Being in the Classroom

During the academic year, 1999-2000, LaGuardia Community College entered what could be called our “Renaissance Period.” Many faculty & staff had begun investigating and creating exciting opportunities for students. We were sent to various training programs with the intention of creating a Leadership & Diversity Institute. Some of those training programs were more traditional, some at the leading edge, and others more controversial. But on the way to creating these new works, something interesting happened to us. Just as Ghandi said, “We must be the change we seek to create,” we found that in order to develop an experience that reaches students at a deeper level, we had to find that place in ourselves first.

OUR SEARCH

Brian was sent to Seattle, Washington to participate in the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), and has since attended the last five NCORE Conferences. I was sent to Champaign, Illinois to participate in the nationally recognized “Leadershape” Program. Both of us have become certified as Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Instructors. Brian also participated and completed the “Curriculum for Living” with Landmark Education. Serendipitously, both Brian and I found ourselves leading college–wide committees related to Student Development, and second year retention and persistence. This provided us time for a rich exploration of themes and strategies, and to base the work in what we chose as the most compelling research. LaGuardia created a truly extraordinary synergy for us.

Brian: For me it became a matter of developing what Peter Senge called, “Personal Mastery,” a looking within yourself, in order to understand what is outside, or as TS Eliot wrote, “returning to the place where you started and seeing it for the first time.” I wouldn’t have admitted this then, but I needed to look at my “blind spots,” those places where you “don’t even know, that you don’t know.” I became painfully present to being part of a dominant culture on multiple levels: as a male, as a white male, then as a heterosexual white male, someone with great privileges that not everyone shared. It was an uncomfortable “homecoming” and only the beginning of the journey. Still, it was one of the few times that I allowed myself to really look at “what is so” for me in the world, a place of privilege that I had not earned and had not even been aware of. More recently, this personal/professional journey has provided a sense of freedom that has come with simply being with others. The earlier fears of others seeing through my pretense (“I’m not really good enough” or “smart enough”) or being ready to defend myself, have begun to fall away. What remains is an enjoyment of being with others, including those who are different from me. It’s comforting to know that I can now be in relationship with, say, five or six billion others, whereas before, they had to look and talk and think like me. My partner in the Recreation Department has been fond of saying, “All things are possible at LaGuardia.” I understood this for the first time.

BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP

Even though we’re driven by technology that advocates our ability to be in touch with our office, our family and friends, and our world, have we become better at communicating? It appears that we’ve become more efficient at connecting, but not more effective at being what Eckhart Tolle, Peter Senge, and a world of spiritual teachings call “being present.” Mobile phones, music and DVD players are entertaining pleasures, but do they enhance our ability to be in relationship with our immediate environment? On the contrary, they appear to assist us in “disengaging.” How then, as instructors/facilitators, do we connect with a room filled with students who are practiced at distraction? That is, to use a sports metaphor, how do we move them from sitting in the stands, to being on the court? Being in the stands isn’t wrong; it’s just not the most powerful use of their time at LaGuardia.

During our preparatory discussions, we needed to acknowledge that some students see the classroom as a place to receive credentialing for what they already know. That is, “how do I get out of here as fast as possible?” They’ll memorize the material, submit written assignments, receive feedback (perhaps a week after submitting written assignments), obtain grades (hopefully high ones), and then, go home. We wanted to alter that cycle by engaging them emotionally, or what George Kuh would call getting them “involved,” so much so that they would be compelled to discuss the ideas outside of class with their peers, families and friends. To us, this excitement is the moment that extraordinary teaching invites, and we were looking to build a pathway to it.

