Monday, October 31, 2005

Tapping Your Inner Wisdom

You have heard it said many times, “We learn from experience.” Well, we don’t. If we learned from experience, we would not keep making the same mistakes.

You may know someone who has been at the same job for ten years. Yet that person describes performing the role in the same way as it was performed a decade ago. That individual does not have ten years of experience at the job but merely one year of experience repeated ten times.

We do not learn by simply having experiences. To learn, we must reflect upon our experiences. Too many of us live life in a semi-comatose state. We interact with others and our environment. If a situation turns out in our favor, we credit it to luck. If circumstances turn against us, we bemoan our fate.

To live life fully, we must live consciously. We need to continually review our thoughts, behaviors, and results. We need to determine what is helping us to reach our goals and to express our values. Those are the actions and attitudes we want to reinforce. When we find thoughts or behaviors that create negative outcomes, we need to take the initiative to think and act in more positive ways.

A helpful exercise is to review your day before retiring each night. Identify your accomplishments for the day. Congratulate yourself on your successes, no matter how small they may seem to you. Determine what you did that contributed to the positive outcomes so you can reinforce those behaviors. Review what you want to do differently. Decide what actions might bring you more positive results in the future. This simple daily exercise is one way you can tap your inner wisdom.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Mastery

Learning is a lifelong process. No matter what our field, there is always more to learn. Learning is a continuous journey on the path to mastery. George Leonard, in his book Mastery, describes this process as “dedicated effort without attachment to immediate results….”

The key to mastery is patience. The practitioner takes on a discipline for its own sake, not for the achievement of some goal. Results are a by-product of a steady dedication. The enemy of mastery, says Leonard, is the obsessive pursuit of climactic moments. The insatiable appetite for titillation fostered by American culture is the antithesis of the diligence required for the long-term journey to mastery.

Leonard identifies five master keys for those serious about establishing a long-term practice. The first is instruction. Find a teacher from whom to learn. Seek out books, tapes, films, workshops on your topic of interest. Key two is practice, the pursuit of a discipline for its own sake.

The third key is surrender; giving yourself to the demands of your discipline. Surrender also refers to letting go of hard-won competencies in order to move on to the next stage of growth. To surrender is to be perpetually in the role of a learner.

The fourth master key is intentionality. Thoughts, images, and feelings are fused in mental rehearsal. As Leonard says, “Every master is a master of vision.”

The last key is what Leonard calls the Edge. While masters are dedicated to the fundamentals of their calling, they also are moved to challenge its limits. The path of mastery takes the practitioner to the edge of his or her being. Mastery is taking the next step beyond that edge.

To get to that point requires long-term dedication, openness to learning, and support from those who have gone before. The path of mastery involves an ongoing journey of learning, growth, and challenge. It is life.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Clowning Around

In my last post I mentioned that there are students who think of me as being crazy. Some may think I am merely a clown or a fool. I certainly hope so! The clown and trickster figures in mythology break through taboos, create chaos and disorder, and disrupt the fixed and staid. Tricksters initiate change and becoming. They shatter boundaries. In Paleolithic times, trickster was the archetype of the hero, the teacher of mankind.

In Carol Pearson’s model of development, the Fool is the most advanced stage. She describes the Fool as at the root of our sense of vitality and aliveness. The Fool is also irreverent. When the Fool is active in our lives, we are motivated by curiosity and want to explore and experiment with life. When there is too little Fool in our lives, we become priggish, repressed, uptight, anorexic, tired, bored, depressed or lacking in curiosity. The contribution of the Fool to our lives is resilience.

According to William Torbert’s hierarchy of development, Clown is the next to highest stage. Individuals at this stage of development do not find their identity in a particular mindset or structure. Those at this stage embrace a reframing spirit that continually overcomes itself and divests itself of its own presuppositions, seeking the “common sense” and motivating challenge of each situation. Unpredictability and uniqueness characterize much of their work and play.

Henri Nouwen praised clowns for evoking in us a smile and awakening our hope. They live out the part of our being that wants to play, dance, smile, and other such “useless” things. Clowns remind us that what really counts is something other than the spectacular and sensational. They show us that many of our preoccupations, worries, tensions, and anxieties need a smile. In other words, they help us to lighten up.

Those who come to master any practice often come across as fools because they no longer adhere to the rules. They don’t fit the norm. They shed their self-consciousness and dare to express the fullness of who they are.

