Moment of magic occurs when the teacher, in the middle of her lecture, looks out the window and, turning to them, says, “You realize the light that is shining in that star took thousands of years to get here, right?” All a sudden the room is no longer a room. It is a leapfrog. The textbooks disappear and during several seconds the students cease to think of an examination and begin to speculate about existence.
This is the might of astronomy. It is not only about transmitting facts but the ability to get arouse curiosity, expand our horizons and subtly re-invent what learning is. Astronomy not only tells us about the universe, but about how to teach, and how to learn, as well, through the silent din of the lecture hall to the timeless silence of space.
Astronomy Teaches Us to Ask Bigger Questions
In most classrooms, students are trained to look for answers, neat, boxed, and testable. But astronomy? It turns that on its head. Nobody looks in a telescope and says, as it were, that here is a mystery solved. Instead, they declare: Wait, what is that?
Herein is the sort of learning we require to have more of, the sort that starts off in awe. An astronomy lesson makes us learn that the most interesting questions are usually the questions we cannot add answers… yet. It allows students to occupy unknown seats and learn how not to be afraid of it. Through this, it teaches the children to be adventurous and not necessarily to be only successful.
Scale Changes Everything – Including Our Ego
Earth rotates around the sun at 67, 000 miles per hour; the planet is spinning at 1,000 mph, and we get angry when the Wi-Fi is not fast enough.
Astronomy throws the veil aside of everyday life and indicates to us the magnitude of things. The deadlines, rejections and even failures begin to become smaller suddenly. Not that they are insignificant, but that there are contexts. The lesson of humility teaching students how big the cosmos is not the one that makes one smaller; it is the one by which one realizes the fact that there is still so much to be found out there.
Students tend to feel a sort of weird peace when they comprehend their place in the universe. The universe does not coerce them into being perfect rather it would simply welcome them to be.
The Cosmos is the Ultimate Cross Disciplinary Classroom
Astronomy is not always about stars. It is physics, math, chemistry, philosophy, storytelling and sometimes even poetry. It brings all the disciplines together like the galaxies attract the stardust – it will all swirl up to create something new and more radiant.
Suppose the class does not memorize formulas but gets to know why gravity is important in the world by learning to study the way planets orbit. Consider that poetry could be presented in the form of the cosmic metaphors of Carl Sagan. Or teaching time as to how it is warped by black holes. At a moment, the knowledge is not siloed. It’s woven. It’s alive.
The universe doesn’t separate subjects. Why should we?
Learning is a Lifelong Orbit
The astronomers dedicate decades of work to the investigation of a tiny part of the sky. They rework, they break, they recalculate. Not because they are too painful but because they are patient. They are aware of the saying that truth takes time and so does transformation.
This can be an idea for teachers. There is no linear learning process, and it should not be so. It is more of an orbit, seemingly circling, spiraling, other times relenting and then returning with fresher energy. They must have space to re-circle ideas, to re-explore what left them baffled, to develop.
Astronomy shows us that there is nothing wrong about taking the long route around as long as you are in motion.
The Universe as a Teacher
Finally, astronomy does not only involve stars and galaxies. It is a matter of changing the way of thinking. It is about having interest in questions without fearing the size of questions. It is about not forgetting teachers and learners that education is not about preparing to live but living. Expansive. Mysterious. Ever-unfolding.
And that is the journey which lies between the lecture hall and the Milky Way: we look, we ponder, we attempt to learn. In so doing we are students of the stars not merely to come to know, but to be wise.
Thus, next time you give or receive a lesson, why not look up. The universe may already be showing the way.