AGREEMENTS

Our culture is obsessed with competition, from sport activities to reality TV shows to even educational performance. There needs to be a winner, and the “winner takes all.” This leaves little room for cooperation and acknowledging the contributions of others. To create a place where “anything is possible,” a framework needed to be formed for each participant, and, as it turned out, ourselves as well. Finding common ground, not only despite our differences, but because that is where the magic is, became the goal, and the wand we used was “dialogue.” Defining the differences between debate, discussion, and dialogue became part of an introduction; along with the concept of “agreements.” These elements form a collectively developed “blue-print” on how the group will interact, even when we disagree. It is a flexible set of rules that can be added to as necessary. Once it is in place, it changes the dynamics in the room immediately. Each student’s radar goes down. The fight or flight response threshold is raised. It’s great to be a part of this subtle shift in attention. Students who normally would observe and internalize, sense a safety in the classroom, and even take those first steps to “being on the court.” Facial expressions change, the room becomes quieter; there is less extraneous movement; and time goes by very quickly.

Brian: What surfaced for me early on was that I would become “confronted” by some of the opinions that were voiced by our students. I found myself sitting on emotional upsets and judging the discussion rather than facilitating it. In trying to suppress these responses, I would stop being present to the experience and concentrate on my inner thoughts, which were running like two freight trains on the verge of collision. Sometimes I never fully recovered and the group was negatively impacted by my distraction. I recall sharing that with a Professor of Speech and Theater at the college, who asked me if I started out by creating rules or agreements with the group. I told him I did, and that this was part of each workshop. He suggested as part of the agreements section, that I ask someone to act as facilitator if I had to step out of my role. That way, there is agreement from the group that I’m human too, and might become emotionally charged (and not objective), and that would be okay. This would keep me from dominating the room with my opinions or my absence. This was a first step for me to bring myself completely into the space.

AGREEMENTS REDUX

One workshop we’ve created is modeled on the book “Men’s Work,” and the work of Paul Kivel. During the workshop we open a door for men to see the “agreements” that we’ve unconsciously made with our society, and the impact on us by keeping those conventions alive. An important outcome is that each participant (men and women) gets to observe the training that men undergo, their acceptance and promotion of the agreements, and the impact, sometimes violent, to our relationships.

There may be those who feel that, as professionals, we should leave our personal lives at the door. Emotions are unpredictable and uncharted territory. However, interesting and creative aspects of our lives would not be allowed expression. We challenged ourselves to put in place a reproducible and safe learning environment, which would enable students to apply what they’ve experienced in class.

A wonderful moment occurred during a more recent workshop. Two groups of students with opposing viewpoints were debating a position on pre-marital sexual relationships. The conversation moved through justifying, defending, and attacking behavior, and left little room for open exchange and mutual respect. As they spoke, I could hear them entrenched in the belief of “I’m right, you’re wrong.” The group with the alternative opinion was compelled to defend their position. They heard themselves being told “they’re wrong” and in this model, only one group can be “right.” Eventually both groups were asked, what would it take for them to accept the others point of view? One student said that she would have to “give up being right.” As that was spoken we could feel a shift in the room. Landmark Education suggests taking this a step further; that being an “extraordinary human being,” includes the ability to give up being right, even when you are! Having to be “right” will not eliminate communication, but it can shut down the possibility of community.

THE PROTOTYPE

Technically each of our workshops has three components: an informational or cognitive piece, an experiential or affective activity, and a skill-building component. They are based around the themes of leadership and diversity, and the challenges that these topics engage. Facilitators of the program use the classroom as a tool to simulate situations that involve students in problem solving and self-reflection. Many of the activities look to make visible the hidden cultural messages we receive from family, friends, neighborhoods and the media. Observing our thoughts gives us an ability to process them on a personal level, not just a descriptive one.

During one of our brainstorming sessions, we begin piloting potential workshops with the College Discovery Program (CD). We knew that CD had always been innovative with its structure, and felt that the orientation for each entering group would be a good place to begin. Through survey tools, these student participants let us know that the sessions were very promising.

“I think you really brought many emotions out of certain people.”

“You created a debate / discussion with the class that raised certain issues that need to be spoken about.”

“He presented the topic well and educated us about emotional intelligence. He opened our eyes to many things that we put behind us.”

“It was hard for people to express their feelings. The examples touched me and reminded me of those difficult times in the past years.”

“The lessons also helped me to open my eyes and see what other people think and also other views.”

“He was very inspirational.”

“I like the role play. It brought your message to a level that could be felt by everyone in the class.”

