Teaching—The Sacred Art

Jane E. Vennard

Description

Authentic teaching is messy, exciting, frustrating, joyful, challenging―and sacred.
"Through stories, information and reflection, we [will look] inward, going more deeply into the discovery of who we are, not only as teachers but also as women and men for whom teaching is only a part of life. I believe the deepest calling … is the call to be who we truly are."
―from Chapter Seven, “Teaching Who We Are”
Beloved teacher Rev. Jane E. Vennard leads an inner exploration of the hopes and fears, joys and frustrations, gifts and limitations that influence teachers of all kinds―teachers like you―every day. Drawing on her own experience as well as stories from many teachers in conventional and unconventional settings, she inspires you to reconnect to your original desire to open minds and hearts to learning. With reflection questions, practices and activities, she helps you reinvigorate your passion for your vocation, your students and your subject, thus recognizing how teaching is a sacred art.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Self-help
• Spirituality
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 13 avril 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781594735974
• Langue: English

Extrait

Fo r my students
Wisdom is a living stream, not an icon preserved in a museum. Only when we find the spring of wisdom in our own life can it flow to future generations.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Con tents
Introduction
Chapter One
Called to Teach: Discovering Our Vocation
Listening for the Call
Hearing and Living the Call
Vocation in Religious Settings
Call as Spiritual Journey
An Authentic Call
Risky Business
Called to a Purposeful Life
Looking Inward, Going Deeper
Chapter Two
Engaging Our Students and Colleagues: Respect, Challenge, and Kindness
Honoring Students’ Innate Wisdom
Discovering Multiple Intelligences
Teaching to Multiple Intelligences
Respect for the Struggle
Creating a Safe and Hospitable Environment
Engaging Kindly
Looking Inward, Going Deeper
Chapter Three
Love of Subject, Love of Learning: Communicating Excitement and Wonder
The Learner Within
When the Subject Is Alive
Trusting the Learners’ Needs
The Continually Shifting Center
Lifelong Learning
Looking Inward, Going Deeper
Chapter Four
Using Sacred Language: Telling Stories, Asking Questions, and Listening Well
The Languages We Use
Exploring the Power of Personal Language
Recognizing the Differences between Dialogue and Debate
Learning to Listen, Honoring Silence
Expanding Our Use of Questions and Answers
Living the Questions
Looking Inward, Going Deeper
Chapter Five
Claiming Our Authority by Letting Go of Control
Examining the Differences between Authority and Power
Sharing Responsibility for Teaching and Learning
Letting Go by Offering Choices
Reimagining Power
Finding Your Own Way to Be in Charge
Looking Inward, Going Deeper
Chapter Six
Attending to Our Inner Landscape: Seeing, Embracing, and Transforming Our Shadows
Embracing Our Shadows
Paying Attention to Our Inner Landscape Leads to Authenticity
Common Shadows in Teachers’ Lives
Striving for Perfection
Fearing Interruptions and Surprise
Believing Our Own and Others’ Projections
Being Realistic
Looking Inward, Going Deeper
Chapter Seven
Teaching Who We Are: Honoring Our Unique Gifts
The Deepest Call Is to Be Who We Are
Growing in Integrity and Authenticity
Discovering Our Own Treasures
Simplicity
Patience
Compassion
Liberation
Love
Gratitude
Wisdom
Looking Inward, Going Deeper
Acknowledgments
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
About the Author
Copyright
Also Available
About SkyLight Paths
Sign Up for Email Updates
Send Us Your Feedback
Send Us Your Feedback
Click here to send us your feedback and be entered into our quarterly drawing for a $100 gift certificate for SkyLight Paths books.
Thank you for purchasing this SkyLight Paths eBook!
Sign up for our e-newsletter to receive special offers and information on the latest new books and other great eBooks from SkyLight Paths.
Sign Up Here
or visit us online to sign up at www.skylightpaths.com .
Looking for an inspirational speaker for an upcoming event, conference or retreat?
SkyLight Paths authors are available to speak and teach on a variety of topics that educate and inspire. For more information about our authors who are available to speak to your group, visit www.skylightpaths.com/page/category/SLP-SB .
To book an event, contact the SkyLight Paths Speakers Bureau at [e-mail] or call us at [phone].



