To continue my answer to the professor who was disdainful of my raising
questions about academia:
“We both are scholars. Curiosity is name; questioning is our game.
The quest to find the answers to our queries is the spring well of our research
and publication, if not our promotion and granting of tenure. If that is true
in our discipline, should not be true in our teaching of that discipline? Now,
you say that for me to ask questions about ‘wither goest’ Higher Education is
an indication of what you call my ‘corrosive attitude.’ My reply is that the
efficaciousness in the classroom is identified on three axes. The first two
are associated with the conveyance of our discipline: information transmission
and skill development. The third concerns the receptor: the humanity of each
student. The first two are products of questioning in the lab, archive, and
out in the field: curiosity, investigation, discovery, and application. Why,
then, is it anathema to raise questions about the third as well? Stereotypes,
generalities, and labels don’t do justice to the human complexity of each
student.
“You, I, and each student have very real reasons for feeling, thinking,
and acting as they do. Our best teaching strategy is to get through those
opaque images of ourselves and them, as well as to help them get through the
curtains they drape around themselves, to understand, to address those reasons,
and adjust to them. Boy, do I understand that understanding is time consuming
and demanding of our efforts. But, that is what produces real and lasting
results. It is true in the lab; it is true in the archive; it is true out in
the field. It is no less true in the classroom! We have to do the work, take
deep breaths, and go deep beneath the surface; we have to be willing enough, we
have to care enough, to spend the time and energy, to find those deep reasons
and address them, if we want to truly get things done.”
“If we don’t ask questions about the validity of our assumptions,
presumptions, and perceptions generated by these fixed and oversimplified
images, we are being very ‘unacademic’ by closing off debate with what I call
‘educational correctness.’ However, how are we to understand, rather than
assume, what is really going on in the classroom? How do we care about what is
going on in the hearts and minds of those on the receptive side of the podium?
To paraphrase Mark Twain, unbending loyalty to a particular view is not a way
to effectiveness. How can we be otherwise then numb to the complexity of
students as individuals and as a whole? And, if we are numb, how will we
know—know—how to respond constructively to improve both the effectiveness of
our teaching and the depth of their learning? Questions.”
“So, as far as at the classroom is concerned, to paraphrase Hamlet, to
question or not to question; that is the question. Disdain for my questioning
of academia, or anyone’s questioning, impedes learning about the new research
findings on learning and the implications it has for our approaches to and
methods of teaching. If you dismiss questioning, you’ll never pause to
understand what’s going on in the classroom. As both a scholar and teacher, I
am a life-long believer in the power of the question to transform beyond the
moment of the question. When I question, I examine my assumptions and
perceptions of what I am feeling, thinking, and doing. Not to question, is
like not exercising and still expecting your muscles to be firm and strong. To
me, question and freshness are almost synonomous, for when I ask a question, I
force myself to see people and things anew, and face new opportunities and
possibilities that may be coming my way; that is, to question is not about
condemnation; it is about hope”
"When my heart and mind hear and feel a question, they have no choice
but to answer. And, the questions I ask have a powerful impact on my
professional, personal, and social lives. The most basic multi-part question
is: what assumptions have I made and what perceptions do I have today? Are
they accurate? Are they limiting and holding me back? What is my purpose in
this world, and is that purpose related to my responsibilities to each student?
The target of any thoughtful questioning reflects what a person cares about the
most. In my case, it is each student. Questioning is the first step to
investment. The more you invest, the more you’ll be mindful; the more mindful
you are, the more you’ll be alert, aware, and attentive; then, you’ll see,
listen, empathize, and sympathize more. The examination of choices,
decisions, aspirations, and goals leads to awareness, attentiveness,
mindfulness, reflection, investigation, discovery, analysis, admission,
responsibility, imagination, creativity, and action.”
“For me, questioning, fends off a passive acceptance of the existing
academic culture that emphasizes scholarly research and publication that too
often looks upon the demands of classroom teaching as an interference and
distraction of scholarly pursuits. For me, questioning keeps me humble as a
reminder of imperfection. For me, questioning is an investment of my time,
energy, attention, faith, hope, and love. For me, questioning puts all I have
into what I love most and releases all my inner creative power. For me
questioning allows me to see, resonate, empathize and understand. For me,
questioning breathes new life in my sense of purpose and keeps the juices
flowing. Powerful and meaningful questions lead to powerful and meaningful
feelings and thoughts which, in turn, lead to powerful and meaningful actions.
For me, asking questions is audacious, for it is about transforming the visions
of faith, hope, and love in education into flesh and blood; it is about
honoring the complexity of student; it is about seeing a student as a person
not yet realized and walking with the student into the depths of that
experience;
“So, I do have a question or two or three or more about Higher
Education….”
More later…..
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta, Ga 31602
(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].
To unsubscribe click here:
http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=49881
or send a blank email to
leave-49881-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
