Soft Teaching, VII

I want to back up in this reflection. So, let me remind you of those three penetrating questions that spewed from my epiphany: “Do you want to let go of the influence of those debilitating parts of your life?” “Do you want a new future?” “Do you have it in you to do what has to be done?” The answers beyond my shouted “yes” did not come quick or easy. No, they triggered an emerging and vigorous debate between different philosophical worlds with different premises, different core principles, and subsequently different ways of doing things.

For years following the posing of those questions, day after day after day after day, there was a furious inner exchange. It was actually slugfest. On one side, was the up-and-coming, self-confident, powerful challenger with a new, innovative style, a new outlook, and a new way of moving through the world of academia. He wanted to matter. He wanted to be dedicated, truly dedicated to each student rather than to “the discipline.” Sure, he knew that subject matter mattered, but he wanted to accept the simple fact that people mattered most; he wanted to get out of the publish-or-perish rat race; he wanted to truly value classroom teaching; he wanted to rigorously be taught and learn about learning that was so ignored in his graduate training; he no longer wanted to wield weaponized perceptions and actions that harmed others; he wanted to teach generously, doing the best for each student; he refused to reject or forget or abandon his own story because it allowed him to connect with the stories of others; he no longer wanted to devalue students as impediments to lengthening his professional resume or promotion or appointment or acquiring tenure or broadening his professional renown; he wanted to better understand each student far more than a stereotype, generality, or label would allow; he wanted to get an understanding, get to the true beneath-the-surface complexity of each student that is far clearer and truer than a warping stereotype; he wanted to make a difference in the lives of students; he wanted to be fueled by unconditional faith in, hope for, and love of both himself and each student; he wanted to be driven by a Northstar vision of meaning and purpose that would allow him and each student to help each other become the person each was capable of becoming. And, he saw that when he stripped away the resume, positions, tenure, and titles, something far more important remained. He was willing to take risks. He was willing to take the inevitable punches. He knew that he wouldn’t know what would happen until after it happened.

On the other side, was the defender of tradition. He believed that importance rested on the academic resume, degree, title, position, and renown; that they made the academic person. He, like almost all of his colleagues, felt comfortable using teaching methods by which he had been taught by his professors. He was afraid of altering his tried-and-true and universally accepted style. He was, when push came to shove, he was filled with fear. He wasn’t sure how those around him would greet any change of style. He didn’t know how and if his backers would back him. He didn’t know if the promoters would promote him. He didn’t know if his colleagues would remain collegial. He knew everyone around him would resist any change; they always did. He knew that almost everyone would feel threatened by him if he tried anything new. And, he sure didn’t want to be isolated as someone who was no longer “dedicated to the discipline.” So, he wasn’t sure if there was anything in it for him if he did change his perceptions and ways. He knew those around him wanted to know what any change meant for them personally and professionally. He knew those around him would want to know if any change of style would benefit or be averse to their position. Since any change would take a lot of time and effort, but wouldn’t guarantee a victory, he wasn’t sure if it would be worth it the risk. He wasn’t wild about venturing into the unknown, feeling safer in the familiar and comfortable with what he was comfortable doing. In fact, he really was hesitant until he had guarantees of victory.

For years, inside me, these two debated, day after day after day: research; teaching; publication; teaching; information transmission; character development, promotion and tenure; instilling deep and lasting life-long learning. Vigorously. Furiously. Ferociously. Slowly, but slowly and surely, seeing the richness of love of self and others, I locked my heart on a good solid reason to be willing to change, and to act on that willingness to change. The strength of purpose in soft teaching with its unconditional faith and hope and love of each student proved to be the stronger of the two contestants for my soul and ultimately won the debate.

