The Right Use of Studies
The French philosopher, Simone Weil, wrote a short essay on education in 1942 titled, REFLECTIONS ON THE RIGHT USE OF SCHOOL STUDIES WITH A VIEW TO THE LOVE OF GOD. Following is a short excerpt from the essay:
The Key to a Christian conception of studies is the realisation that prayer consists of attention. It is the orientation of all the attention of which the soul is capable towards God. The quality of attention counts for much in the quality of the prayer. Warmth of heart cannot make up for it… Students must therefore work without any wish to gain good marks, to pass examinations, to win school successes; without any reference to their natural abilities and tastes; applying themselves equally to all their tasks, with the idea that each one will help to form in them the habit of that attention which is the substance of prayer. When we set out to do a piece of work, it is necessary to wish to do it correctly, because such a wish is indispensable if there is to be true effort. Underlying this immediate objective, however, our deep purpose should aim solely at increasing the power of attention with a view to prayer; as, when we write, we draw the shape of the letter on paper, not with a view to the shape, but with a view to the idea we want to express. To make this the sole and exclusive purpose of our studies is the first condition to be observed if we are to put them to the right use. The second condition is to take great pains to examine squarely and to contemplate attentively and slowly each school task in which we have failed, seeing how unpleasing and second-rate it is, without seeking any excuse or overlooking any mistake or any of our tutor’s corrections, trying to get down to the origin of each fault…Above all it is thus that we can acquire the virtue of humility, and that is a far more precious treasure than all academic progress… If these two conditions are perfectly carried out there is no doubt that school studies are quite as good a road to sanctity as any other.
Weil’s assertions raise at least two important questions for teachers. First, how would viewing academics as a means of sanctification (i.e., the students’ love for God) change the way we teach them? Second, how would it change the way we execute our own work as teachers if we were to apply the same view to teaching as Weil suggests students should apply to studying?
