*For June, July and August I’m trying something new. I’ve been writing IN:SIGHT since September of 2016 and instead of writing new posts for the summer months I will revisit past posts, share the essence of the original post, reflect on its relevance for today and offer new insights and perspectives. I invite you to scroll back through the older posts to see what captures your inner eye or energizes the heart of your teaching. I’ll be sharing my picks and inviting you into conversation with your inner teacher.
June 15th, 2022—My first post in this series of summer-reflections begins at the beginning, a post I wrote on September 8th, 2016 introducing the meaning and intent of IN:SIGHT. I wrote:
The title of this blog captures the dual-tension that exists in education around conversations about effective instruction. There is an outer-technical aspect of teaching that is present in the day-to-day actions or inaction of teachers. The walking around tasks that anyone can witness who is an observer of teaching. In shorthand, this is the “sight” that teachers exercise to act on and in the world of the classroom. Yet “sight” can also take on a prophet or activist orientation in terms of provoking action toward change. It is this second aspect of “sight” that I’m particular interested in while acknowledging the existing of the outer-technical.
The “In” of the blog title speaks to another facet of teaching that is often acknowledge but rarely examined with integrity. This is the inner-life of a teacher that corresponds to elements such as calling, passion, affective knowledge, courage or vulnerability.
Six years later I’m still exploring and articulating the interface between my personal experiences in the classroom, literature on education, and observations from students and colleagues as they examine their inner-life. When I started writing I assumed that most of my ideas would emerge from articles or books, which in some cases has been true. What I’m discovering is that the more I open to the possibilities around me, the more I find themes in unexpected places, like conversations with students, news reports, poems, ideas from Theology, or conversations with faculty colleagues around the tension between institutional imperatives and their call to serve students.
The organic and emergent nature of topics speaks to one of my central learnings over the years of writing. There is an inherent mystery in both the craft of teaching and in the embodied being of the educator. Mystery runs through and through the process of teaching and being an educator. I was generally aware of mystery in my teaching as it would periodically emerge in the context of classroom lessons or in an advising session with a student. But increasingly I witness mystery as ever present in much of what I do as an educator. It adds a new and more inclusive dimension to what I noted in my September 2016 post as “prophet” and “inner-life” when describing the purpose of IN:SIGHT.
As I grew in my comfort with mystery, I also grew in my comfort with using religious or spiritual language to describe the ineffable elements of teaching. My confidence emerges from two sources. The first is the completion of a Master of Theological Studies from Iliff School of Theology in 2020. My intent in pursuing this degree was to develop new language, metaphors and concepts for describing the spiritual life in general and specifically related to the spiritual formation and deformation of educators. Blending the language of theology and education feels natural and accurate to my lived experience of teaching.
The second source of confidence with the language of religion to describe the inner-life of teachers comes from the writings of educators who are also interested in articulating the core aspects of spirituality in education. I find that many scholars and practitioners struggle with the same problem I face, which is the lack of language in the field of education to describe the true depths of mystery, spirituality, or the heart of the work. These educators claim, and I agree, that one can apply the language of religion or spirituality without also committing to practices or beliefs associated with a religious tradition. This is true because mystery and the development of a relationship with something greater than self are universal human qualities that are not bound to specific traditions. Theology has committed more time, than education, to analyzing this deeply human space and developing the language of description, so why not turn to the experts?
In my initial September 2016 post I quoted a teacher I met years before who answered a question about the future of her profession with the statement, “The joy of teaching has been tested and legislated away. All that is left is sand and dust.” Her description is a powerful reminder to me of the importance of creating spaces for educators to reconnect with the “joy” of their work. A joy that emerges from a deep well of calling and embodied spirituality that is defined in religious contexts as a person’s charism, which contrasts with the more typical notion of charisma as a key element in effective teaching. Charism is an inner presence or gift offered to the world; it is the source of an educator’s calling. Charisma is an outer manifestation of self or professional presence that draws others in, often in ways that sustains the ego. IN:SIGHT has increasingly focused on the charism, the shining light within, as a guiding image of effective teaching.
I still believe in the importance, as articulated in my opening blog, of describing the inner life of educators. And I will continue to write about that space in future posts. The difference between September 2016 and today is that my tools for description and invitation have expanded to include terms and ideas from Theology and secular notions of moral and ethical behavior. What seemed at the time as a rather straight forward question, who am I as an educator, has become wonderfully complex and unfolding of the deep mystery of self, others and the texts we share. I hope that you too are finding new ways to offer your charism as a gift to the students in your classrooms and learning spaces.