Comments on: The University of Potential

By: Pepe

Pepe — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 21:00:19 +0000

As I was reading the 16 htaibs of mind, I couldn’t help but think that I have seen them somewhere before. Indeed, it seems that many of the methods and techniques that build solid teachers have all been delivered in some form during our research and textbook readings. I couldn’t help but think that this is perhaps a clearer, quicker and more simple way of getting this information out there. Although it is not as deep as some of the readings I have done (in terms of citations, quotes and studies) it still manages to convey meaning, that, if one were to critically consider what is being presented, they would find lots of meaning.That being said, I have to say that some items felt they were repeating just a bit, so as I was going through them I started condensing them into the following list; empathy, reasoning, clarity, reflection, metacognition, motivation and learning. Almost each one of these sixteen items can be brought into some area of these presented seven. At the beginning of the article it mentioned something about how these qualities are seen in many accomplished professionals. It noted that they had been observed in effective sales people as well. This got me thinking about experiences that I’ve had with sales-folk where I have walked away satisfied, with a good feeling. When considering what methods these salespeople employed to make a sale or assist me, it is not difficult to see these htaibs at work. When someone takes the time to listen and express empathy towards your situation, you are far more likely to listen to them, which makes that person immediately effective in whatever they do. When a salesperson says something along the lines of “I understand what you’re going through” or “I’ve been there before” they are working into building empathy and understanding. Something that the person can identify with. Not only is it important in business, but in the classroom as well. All too often teachers put themselves on this pedestal that makes them a bit disconnected with their students. If they do not try to relate to students and understand their lives and issues a bit, they will not be effective. This ties into reasoning, because by developing empathy, one will be more likely to consider all possible outcomes and alternatives to a situation or problem before arriving at a conclusion. Instead of just assuming a student turned in an assignment late because he/she is lazy, the teacher should try and dig deeper to figure out why instead of assuming. Reasoning something out with a student would be more effective and build better understanding them simply assuming something.Perhaps one of the most important htaibs clearly laid out in this article is clarity. The more clear and precise one is in any aspect, the more effective they will be in life and the classroom. This also relates to competence as well. When one articulates clearly, does not stumble on their words and has a clear idea of what they want to say, it will demand more attention. One who stumbles on their words or thoughts will never be effective because attention will be quickly lost and very, very difficult to regain. This is a matter of good planning and execution as well as solid reflection. The teacher must think back on their day and see where perhaps they could have been more clear and thoughtful in their speech and actions. So long as they reflect on what they have done that day, the teacher will always be learning and improving their methods and ideas to increase clarity.Metacognition and motivation almost go hand in hand. That is, the more one is motivated the more they will consider how they learn and what they must do to accomplish this learning. It is not limited to learning however, it could also be open to accomplishing activities or any other project they may want to do. Finding what motivates you is also discovering your metacognition as well. Perhaps a student knows that ice cream is a good motivator or reward, they may choose to reward themselves after studying for an hour. This knowing what is best for you can help increase student learning, even if it is a bit of a bargaining tool. Knowing how you learn and do things is the key to increasing motivation. Perhaps a student who has been labeled unmotivated or lazy simply lacks good metacognitive skills and is unable to understand how they learn or even study.It follows that continuous learning is one of the last major points from this article that I found important. Motivation and metacognition are both keys to long term learning and success not only in the academic world but in life as well. Everyone looks for people with a desire to learn in the classroom and in the workplace. People who know how they learn, are motivated intrinsically to learn will become lifelong learners, never satisfied with what they know and always wanting more. This appears to be the most important habit of mind. There is always more to know and being intelligent and well read is perhaps one of the most respected traits in the world.Thats what I got out of this article at least, what did everyone else find?

By: Jose Bowen » What Good are Scholarships?

Jose Bowen » What Good are Scholarships? — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:49:24 +0000

[…] As college faculty, we often complain about how our students are not prepared for college work, but are scholarships part of the solution or the problem? Have we, perhaps in our scholarly quest to make our institutions better, contributed to this problem? (Admissions is a related problem and I’ve tried to outline a different model in my proposal for a University of Potential. […]

By: Teaching Naked » What Good are Scholarships?

Teaching Naked » What Good are Scholarships? — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:42:32 +0000

By: jabowen

jabowen — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:27:43 +0000

Amen. Yes MOTIVATION is absolutely part of potential. It may even be the most important part.

By: Tim Dunbar

Tim Dunbar — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:35:14 +0000

Jose,

Very well said. It is very easy for a college football team to be the best when they only recruit (admit) the best in the nation. I don’t see a lot of movies made about the best teams, but you do see a lot on the teams that are not the most talented, but rise above their talent because of the motivation of their coach, just like I have seen students rise above their “talent” because of the motivation of their educators, just like you raised my below average musical talent to hopefully average.

I like the idea of The University of Potential and the admittance of students not on how much they knew, but on how much they could learn. If I may, the one other item I would ad would be how much desire the student has to want to learn, even if their potential to learn might not be that great. I am sure you have come across students that might not have the gift for music, but they might have more desire to drink in all the knowledge you might be able to give them than any other of your more gifted students.

I have very strong feelings about “higher” education. I have seen our society put so much pressure on our children to make a decision on what they want to do with their life and that age to make that decision is getting younger and younger. Parents almost being forced to get their children in the “best” schools starting with preschool for fear that if they don’t, their children won’t make it to an elite college and won’t be successful adults because they are not working 80 a week making 6 figure incomes. My personal viewpoint is we need to give anyone that wants an education the opportunity for that education and for that education to be equal at all levels. I would rather meet a person that the government just spent $100,000 on their education in a dark ally than a person that the government just spent $100,000 housing them in a prison. I am also a strong supporter of the more people we spend on education, the better our economy will do.

I just hope what ever we do, we are able to help our “students” to truly learn. I went back to school as a returning adult. I was amazed at how most of the students only cared about learning what their instructors wanted them to know for the test. I was one of those students that other students might not have liked a great deal because I asked a lot of questions. I wanted to pull out all the knowledge I could out of my professors. My favorite classes were not the ones in my major, but the “theme” classes we had to take (World Food and Fiber, History of American Jazz, Physiology, Sociology, etc.). I always wanted to get every penny out of my education I was paying for.

I am also a strong believer in “the day we stop learning is the day we die.” I realize most people take that as we continue learning until we die, but I take it another way and that is if we stop learning, that is the day we will die mentally.

Anyway, I hope you are doing well. I have a lot of great memories of Jr.High and playing music with you and the rest of the guys. It helped me expand myself, even if it was just a little.