Viola Olsen: Teaching and Learning

When I was a child, I loved to read Alfred Lord Tennyson's poems. It was the musical rhythm more than the words, I think.  But still, the words had an effect on me.  Some lines from The Charge of the Light Brigade have been etched in memory forever: "Theirs is not to make reply/Theirs not to reason why/Theirs but to do and die" -- So unto the Valley of Death rode the Six Hundred.  These lines later merged in my mind with a line from another one of his poems, Ulysses: "I am a part of all that I have met."

Now, as a teacher of critical thinking, I can see how Tennyson informed my way of thinking and my life, but in ways I could not then imagine.  Today, I see that most people fight to the death for beliefs they have never questioned.  They believe what they are told is true by parents, religious leaders, politicians, educators, and the biased media; they believe that "truth seeking"  is best left to philosophers. I am convinced, now more than ever, that we are becoming a society of blind followers, being led into the valley of death, much as did the marching soldiers in Tennyson's poem.

My questions today often lead to disturbing answers.  Are we truly uninformed conformists, apathetic students and teachers, unreflective believers?  If we are a part of all that we have met, what have we become? As a teacher, I ask myself: Are my students autonomous thinkers -- or do they want me to deliver information through a narrow feeding tube? Am I a reflective practitioner, truly, as I learned in Don Prickle's classes at Oregon State, or am I a messenger of a curriculum that often seems no longer suitable for the 21st Century?  As a student: Do I allow myself to be led by every Pied Piper that sings sweetly and promises candy at the end of the road?  Do I ask profound questions and reflect profoundly? Do I use intellectual standards to guide my teaching and learning?  Do I foresee the consequences of my thoughts and actions.  Is it so much easier to just "do and die"?  

I think about this every day because I'm both a teacher and a learner each "awake" moment of my life.

In short, what I learned from the the Tennyson affirmations is simply this:  Take the alternate path, and live.  I now say to myself: "Ours is but to wonder why"/ ours is but to reason/ AND hence live a fulfilling, actualized, authentic life."  And this makes me happy.

How about you? If you want to build a "critical" society for the good of ALL, read the article below from my teachers at the Critical Thinking Community.  You could also sign up for my online course at Rogue Community College:  RD120.  I have taught this course four times a year for about ten years, and each term I become richer in knowledge and experience, thanks to the disciplined thinkers who take my course.  It is a college level course, transferable to any university, or may be taken for enrichment, no matter where you live.

Article published by the Critical Thinking Community by Paul and Linda Elder:
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-societies-thoughts-from-the-past/762

To register: go to the link for Rogue Community College, Rogue Valley, OR
http://roguecc.edu

For a syllabus and more course information, email me at olsenv@sou.edu or at volsen@roguecc.edu