Jack's recent posting concludes in the following way:
So, Mohsen - I am wondering how you will receive my response about your letter being constituted by statements of belief (which I identify with) while I was looking for evidence of learning and explanations of your educational influence in your own learning and in the learning of others
Your reiteration of the word evidence makes me ponder on a number of things and helps me come up with some questions:
Evidence comes from the Latin word videre = see giving us the meaning of some thing that makes another thing evident as a sign can do this. Also, evidence can be known as data that can be verified as factual. In this sense, evidence includes statistics, testimony, personal experience, witnesses, and records-information whose accuracy can be examined independently. Critical means to take something apart and analyze it on the basis of standards. The word critical comes from Skeri (Anglo-Saxon) = to cut, separate, sift, and criterion (Greek) = a standard for judging. Critical thinking, therefore, brings conscious awareness, skills and standards to the process of observing, analyzing, reasoning, evaluating, reading and communicating.
So, If I quote, present or cite my students’ comments, remarks, feedback, evaluation, etc. would that be considered evidence in terms of learning? ( if that’s so, please find attached several of such evidence from classes I have taught including a glance at hermeneutics, the problem of choices and self psychology, communication skills for teacher educators, how to use the right brain more effectively, a journey through the wonders of mind, mindfulness and learning, etc. I can send more of these to corroborate and substantiate the evidence). You can kindly take a peak and see if the word evidence makes sense here or not.
If influence is taken as an act (and not an automatic behavior which could be done unwittingly and involuntarily), it requires awareness, understanding, mindfulness, choice, option and mission. Thus, it, ipso facto, is generational as Sara has beautifully described that. And if that’s generational, it would bring those who are moved by the educational dimension of the message. So a genuine act of educational influence is creational since it produces, generates and cultivates.
Does the exclusive search for evidence substantiate the veracity of the educational influence or any other influence? Perhaps, Spice Girls can be considered as one of the most influential figures as they can be correlated to opulent manifestation of people who were so much parched with thirst to see what they( Girls) were doing. (I don’t need to elaborate this; you have seen interviews, clips, and so many rich evidence in this regard from others too including Jennifer Lopez, Cindy Crawford and others).
I conclude with a poem of mine which was in Published in English Quarterly 2001-2002)
The pragmatics of you
By: Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi
English Quarterly 2001-2002
I was somnambulating in the Milky Way of fervor and passion out of sensibility and not stupidity when the bees of parlance stung the tender cheeks of my sentiments.
So I call on you to plumb how precisely and distinctly the measurement of collyrium has been calculated from the center of our eyelashes. And I urge you to see how close the architecture of altars is linked to the eyebrows of eternity.
I would like to measure the density of your eyes so you feel the special weigh of my tears. I would like to constitute two atoms of eternity on the strength of one molecule of your smile. I want to travel through the meanders of your complexion, your countenance and your pigmentation to see the celestial gems of collyrium.
I would like to set myself parallel with your eyelashes, tangent with the semicircle of your eyebrow then I will change the composition and configuration of minute, incapacious miniscule universe of any sorrow, lamentation and hardship.
I would like to hear the flowing secretion of your pituitary glands, releasing adreno cortico trophic hormone stimulating your adrenal cortex.
I would like to invent a thermometer for the qibla of your eyebrow.
Let me illustrate your tears, let me paint your sigh, let me shape my semantics in to your physiognomy, let me let your soul sculpture its mould. Let me untie thousands of maritime knots from your eyes. Let me calculate the cryptic, clandestine, surreptitious taverns in any corner of your eyes, to see how many goblets I can take.
Let me, under these pulchritudinous ravishing white flowers of intention and meaning, take just one piece of your reaction to solidify my demonstration.
Copy right is with the author.
Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Language Education, Psychology and Communication
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604 2224495
Emails: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
From: Jack Whitehead <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: BERA Practitioner-Researcher <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Judging the educational influences
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:15:27 +0000
As I engage with Mohsen's responses to my questions about judging educational influences in learning, I am hoping that my focus is consistent with the theme of our seminar. As I read your response Mohsen I identify with your statements in the sense that I feel that I understand and share the beliefs that you are expressing. Because my question was focused on judging educational influences in learning, I looked for evidence of learning and for an explanation of your educational influence in the learning. I'm not being critical when I say I couldn't see any evidence of learning and hence no evidence of an explanation of an educational influence in learning because I know that this is my focus and may not be yours. What I am wondering is whether we share an interest in creating explanations of educational influence in learning. I'm wondering if this interest of mine is shared by other participants.My stress on creating explanations of our educational influences in our own learning, in the learning of others and in the learning of social formations is closely connected to my commitment to understanding the standards of judgement i~we use in evaluating the quality of the educational theories and knowledge i~we are generating.You can see the kind of explanations I have in mind at http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/writings/CS4.htm in a paper on Educative Relations in a New Era, in the journal, Pedagogy, Culture and Society where I claim to know my educative influence with Kevin Eames in his doctoral enquiry into the nature of his professional knowledge (see http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/kevin.shtml ) .So, Mohsen - I am wondering how you will receive my response about your letter being constituted by statements of belief (which I identify with) while I was looking for evidence of learning and explanations of your educational influence in your own learning and in the learning of others?Love Jack.
On 27 Nov 2006, at 09:23, sayyedmohsen fatemi wrote:
Greetings to all,
Much earlier, Jack had asked: how do you judge your educational influences in your own learning and in the learning of others (your students, colleagues or others)?I did send some parts of my response a while ago and here is the continuation of the response:In my educational influences in my learning and in the learning of others, I make a special distinction between the natural self and the ideal or sublime self. I think that an educational mission, ontologically and epistemologically, needs to go beyond the natural self while seeking out avenues that can enrich the sublime or ideal self. A program or a perspective that is exclusively bound within the natural self and its predilections can not claim any form of mission for the sublime self. Addressing the ideal self needs to search for meaning beyond the tyrannical parochialism of the natural self. As long as I am surrounded within the manifestation of natural self, I can not proceed with any philosophy or standards pf judgment that can invite an attention towards the sublime self. The sublimity of self presupposes, ontologically and epistemologically, the presence of a philosophy that acknowledges a source through which the sublimity can be designated, defined and understood. (I will talk about this more later).I believe that education is a process (and not an outcome) with manifold components. These components unfold themselves in addressing questions of epistemology and ontology that lie beneath any educational endeavor. While making a distinction between pedagogy as lived and pedagogy as planned, I propound that attention towards pedagogy as lived would help the learners not only learn the skills, techniques and theories but also understand and explore their being and becoming in the process of education. Understanding the context and attention to heart and heartfulness would serve as effective preambles in the framework of pedagogy as lived. I understand the significant role of culture in respect to education, learning and communication. I do my best to enhance my students’ awareness of cultural diversity.Teaching, as some philosophers have mentioned, is letting the learners learn. I believe that educators need to constantly encourage learners to be/become mindful and creative in the process of learning. In view of creativity that is looking for otherwise, I argue that learners can look into horizons beyond the actualities some thing that allows them to discover the genius of exploring the unfamiliar within the familiar. Educators play a significant role in helping the learners search for novelty through going beyond the familiar complexion. Teaching is not just presenting the information but is the seriously eager attempt to let the learners learn. A good teacher needs to be aware of different learning styles, cognitive styles, thinking styles and background information of learners thus modifying his/her teaching style based on the context of learning environment. He/she needs to observe the differences between linguistic environment of students’ communities and those of classes. More over, a teacher needs to constantly understand the culture and context with reference to various performances of students in the class. Understanding the distinction between school language and social language and their relation ship with cooperative learning would be of great avail for teachers who would like to enhance learners’ self-empowerment.Sublimity of education would entail the piquancy of living in the moment through perspicacity and wisdom, the artful experience of creatively and critically looking into things, the intelligible understanding of uniqueness and its educational implications, consciousness towards diversity and readiness for flexibility along with appreciation of many ways of knowing. Integration of technology with instruction, incorporation of various methodologies in teaching, attention towards different cognitive styles, openness towards multiple intelligence and their