Do we who teach have the courage to embrace the Clown? Are we willing to go beyond the proven, the safe, the expected? Do we dare play and experiment as we take ourselves and our students to new levels of development? Are we willing to be Fools? After all, we did choose to be teachers.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Mad Professor

When I try to remember anything said by any of my teachers at any stage of my formal education, only one statement comes to mind. A professor I had for an undergraduate philosophy course stated that he advocated controlled madness. The older I get the better I understand what he meant.

Word has gotten back to me that some students who have taken my courses are telling others that I am crazy. They don’t mean simply unusual. They mean CRAZY! They’re right! I find sanity confining. When people consider you sane, they expect the expected from you. When you are labeled crazy, you have far more freedom to experiment. In fact, when you are considered mad, people expect you to be unconventional. Since they don’t know what to expect from you, they are not surprised by the unexpected. This makes life a lot more fun. It also allows me to try different approaches to teaching. I am not confined in how I express myself. I cry and laugh. I am serious and playful. I learn and teach. I am foolish and wise. I can give expression to many facets of myself. Doing so creates the space for my students to do the same. Education is then truly holistic. I am grateful for the lesson shared in that class decades ago by a wise mad professor.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

The Classroom Setting

Go into a typical classroom. What do you see? Seats in neat rows facing the front of the room where the instructor stands. What are the assumptions that underlie this arrangement? What does the room say? What the room setup communicates is that the teacher is the important person in the room. Everyone else is there to benefit from the knowledge and experience of the instructor. The students come with empty brains to be filled by the overflow of knowledge from the teacher’s superior mind. Teachers give. Students receive. This puts students in a passive stance.

The common classroom arrangement is based on a mechanistic model. Rows of students are to be taught assembly line fashion. Efficiency is paramount. One instructor can expose large numbers of students at one time to course material.

The problem is that people are organisms not machines. Learning is an organic process. It emerges out of the interaction of learners with the subject of focus. Learning is not a predictable, manageable event. Learning usually comes as a surprise. The AHA! may come as a flash or as a slow realization.

How would an organic classroom be arranged? I envision a space that can be quickly reconfigured to match the learning needs of the moment. Chairs can be moved to form a large circle. Seating can be rearranged to form space for small group work. There is adequate space to allow for movement and kinesthetic learning exercises. The number of students in the class is small enough to allow for everyone to sit in a circle for large group discussions. There is enough room for individuals to get away from the group to take time to reflect or to work on individual projects. Everyone shares in the roles of teacher and learner. I envision the factory classroom giving way to a laboratory of learning.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Silent Minds

I was standing at the back of the lecture hall while another instructor was presenting and looked out at the sea of student heads. That is when I heard it; the deafening silence of brains put on hold. I sensed a total lack of thinking going on in the room. Students were not absorbing the lesson; they were merely enduring the lecture.

It came time for me to face my own classes. As I now looked at the front of student heads, I paid attention for signs of thought. What I became aware of were brains shifting down to idle. I resorted to an old standby to spark student attention. “Page 52,” I announced, “is important. This will be on the exam!” Even the backbenchers woke up with that announcement. But I still didn’t have them thinking.

I am aware of the different approaches to stimulating student thinking. Questions are a common approach. I find, however, that students typically go through the motions of answering questions without giving deep thought to their answers. (This may be an adequate depth of thought for politicians but I seek more for my students.) An approach I do find that sparks thinking is to short-circuit the students’ minds. This can be done by exposing students to a new perspective on something they thought they already knew. Now they are not so sure they know what they know. First I see confused looks on the faces of students; then the frowns. It is at this point I hear the whir of brains starting up. I know they are thinking when I begin to see smiles break out as students begin to grasp the new perspective. I know they are really thinking when I hear laughter. It doesn’t mean they all agree with the new perspective, but they are assessing it. Now learning can begin.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Capturing Attention

Attention/Awareness/Action

I have found this a useful sequence when designing class lessons. I first strive to capture the students’ attention. I may begin class with an activity, a story, a question, or a provocative statement. I may even drum. That really gets their attention! Once I have the attention of students, I can focus their awareness on the point of the lesson. I follow this with an exercise or discussion to give students the opportunity to put into action the information or concept I have shared in my presentation. I have discovered in speaking to past students that the lessons they tend to remember from my classes are those lessons that were preceded by an attention-getter. There is likely to be little learning unless we first capture the attention of our students.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Wonder

There is an Arapaho proverb that goes: “If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come.” How often do we stimulate our students to wonder? Our inclination is to provide information in an attempt to move students to knowledge of a subject. What would our teaching be like if we concentrated on stimulating our students’ sense of wonder?

