The new year or rather the new semester has begun. I always find this time in the teaching schedule to be very exciting. Much like walking in a field of newly blossoming flowers on a spring day, there is a fresh group of expectant students eagerly perusing you with their inquisitive eyes. What can you “teach” them; what “pearls of wisdom’’ will spring from your lips? There are, sadly, none to be had: the “kids” know everything. Their hands hold the cell phone, the thunderbolt of Zeus, capable of creating or destroying all (1): In offering this implement, the Cyclopes (2) made Zeus almighty: he received the power of the gods. But, and it is a big but, he knew how to use this force: according to Hesiod, (3) he could “shatter mountains and kill Titans.” Our young charges, for the most part, don’t have this skill. How do you deal with infinity without training and experience? You don’t because you can’t.

We then come to the teacher, who cannot be a teacher because there are no teachers, in the strict meaning of the word. The only real teacher is the self. If I want to learn, I learn, if I don’t, I don’t: a simplistic approach to the art of tutelage but probably the most truthful. Here we truly need the so-called, five C’s to continue. Students want to be given intellectual parameters to be able to learn and they want to be “set on fire”: truly stimulated and excited. “Encompassing the core values of 21st-century learning, these C’s are fundamental in our understanding of changing pedagogy and the role that technology plays. A powerful tool to drive these essential skills, adaptive technology, (4) maintains a focus on the primary C’s of 21st-century education, incorporating each overlapping element in a non-linear path. With others embedded within, the five skills remain central to personalized learning and its efforts in preparing students for 21st-century careers and life: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, cooperation and, finally, communication.” (5)

It is the critical thinking component that is the most difficult if you want to be an ethical instructor. If you teach thoughtfulness, bright minds will quickly realize that the capitalistic consumptive plan they are on is all wrong. Twelve years of elementary, junior and senior high school followed by four or six years of university: for what? Just to be able to buy things and more things. This is not life. “It is not for me!” Then, what is for you? You must learn to be creative and, of course, curious. All lives are unique and all have a particular path. Life is not meant to be bland and boring, though many settle for such: tragic and unnecessary. The teacher, the pedagogue, the instructor, whatever term you prefer must actually be a locksmith. His job is to hand a key to the student who can then unlock their own future, their own potentiality. The mantra of the trade is not, “We must make good and obedient wage slaves, eager consumers and blind followers of the Internet image of the world.” Our essential saying must be, “The key will make you free!” Dr. Viktor Frankl, the great philosopher, teacher, and sage leaves us with a thought: Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her life. There are three possible sources for meaning: in work (doing something significant), in love (caring for another person), and in courage during difficult times. Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it.       

 

A closing thought: As parents, teachers, and citizens of Earth, therefore, we must be emancipators: we must strive to free those in our “area of influence” from the unnecessary pain of a blind, diminished life; a life with only ephemeral items counting in its ultimate tabulation. Real life is much bigger than this: we all intrinsically know this, don’t we?

 

To sum up: This week, we spoke about the difficulty of being a modern teacher. We must follow Socrates’ dictum: “I know that I know nothing.” It is only in this way that we are ready to impart knowledge to eager and seeking young minds.

 

An amusing occurrence: Social media is filled with abbreviations: They are confusing and alien, especially if you come from a generation that was raised on, liberally dispensed, corporal punishment for spelling infractions. I taught a younger professor at one of our local universities. One day, he signed his email with CULater. I was aghast and totally flummoxed. I spent the better part of the week looking up the Latin meaning in numerous dictionaries: it had to be Latin, right? This was all to no avail. I was finally forced to ask some of my cleverest students if they had seen this Latin expression in any of their readings: total silence! Wow: I have impressed them too. “Sir,” one of them gingerly began, “It means: See you later. You’re just teasing, right?”   

 

Just for fun, Anoushka Shankar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb5Cu4mgAzo

 

This week, please ponder how the big C’s are a part of your life.

 

Every day look for something magical and beautiful.

Quote: Life is resplendent with change and surprise.

Footnotes:

1)   The thunderbolt, traditionally, directed a bolt of lightning.

2) https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Cyclopes/cyclopes.html

3) http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_hesiod.html

4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology

5) http://fishtreeblog.tumblr.com/post/112037114985/pedagogy-and-technology-integrating-the-5-cs-of