You may have noticed that the blog's name has changed to "Latin, Literacy, Learning, Life - An Educationalyst's Journey".
You may have asked yourself,
"Why?"
Or maybe it struck you that something was different, but you couldn't put your finger on what that difference was. (Isn't it funny how we use concrete terms in abstract ways? I mean, can you really put your finger on a "difference"?)
Perhaps you observed that there were suddenly a lot of L's all up front, and thought, Cool, Alliteration!
But what the heck is an "Educationalyst"?
In any event, the change of title bears explanation, as Bill Landau, old friend and colleague, gently brought to my attention.
The first part of the title reflects the direction this blog has gone in.
It is about Latin.
It is about Literacy.
It is about Learning.
And it is about Life.
I may change it again to "Latin, Language, Learning, Life - An Educationalyst's Journey".
In any event, the title now is more representative of where I am than the previous "For Teachers of Classics and Lovers of Language".
Certainly more inclusive.
But what is an Educationalyst?
Why not "Educator"?
And why a journey?
The 'journey' part comes from how I view the living and progressing of my life.
I have always thought of it as a journey.
Maybe because a lot of what I have read speak of journeys.
JRR Tolkien, one of my all-time favorite authors, always talks about how
"The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began...."
Sheldon Kopp wrote one of the most amazing books I've ever read, entitled,
If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him!
As any reader of epic could tell you, the Road, the Journey, plays a major role.
Often, it is the occasion of the piece.
Think of Homer's Odysseus.
Or Vergil's Aeneas.
Or the far-travelling meandering brilliance that is the poetry of Ovid.
It is why I'm not really interested in "goals" per se.
I used to have to write about "goals" when I was teaching for others.
To me, they were but pit-stops on the way, rest areas, not particularly germane, and, indeed, physical and mental digressions from the real business at hand.
But that was not the correct answer.
Which is why I do what I do now.
Which is why I speak of myself as an Educationalyst.
And again, What Is An Educationalyst?
The term is one I came up with.
I am not an "Educator".
An "Educator" is someone who stays within the parameters of education as it currently goes about its business.
Who is satisfied with the system as it exists.
Who promulgates that system.
I do none of that.
Look at the word Educationalyst.
Educationalyst is a hybrid word:
education- this is the stem
-al- - Latin suffix, meaning "that which pertains to" a particular field
-lyst- - Greek suffix, from "lusis", cognate with English "loose" as in "let loose, unleash"
This suffix appears in words such as "catalyst", "analyst", etc.
It is not to be confused with "-ist", someone who does something or has a set of beliefs
causing them to act in a particular way.
So then, an Educationalyst is one who unleashes, lets loose powerful forces in things pertaining to the field of Education, not to further Education as it stands, but to create the environment in which Education goes further in different directions, ones not necessarily in concert with, and often in radical opposition to, the Educational Status Quo.
An Educationalyst, then, is an Agent of Change.
As the Furies unleash the incredibly creative power of their targets,
so do I.
My target is Education as it Stands.
My weapon is my Latin program.
It is not a weapon that harms.
It is a weapon that transforms.
That helps schools and their students unleash in themselves a power and understanding of language that will stand them well for their whole lives.
And so, that is what I am, among many things.
An Educationalyst.
- drg