Conversation about Quakerism: Truth

This month we continued our yearlong series of conversations around Quakerism. We plan to gather each month for a conversation inspired by a topic connecting to our Quaker identity. Our conversations will be sparked by selected publications, videos, social media posts, news reports, etc.

We framed our conversation with the Quaker idea and testimony of Truth. We considered what Truth might mean in the context of teaching and learning in a Friends school using these resources:

Friends of What? (Quaker Historical Lexicon)


https://quakerlexicon.wordpress.com/tag/friends-of-truth/

Guided by an Inner Truth (QuakerSpeak, Sterling Dunn, 04/16/2015)
https://quakerspeak.com/guided-inner-truth/








Truth is Something that Happens (Quaker Earthcare Witness, Louis Cox)
https://www.quakerearthcare.org/article/truth-something-happens

Vital Friends: What Bayard Rustin's Life and Activism Can Teach Us About Finding Common Ground by Marta Rusek Friends General Council, 4/30/19

https://www.fgcquaker.org/news/vital-friends-what-bayard-rustins-life-and-activism-can-teach-us-about-finding-common-ground

https://www.afsc.org/story/bayard-rustin

Our conversation was loosely structured using the following prompts:

• What questions does this raise for you?

• What insights have you discovered?

• What concerns does this raise for you?

Our reflections inspired some queries...

We are all listening to our own truth... How might that create and enrich our community? How might that cause divisions? How do we understand who has which part of the truth?

Where is the gray in not knowing the truth? Where is the joy in not knowing the truth?

Prison reform really resonates to some of us in the work we do. What role does truth play in our criminal justice system? How can we make this system better?

How do we listen for the truth?

If we agree that there is not just one truth, that everyone has a piece of the truth, that humility is an important part of truth, then how do we teach that to our children? How do we help them understand that no one has all the answers?

How do we model humility? (and trying out new ideas, growing, changing)

How do we approach building trust and breaking trust in our teaching and learning context?

Query for Parents this month...

For our gathering of parents this month, our clerks have created a query to guide the conversation. These queries will be shared with parents as they explore how they and their families interact with technology and screens.

In an increasingly digital age, how can we guide our children to make good choices about the use of technology and screen time?

How do we, as parents and teachers, join in this – modeling, learning, making choices, etc… What do our actions “teach” about what we value when it comes to technology/screens?

Conversations about Quakerism...

This month we began our yearlong series of conversations around Quakerism. We plan to gather each month for a conversation inspired by a topic connecting to our Quaker identity. Our conversations will be sparked by selected publications, videos, social media posts, news reports, etc.

We began with the big query of Friends Schools. We considered the why, when, how of a Quaker education using these resources:

Teaching Religion at a Friends School, Tom Hoopes, QuakerSpeak, 08/03/17

https://quakerspeak.com/teaching-religion-friends-school/

Quaker Schools / Friends Schools: Quakers in the World

http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/66/-Quaker-SchoolsFriends-Schools

Quaker Schools: Strong Model Minority, Charles Austin, NewYorkTimes, 11/13/83

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/13/education/quaker-schools-strong-moral-minority.html

Quaker Education : What's Different about a Friends School? Drew Smith, Friends Council on Education, 7/26/17 

https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/blog/quaker-education-whats-different-about-a-friends-school

Quaker Indian Boarding Schools, Friends Journal, Paula Palmer 10/01/16

https://www.friendsjournal.org/quaker-indian-boarding-schools/

Our conversation was loosely structured using the following prompts:

• What are you noticing/feeling/thinking?

• What in these ideas feels familiar or expected?

• What in these ideas feels surprising or unfamiliar?

• What questions do you have?

Our reflections inspired some queries...

How does the multiplicity within each of us "speak" to our role in our community? Multiplicity meaning the varied ways we might identify... individuals who might be both Jewish and Christian, for example. This becomes important especially as we think about the identities of the learners in the room - we are used to the multiple identities and perspectives in the group, how about those within each of us as individuals?

How do we remember that we are "stumbling" forward? What does that mean? Why might it resonate? (Quote from Tom Hoopes, Quaker Speak)

Does the Quaker ethos in our rooms build because of the type of learners that we admit, or are the learners that we admit shaped by the Quaker ethos in the room? What might that mean for our teaching and learning practice?

Who are we today? How has the past shaped our ideas and opinions? What might people of the future feel shock or dismay to learn about our practices today? How do we examine our own leadings to let the light shine?