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I believe a university education should
prepare a student for both life and livelihood. My work is to create an
educational environment in which students may acquire information, knowledge
and wisdom toward this end. In addition to gaining basic subject matter
knowledge, students in my courses are guided to clarify their core values,
individually and collectively, and to examine their behavior in the context
of these values. In this process students are challenged to discover
their place as citizens of the world, by constructing a sense of self beyond
the individual-self to include the family-self, community-self, and
global-self. This approach seems to have made these courses attractive
to many students who struggle to find personal meaning in their lives, their
studies, and their intended careers. I believe university education should be
transformational. That is, education should not only provide a means to
a career (which is important) but it should also build the student's capacity
to discover meaning from their life-experience. Many science courses
are grounded in a commitment to instrumental knowledge, that is,
knowledge of how the world works. Once mastered, this knowledge is used
to manage the world (often toward valued ends, such as improved health, food
productivity, or short-term profitability, etc.). While instrumental
knowledge is important, a full educational experience should also include transformational
knowledge based on values, feelings, and cultural concepts such as justice,
freedom and love. Transformational learning is a process in which the
frame through which we view the world is reflective, inclusive, and open to
criticism and therefore evolutionary change. I work to create this sort
of learning environment using instructional techniques such as decision
cases, field experience, role-playing, dialogue, team-based inquiry, and
community service learning, in addition to lectures. I believe an effective teaching and learning
system should recognize sources of motivation and power. While
instrumental learning can be successful in a system where the power of the
teacher is greater than the student, transformational learning requires an
environment more supportive of a teacher/student partnership. Most
adult learning after graduation is intrinsically motivated, unstructured, and
occurs as a result of living and making meaning from experience. In
much of our university education, knowledge is pre-packaged by teachers for
delivery to students. Power remains in the hands of the teacher and the
primary motivation for learning comes from extrinsic sources such as grades
and the promise of a good recommendation to potential employers. While
efficient in one sense, this form of teaching does not adequately nurture the
curiosity, inventiveness, or leadership capacity of active adult
learners. I challenge students to take responsibility for their own
educational experience and to tap into an intrinsic motivation for, and a love
of learning. Many students seem to be attracted to this challenge. I believe that
transformational education requires a human-to-human connection that is real,
personal and lasting. It is nurtured by an environment of community
caring where thinking and feeling are both honored, and the values of
happiness, health, love, justice, freedom, responsibility, truth, and
productive work are explicit and desired outcomes of the learning
experience. I’ve observed that transformational education can result
in rigorous intellectual, emotional, and ethical growth motivated by wonder
and awe. It is this experience that I try to create in my
classrooms. Sometimes I succeed. Go to this link to ask the question “Who
Are You?” And for a philosophy on how to live…. March,
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