In the beginning ~~ foreward & intro.

The metaphor which comes to mind of the inner journey of which Palmer speaks and his thoughts expressed in these first few pages is one of a building ~ its foundations and materials. While by no means a discourse in stream of consciousness, Palmer's insights explore, just as Durka did, many fundamental, if not elusive concepts, in just a few pages.
These will be the building blocks of our more sensitive, perceptive, and successful teaching.

Also, Palmer's inner landscape seems like the foundation and interior of the home that is our Self; each component, each material ~ the intellect, emotion & spirit ~ holding, binding us together and creating the whole, our integrity, and making possible a beautiful edifice. Our students readily see and perceive this edifice, which, if faulty within, has obvious cracks.

Metaphor aside, I feel that the issue of the role of trust looms very largely in Palmer's discussion and has also surfaced, repeatedly, in our class. I hope that Palmer continues to examine this in depth and provide specific pointers on how to create, nurture and sustain trusting relationships in our teaching.

Vulnerabilities & Possibility

As I read these final chapters in Durka, I couldn't help but think of the image of a canoe and a voyage, especially after Durka's comments about teaching as a journey. The images to the left here are ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs, for me symbolic of such a journey, or the voyage. Teachers surf the waters of vulnerability, both inwardly and outwardly; paddle through the uncharted waters of new semesters, students, parents and administrators; and seek or fish for answers and guidance. A teacher's life is about exploring, and discovering, and changing course while traveling through uncharted waters and changing conditions. It is all about constant transition, and at times, detours. Sometimes all a teacher can do is choose a direction, chart the path and let the winds blow him or her where they may. In all of these circumstances faith & spirituality sustain; prayer abides and is actually the sea upon which a teacher must sail.

Another thought surfaces. I reflect back to the ancient Hawaiians, not about their polytheistic religion, but about their complete integration of prayer in every daily activity, from eating to working to song and dance. They had a practice for conflict resolution called Ho'oponopono, which began with and ended in prayer. They knew then that spirituality had to inform all activity, just as we Roman Catholics do in a constant, open and reaffirming way in our schools. Prayer is the gravamen of teaching "how to live well" and the way we satisfy our "basic hunger for goodness" which is the heart and soul of Catholicism.

On a different plane, Durka's quote of Elliot (p. 74) about paradoxes, truly presents the teacher's plight. I feel that the author's meaning here is that we teachers must work with a clear mind, unencumbered by weighty preconceptions and always open to the new, the blank, the land of uncertainty.

Further, the way that the verse is written reminds me of the Prayer of Saint Francis, in which the focus is not egocentric, but solely the understanding and benefit of others. This to me is the key for Catholic teaching and living.

Finally I just want to say how much I have enjoyed and gleaned from reading Durka. I think a teacher's role in imparting spirituality is profound, mysterious, enduring, and, something not easily defined. Durka does a wonderful job in clarifying and promoting what that role entails.

Wisely and morally

Teaching Wisely: There we find the comment on loading information into the student and the mechanical, impersonal process involved. This lead me to think about, again, how I learned when I was younger.

I attended Catholic schools from K-12 (and then undergrad.!). This was during an earlier era when passive teaching was the norm. Those lessons were drilled into me. Still, just like the poems I mentioned last week, their impact lasted a lifetime and served me beyond measure throughout all the changes in career and life since. A example was my first year history teacher in high school, Sister Marietta, a Dominican. She taught us how to outline and required that all notes be taken in outlining format. Tests required some answering in outline. What incredible practice and discipline were involved!

Learning outlining was one of the greatest intellectual gifts I have ever received. It taught me both critical and analytic thinking, deductive reasoning in pure form. So, for me, the mechanical, passive learning process was a winner in this class, and just about all the rest of them. Just my penny's worth on the benefits of the "old" style teaching. Still, I am glad to be in the modern era of teaching; there is so much more we can do now.

This dovetails to Durka's comments on authority and making demands on students. (Ch. 5) These follow the preceding paragraphs in which the wonderful words "caring," "accuracy," "fidelity," and "good faith" are found. I am reminded here of an early scene in Robert Redford's film, "A River Runs Through It." In it, a Protestant minister teaches his son to write, and insists that the boy rewrite his English lessons, over and over, until the page on which the boy is writing has about 5 words left. In a voice-over, the boy, an eventual Pulitizer Prize winner, simply says: "And that is how I learned to write the English language."

Concerning teaching values and morals, I reflect on the challenge that that presents in a secular school environment, where I have done my teaching. Unlike Catholic schools predicated on the fostering of faith in every endeavor, secular schools somehow must get across the concepts of values, without emphasis on faith in the specific context. Still, I found ways to incorporate the role of Catholicism and the values it embodies.

In one case, for a political science class I taught (comparative systems), I included readings on the Church's role in European history, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the founding of the great European universities during the Middle Ages. We delved into the philosophy of the great Saint Thomas Aquinas. Actually, this review of Church history in Europe wasn't that hard to incorporate because the text I chose, one by a very well-known author, spent several chapters on this, even though it was not a book written for a Catholic audience.

In the same class, I also showed the film "The Mission," starring Jeremy Irons and Robert Di Nero. The students seemed to love analyzing this film, and identifying the values and moral choices depicted it. I believe that through this class coverage values were taught, fidelity maintained.

Teaching Courageously and Creatively

"She is a friend of my mind."

This quote was my favorite (one of many) in the readings. Reading it made me reflect on my 7th and 8th grade teacher, Sister Loretto. Sister incorporated teaching poetry in our class and made it a substantial part of it. This had to be courageous. No other teachers covered poetry, and, those were the days of strict, hierarchical, truly "by the book" instruction.

Sister Loretto taught poetry very creatively as well. Not only did we read it, but also we recited it in poetry competitions or acted the verses if we could. This was one of the great learning experiences of my life. It instilled in me a great, lasting love of poetry and allowed me to appreciate English (and language in general) in a more profound way. Further, it opened my mind and spirit to a keener perception of the world, whether it was "stopping by the woods on a snowy evening," viewing "the daffodils," or "crossing the bar." (The above picture depicts shelves with poetry books!)

Another gift Sister Loretto imparted was the poetry of the psalms. For a young lady, seeing the Bible as beautiful, spiritual writing rather than a heavy, ponderous, unapproachable book was a tremendous awakening. Sister's teaching truly followed the path of humanization on many levels.

Another thought arose as I was reading. This was triggered by the stories of Howie and the graduate student's dad. For me, these demonstrate how fundamental it is for teachers and students to look beyond the surface of people and not to judge, not to judge ever, those who we truly don't know. This is even more of an imperative for teachers in a Catholic environment, where it is a spiritual mandate to view students with the deep spirituality emanating from compassion. The nun didn't know the full story of Howie; the son angrily and judgmentally wrote of his dad. In the first case, the nun's understanding of Howie increased expotentially when she learned of his circumstances. In the second case, I believe the son's perception of his dad would improve if he truly knew of the father's early background (not specifically mentioned) which may have been filled with abuse or neglect.

The overall readings and in particular these stories illustrate that valid, full information leads to true understanding. True understanding then leads to the spiritual view of the individual, the totality of the soul and being.

Spirituality

Seems so undefinable, yet is like a soft breeze that envelops us and moves us to great heights ~