Two weeks ago, I shared the advice veteran educators offered to teachers beginning their careers. Most of that advice had to do with how teachers should teach — the respect, patience and humor they should bring to their interactions with students.

I got more suggestions than we had space to print, but this week, I wanted readers to see some responses that were a bit different.

Some educators supplied, in a sense, the advice they give themselves on a regular basis. One question I had asked teachers was if there was a quotation they used to inspire themselves.

Amy Rabideau of Peru has selections from "Four Agreements to Live By" by Don Miguel Ruiz at her desk and reads them often during the week:

"Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you."

"Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama."

"Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret."

SEEKING PURPOSE
Two other contributors, Jim Howard of the Plattsburgh State Education Department and Tom Cordy of the Western Connecticut State Education Department, remind themselves of the basic purpose of education.

When I was coaching high-school sports, I was sometimes loudly reminded that not everyone agreed with my view of why we were playing the games. I thought every kid should play some of every game even if we lost them all.

My side of the conversation went something like this: "We lose? So what? Somebody has to lose. If the game is worth playing, let's get everybody into the game."

The other side of the conversation sounded like this: "What the hell's the matter with you? Are you nuts? Keep my kid in, and let's win."

Those fondly remembered conversations convince me that we should agree upon our purpose before we argue about how to achieve it.

So deciding on the purpose of education seems like a very good place to start. But the answer might be complicated. Is the purpose of public education to help the individual or society? Do we want to educate children to be happy or to be productive? Do we have to make that choice or can we do both?

Jim Howard quotes John Dewey, America's most famous education philosopher: "I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not the preparation for future living."

If Dewey is right, schools justify their existence mostly by what they do today for today: Learning today makes sense even if the world might end tomorrow.

Tom Cordy's quote is from Benjamin Barber's "An Aristocracy for Everyone": "Democratic education mediates the ancient quarrel between the rule of opinion and the rule of excellence by informing opinion and, through universal education in excellence, creating an aristocracy of everyone."

I'm thinking that maybe, after giving everyone in America his or her First Amendment right to free speech and a free press, our founding fathers got worried: "Everybody has an equal right to speak and write? Even people who don't know much? We'd better educate them. All of them."

So for Barber the purpose of education is to give everyone the knowledge and skills to see the truth and speak it, and make society better.

Both are very good answers to "Why do schools exist?" If you think that they contradict each other and it's impossible for them to do both, Jim Howard sent me another quotation: "Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion."

Jerry McGovern, the Press-Republican's coordinator of Newspapers-in-Education, taught in New York state's public schools, and now teaches in the Communication Department of Plattsburgh State. He can be reached at gmcgovern@pressrepublican.com or 565-4126. This column is the opinion of the writer and not necessarily of this newspaper.