impact on learning, promoting emotional intelligence beside the linear and analytic intelligence would stand salient in my perspective on pedagogy. I draw on the latest scholarship in language and literacy education, communication and psychology and I believe that teaching can be consummated by virtue of a meticulous union of theory and practice.In view of the fact that culture fulfills a conspicuous role in our construction and we are, to a large extent, culturally constructed, I put special emphasis on multicultural pedagogy. My goal is to build an educational setting where mind and heart are actively engaged in learning life-enhancing alternatives and well being by virtue of expertise, dedication, creativity, commitment, values, wisdom and knowledge. To learn and to teach the gift of caring for others, to understand the possibilities of transcendence, to realize the power of exploration, to become adept at expressiveness and its numerous manifestations, to readily sail in the world of unknown with ebullience, to respect the mystery while increasing the mastery, to infinitely expect the dawn in the midst of educational challenges, and to be hopeful and to give hope would constitute the pillars of my philosophy on education.I consider writing as a saliently efficient way of self-exploration, self-healing, and self-development. I think that teaching by virtue of writing can encourage students to creatively and critically explore their potentials and achieve high-self efficacy. In addition to a focus on techniques and theories, I encourage students to bring their own writings in the process of their own creativity, and their own voices in the engaging and evocative journey of our explorations. I pay special attention to differences in communication styles, thinking styles and learning styles and I do my best to facilitate the process of learning for my students.I integrate instruction materials with technology and I look at language education as a project that can have significant impact not only for language learning but also for thinking and self-empowerment.I wish you a rapture by the wonders of the mind,
MohsenSayyed Mohsen Fatemi, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Language Education, Psychology and Communication
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604 2224495
Emails: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
From: Barbara Nussbaum <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: BERA Practitioner-Researcher <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Gourmet Restaurant
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:10:25 +0200
Dear Sayyed (or do you prefer to be called Mohsen?) and all others on the listThank you for your wishes and your e mail. I just want to acknowledge your incredibly wonderful poem. On other threads there has been discussion about language and the language of research.For now I simply wanted to say how brilliant your poem was for me. Art is sometimes a very economical and succinct language, often capturing importantissues in a clear and passionate way. Would you mind if I share your poem with colleagues of mine?With thanksBarbara-----Original Message-----
From: BERA Practitioner-Researcher [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of sayyedmohsen fatemi
Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2006 7:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Gourmet RestaurantSay hello to the next generation of Search. Live Search – try it now.
Hello, Alan, Yaakub, Barbara, and every one in the list.I have been observing your interesting dialogue on some of the vital issues of our time. I am inspired, through your conversation, to reflect on some of the underlying issues and I will do my posting on that as the occasion arises. In the meantime, I am posting one of previously published poems( please see below) when I was about to begin my ph.d. program at UBC. This poem may unfold some of the layers that we have been talking about as we are indulging ourselves in the moments of reflexivity. I wish you an insightful journey under the genuflecting elms of inspiration and here is the poem:
Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi
[log in to unmask]University of British Columbia
In the city of contemplation
Dinning philosophy and psychology
With just a bit of analysis.
I am going to order some poetry
For dessert.
I look at every one.
Some are making a pig of themselves
With positivism,
Others are scarfing out a whole load of behaviorism.
They are gulping down Watson and Skinner.
At the corner, some are avidly having phenomenology with
Isomorphism.
Down across the hall,
Some are mixing Zeigarnick effect
With Horney's basic anxiety.
What a combination!
Oh, I see the waitress carrying a tray
Full of slip of tongues,
Tropism,
Positive transference.
She freely associates with every one.She is wearing Leibnitz's limen of Consciousness,
You can see her monadology
From behind her skirt.
The way she walks can not change your perceptual constancies.
The guy on the other side is salting his
Phi phenomenon.
I hear the lady on the left side:
"Waitress, may I have some
Titchener's structuralism?
"Of course. How would you like that Ma'am?
"Medium with stimulus error"!
"Are you sure? It is not good for your health."
"Don't care a pin". I'm gonna have a blast."
I over hear them and I am flummoxed.
Oh, I see the sign, Today's special:
Determinism with reductionism.
A lady is striking a match.
She is puffing out I.A. Richard's tenor.
She is wearing a lipstick of reference-symbol-referent.
Yet you could see Kenneth Burke's abstraction in her countenance
When she smiles.She is sitting in the smoking isle
Of systematic experimental introspection.
On a big table over there, there are ten men and women ordering collective unconscious
with archetypes of anima and animus on the sides.
They are all wearing suits of personas!
They are going to have personal unconscious for the starter.
Oh, I am parched with thirst.
I need to refill my glass.
I've had Wundt, Piaget, Freud, And Erickson.
I am chewing on Kant's transcendence.
"Waitress. Is there some pure water of cognition",
-I'm afraid. We're out of it.
Oh. I am parched with thirst.I need some fresh air.
Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Language Education, Psychology and Communication
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604 2224495
Emails: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
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