We continued to develop the early workshops and incorporated these sessions into the University’s Summer and Winter “Immersion Programs.” Next, we began offering these workshops to classes we knew would be a match for our work. Since I was teaching an introduction to Psychology and a Group Dynamic class, I invited Brian to collaborate with me to infuse our ideas into the lessons of the course. After careful redesigning and sculpturing, we were able to enhance certain topics on perception, learning and leadership through experiential activities.

Currently the Leadership & Diversity Program consists of eight workshops: Discovering Your Learning Style; Leadership Exploration & Development; Identity & Perception; Communicating Successfully Across Difference; Values, Ethics, & Morals; Becoming a Campus Leader; Marketing Yourself; and Financial Literacy. Lately, the feedback we’ve received speaks to “wanting more time.” What’s the old show-biz line, “leave them wanting more?”

Through these co- and extra-curricular sessions we are connecting to the academic lives of students to enhance their college experience. Moreover, we’re looking to provide the kind of program that creates students who are unstoppable in making their wildest dreams be a possibility for them; not simply credentialed, but people who are powerful, self-expressed and completely present to whatever they’re doing.

References

Kivel, Paul (1992) Men’s Work: How to stop the violence that tears our lives apart. Hazeldon, Center City, Minn

Kuh, G.D., Schuh, J.H., Whitt, E.J., Andreas, R.E., Lyons, J.W., Strange, C.C., Krehbiel, L.E., & MacKay, K.A. (1991). Involving Colleges. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Senge, P., Scharmer, C.O., Jawarski, J., & Flowers, B.S. (2004): Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future. SoL: The Society for Organizational Learning, Inc. Cambridge, MA.


