Dear simple-minded Van Funderburk Are you playing with us?
Ferreira-Alves ----- Original Message ----- From: "Van Funderburk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 2:56 PM Subject: Re: Random Thought: Marvelous In Our Eyes > Reverand Louis: To whom are you preaching? Yourself or the choir? Van > Funderburk > > Louis_Schmier wrote: > > > Well, I was right. That last Random Thought on religion and > >education got me in lots of hot water. I was flamed in conflagration > >proportions. Good thing my spirit is fire resistant. On a particular > >"fire storming" list I shared a "fire break." Here is some of it: > > > > Lots of things have been coming together these past weeks as if I > >was back in summer camp weaving a lanyard. One strand was the sunrise. > >The sun came up as I sat before my fish pond sipping a cup of freshly > >brewed coffee. I was amazed at how I felt a natural and childlike > >amazement at the amazingly shining beauty of something I've seen thousands > >of times as if it was something new. It felt like a whole new experience! > >A second strand is Lacey. She still is one of those "where does this > >come" miracles, especially after she came up to me and said with wide-eyed > >amazement and joy, "I may be small, but I'm getting to be a big person." > >The third beautiful strand is my Natalie. I was playing with my visiting > >one year old grandbaby for almost a week and was awed by her endless > >curiosity and bottomless sense of discovery. A fourth strand was a > >profoundly touching conversation I had with a student a week or so ago > >that will have to remain confidential. A fifth was a wandering first year > >undecided student for whom I was unknowingly assigned as her THIRD adviser > >in as many semesters who consequently didn't believe anyone really, in her > >words, "on this campus cares if I am alive or dead as long as I pay > >tuition." And the last thread, I was thinking both about a "difficult" > >student afflicted with ADD who had to leave school and a long, tearful > >telephone conversation with his mother. > > > > And, it suddenly came to me. Somewhere in Scripture it says > >something like "This is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes." > > > > "It is marvelous in our eyes." I have to repeat a thought I posed > >several weeks ago. It is for me a profound question too often unasked on > >our campuses. If we see a sense of wonder and awe in nature, shouldn't we > >see it everywhere and in everyone? Shouldn't that sense of wonder and awe > >be seen and felt not only in the fields, in a forest, on a meandering > >quiet stream, on a calm lake, on a beach, on a mountain, at sea, in the > >skies, but on our campuses as well? If we are awed by the majestic elk or > >the magnificent whale or the graceful swan or the beautiful peacock or the > >powerful orang or the dainty butterfly or the melodic wren, why doesn't > >our awe include each noble student? Why do we feel heartstruck and humble > >in nature and with a haughtiness so often strike such feelings from our > >hearts on our campuses? > > > > These are important questions of which we must be mindful each > >day. We're in a high stakes games. At least, I think so. So many of our > >everyday decisions have potentially momentous consequences. We have the > >capacity to make a difference in a person's life, and that is no small > >responsibility. There is no greater virtue in education than to dedicate > >ourselves to fundamentally changing society for the better by helping each > >student help him- or herself become a better person. > > > > I'm not talking about the technology or pedagogy or transmitting > >information or developing skills. I am talking about approaching each > >student with hearts wide open and eyes filled with wonder and awe. I'm > >talking about going through each day and seeing things through what > >Abraham Herschel called called the prism of "radical amazement. I am > >talking about the "wonder and awe" of "it is marvelous in our eyes." > > > > Now, what do I mean by wonder. Wonder isn't just an "I wonder" > >curiosity. It isn't just a "let's see" prelude to more knowledge. It is > >an unending attitude towards the sacredness of each unique person. I > >don't believe that any good is achieved without a sense of sacredness and > >respect for yourself and people. Wonder doesn't occur without being turned > >on and lit up and getting a kick out of each person and yourself. Just as > >the Fifth Dimensions sang of letting the sunshine in, we have to let the > >beauty we love in and be what we do. Now for "awe." Awe is a humbling, > >overwhelming, overpowering, and dazzling word. It's a "something is just > >bigger than our resume" word. > > > > There is a direct connection between our experience of wonder and > >awe on one hand and the moral imperative to act in order to make a > >difference on the other. We have to be dazzled if we are to be dazzling. > >Once