I agree that self-reflection is important as we grow into our professional roles. That said, I have experienced self-destruction through excessive self-reflection, leading to a real crisis in identity when I began teaching. Being authentic also means trusting yourself and your knowledge. It gets exhausting trying to fit yourself into some sort of preconceived persona. Hard lessons learned the hard way, keep up the good work! Great post!

What an interesting read. The Stanford Prison Experiment first came to my attention when I was working with at-risk youth in a Wilderness Therapy program in Utah a couple years ago. As you can imagine, this is often a very emotional environment as the students are brought out to the wilderness to escape distractions and work through their self-destructive tendencies. During our training period, we were strongly encouraged to acknowledge the inherent power dynamic between counselor and student. We are so often encouraged to promote false-modesty, but it's far more important that we are realistic about our effect on others. By treating our students with respect, we invite an honest and open dialog to exist between student and authority. By avoiding condescending tones, arbitrary rules and policing "tone" of voice, you encourage mutual respect as an educator.

I agree that creativity and imagination are crucial aspects of learning, but I would argue that learning is also about receiving and absorbing information from a credible source. Knowledge can't just be spontaneously conceived, but must be built upon in order for progress to be made. We must be careful to retain structure, and built in checks and balances when communicating information in a formal atmosphere.

I agree that creativity and imagination are crucial aspects of learning, but I would argue that learning is also about receiving and absorbing information from a credible source. Knowledge can't just be spontaneously conceived, but must be built upon in order for progress to be made. We must be careful to retain structure, and built in checks and balances when communicating information in a formal atmosphere.

I agree with your concluding comments about appreciating a “GOOD” lecture. I completely agree, and have been trying to figure out how to get that point across in lecture for weeks. I’ve always considered myself lucky that I learn well by the traditional educational structure. I am an auditory learner, and writing information down is the best way I’ve found for me to absorb the information. Since beginning this class, I’ve brought up this subject to many students in my department and they agree with me. I agree that this environment can suffer from a bad lecturer, and I have certainly sat through those classes where time seems to be moving backwards. I only want to emphasize that we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that a traditional lecture works very well for many students.

Great post, Rafic. It's great to know that there a number of people in the class who feel the same way I do, even if we haven't voiced these opinions in class yet. Like you, I felt like I was only able to truly digest the material when I sat down to study for tests. The grading system may not be for everyone, but neither is a gradeless system. It's important we are not too reactionary to recent criticisms, but integrate a diversity of educational systems to cater to a diversity learning styles.

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Personally, this TED talk drove me crazy. Ken Robinson seemed to be grand-standing, and more interested in how the audience reacted to his cheap jokes than offering tangible solutions. The summary above does a great job of outlining Robinson’s key points. Robinson’s perspective on why the American education system is failing are valid, but are similar to the mission statement of any given Montessori school. Curious, creative and self-motivated students sure would make our jobs a lot easier, but we cannot discount how necessary grading and class ranks are to our system of higher education. Perhaps our current system is not broken, but it is in dire need of a modern tune-up. I certainly do not claim to have the answers, but I think we need to keep our minds wide open to discovery what is working in our educational system and what is not.

There are so many roles a great teacher could potentially take on, but usually on an extremely limited salary. I think the ideas mentioned above are hopeful, inspired and grand… but I also think we must devote time to understanding why these standards have not previously been met in higher education. Many are drawn to a career in higher education because they love research and writing. Many universities (specifically land-grant universities) will not higher a professional researcher without requiring this individual to also take on a significant teaching appointment. I agree teachers should be passionate about teaching, but how can we ensure that unwilling individuals are not unceremoniously pushed into these appointments to make tenure?

I think at this crucial time of integrating technological trends into education, it is our responsibility as professionals to act as educators, moderators, and above all communicators. It is the duty of the professional to ensure that our areas of expertise can be easily understood by the layperson. We cannot afford to sit in a position of privilege or rest on our laurels, and must work harder than our predecessors to create a new era of open dialogue and information exchange. Too long have professional fields been arenas of arrogance and ego. We have a tremendous opportunity to open the world of higher education to the masses through means of social media.