	Dedicated to providing information for learning assistance professionals.
Home Past Articles Conferences Citation Information Feedback About the Authors Subscription Information Submission Guidelines				Being in the Classroom By Brian Goldstein and Steve Dauz
			During the academic year, 1999-2000, LaGuardia Community College entered what could be called our “Renaissance Period.” Many faculty & staff had begun investigating and creating exciting opportunities for students. We were sent to various training programs with the intention of creating a Leadership & Diversity Institute. Some of those training programs were more traditional, some at the leading edge, and others more controversial. But on the way to creating these new works, something interesting happened to us. Just as Ghandi said, “We must be the change we seek to create,” we found that in order to develop an experience that reaches students at a deeper level, we had to find that place in ourselves first. OUR SEARCH Brian was sent to Seattle, Washington to participate in the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), and has since attended the last five NCORE Conferences. I was sent to Champaign, Illinois to participate in the nationally recognized “Leadershape” Program. Both of us have become certified as Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Instructors. Brian also participated and completed the “Curriculum for Living” with Landmark Education. Serendipitously, both Brian and I found ourselves leading college–wide committees related to Student Development, and second year retention and persistence. This provided us time for a rich exploration of themes and strategies, and to base the work in what we chose as the most compelling research. LaGuardia created a truly extraordinary synergy for us. Brian: For me it became a matter of developing what Peter Senge called, “Personal Mastery,” a looking within yourself, in order to understand what is outside, or as TS Eliot wrote, “returning to the place where you started and seeing it for the first time.” I wouldn’t have admitted this then, but I needed to look at my “blind spots,” those places where you “don’t even know, that you don’t know.” I became painfully present to being part of a dominant culture on multiple levels: as a male, as a white male, then as a heterosexual white male, someone with great privileges that not everyone shared. It was an uncomfortable “homecoming” and only the beginning of the journey. Still, it was one of the few times that I allowed myself to really look at “what is so” for me in the world, a place of privilege that I had not earned and had not even been aware of. More recently, this personal/professional journey has provided a sense of freedom that has come with simply being with others. The earlier fears of others seeing through my pretense (“I’m not really good enough” or “smart enough”) or being ready to defend myself, have begun to fall away. What remains is an enjoyment of being with others, including those who are different from me. It’s comforting to know that I can now be in relationship with, say, five or six billion others, whereas before, they had to look and talk and think like me. My partner in the Recreation Department has been fond of saying, “All things are possible at LaGuardia.” I understood this for the first time. BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP Even though we’re driven by technology that advocates our ability to be in touch with our office, our family and friends, and our world, have we become better at communicating? It appears that we’ve become more efficient at connecting, but not more effective at being what Eckhart Tolle, Peter Senge, and a world of spiritual teachings call “being present.” Mobile phones, music and DVD players are entertaining pleasures, but do they enhance our ability to be in relationship with our immediate environment? On the contrary, they appear to assist us in “disengaging.” How then, as instructors/facilitators, do we connect with a room filled with students who are practiced at distraction? That is, to use a sports metaphor, how do we move them from sitting in the stands, to being on the court? Being in the stands isn’t wrong; it’s just not the most powerful use of their time at LaGuardia. During our preparatory discussions, we needed to acknowledge that some students see the classroom as a place to receive credentialing for what they already know. That is, “how do I get out of here as fast as possible?” They’ll memorize the material, submit written assignments, receive feedback (perhaps a week after submitting written assignments), obtain grades (hopefully high ones), and then, go home. We wanted to alter that cycle by engaging them emotionally, or what George Kuh would call getting them “involved,” so much so that they would be compelled to discuss the ideas outside of class with their peers, families and friends. To us, this excitement is the moment that extraordinary teaching invites, and we were looking to build a pathway to it. AGREEMENTS Our culture is obsessed with competition, from sport activities to reality TV shows to even educational performance. There needs to be a winner, and the “winner takes all.” This leaves little room for cooperation and acknowledging the contributions of others. To create a place where “anything is possible,” a framework needed to be formed for each participant, and, as it turned out, ourselves as well. Finding common ground, not only despite our differences, but because that is where the magic is, became the goal, and the wand we used was “dialogue.” Defining the differences between debate, discussion, and dialogue became part of an introduction; along with the concept of “agreements.” These elements form a collectively developed “blue-print” on how the group will interact, even when we disagree. It is a flexible set of rules that can be added to as necessary. Once it is in place, it changes the dynamics in the room immediately. Each student’s radar goes down. The fight or flight response threshold is raised. It’s great to be a part of this subtle shift in attention. Students who normally would observe and internalize, sense a safety in the classroom, and even take those first steps to “being on the court.” Facial expressions change, the room becomes quieter; there is less extraneous movement; and time goes by very quickly. Brian: What surfaced for me early on was that I would become “confronted” by some of the opinions that were voiced by our students. I found myself sitting on emotional upsets and judging the discussion rather than facilitating it. In trying to suppress these responses, I would stop being present to the experience and concentrate on my inner thoughts, which were running like two freight trains on the verge of collision. Sometimes I never fully recovered and the group was negatively impacted by my distraction. I