DEEPENING THE PEDAGOGY OF THE FIRST-

YEAR EXPERIENCE

Laura I. RendónCalifornia State University-Long BeachInternational Conference of the First-

Year ExperienceMaui

June 14, 2004

Transforming Teaching & Learning

• If we can see it is our agreements which rule our life, and we don’t like the dream of life, we need to change the agreements--Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements (1997)

• Teaching and learning are based on certain privileged agreements that govern the present pedagogical Dreamfield

1. The Agreement to Privilege Mental Knowing

• Privileges cerebral abilities such as verbal, scientific and mathematical ability

• Prizes and rewards outer knowing (intellectual reasoning, rationality, and objectivity) at expense of inner knowing (deep wisdom, wonder, sense of sacred, intuition and emotions)

2. The Agreement of Separation

• Distances faculty from students

• Faculty become sole experts

• Teaching is separated from learning

• Validation/support are forms of “coddling” students

3. The Agreement of Competition

• Students pitted against each other in a competitive environment

• Survival of the fittest-Darwin

• Testing mania is predicated on competition, sorting and ranking

• “Merit” defines the “best and brightest” through standardized tests

4. The Agreement of Perfection

• Little, if any, room for error in the classroom

• Learning occurs in a context where human imperfection is downplayed

5. The Agreement of Monoculturalism

• Almost exclusive validation of Western structures of knowledge (course offerings, teaching and learning styles, lack of diversity, etc.)

• Dominance of faculty and administrators who subscribe to monocultural paradigms

6. The Agreement of Workaholism

• The “best” academics rarely rest and renew. They are constantly busy working on multiple projects, traveling, and putting in long hours

• Rest and replenishment associated with laziness

• Reflection and contemplative practice associated with being “soft,” “touchy-feely”

Purpose of Study

•Uncover holistic, connected teaching & learning practices in higher education

•Develop a holistic, relationship-centered model of teaching and learning in higher education

Why does one write, if not to put one’s pieces together?

From the moment we enter school or church, education

chops us into pieces: it teaches us to divorce soul from

body and mind from heart.

The fishermen of the Columbian coast must be learned

doctors of ethics and morality, for they invented the word,

sentipensante, feeling-thinking, to define language that

speaks the truth.

--Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces (1989)

CELEBRATION OF THE MARRIAGE OF HEART AND MIND

METHOD•One-on-one, in depth, semistructured interviews (1-2 hours) with faculty.

Also interviewed some of their students. Purposeful sampling employed.

•Sample, N=14 (adding more)Name Discipline Institution Gender/Race

Sam Mathematics 2-year M/W

Becky Chemistry 2-year F/W

Norma English 4-year F/L

X. Communication 4-year F/W

Mary English 2-year F/W

Bill Physical Education 2-year M/W

Alberto Ethnic/Chicano Studies 4-year M/L

Herman African American Studies 4-year M/AA

Susan Psychology 4-year F/W

Xin Education 4-year F/Asian

CandanceEducation 4-year F/W

Barbara English 2-year F/W

Robert Education 4-year M/W

Sam Education 4-year M/W•Audiotaped and videotaped

Sentipensante (Feeling/Thinking)

Faculty

Outer Orientation

Inner Orientation

•Student Centered

•Intellectual

•Passionate About Teaching & Learning

•Value Excellence

•Embrace Their Discipline/Field of Study

•Searchers/Reflective•Serving Higher Purpose•Engaged in Journey•Called to Teach•Embrace Not Knowing•Take Risks--Break Away

Balanced Approach

ToLife/Work

Faculty Strategies That

Engage The Intellect*

Demystify Content

•Demystify

•Re-do and Resubmit

Cognitive Skills

•Critical Thinking

•Problem Solving

•Reading/Writing

•Decision Making

•Technology

Traditional Assessment

•Tests•Quizzes•Essays•Research

High Expectations •No Limits•High Standards

*Intellectual reasoning, rationality, objectivity

Faculty Strategies That

Engage The Heart*

Relate Content To Life

Reflective Assessment

•Postcards•Student Calls/Visits•Listen/observe•Ask Questions

Incorporate Contemplative Practice

(Active/Quiet)

•Journaling•Free Writing•Sitting in Silence•Meditation•Rituals•Art/Music/Theatre

•Engage Student Lives

•Employ Personal Experience

•It’s Feedback, Not Proving Anything

•Set Up Constant Pattern of Reflection Growth

*Inner knowing such as cultivating wonder, sense of the sacred, appreciation of emotions, meaning and purpose in life.

Relationship-CenteredClassroom Context

Validate Students

Student/FacultyInteraction

FacilitateCommunity

Diverse Ways of Knowing

•Diverse Learning Styles•Inclusive Curriculum

•Challenge Stereotypes/Judgments

•Academic Validation

•Interpersonal Validation

•Group Work/Collaborative Learning

•Service Learning•Food

•Stress Connectedness to Others/World•Cooperation on Tests•Share Phone Numbers

•Faculty/Students Bring Selves to Class

•Establish Trust

•Become Accessible

•Students are Colleagues, Fellow Teachers

FOCUS ON:

•Teacher

•Student

•Subject Matter

•Process of Learning

•Context for Learning

Learning Strategies

INTELLECT

•Cognitive Skills

•Content

•Technology Skills

HEART

•Awareness

•Reflection

•Service

•Cooperation

•Connections

•Humanity

SENTIPENSANTE PEDAGOGY

Deepening the Pedagogy of the First-Year Experience

• Engage in transformation of teaching and learning

• Reframe higher education’s privileged agreements

• Restore the essence of education: to educate for wholeness and to make our love and compassion work for ALL the people of the world!