Boy, I just got cussed out yesterday off list from a professor at a
western
university for being a "Glenn Beck type" because my last short Random Thought
was "the
straw that broke the camel's back." Her message was not what you would call
collegial. I
mean it was smoking. Knowing she sure doesn't know me, I just replied, hoping
my calm
came through, telling her that I am confused. I asked her to enlighten me
about what is
so "destructive of academe" about advocating beyond mere window dressing and
lip service
that classroom teaching is as important as research and publication? That is so
"dangerous" when I take the stand to testify why an education should be more
than mere
professional credentialing? Where is my "conservative wing" politics in saying
that an
education should be more than white collar vocational training? How am I among
the
"narrow minded" when I assert that an education should be more than merely a
job engine,
that helping someone learn how to live is as important as helping her or him
learn how to
make a living? How am I "pushing an ideology" when I firmly believe that part
of an
education should help develop a therapeutic civility that would act as a
vaccine against
toxic incivility? Where is the "religious right" in my educational philosophy
that part
of an education must also help promote a genuine, sincere, and habitual inner
dignity and
moral strength that displays itself in kindness, respect, trustworthiness,
honesty,
caring, and just plain decency?
Am I objective? No. But, then, who honestly is?
Do I have an agenda? Yes. But, then, who honestly doesn't?
I am not a one-dimensional, either-or guy. I call myself-- I pride
myself in
being--a helping, multi-dimensional "wholeness teacher." I am concerned with
touching a
student's heart as well as her or his mind, of inspiring her or his spirit as
well as
sharpening her or his intellect, of helping her or him acquire people skills as
well as
the information and skills in her or his discipline, of helping her or him
acquire
critical feeling skills as well as critical thinking skills, of helping her or
him see how
noble, sacred, valuable, worthy, and important she or he and all others are, of
helping
her or him become an honorable person rather than merely a test-taking,
grade-getting,
accumulating high GPA honors student.
I am an ardent advocate of conscious, purposeful, and pervasive
character
education. I don't think when it comes to the classroom we can be what I call
"character
atheists." And, when we interact with students, there is no such thing as
practicing what
I call "value neutrality." It's pretty simple. There isn't a so-called
"objective" bone
in anyone's body. No one is an untouched island. Everything we do or say,
everything we
feel and think, sends out messages that reveal those beliefs and values that
underpin,
shape, color, and drive our attitudes, emotions, thoughts, and actions. At the
same time,
those beliefs and values act as a filter on what we see, hear, taste, touch,
and feel.
One way or another, by hook or by crook, we shape our values, we have impact on
others,
and so we shape lives no less than others influenced and continue to influence
the course
and shape of our lives. What we don't advocate, we inadvertently--or
overtly--dismiss and
put down. When we dont' promote positive values beyond merely a paragraph on
plagiarism
in our syllabi because we take an "it's not my job" or "I'm not comfortable
doing that" or
"what will they think" or "I'm not a priest or parent or counselor" stand, when
we don't
consciously feel we have a responsibility to actively help influence ethical
perspectives
and shape the behavior that stems from them, we are in danger of graduating--as
we have
recently seen all around us--destructive moral dropouts. If that be Glenn
Beck-ish, so be
it.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ \/\
/ \/ \_ \/ /
\/ /\/
\ /\
//\/\ /\
\__/__/_/\_\
\_/__\
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
/ \ don't practice on mole
hills" -
---
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