Here on the ESN blog, we've often blogged about differing views of education, particularly the conflict between education as personal formation and education as professional training. I encountered these differing views in two articles recently. I expected to see competing visions of education to make an appearance in a column on faculty as role models for students, but it was a bit of surprise to find them in a light (so I thought) opinion piece on the "books for boys" genre. First, the expected: last week, Inside … [Read more...] about Captain Underpants and Faculty Role Models
Mentoring
What is your relationship to reading and writing?
Great question. Do you resonate with the response Rachel Toor received from a graduate class in physical education? When we were wrapping up, I asked them a question: "What is your relationship to reading and writing?" At that moment, they morphed from T-shirt-clad physical specimens and became generic graduate students, indistinguishable from all-in-black, cigarette-smoking studiers of literary theory and bearded-and-geeky future scientists. It's all we do, they wailed, and it's hard. ... The journal articles he … [Read more...] about What is your relationship to reading and writing?
The Purpose of Education
Related to our series on Education for Human Flourishing: A Christian Perspective (Paul D. Spears and Steven R. Loomis, InterVarsity Press, 2009),* below is an email I received regarding the purpose of education. Agree/disagree? Thoughts/reactions? The purpose of education is to learn how to learn, some say. ... I'd say, to learn how to teach yourself. ... The teacher is a coach to assist in the process. ..."Dead Poets Society" and other movies picture the teacher as this mother bird throwing out worms to hungry … [Read more...] about The Purpose of Education
Query: Intergenerational Ministry Bibliography
In addition to the seminar mentioned in Query: Social Media, Community Development, Campus Ministry, I'm preparing a Bibliography for the upcoming Graduate & Faculty Ministry National Team Meetings. What do our friends in the Emerging Scholars Network have to share as resources (articles, blogs, books, webpages, etc) on Ages and life stages. The question of generational distinctives. Using the World Cafe to encourage good teamwork. Note: It's not necessary for the recommendations to focus on campus … [Read more...] about Query: Intergenerational Ministry Bibliography
Week in Review: The Valiant Return Edition
What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here's a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you'd like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike. 1. Alan Jacobs' Grad School Thoughts: Should you go to grad school? "Probably not," writes Alan Jacobs, Wheaton English professor and author of Original Sin, The Narnian, A Theology of Reading, and many other excellent things. But if you insist, … [Read more...] about Week in Review: The Valiant Return Edition