The dictionary defines wonder as a “feeling of mingled surprise and curiosity; astonishment.” What I find students curious about when they start a course are the course requirements. How much work will be required to get a good grade? Must they attend classes? What will be included on the exams?

My first question to students is, “What do you want to learn?” I want to have students focus on the subject not the course. When I ask students why they are taking a particular course, the usual answer is that the course is needed to fill a degree requirement. Even if the student is taking the course as an elective, the motivation is to earn the necessary credits to graduate.

I wonder how I may cultivate wonder in my students. The Arapaho would say that if I stay with a question long enough, the answer will come. I wonder if that is true.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Reading

According to the prominent eighteenth century literary figure Dr. Samuel Johnson, “A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.”

College does a good job crushing any interest in reading. Students are expected to purchase high-priced texts that may be informative but are generally boring. The students are burdened with a heavy reading load that is difficult to carry. I question the value students receive from much of what is assigned for them to read.

I enjoy reading. My appreciation for reading, though, was not cultivated in college. My love for reading developed after leaving college, when I was able to choose what I read. Reading became a choice rather than a requirement.

There are many reasons to justify using assigned readings in courses. I use textbooks in my introductory courses. They contain the information students need to provide a foundation for their future studies in the particular discipline. I question, however, the value students receive from the reading I assign. In my advanced courses I do not assign a text. I have students identify what they want to learn about the subject of the course and have them identify the resources that will answer the questions raised. College is to help students learn how to learn. We need to help students learn what questions to ask and how to find the answers. By using general textbooks, we are often spoon feeding students information at the cost of real learning.

Friday, October 07, 2005

The Hero's Journey

Many lament that our Western culture is bereft of rites of passage. I envision college playing this role. College can be experienced as the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey begins with separation from the known and common. The hero ventures forth, encounters adventures, is endowed with new powers, and returns to the community to share what s/he has learned while on the journey. Many students are bored with college. I believe college would become more exciting and meaningful for students if the college experience were explicitly framed within the myth of the hero’s journey. This would make college more than merely preparation for a career. College would become a journey of the spirit.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

A Vision

In recent entries I have vented my frustrations with the educational system in general. Expressing frustration may feel good initially but it does not facilitate moving forward. To create something different we must first envision what we wish to create. We cannot create that which we cannot see (in our mind’s eye). So I would like to articulate my vision for higher education.

I envision students and faculty filled with a passion for learning. Campuses are overrun with people with hair like Einstein due to the explosion of ideas in everyone’s brain. People are learning and growing in all aspects of their lives—body, mind, soul, and spirit. Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary learning abound. New ways to facilitate learning are continually explored. There is a general atmosphere of experimentation that permeates all aspects of the learning process. A flexible approach is taken to meeting the learning needs of students. There is a culture of ongoing improvement. Everyone on campus is treated with respect. Collaboration takes place between faculty, students, administration, staff, and outside organizations.

That is a summary of what I see for higher education. Campuses filled with learning, excitement, growth, enthusiasm, collaboration, spirit. Helping to fulfill such a vision energizes me. What is the vision of higher education that excites your energy?

Sunday, October 02, 2005

An A For All

Grades are the primary obstacle to learning. I have never had a student ask me what they can do to learn more about a subject. I have had students ask what they can do to get a better grade. Learning requires moving from the known into the unknown. This entails risk. Students hesitate to take risks, though, for fear it will adversely impact their grade. Music conservatory professor Benjamin Zander, who is also conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, deals with this obstacle to learning by giving all his students an A. There is one condition the students must meet to earn the A. Zander explains: “Within two weeks they have to write me a letter dated ‘May next year,’ which should begin with the following words: ‘Dear Mr. Zander, I got an A because…’ In the letter they tell me in as much detail as possible what has happened to them in the interim that merits this exceptionally high grade. In writing their letter they have to project themselves into the future, then look back and report on all the insights they have gained and milestones they have reached as if all those successes were already behind them. Everything should be formulated in the past tense.” What Zander is interested in is who the student has become by next May. Zander says, “I’m curious about how this person looks at life, their view of the world now that they’ve done everything they wanted to do, or become everything they wanted to become." To read some of his students’ reactions to his approach, go to http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4124. I also highly recommend reading “Punished by Rewards” by Alfie Kohn. Kohn draws from research to demonstrate the harm done by a reliance on extrinsic incentives.