we allow ourselves to see, feel, and notice this awe and wonder in > >ourselves, once we open ourselves to the wonders in the world, we are open > >to the amazement in our personal and professional lives, and we are open > >to the wonder of each and every student. Once we accept this amazement, > >we grace each student and build our relationship with each one on it. When > >you have that kind of vision, you remember the medical dictum to doctors > >going out into the world: "Do no harm." > > > > And yet, so many of us have a mild, and often hidden, contempt for > >these kinds of "they aren't doing what I want" or "they're making it > >harder for me" or "they don't belong here" or "they're wasting my valuable > >time" students. I have found that there is more than a grain of truth to > >Parker Palmer's assertion that there aren't many places where people feel > >less respected than they do in higher education. Our campuses too often > >are places where adulations are thrown at only a select few: the > >publishing scholar, the grant recipient, the expert, the student who > >"wins" in the competition. We do not grant respect to stumbling, groping, > >and failing students. We do not grant respect to the tentative student who > >just can't get the right word out or who does get any word out. We don't > >grant respect to the silent and voiceless student. > > > > How can we wish to assist someone if we are not in wonder of him > >or her, if we do not love him or her, if we do not see him or her in his > >or her full beauty and value? How can we rejoice in a person as a > >magnificent bloom if we see him or her as an annoying and invasive weed? > >We filter reality through the prism of our already entrenched beliefs, > >prejudices, assumptions, biases, presumptions. What we see is a > >reflection of our own beliefs and expectations. Everything we experience > >passes first through the filter of our own attitudes toward our > >profession, education, students, and life in general. That's why some of > >us can see beauty and positive possibilities in the exact same person > >where some of us see only despair and hopelessness. > > > > It is not easy to open up ourselves constantly and incessantly to > >the wonders in the classroom and office, especially if some students don't > >act as if they were miracles. We have to work at it. We may have to look > >harder; we may have to listen closer. Maybe we each need special glasses > >and hearing aides to acquire the true eye of seeing and the true ear of > >listening. How differently we would experience life in the classroom, if > >we would. > > > > I guess the bottom line lies in two questions: Am I truly awed by > >each student? Do I believe that there is an essence in each student that > >is sacred and commands respect? Whether the answer to each question is a > >yes or no, we need to be less bored and more amazed; we need to be less > >harried and hurried and more amazed; we need to be less routine and more > >amazed. We need to be aware of the "amazing moments" and those "wondrous > >people." We have to work out and build up our amazement muscles. That > >is, we need to develop--or get back into shape--our sense of wonder. We > >need to do what children do best: get lost in the present moment in a fit > >of curiosity, wonder, adventure, and discovery. Maybe, if we are truly to > >serve each student, we ought to heed the advice of Mr. Rogers: we ought to > >grow up and start being a child. > > > > I know. I know. You're going to say, "I can't do all that." My > >answer is two-fold. First, our choice of feeling, thought, and action are > >to be found near us, not far away. They are within our hearts and in our > >spirits and in our minds. We each have to do whatever we can do within > >our reach. We just don't know how far our reach extends. When the simple > >things become important, the simplest daily tasks gain significance. > >Second, as it says somewhere in the Talmud, we are not required to > >complete the work, we just are not allowed to desist from it. > > > > So, when we go into a classroom, let's remember Plato. "The > >contemplation of beauty," he said, "causes the soul to grow wings." > >And, if we want to find joy in what we do, a good place to start is by > >working to be sure that each student "is marvelous in our eyes." > > > > > >Make it a good day. > > > > --Louis-- > > > > > >Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com > >Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html > >Valdosta State University > >Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /~\ /\ /\ > >(229-333-5947) /^\ / \ / /~ \ /~\__/\ > > / \__/ \/ / /\ /~ \ > > /\/\-/ /^\___\______\_______/__/_______/^\ > > -_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\ > > _ _ / don't practice on mole hills" -\____ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >--- > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