As I experienced this inner grappling, I came to see that I didn’t have to wait for a Sir Galahad to rescue me. I already had that inner power of intent to change within me. The richness of faith, hope, and love in both self and others was the key. I just had to learn how to bring it out from its hidden place, constantly drawing on its energy, and using it. Consequently, I started daring to have faith, hope, and love for what is. “What is” meant that the essence of the classroom, like everything in existence, is connection and interaction where chasm and distance and disconnection have no place. “What is” meant centering on myself in order to release constraints in order be able to center on uncentering myself to serve each student. “What is” meant putting the magnitude of teaching, rather than ego, at the center of my mindfulness. “What is” meant cutting through the opaque curtains of dehumanizing and impersonal stereotype, generality, label, and superficiality. “What is” meant being a human being next to another unique and sacred human being. “What is” meant keeping myself open, embracing and accepting those around me. “What is” meant an expanding attentiveness, alertness, and awareness of others. “What is” meant not minimizing others, not being distracted from each of them, not letting any of them go unnoticed and unheard. “What is” meant bringing the vibrancy of my faith in, hope for, and love of each of them to each of them, enveloping each of them with it, and helping each of them to help themselves find their own vibrancy. “What is” meant living well, living true, sustained by a vision of both teaching and life. “What is” meant being a person of value, not merely of success. “What is” meant depth, soul, purpose, meaning, legacy. “What is” meant being so emotionally invested in each student that it moves me to tears to watch her or him evolve toward the person she or he can become.

The bottom line is I came to touch the wonder of teaching specifically and life in general that as I learned to live my answers to those three questions. I stopped cheating my self. I learned to love my self. As I learned to love my self, I learned to truly live! And, as I learned to truly live, according to the words of Norman Vincent Peale, I lived my life, not my resume. In every thought, every feeling, every word, and every action, I came to touch the wonder of teaching specifically and life in general every minute of every day.

Enough for now. More later on the lessons I learned over the years.

Louis

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About Louis Schmier

LOUIS SCHMIER “Every student should have a person who wants to help him or her help himself or herself become the person he or she is capable of becoming, and I’ll be damned if I am ever going to let one human being fall through the cracks in my classes without a fight.” How about a snapshot of myself. But, what shall I tell you about me? Something personal? Something philosophical? Something pedagogical? Something scholarly? Nah, I'll dispense with that resume stuff. Since I believe everything we do starts from who we are inside, what we believe, what we perceive, and what we do is an extension of ourselves, how about if I first say some things about myself. Then, maybe, I can ease into other things. My name is Louis Schmier. The first name rhymes with phooey, the last with beer. I am a 76 year old - in body, but not in mind or spirit - born and bred New Yorker who came south in 1963. I met by angelic bride, Susie, on a reluctant blind date at Chapel Hill. We've been married now going on 51 years. We have two marvelous sons. One is a VP at Samsung in San Francisco. The other is an artist with food and is an executive chef at a restaurant in Nashville, Tn. And, they have given us three grandmunchkins upon whom we dote a bit. I power walk 7 miles every other early morning. That’s my essential meditative “Just to …” time. On the other days, I exercise with weights to keep my upper body in shape. I am an avid gardener. I love to cook on my wok. Loving to work with my hands as well as with my heart and mind, I built a three room master complex addition to the house. And, I am a “fixer-upper” who allows very few repairmen to step across the threshold. Oh, by the way, I received my A.B. from then Adelphi College, my M.A. from St. John's University, and my Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have been teaching at Valdosta State University in Georgia since 1967. Having retired reluctantly in December, 2012, I currently hold the rank of Professor of History, Emeritus. I prefer the title, “Teacher”. Twenty-five years ago, I had what I consider an “epiphany”. It changed my understanding of myself. I stopped professoring and gave up scholarly research and publication to devote all my time and energy to student. My teaching has taken on the character of a mission. It is a journey that has taken me from seeing only myself to a commitment to vision larger than myself and my self-interest. I now believe that being an educator means I am in the “people business”. I now believe that the most essential element in education is caring about people. Education without caring, without a real human connection, is as viable as a person with a brain but without a heart. So, when I am asked what I teach, I answer unhesitatingly, “I teach students”. I am now more concerned with the students’ learning than my teaching, more concerned with the students as human beings than with the subject. I am more concerned with reaching for students than reaching the height of professional reputation. I believe the heart of education is to educate the heart. The purpose of teaching is to instill in all students genuine, loving, lifelong eagerness to learn and foster a life of continual growth and development. It should encourage and assist students in developing the basic values needed for learning and living: self-discipline, self-confidence, self-worth, integrity, honesty, commitment, perseverance, responsibility, pursuit of excellence, emotional courage, creativity, imagination, humility, and compassion for others. In April, 1993, I began to share ME on the internet: my personal and professional rites of passage, my beliefs about the nature and purpose of an education, a commemoration of student learning and achievement, my successful and not so successful experiences, a proclamation of faith in students, and a celebration of teaching. These electronic sharings are called “Random Thoughts”. There are now over 1000 of them floating out there in cyberspace. The first 185, which chronicles the beginnings of my journey, have been published as collections in three volumes, RANDOM THOUGHTS: THE HUMANITY OF TEACHING, RANDOM THOUGHTS, II: TEACHING FROM THE HEART, RANDOM THOUGHTS, III: TEACHING WITH LOVE, and RANDOM THOUGHTS, IV: THE PASSION OF TEACHING. The chronicle of my continued journey is available in an Ebook on Amazon's Kindle in a volume I call FAITH, HOPE, LOVE: THE SPIRIT OF TEACHING. There a few more untitled volumes in the works..

