Still thinking about my conversation with that young professor at Lilly-North a few weeks, especially after having some challenging moments in class this week. Some more of our discussion went something like this, but don't hold me to every word.
"....Like I said in that room, we're as much, if not more, in the people business than in the information transmission, skill development, or professional credentialing businesses. The Oath asserts that each student matters, and what you do to interact positively with that the life of that student matters," I told her. "I want to 'take' the Oath, but you're asking a lot." she answered. "They'll think I'm going off the deep end. You've got tenure. I don't." Ignoring that halting, fearful tenure stuff, I went on. "Hey, looking for an easy shortcut won't get you a classroom well taught anymore than it will get you scholarship well researched. Sure I'm asking a lot, but a lot is at stake. We've got other people's soul in our hands. We've got the future in our hands." Then, I threw her a hook. "But, be careful about making a commitment to the Oath. You have to know that the Oath is really about shoe laces." "Shoe laces?" "Let me tell you a story. A little girl was struggling to learn to tie her shoes. One day, after a bunch of agonizing failed attempts, she tied her own shoes for the first time. After a moment of triumphant celebration, her smile turned into a grimmace; her joy was replaced by a sadness. Her mystified mother asked why she wasn’t happier. The little girl acknowledged that she was proud of her achievement, but she sobbed, “Now I’ll have to tie my own shoes for the rest of my life!” "Are you telling me that I always have to hold myself to every facet of that oath once I 'take' it?" "It's a web. Each strand is enmeshed with the other; each reinforces the other strands; each is reinforced by the other strands. Besides, it's not a one-shot deal. It's a habit. The Oath is enveloped with emotion and attitude, with a behavior, that are too often eclipsed by by our spotlighting of only professional credentialing. I designed it to take a sacred cause and turn it into a pedagogy. It's about inner guts as much, if not more, than outer techniques and technology. It's not a myopic "mission statement;" I did not do it in a rush to throw a bunch of nice sounding non-descript words together in order to satisfy some assessment requirement or accreditation agency. It attends to the so often ignored sacred, unique, but concrete and practical complexity, of the ever-changing individual human beings in the classroom on both sides of the podium from class to class, day to day, term to term." As we continued, as if defending and rationalizing her reluctance, she mentioned, "It all sounds so 'new "agey".' I wouldn't let her get away. "The Oath is far more a practical statement rather than a fluffy spirituality, what you just called "new 'agey.'" Sure, it's a value statement. To accept that, we have to understand that at our human core is the emotional need to feel valued and valuable, to be appreciated, to be treated with respect, to be noticed, to feel worthy, to have our pains honored, and to be connected. When that doesn't happen, it's deeply unsettling; it's a challenge to our sense of equilibrium, security, and well-being. In the primal depths of our brain, lighting up the amygdala, it can feel like a threat to our very survival, kicking in nearly paralyzing fearful 'don't take chances,' fear kicks in, and thus impoverishes the learning process...." "Are we to blame for that?" "We're responsible for that. Doggone, we "fight" more over symbols, charts, graphs, statistics, images, stereotypes, and generalities we have of students than for a real-live, unique individual student her/himself. We have to accept responsibility. We have 'the power!' We choose whether the we run a therapeutic or pathological classroom. We have to accept the truth that we have the ability to "redirect" the lives of students by addressing their vulnerabilities while capitalizing on their strengths and interests....We can help them not let all kinds of distracting and debilitating problems get in the way....We have to create an emotional positive climate, meet individual student needs where they are, and provide an atmosphere that promotes student choice and responsibility. And as we do, the research shows that we can help increase intrinsic motivation, achievement, responsibility, and resilience, while lessening anger, frustration, pessimism, and fear....You know as well as I do that when anyone feels devalued, he or she is quick to initially assume the role of victim. Blaming others for how she or he is feeling is a form of self-protection. By shirking responsibility, we feel better. We blame students; students blame us; we blame the system; students blame each other; we blame administrators, administrators blame...., on and on and on it goes. The problem is that blame is synonomous with enslavement by surrendering control of ourselves over to someone else or circumstances over which we have no control. Each of us thinks we actually see the world. We call it reality. But that so-called reality is really a brain-functioning selective filter called perception. We have the power to rethink our reality of students and help students rethink their reality by changing our and helping them change their perceptions. That's called responsibility. And, acknowledging, as well as exercising, responsibility is the function of the Oath. We can tear away the depersonalizing stereotypes, demolish the dehumanizing generalities, and erase the blame. And, as we do that, we can nurturer, zigging here and zagging there, as we respond to the practical circumstances of the individual student without feeling as if we're being a sucker, a weak push over, a grade inflator, and a touchy-feely new-ager...." We talked still more. So, still more, then, later. -Louis- Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org<http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/> Department of History http://www.therandomthoughts.com<http://www.therandomthoughts.com/> Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ (O) 229-333-5947 /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__ / \ / \ (C) 229-630-0821 / \/ \_ \/ / \/ /\/ / \ /\ \ //\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/ \_/__\ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains,\ /\ _ / \ don't practice on mole hills" - / \_ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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