Environmental Education...And It's Faults

Imagine going to a hippie environmental school in the middle of Portland, Oregon from kindergarten through eighth grade... That was my childhood. Coming to Quest, the people I interact with aren't much different. Everyone, for the most part is liberal, and have similar views on the world. People ask me all the time, “what’s an environmental school?” It’s a specialized, and personal type of education where everything we learn somehow relates to the earth.Though at first thought coming from an environmental school would be useful in transitioning to the Quest environment, I am coming to find that this isn't exactly the case.  I have been struggling with being able to engage in political discussions with my friends, I lack historic knowledge, and I wish I had been offered more math classes in middle school. For these reasons, when arriving at Quest I quickly realized I was lacking some basic information on important topics not relating to the environment.

Attending school with the same group of people for nine years can have an interesting an amazing effect on a person. They shape how you see the world, and how you interact with your community. Many parents were deeply involved in the Sunnyside community, creating a tightly knit connection between school and home life. I came to know my class of 120 people very well. For good or bad, we were stuck with each other until high school. This made it important to resolve any issues we had with one another quickly. Growing up with these people, you are shaped by each and every one of them.  Living in Portland, most people came from very left leaning families, and their views shaped our outlook on the world and the issues facing the planet. Because of this we were all raised to have these environmental ways of life: compost your food, bike everywhere, and treat all plants and animals kindly. I believe all these things are some of the most important aspects of having a good impact on society, but there is something to be said for having an understanding of other subjects as well.

Everything was focused on the specific student. Teachers would try to understand how each kid learned, and cater to that as well as they could. In this way, Quest is a great continuation of that schooling style. Everything was focused on the world.  In terms of the environmental science aspect of my old school, we went on field studies every week to learn about different topics. From farming, water quality, and marine biology, to macroinvertebrates, and a wide range of other environmental issues. But this didn't leave much time for other subjects.

Coming to Quest, I have noticed a difference in strengths and weaknesses compared to my peers. When I take part in day to day discussions, I notice that most of my friends know a lot about history and politics both about Canada and around the world than I do. I want to be able to join them but I honestly just don’t have the knowledge to do so. When I think back on my education, most of the history we learned about was related to pangea, volcanos and other geological events. We didn't learn about historic events or people. We learned about environmental policy, but not the basics in general politics.

Two more important aspect of learning at Quest are math and writing; for instance, most classes require at least one strand of Q Skills. When I took the exam for the first time, I didn't pass any of the strands. This lack of learning basic math concepts in elementary and middle school impacted my level of math through high school, and this ultimately reduced the number of classes I was eligible to take in third and fourth block. On the other hand, I feel confident in my writing skills and being able to produce pieces in the “Quest style.” By this I mean many tutors do not want our writing to conform to the basic four paragraph essay style. In Rhetoric, we were told to think about other ways to portray our ideas, and not to lost things, like in the classic essay format. At Sunnyside, almost all of our writing was done this way.

In general, I feel lucky for the education I received, and that the importance the environment has been shown to me. I have learned valuable skills in writing and the sciences. In addition to this approach to schooling, I would like to have experienced some of the basic courses that most students had in their grade school experience. Though I know a lot about the earth and it’s problems, I feel that I am lacking in some topics that should be basic knowledge, whether it be history, politics, or math.