tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129899644952196274.post2562124648301733629..comments2024-02-06T04:26:33.866-06:00Comments on To Keep Things Whole: Humbling ThoughtMark Crottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099567332113135358noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129899644952196274.post-36263172879310910122012-03-25T16:49:40.594-05:002012-03-25T16:49:40.594-05:00Thanks for your comment, Bill. We're not in di...Thanks for your comment, Bill. We're not in disagreement about teachers needing to be experts in their subject areas, but I can see how I gave that impression. (It's one of the perils of a blog post versus a fuller essay.) My point is thta too often that is the first thought people have about a teacher, and that leads them to see the teacher as someone whose role is to provide answers. I want us to see the role as much richer than that. You've given me an idea for a future post.<br /><br />Again, thanks for reading and commenting. I'm going to look for your book!Mark Crottyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09972646076834199680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129899644952196274.post-88470368211954478972012-03-23T15:39:11.923-05:002012-03-23T15:39:11.923-05:00I, too, found Mr. Spencer's post thought-provo...I, too, found Mr. Spencer's post thought-provoking. Not to plug my own work, but a few years ago I set off on a kind of pilgrimage to find the best teachers in America, from first grade to the medical school, professional athletics and ballet schools to a culinary academy and a horseshoeing school. The interviews I did were published as Conversations with Great Teachers (Indiana University Press.) <br /> I found that what these very diverse teachers had in common were deeper qualities of character, and one was indeed humility. Even the ones who had some ego going on (and there weren't many), left it behind when they taught. They looked at teaching as a calling, and they thought of themselves as living in service to that higher purpose. As one first grade teacher said when I asked how she chose teaching, "I think teaching chose me."<br /> I perhaps have a slight disagreement with your views about subject expert. I did find that all of the teachers I interviewed were experts in their fields. Indeed, I began to wonder if teaching wasn't best thought of as not a separate art, but an aspect of being a subject expert. So one high achievement of being an expert historian or actor or horseshoer (which not all experts will achieve) is the ability to teach to others. But of course, being an expert includes--indeed, necessitates--having a humility about what what does not know. <br /> A few weeks ago, I heard Anna Deavere Smith, currently artist in residence at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, give a performance on the theme of "grace," and thinking about the interviews I did, it occurred to me that the greatest teaching involves that ineffable term, regardless of one's religious beliefs, that we might call grace.Bill smsoothttp://billsmoot.comnoreply@blogger.com