4 thoughts on “Soft Teaching, VII

  1. Hi Louis.

    Why have you stopped writing?

    We need you,

    we need your Random Thoughts.

    You have opened new way in education.

    Thank you.

    Wish you all the best.

  2. Thank you for your kind words. I have not stopped writing per se. I’m taking a hiatus. The first weeks of April I vacationed for three weeks as I joyously celebrated my youngest granddaughter’s Bas Mitzvah in California, took a few days of wine sipping in Monterey’s Carmel Valley, and stayed in California to spoil the grandkids some more. Then, just after we returned home, tragedy struck. My eldest granddaughter was in a near fatal bicycle accident and suffered extensive injuries which included brain trauma the extent of which won’t be known for some months. Needless to say, I’ve been “distracted.” During this trying period, I’ve been going back to something I wrote and shared 13 years ago about coming to see how having had cancer was a gift, a blessing in disguise. (http://therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/2004/12/13/i-am-a-cancer-survivor/). That particular reflection always takes me to something inside my heart. It is the words of Viktor Frankl, “The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even under the most difficult circumstances to add a deeper meaning to his life.” I think one part of wisdom is realize that we can no more control reality any more than we can teach Nala to bark, but we do have the power to control how we respond to reality. A second part of wisdom is to stop arguing and fighting with what is and not to let it be soul-crushing. A third part of wisdom is to wait patiently with uplifted spirits—and I don’t mean just wine—for the spirit impacts on everything else in and around us. A fourth part of wisdom is to see that acceptance is not surrender; it is to allow the deeper meaning Frankl talks about to surface. The fifth part of wisdom is to come to the realization we each are stronger than the pain we experience. The final part of wisdom is that every time we remember all of the above, we become stronger and come out swinging. Surviving cancer and later a massive cerebral hemorrhage as an unscathed “walking 5% percent miracle,” has given me PTG: post traumatic growth. In so doing, I drew from them a feeling of more personal strength, of having more emotional stability, of being more satisfied spiritually, and having a greater sense of meaning and purpose. Though initially shaken by Natalie’s experience, I will use my inner power and see to it that it does the same.

  3. I wish your granddaughter speedy recovery.

    Yesterday I have read your “Ten Rules”.

    They have helped me.

    I started Random Thoughts from 1993 and now I am reading year 2011.

    Please do not stop writing.

    Me and world need more hope, faith, belief and love.

  4. 2011? Let’s see. You’ve read “The Birthright to Make Mistakes” series and, more importantly, you’re approaching “My Teacher’s Oath” series. Read that slowly, very slowly.

    Louis

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