Learning Involves Moving and Being Moved—Part 2: Six Strategies of an Invitational Pedagogy Posted on January 19, 2015 by Mindy McGarrah SharpPhenomenologists and narrative theorists note the importance of a horizon to learning – a not yet that beckons engaged, creative, responsible movement. Self-psychologist Heinz Kohut insists on “postponing closures” when interpreting any life experience, one’s own or on behalf of another person. Learning has more room to move and breathe when a learning process yields to an open future, leaving room to move discourses, interpretations, theological claims, and processes of becoming into a life’s vocation…
Learning Involves Moving and Being Moved—Part 1: Hinge Moments Posted on January 12, 2015 by Mindy McGarrah SharpHinge moments often evoke dislocation, opening certainties and unfolding more multidimensional possibilities to what appeared to be smoothed out maps. For theological educators trained to map a place in a field, carve out a scholarship domain, advance a particular line of thought, maps and map-making are key vocational tools to meet the dislocations that new questions of hinge moments propose….
Late Nights in the Library: Meeting Students on Their Terms Posted on December 29, 2014 by Josh KingcadeNow, we should never encourage procrastination. Nor should we commend the practice of cramming in library late nights right before a paper deadline. But often, faculty expect students to make time only during the day (AKA: during our office hours). Normally, this is reasonable. But when do you think students are doing most of their work on their papers? (When did you do most of your work on your papers?) It’s at night, when they can focus more, and yet faculty are nowhere to be seen. I’ll bet if you surveyed your students, over eighty percent of work on term papers is done during the evenings on the week the paper is due. If your students are doing their work in the evenings leading up to the due date, why not be available to help them then?
Dynamic Online Teaching-Resistances & Conversions Posted on December 8, 2014 by Mindy McGarrah SharpI did not want to do online teaching. Like many theological educators, my education in divinity school and doctoral work was in traditional classroom formats. I attended residential institutions, spent hours in stacks with physical books and their distinct smells, and daily conversed with students and professors in hallways that connected one classroom to another….
A Safe Space for Self-Reflection Posted on December 1, 2014 by Jane S. WebsterWho am I and where am I going? And why am I in this classroom?! It took me about a week into my first course to realize that most of my students were not as passionately interested about religion and biblical studies as I was. I learned that most of them were in the room because they needed a required general education course and my course was the only one with space that fit their schedule. I tried to make the most of it by focusing on the skills they would need to develop—critical thinking and written communication, for example. It sounded good in theory but I was missing an amazing opportunity: engaging students in self-reflection….