Louis Schmier asks: >How does your view of life show up in your teaching? After giving it some thought (it was a very stimulating question for me), I realized that this question is a nonsensical one (or at least, it doesn't get to the point): a person's view of life shows up in everything he/she does--including that person's teaching--whether he/she wants it to or not. There is some myth out there that we hold our SELVES back from many of our daily activities; that somehow, if our TRUE SELF were committed to the activity, things would be very different. I believe that this may be the myth inspiring Louis' question. But, a person's "true self"--I'm not really sure what that is, and I doubt that we have one, so I'll go back to the phrase "view of life"--is expressed in every choice we make. We don't even need to be fully aware of what this view is for it to be intimately involved in every choice we make (and it probably is always changing anyway). My assumption in making these comments is this: we have a set of conscious and unconscious beliefs about ourselves, our worlds, and our futures that is an important determining factor for everything we do. This assumption also is the one that is at the heart of cognitive therapy for various mental disorders. To show that the question is nonsensical, let me turn it around and imagine asking it of my students--"how does your view of life show up in your learning." By asking it, I might think I was being very clever and perhaps even helpful in that maybe I was pushing them closer to some insight about themselves--an insight that would revolutionize the way they approach their learning. But, I believe that most of my students are very conscious of how their view of life affects their learning experiences (my intermittent surveys of them, some of which I have mentioned on TIPS, supports this belief). The plain fact is that many of them are not committed to their learning and they know it. Their view of life is coming through in their minimal commitment: many of them believe they MUST go to college if they want their high-paying job in the future--the educational experience itself is of little concern to a large number of them. Let's get back to the original question. For most of us on this list, I would guess that teaching is a central aspect of our lives. The fact that it is a central aspect for most of us also is a reflection of how we view our lives. The way we view our lives was a major reason why we steered a course into academics in the first place. How we view education, coupled with how we view others, will determine how we approach the classroom. So, perhaps the questions we really should be asking ourselves are the following ones: (1) What does it mean to be an educated person? (2) What is my view of the function of education in the modern world? (3) What is my view of students? (4) What is my view of the purpose of teaching? (5) What does it mean to be a "teacher"? There probably are many other questions we could be asking ourselves, but these serve as a start. The point in trying to answer these questions is that we may be surprised by the answers we give to them. We may not realize that we have certain beliefs until we actually sit down and try to asnwer these and related questions. By examining our beliefs, and trying to alter them where we think they should be altered, we may be able to effect real change in our teaching. But remember: your "view of life" will come through whether you want it to or not. Jeff Ricker Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale AZ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
