Archive for the ‘teaching’ Category

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Kindness, Generosity, Respect

March 8, 2024

I remember talking with education majors at university. They wanted to just teach skills. They neither wanted to model or teach any kind of morals.

How many of us, I wonder, of mine and succeeding generations have also abdicated teaching morals to the next generation?

I don’t mean the kind of teaching from many (most?) Protestant churches and also from what little I know of Catholic youth education. How often was that teaching geared toward all of the personal “thou shalt nots”? Thou shalt not drink, smoke, have fun.

I mean the sort of things we need to inculcate into ourselves and teach the next generations—the skills and inclination to treat each other with kindness, generosity, and respect. It begins with me and what I model. It’s like John Fischer’s theme—Grace Turned Outward.

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What If You Tried This?

March 4, 2024

Benjamin Zander is an English conductor, who is currently the musical director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He is also a marvelous teacher. Search YouTube for some videos where he is teaching teenaged students.

These students probably rehearsed a piece a couple hundred hours. They perform flawlessly for Zander, who always compliments profusely showing empathy and understanding of their work. He then takes the student back over the piece—what if you tried this rhythm here, what if you varied the dynamics at this point. He leads the student to an entirely different feel for the piece. The best examples of teaching I’ve ever seen. Wish I had had a teacher like that.

What if as a spiritual teacher or pastor or leader, we practiced that sort of leadership? Not criticizing someone for their practices or thinking but showing empathy and understanding of their work. And then gently asking what if you tried this or what if you reconsidered your opinion of this writer and tried out this idea or took yourself in your imagination to that small cluster of Jesus-followers in a large room of a house—just suggesting, mind you, trying a slightly different approach. Perhaps leading to a newer and deeper understanding of John, Paul, George, Ringo, er…James and Peter and Luke.

Try it; you’ll like it.

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Prejudicing Another

April 10, 2023

How easy it is to plant a thought of prejudice into another human! Especially a youth.

She makes a statement. You cannot help yourself but interject a feeling. 

Oh, I always hated that (class, person, group of people, country, whatever).

A seed is planted. Perhaps ruining something for that person for life.

Often a pause between thought and exclamation is the most important part of a conversation.

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Teaching Well

March 31, 2023

A theme emerged from  the past day’s reading—teaching.

Made me think of a Graham Nash contribution to Crosby, Stills, & Nash

Teach your children well…

And 

Teach your parents well…

Jesus taught wherever he went. Some of his teaching was recorded. Obviously, much not. But we have enough—especially if Christians would study his words.

In another place I read about good bosses who know their people and teach them what they’ll need to be better both at work and as a person.

We’ve had teachers at school who influenced us beyond the immediate lesson of math or writing or chemistry.

I’ve taught many things throughout my adult life. I hope that I’ve left some positive influence on at least a few.

We all need good teachers wherever we may find them. We all can be good teachers to those we meet along the way.

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