Reflections

Where I find fault with Palmer and Zajonc, is that they do not go far enough! They identify these key concerns – these vital issues faced by their students – and instead of outlining real solutions, they spend much of their discussion in philosophicals, ontologicals, and hypotheticals. I should state, that the authors in fact do this on purpose – fearing a prescribed solution would only exasperate the problems of a “soulless university” – but I disagree. Palmer and Zajonc recommend an integrative approach to education. I must say, I agree with integrative, interdisciplinary models, however, I find that many of them are lacking in real gusto. Palmer and Zajonc do a fantastic job of outlining the purpose and objectives of integrative education, as well as demonstrating how such models target holistic learning. I just wish they went a little deeper and pushed a little further. Granted, they were specifically aimed at social change within the university setting. In turn, I would like to apply this model into the entire spectrum of the educational system. Idealistic as this might sound, it is not a pipedream. After all, the educational system has been revamped multiple times throughout American history; not to mention our competitors in Europe and Asia have made full commitments to educational reform. In order to address the marketplace described by Pink, and the skills needed for that marketplace, we can no longer neglect meaning and purpose.

This is not the meaning and purpose of education, but the meaning and purpose of the student and the student’s life. When we focus narrowly on that goal, then education has a meaning and purpose of its own – a higher calling. “Most conventional methods of instruction are too weak and fragmented to affect a significant shift in perspective, epistemology, or moral level of the type envisioned” by Palmer and Zajonc (Palmer, 105). A true, institutional transformation calls for “seeing and living the answers” (Palmer, 105). Like Peat, Palmer and Zajonc admonish the antiquated, 20th century worldviews based on Newton and Descartes, and instead call for Einstein and Bohr “whose science is not of matter and mechanism, but of relationships and dynamic processes” (Palmer, 11). This language is crucial – relationships and dynamics. The thesis of their work is that higher education needs to focus on the soulful, dynamic aspects of humanity. They call for the education of the whole human – the humanness in the human, not unlike Grace Lee Boggs. Education needs to serve this dynamic, relational new purpose; coaching students in developing a personal meaning for their lives. “We are now called to develop a view of education that simultaneously values the self-consciousness of the new science, literary criticism, philosophy, sociology, and anthropology without extremism while also affirming the possibility of a way to truth, meaning and purpose” (Palmer, 63 – 64). The needs of 21st century students are more holistic and more mysterious. The contemporary student is left empty when taught in 20th century pedagogies. Based on Pink’s estimation of the needs of the 21st century we know that education should stress: aesthetics and design, narratives, symbiosis, empathy and emotion, play, and meaning. If we look at this list, we can see that this is really what Robbins and Wilner discovered when exploring the identity crisis of the twixter.

The twentysomethings struggled with emotional stability and life goals. Pink’s six senses address this. Narratives surface not just in the way we explain history or the way we describe ideas, but also in personal narratives – how we describe ourselves and what we identify as who we are. Sharing these narratives involves empathy and the acceptance of a subjective, in-flux world. The way we cope with change, involves our ability to be allogamous and innovative. Play, design, and aesthetics are all integral to Edwards’ creative discipline as well Csikszentmihalyi’s sense of flow. So we can see; Pink’s six senses are not just ways of categorizing new parts of the new century. These are fundamental principles which are guiding not just our market, but the market’s work force, products and services. This is the reality of the 21st century. And as such, it is negligent to ignore the changes taking place. Where Palmer and Zajonc call for a change in higher education to service Pink’s criteria; I claim this can be applied to all levels of education. We have to stop thinking of college as being an additional or possible step in the student’s development. The twixter needs college just as the adolescent needed secondary education.

When Hall first identified adolescence, huge cultural changes reflected the needs of this new developmental stage. Much of secondary education is built directly around the needs of the adolescent. It is time we adjust the institution of education once more, this time to accommodate the needs of the twixter. The twixter’s needs are wrapped up in much of what Pink, Robbins, Wilner, Palmer and Zajonc have already outlined for us: the emotional, aesthetic, meaningful aspects of building life experiences. But we also must realize that education is a continuum, not a spectrum. The lines between primary, secondary and higher education should be benchmarks not walls. What influences one tier of education should trickle down to the lower tiers and should rise up to the top tiers.

references

1. Rimer, Sara. "Study: Many College Students Not Learning to Think Critically." The Hechinger Report January 18 (2011). Print. Teachers College, Columbia University

2. Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-brainers Will Rule the Future. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print.

3. Peat, F. David. From Certainty to Uncertainty: the Story of Science and Ideas in the Twentieth Century. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry, 2002. Print.

4. “Grow up? Not so fast,” By Lev Grossman. Time, January 16, 2005.

5. Robbins, Alexandra, and Abby Wilner. Quarterlife Crisis: the Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties. New York: J.P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2001. Print.

6. Palmer, Parker J., Arthur Zajonc, and Megan Scribner. The Heart of Higher Education: a Call to Renewal. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Print.

7. Shoemaker, Jean Eklund, and Larry Lewin. "Curriculum and Assessment: Two Sides of the Same Coin." The Changing Curriculum Number 8 50.May 1993 (1993): 55-57. Print.

8. Fiero, Gloria K. Landmarks in Humanities. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.

9. Tufte, Edward. "PowerPoint Is Evil; Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely." Wired Sept. 2003. Print. Issue 11.09

10. Reynolds, Garr. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. Berkeley, CA: New Riders Pub., 2008. Print.

11. Reynolds, Garr. "Storytelling Lessons from Bill Cosby." Rev. of Keynote Speeches and Comedic Career. Web log post. Presentation Zen. Garr Reynolds, 28 June 2011. Web. 30 June 2011.