I find this attitude similar to the dynamics of students and teachers in classrooms. During Leadership 102: Dialogue, the second LDR class in a two part freshman series at Agnes Scott, professors try to get students to be leaders who exercise questioning. With some classes, I felt there was successful questioning in Berger’s definition.

When my LDR class looked closely at the Agnes Scott logo to see its symbolism in color and design, I wondered what other things I was taught but never looked closely at before. What if students were encouraged to look closely at systems of oppression? What if we were encouraged to look closely at trauma and history? The Art History rotation led by Professor Smith taught me to look closely, but after looking closely I also realized I did not want to just look at a logo. I want to look closely at other systemic aspects of Agnes: why it is structured how it is, why our grass is green, why the buildings are not maintained. This led to me changing my question, in the first revision, to address societal inequities contributing to the student experience, as ‘How can the educational system in the United States become a comfortable and motivating experience for students of color?’ but I realized later that this focus should be applied at all students. If we are making education motivating and revolutionary, it should be rooted in the knowledge that the system is unequal, and seek to address that in its actions and leadership.

In another rotation, we learned about how paradigms can be changed through leadership in the Religious Studies rotations with Professor Sessions. She showed us imagery examples of Black liberation theology, and led the class to think about representation and religious bias. Though we talked about the subject in an Agnes Scott class, in other American colleges, showing up with all of your identity, asking questions that might reveal ugly truths, and being intellectually curious can be stifled. Educations in America is a “$7 trillion industry,” a system that prizes standardized testing over “qualities like creativity, communication, collaboration and persistence [which] matter most” (Kamenetz, 2014). This rotation helped me understand that a ‘revolution’ should be called for in my question.

Although in our class we were encouraged to ask a beautiful question through the project, it felt stifling. To follow criteria, requiring the mention of rotations, having to conclude that the classes about logos and theology (one which you might already know) changed your worldview, is asking for students to conform to Berger’s standard, and not find their own. If students were able to ask really beautiful questions, they would be personally meaningful too. Students should ask questions from their curiosity, not from Berger’s, and be encouraged to find answers with their teachers. Intellectual freedom would be most motivating for students.

If American education was reimagined, we would have to grapple with deeper issues, and we would gain an ability to address a broken state more honestly. My Beautiful Question demands reflection and insights to ask for something that should not be as radical as it is, and should exist already.

The questions I want to ask are:

Why is education not a freeing and self-motivating experience? Why is education cause student burnout? Why is mental health not a facet of ‘standard’ education?

Education has been a process designed like other institutions and systems to cope with the “physical environment,” developing a “social realm” of struggle (Cleaver, 1969). Struggle forces people to see past their previous limitations, but too much is overwhelming. My education is important to me, as well as the quality of education for my peers.