Professors contribute very important elements to the success of our programs. Their years in the classroom help them foster thriving conversations in our discussion groups. Their time spent facilitating discussion helps them create safe spaces for difference and even productive disagreement. And their subject matter expertise brings an added layer of depth to discussion sessions. Most of all, professors are curious. They are curious about the participants’ life experiences and the way in which these experiences shape their reading of a text. They are excited to share their own interests with others.
Curiosity—the kind professors exhibit and foster—is a key to knowledge retention, making it instrumental to lifelong learning.
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April in the United States is National Poetry Month, and so it seems appropriate, as we read mindfully once again, to turn to a poet whose work emphasizes the relationship between the natural world and our deepest selves. A fellow of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and winner of the National Humanities Medal, Wendell Berry is a prolific writer of prose—fiction and nonfiction—and poetry.
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Last week, we wrote about a recent Pew Internet study that confirmed the American hunger for continued learning opportunities: over the last 12 months, 74% of American adults report participation in some form of personal learning and 63% of employed adults report participation in some form of professional learning. Surprisingly, however, this learning is more likely than not to take place in a physical locale (a school, place or worship, library or a work-related venue) than on the Internet. Recent research on adult learning and development – as well as findings from our seminars – shed light on the complex reasons why adults prefer to learn socially.
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Last week, the Pew Research Center released a detailed report on Lifelong Learning and Technology, exploring the extent to which American adults seek extra knowledge for personal and work-related reasons. The report was heartening, if only because the number of American adults who consider themselves lifelong learners, in both personal and professional capacities, is far greater than I feared. But the report was most fascinating for its confirmation of something many of us suspect, but find unpopular to espouse: humans may still prefer to learn from each other than from technology.
First, the best news: The Pew research shows that 74% of American adults have participated in at least one form of “personal learning” over the past 12 months.
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We’ve combed the Internet—and our bookshelves—for some great reading. This weekend we’re thinking about reading and empathy, first impressions, the relationship between fantasy and reality, and book groups. We’ve included some poetry and book recommendations, too.
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Unlikeable characters pose a problem for readers. It’s hard to finish a book when the main character annoys or even outrages you. But the payoff for perseverance is real. By cultivating patience and empathy for an unlikeable character, we learn about ourselves and others—and we are reminded that disagreeable characters and people alike have hidden depths we cannot measure. Professor Joshua D. Phillips reflects on one unlikeable character, and what grappling with it taught him and the Books@Work group he was leading.
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As an undergraduate, I took as many classes as possible. Each course refracted the world back differently to me, shaping my perception and teaching me the value of nuance and depth. But I found myself fascinated by the professors themselves even more than I was interested in the course material. Most of all, I was taken with their curiosity. Though they taught courses that spanned centuries of history and knowledge, each professor approached his or her subject from a highly-refined specialty. Professors were experts in a small, specific area. They were deeply as well as broadly curious – about their subject matter, about their students. Their curiosity was contagious.
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Based on the success of our eighteen-day initiative earlier this year, we launch our monthly mindful reading series as a springboard to think about, and to practice, compassion, empathy, and awareness—of ourselves and of the world we live in. Reading mindfully allows us a few quiet minutes in the day to focus on something different, something literary or artful. Won’t you join us this week, and share your thoughts and reactions to Anton Chekhov’s short story, “The Princess”?
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How well do you know the person who sits next to you at work? What about the woman on the next floor, or down the hall? We are busy, and it’s all too easy to bring only a portion of ourselves to work, and to expect no more than a limited view into the lives of others.
And that’s a problem because, when we fail to recognize people in all their complexity or be recognized in turn, we create openings for misunderstanding and stress.
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