I received a message from a professor at a southwetern university
who took exception to my final teaching "MUST": to prime good feeling in
each student. "Higher education is be brain-based. There is no place for
emotion. That's New Age, feel good, touchy-feely nonsense." I have to
admit to ignorance. I never did really understand what "brain-based"
meant unless it was an exclusion of the autonomic system in our body. I
hope it does not mean to exclude the emotional curcuitry of the
prefontal-limbic area and amygdala of our brain which makes our emotion
just as "brain-based" as our intellect.
I never have thought it was an "either-or" situation. It's a case
of "and." While the intellect and emotional neural systems are separate,
they have intimately woven connections. And while academics place a high
premium on the intellect, while most academics see emotions as too
personal or measurable or "unassessable" to talk about in a meaningful
way, emotion plays a powerful role in both the teaching and learning
processes. Einstein once said or wrote a warming: we should be very
careful not to worship our intellect. However powerful it may be, and
however important it may be, it can only serve. It cannot lead.
Of course, we need analytical and conceptual thinking. Sure, we
need technical expertise. If, however, we rely on purely cognitive
abilities, we'll never have the whole formula. Einstein's caution tells
us about missing a critical part of the equation. If you're only in your
"head," you will not inspire, motivate, guide, and persuade. You cannot
empathizing. You will not be in touch with other people's feelings. It's
the "heart" that empathizes and moves people. It's the "heart" that
dreams, has faith and hope. It's the heart that loves. It's the heart
that generates excitement, creativity, imagination, courage, enthusiasm,
commitment, perseverance, and passion, as well as creating an atmosphere
of trust, respect, and worth.
Of course, the flip side is that relying solely on "heart," too
much of too nice, that touchy-feely stuff everyone throws out, can make
the teacher just as clueless as being totally in his or her "head."
I'm not talking about extremes, for anything carried to its
extreme, head or heart, is dangerous and/or ineffective. No, it's a
matter of meeting and joining and balancing "head" and "heart," intellect
with emotion, thinking with feeling, knowledge and mood.
The truth is: no teacher can soar on one wing. Neither can any
student. No one can.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698 /~\ /\ /\
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