing them for a test. The interdisciplinary Quest approach provides such details but also highlights connections and patterns in a way that leads to a more complete understanding of the world. Those 113 words didn’t even begin to do justice to the sweet education I am receiving in the hands of this visionary group of educators in the southwestern corner of Canada, but it’s a start.
So, that was the abstract “educational value” part of why you should come to Quest. But nobody wants to spend thousands of dollars and four years of ones life at a place that isn’t fun. In the past month I’ve had class on the roof of a houseboat at sunset, on the porch of a ranger station in the middle of a tropical jungle, and in the living room of an indigenous Dayak chief. We discussed the carbon market, forest management systems of Indonesia, and our own big ideas for reducing environmental impact. Last night we rode for 8 hours in 4x4s along the heavily potholed trans-Kalimantan highway while watching an impressive selection of 20-minuite long Indian music videos.
Are you excited yet? Come to Quest!