recall sharing that with a Professor of Speech and Theater at the college, who asked me if I started out by creating rules or agreements with the group. I told him I did, and that this was part of each workshop. He suggested as part of the agreements section, that I ask someone to act as facilitator if I had to step out of my role. That way, there is agreement from the group that I’m human too, and might become emotionally charged (and not objective), and that would be okay. This would keep me from dominating the room with my opinions or my absence. This was a first step for me to bring myself completely into the space. AGREEMENTS REDUX One workshop we’ve created is modeled on the book “Men’s Work,” and the work of Paul Kivel. During the workshop we open a door for men to see the “agreements” that we’ve unconsciously made with our society, and the impact on us by keeping those conventions alive. An important outcome is that each participant (men and women) gets to observe the training that men undergo, their acceptance and promotion of the agreements, and the impact, sometimes violent, to our relationships. There may be those who feel that, as professionals, we should leave our personal lives at the door. Emotions are unpredictable and uncharted territory. However, interesting and creative aspects of our lives would not be allowed expression. We challenged ourselves to put in place a reproducible and safe learning environment, which would enable students to apply what they’ve experienced in class. A wonderful moment occurred during a more recent workshop. Two groups of students with opposing viewpoints were debating a position on pre-marital sexual relationships. The conversation moved through justifying, defending, and attacking behavior, and left little room for open exchange and mutual respect. As they spoke, I could hear them entrenched in the belief of “I’m right, you’re wrong.” The group with the alternative opinion was compelled to defend their position. They heard themselves being told “they’re wrong” and in this model, only one group can be “right.” Eventually both groups were asked, what would it take for them to accept the others point of view? One student said that she would have to “give up being right.” As that was spoken we could feel a shift in the room. Landmark Education suggests taking this a step further; that being an “extraordinary human being,” includes the ability to give up being right, even when you are! Having to be “right” will not eliminate communication, but it can shut down the possibility of community. THE PROTOTYPE Technically each of our workshops has three components: an informational or cognitive piece, an experiential or affective activity, and a skill-building component. They are based around the themes of leadership and diversity, and the challenges that these topics engage. Facilitators of the program use the classroom as a tool to simulate situations that involve students in problem solving and self-reflection. Many of the activities look to make visible the hidden cultural messages we receive from family, friends, neighborhoods and the media. Observing our thoughts gives us an ability to process them on a personal level, not just a descriptive one. During one of our brainstorming sessions, we begin piloting potential workshops with the College Discovery Program (CD). We knew that CD had always been innovative with its structure, and felt that the orientation for each entering group would be a good place to begin. Through survey tools, these student participants let us know that the sessions were very promising. “I think you really brought many emotions out of certain people.” “You created a debate / discussion with the class that raised certain issues that need to be spoken about.” “He presented the topic well and educated us about emotional intelligence. He opened our eyes to many things that we put behind us.” “It was hard for people to express their feelings. The examples touched me and reminded me of those difficult times in the past years.” “The lessons also helped me to open my eyes and see what other people think and also other views.” “He was very inspirational.” “I like the role play. It brought your message to a level that could be felt by everyone in the class.” We continued to develop the early workshops and incorporated these sessions into the University’s Summer and Winter “Immersion Programs.” Next, we began offering these workshops to classes we knew would be a match for our work. Since I was teaching an introduction to Psychology and a Group Dynamic class, I invited Brian to collaborate with me to infuse our ideas into the lessons of the course. After careful redesigning and sculpturing, we were able to enhance certain topics on perception, learning and leadership through experiential activities. Currently the Leadership & Diversity Program consists of eight workshops: Discovering Your Learning Style; Leadership Exploration & Development; Identity & Perception; Communicating Successfully Across Difference; Values, Ethics, & Morals; Becoming a Campus Leader; Marketing Yourself; and Financial Literacy. Lately, the feedback we’ve received speaks to “wanting more time.” What’s the old show-biz line, “leave them wanting more?” Through these co- and extra-curricular sessions we are connecting to the academic lives of students to enhance their college experience. Moreover, we’re looking to provide the kind of program that creates students who are unstoppable in making their wildest dreams be a possibility for them; not simply credentialed, but people who are powerful, self-expressed and completely present to whatever they’re doing. References Elliot, T.S. (1922;1998): The Waste Land, Dover Publications Kivel, Paul (1992) Men’s Work: How to stop the violence that tears our lives apart. Hazeldon, Center City, Minn Kuh, G.D., Schuh, J.H., Whitt, E.J., Andreas, R.E., Lyons, J.W., Strange, C.C., Krehbiel, L.E., & MacKay, K.A. (1991). Involving Colleges. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Landmark Education: www.landmarkeducation.com National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education: http://ncore.occe.ou.edu/ Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development: http://leadership.ptk.org/ Senge, P. (1994): The Fifth Discipline, Doubleday, New York Senge, P., Scharmer, C.O., Jawarski, J., & Flowers, B.S. (2004): Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future. SoL: The Society for Organizational Learning, Inc. Cambridge, MA. Tolle, E. (2004): The Power of Now. New World Library More about the authors Printable Version


		Back to top
Home:: Past Articles :: Conferences :: Citation Information :: Feedback :: About the Authors :: Subscription Information Site Last Updated February 28, 2007. Sponsored By AccuTrack and NCLCA

Dedicated to providing information for learning assistance professionals.