Teacher Tom: Human Thought is More Magnificent Than That

Teacher Tom: Human Thought is More Magnificent Than That

Human Thought is More Magnificent Than That

If learning is, as Eleanor Duckworth defines it, "the having of wonderful ideas," one can legitimately wonder what a child is thinking about when they are not having ideas. 

Certainly, some of their mental energy is expended upon thinking about the questions and problems, that will ultimately lead to those wonderful ideas. But I was once a child (and while that assertion is rarely the lead-in to a sentence that demonstrates any understanding at all about childhood), I nevertheless feel fairly confident that I spend more time stewing on things as an adult than I did as a kid. The endless pondering and fretting has come with age and experience: as a thoughtful boy I was more inclined to tuck my questions and problems away while engaged with the world in front of me where they would remain at the back of my mind until something happened in the real world to bring them back to the fore.

This phenomenon of things suddenly clicking at unexpected, unrelated moments -- while say in the shower or the stairwell -- is one we've all experienced. Often you have to walk away from your questions or problems, to turn your senses in another direction. The natural state of consciousness is freedom so it's only reasonable that it would often work best when set free from the confines a question or problem creates. I find that long walks help with this. An active CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Human Thought is More Magnificent Than That

Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking in the Era of Trump and TikTok – radical eyes for equity

Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking in the Era of Trump and TikTok – radical eyes for equity

Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking in the Era of Trump and TikTok

While it now seems like generations ago, in the spring of 2008, I joined other faculty at Furman University in an organized protest labeled “We Object.” Through the university’s connections with FU graduate and former governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford, George W. Bush was invited to speak at commencement.

Recent university tradition was to have two students speak, but did not include outside speakers. None the less, students and the community (overwhelmingly conservative) seemed to welcome the opportunity to have a two-term Republican president speak to graduates.

The protest took many forms, including reaching out to the media, posting an official “We Object” statement, and wearing a “We Object” shirt, revealed from beneath professor’s gowns during the speech.

I did not yet have tenure as an assistant professor, but I was active in the organized resistance that included a wide range of reasons why professors CONTINUE READING: Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking in the Era of Trump and TikTok – radical eyes for equity