DEEPENING THE PEDAGOGY OF THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE Laura I. Rendn - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

DEEPENING THE PEDAGOGY OF THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Laura I. Rendón California State University-Long Beach International Conference of the First- Year Experience Maui June 14, 2004

Transforming Teaching & Learning

• If we can see it is our agreements which

rule our life, and we don’t like the dream

• f life, we need to change the

agreements--Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements (1997)

• Teaching and learning are based on

certain privileged agreements that govern the present pedagogical Dreamfield

• 1. The Agreement to Privilege Mental

Knowing

• Privileges cerebral abilities such as verbal,

scientific and mathematical ability

• Prizes and rewards outer knowing

(intellectual reasoning, rationality, and

• bjectivity) at expense of inner knowing (deep

wisdom, wonder, sense of sacred, intuition and emotions)

• 2. The Agreement of Separation
• Distances faculty from students
• Faculty become sole experts
• Teaching is separated from learning
• Validation/support are forms of “coddling”

students

• 3. The Agreement of Competition
• Students pitted against each other in a

competitive environment

• Survival of the fittest-Darwin
• Testing mania is predicated on competition,

sorting and ranking

• “Merit” defines the “best and brightest”

through standardized tests

• 4. The Agreement of Perfection
• Little, if any, room for error in the classroom
• Learning occurs in a context where human

imperfection is downplayed

• 5. The Agreement of Monoculturalism
• Almost exclusive validation of Western

structures of knowledge (course offerings, teaching and learning styles, lack of diversity, etc.)

• Dominance of faculty and administrators who

subscribe to monocultural paradigms

• 6. The Agreement of Workaholism
• The “best” academics rarely rest and renew.

They are constantly busy working on multiple projects, traveling, and putting in long hours

• Rest and replenishment associated with

laziness

• Reflection and contemplative practice

associated with being “soft,” “touchy-feely”

Purpose of Study

• Uncover holistic, connected teaching & learning

practices in higher education

• Develop a holistic, relationship-centered model of

teaching and learning in higher education

Why does one write, if not to put one’s pieces together? From the moment we enter school or church, education chops us into pieces: it teaches us to divorce soul from body and mind from heart. The fishermen of the Columbian coast must be learned doctors of ethics and morality, for they invented the word,

sentipensante, feeling-thinking, to define language that

speaks the truth.

• -Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces (1989)

CELEBRATION OF THE MARRIAGE OF HEART AND MIND

METHOD

• One-on-one, in depth, semistructured interviews (1-2 hours) with faculty.

Also interviewed some of their students. Purposeful sampling employed.

• Sample, N=14 (adding more)

Name Discipline Institution Gender/Race Sam Mathematics 2-year M/W Becky Chemistry 2-year F/W Norma English 4-year F/L X. Communication 4-year F/W Mary English 2-year F/W Bill Physical Education 2-year M/W Alberto Ethnic/Chicano Studies 4-year M/L Herman African American Studies 4-year M/AA Susan Psychology 4-year F/W Xin Education 4-year F/Asian Candance Education 4-year F/W Barbara English 2-year F/W Robert Education 4-year M/W Sam Education 4-year M/W

• Audiotaped and videotaped

Sentipensante (Feeling/Thinking) Faculty Outer Orientation Inner Orientation

• Student Centered
• Intellectual
• Passionate About

Teaching & Learning

• Value Excellence
• Embrace Their

Discipline/Field of Study

• Searchers/Reflective
• Serving Higher Purpose
• Engaged in Journey
• Called to Teach
• Embrace Not Knowing
• Take Risks--Break Away

Balanced Approach To Life/Work

Faculty Strategies That Engage The Intellect* Demystify Content

• Demystify
• Re-do and Resubmit

Cognitive Skills

• Critical Thinking
• Problem Solving
• Reading/Writing
• Decision Making
• Technology

Traditional Assessment

• Tests
• Quizzes
• Essays
• Research

High Expectations

• No Limits
• High Standards

*Intellectual reasoning, rationality, objectivity

Faculty Strategies That Engage The Heart* Relate Content To Life Reflective Assessment

• Postcards
• Student Calls/Visits
• Listen/observe
• Ask Questions

Incorporate Contemplative Practice (Active/Quiet)

• Journaling
• Free Writing
• Sitting in Silence
• Meditation
• Rituals
• Art/Music/Theatre
• Engage Student Lives
• Employ Personal

Experience

• It’s Feedback, Not

Proving Anything

• Set Up Constant

Pattern of Reflection Growth

*Inner knowing such as cultivating wonder, sense of the sacred, appreciation of

emotions, meaning and purpose in life.

Relationship-Centered Classroom Context Validate Students Student/Faculty Interaction Facilitate Community Diverse Ways

• f Knowing
• Diverse Learning Styles
• Inclusive Curriculum
• Challenge

Stereotypes/Judgments

• Academic Validation
• Interpersonal Validation
• Group

Work/Collaborative Learning

• Service Learning
• Food
• Stress Connectedness

to Others/World

• Cooperation on Tests
• Share Phone Numbers
• Faculty/Students Bring

Selves to Class

• Establish Trust
• Become Accessible
• Students are Colleagues,

Fellow Teachers

FOCUS ON:

• Teacher
• Student
• Subject Matter
• Process of

Learning

• Context for

Learning Learning Strategies

INTELLECT

• Cognitive Skills
• Content
• Technology Skills

HEART

• Awareness
• Reflection
• Service
• Cooperation
• Connections
• Humanity

SENTIPENSANTE PEDAGOGY

Deepening the Pedagogy of the First-Year Experience

• Engage in transformation of teaching and

learning

• Reframe higher education’s privileged

agreements

• Restore the essence of education: to educate

for wholeness and to make our love and compassion work for ALL the people of the world!