As we race toward the end of the semester, please take some time to reflect on the readings for our final unit (week 14). The articles by Parker Palmer and Dan Edelstein are especially relevant, and if you are only going to read two more things for this class, please, please, please let these be the pieces you choose. Think about how you will connect the dots from this course and your broader curriculum to become the “New Professional” Parker Palmer invokes here:<\/p>\n
The word \u201cprofessional\u201d originally meant someone who makes a \u201cprofession of faith\u201d in the midst of a disheartening world. That root meaning became diminished as the centuries rolled by, and today it has all but disappeared. \u201cProfessional\u201d now means someone who possesses knowledge and techniques too esoteric for the laity to understand, whose education is proudly proclaimed to be \u201cvalue free.\u201d<\/p>\n
The notion of a \u201cnew professional\u201d revives the root meaning of the word. This person can say, \u201cIn the midst of the powerful force-field of institutional life, where so much conspires to compromise the core values of my work, I have found firm ground on which to stand\u2014the ground of personal and professional identity and integrity\u2014and from which I can call myself, my colleagues, and my profession back to our true mission.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Thank you all for sharing this semester with me and for your collective efforts to explore what teaching means in the changing landscape of the 21st-century higher education. \u00a0I look forward to reading your final set of posts.<\/p>\n