INTRODUCTION
I come from a family of teachers. My maternal grandmother taught Greek and Latin in high school. My mother taught junior high math. My father was a college professor of engineering. Is it any wonder that I wanted nothing to do with teaching? I loved learning but never imagined myself on the other side of the desk. So how was it that I discovered that teaching was my calling, my vocation, my passion?
In my senior year of college I was aimless, not knowing what I would do after graduation. One day I saw a listing on a campus bulletin board announcing positions for teachers in the American School System, which runs schools all over the world for English-speaking students abroad. I was intrigued, not by the teaching opportunity but by the lure of travel.
I filled out the necessary paperwork and went for an interview, where they asked me where I would like to go. “Paris, Amsterdam, maybe Geneva,” I replied.
“You and every other young woman,” I was told. “But if you are willing to go where no one else wants to go, we can place you.”
“Where might that be?” I asked.
“Taipei, Taiwan” was the reply. I agreed and then went home and looked it up on the map.
Eight months later I found myself in Tien Mou, a suburb of Taipei near an American military base, preparing a fourth-grade classroom for twenty-eight students. I was excited about the idea of teaching but was not prepared for the challenge ahead. I had taken a class in the philosophy of education and one in developmental psychology, neither of which were at all helpful. I had had no teacher training and knew nothing about lesson planning or classroom management.
It was a terrible year. Some mornings I would weep at the prospect of getting up and going back to the school. The students were out of control. They showed me no respect. Although I pushed them through the textbooks, gave spelling tests, and handed out math worksheets, no learning seemed to be taking place. All of us were miserable. I wondered how I might live through the second year of my contract.
When I was asked to teach during the summer, I reluctantly agreed, and this turned out to be a wise decision. Although I began that summer session with much trepidation, those six weeks gave me a positive experience of the teaching-learning process. I was given two small classes, one in remedial reading for third graders and the other in advanced math for middle schoolers. Both groups of students were motivated. The young ones really hoped to make progress, for they knew they were behind and wanted to catch up to their peers. The older students were intrigued with numbers and welcomed the opportunity to expand their natural ability through this special class.
In both classes I witnessed the students’ struggle to learn, their willingness to keep trying, and then the excitement of mastering something new. I also began to grow in competence and confidence as I engaged the students in new ways. I learned how to pay attention to the children’s needs, observe their different learning styles, and make adjustments in my teaching methods when necessary. I looked forward to each day, thinking not only about what I would teach, but also about what I might learn about the art of teaching. The highlight of that summer was when a little boy came up to me, holding a book, his eyes wide with wonder. “Guess what,” he cried out. “All these words mean something!”
My second year was far better, although I realized how much I still needed to learn about teaching and learning. I applied for a master’s program in education and upon my return to the United States immersed myself in study. What a wonderful year that was! Like my summer school students, I wanted to learn everything that was being taught. Upon graduation I was excited and ready to plunge into a new teaching position. I had found my vocation.
If you have picked up this book, you may have had a similar experience of stumbling into teaching and finding your vocation. Although some people feel called to teach from an early age, many others arrive at their vocation in more roundabout ways. Maybe you were in another field entirely but realized that when you were called to teach or mentor as part of your contract, excitement and eagerness rose within you. Maybe you were out of work when a friend asked you to help out in her preschool, and you found an unexpected joy in witnessing the little ones learn. Maybe you were asked to teach in the religious education program at your place of worship and you were amazed at the wonder of sharing your faith with people of many ages. You could be homeschooling your children and you realize every day the sacredness of your task.
You may not be or ever have been a teacher, but you are a lifelong learner. You remember with gratitude the wonderful teachers you have had, and you may be curious about how and why they were so effective. I wonder if the title of this book connecting the word sacred with the art of teaching caught your eye and something in your own life resonated with that idea. When teaching becomes a sacred art, it becomes a vocation.
Teaching as Vocation
The women in my family did not teach long enough for teaching to become their passion. Although they both loved the profession, they had to stop teaching when they married—my grandmother because married women were not allowed to be teachers in the 1890s, and my mother because a household was expected to have only one family member employed during the early years of the Depression. My father, however, recognized his vocation when he became a teaching assistant during his master’s program in engineering at MIT. I don’t know whether he struggled as I did in his early years of teaching. I am not sure how he developed the confidence and determination that allowed him to turn down jobs in industry when he graduated in order to pursue a career in academia. I imagine that something in the teaching-learning process touched his heart and awakened his creativity.
In his early years of teaching at New York University, my father found no adequate textbook in his field of fluid mechanics. So he decided to write his own.