Expressing Emotions Through Body Language PDF

Expressing Emotions Through Body Language
Date: Monday, November 18 @ 14:15:39 PST

Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
I asked my participants, all adults, to discuss their thoughts on nonverbal communication
as well as participate in a quick game of charades.
I first asked the participants to give a list of ways people share their emotions without
talking. There were several ideas mentioned in this conversation and they included things
like body language, tone, facial expression, sounds, affection, and gestures. We then
proceeded in a game of charades to help display what some of these ideas would look like
when put in practice. During the game, each person acted out several words like "happy",
"indifferent", "weird", "angry", "frightened", "helpful", or "surprised". The result was a
hilirious and rousing time of charades that I've ever experienced!
Next, I asked them to think of any other mediums in which we usually communicate.
Technology was the main focus of this discussion. Email, online chatting, letters, and
memos seemed to be the most popular avenues of passing along information. This was a
key point because they've noticed how these forms of communication have taken over, or
perhaps even replaced, the all-familiar one-on-one conversation between two people.
They further acknowledged that there are definitely advantages as well as disadvantages
to these mediums, but more importantly is the fact that we are witnessing a change in
how people choose to relate to each other. (Thinking about my own personal experience,
this is true. There have been difficulties at home between family members, and a specific
issue that's related to this discussion is that one member chooses to share his/her feelings
mostly through email (even though we live in the same home). It makes for a very
awkward and uncomfortable living environment. I rather talk about our concerns face to
face.)
I asked the participants how much of their communication was nonverbal in any given
day. The three of them all said somewhere around 50/50.
I also asked them to give me some examples of when they might be saying one thing but
there body is telling another (or something opposite). One example they mentioned was
the job interview. They would be saying things confidently about themselves and their
skills and knowledge, but their body would be expressing something more like anxiety
and fear. Another example was the use of sarcasm. This example helped clarify the
difference between what someone says and how they say it (i.e., tone).
After the lesson I thought about it's implications regarding the classroom environment. I
concluded that it is important for teachers to know their students well and to take time to
observe how they express feelings nonverbally, especially since they may be shy and lack
the vocabulary to describe exactly how they feel. On the filp side, teachers must also do a
good job of expressing their feelings in the classroom because, even when teachers say
nothing about themselves, their body language will indicate their feelings to the students.
For I believe that the teacher's posture and demeanor has a direct impact to the students'
perfomance in the classroom.

Lesson 14 Emotional Symbolism - Page 57
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
I had a girl scout troop of 10 girls do a collage about emotions they felt inside. We used
pictures to identify their emotions.
They could also cut the poster board into a shape that represented their feelings, such as a
heart, world, star etc. They would later prioritze their emotions.
I worked on the collages with the girls and continually tried to convey to them this was
about emotions inside them and not what type of gum they love. This was extremely
insightful because I had the girls prioritize what was the most important feelings for
them. I discovered that girls this age often are confused about their emotions themselves.
The unfortunate discovery was that one of the girls parent was getting divorced and
nobody knew until the collage was completed.
This lesson was most effective and we were very supportive to this particular child
without downplaying the other girls emotions. I would recommend this activity to
another teacher, but be able to deal with the possibility of big issues. I was not prepared
for this but I felt I handled it well.
Recognizing the importance of feelings with the
In my third grade class I used the idea of Lesson 28, The "Me" Picture Activity to
discusse different feelings:happiness, sadness, excitement, loss, disappointment.
After our class discussion, the students responded to open-ended questions about their
feelings. They completed phrases and drew illustrations to share their thoughts. "I look
forward to ..." I worry about..." I feel happy when..." The results were very honest and
eye-opening. These young eight and nine year olds worry about their fathers coming
home, the health of their loved ones, and getting good grades.
The more time I give in class for students to discuss feelings and emotions, the more I
realize it is an area which needs attention and concern
Setting the Stage for Self-Science
Date: Thursday, October 31 @ 11:09:37 PST
Topic: Self-Science Curriculum
I wanted to introduce my 2nd Grade class to the process of Self-Science. We discussed
what Self-Science might be and what we might gain from it.
The children came to the conclusion that studying ourselves will help them to understand
their feelings and actions which in turn will help them to respect and understand others.
Writen by Vicky V:
This class has 33 students ranging in age from six to eight years old. The school is a
Catholic School located in the suburbs of Oakland. I worked with three groups of eleven
children.
After they had decided they wanted to learn about themselves, in each group there was no
one who was opposed, we got in a circle and played the Bumpety-Bump game. The It
person stood in the middle of the circle and pointed to a person. That person had to say
the names of the person on either side of them before the It person said, Bumpety
bump one two three. Play continued for about four minutes. From there we sat and
talked about what we were feeling while the game was happening.
The questions I asked were;
How did it feel when someone remember your name?
how did it feel when someone didnt remember your name?
how did it feel to be it and point to people?
How did it feel to be picked?
How did it feel to not be picked?
The children were free with their responses and very insightful. When ones name was
remembered it made them feel happy, excellent, great, weird, good and one child
expressed it as pretty.
The feelings they had when their names werent remembered were sad, confused, and
happy because the person who was it got to come out.
When children were pointed at the response was excited, good, bad, scary- because I
didnt know the answer, nervous- because people might laugh at me if I get it wrong.
The It person felt nervous, dizzy, excited, and happy- because they could pick any one
they wanted to. The people not picked felt left out, sad, that it wasnt fun, and terrible
because they were ready with their answer.
In general the children were enthusiastic and enjoyed the activity. They were open to
discussion and very cooperative. The students got to see that all people dont feel the
same way in the same situation. A real concern that they all expressed was that people
needed to get their name correct. They didnt want people calling them by nicknames.
They really wanted to talk about that. I told them we would do another experiment later
that is all about Nicknames.
I was really surprised at how well this class was able to identify what they were feeling. I
have noticed that they even the quieter students want a chance to express themselves.
When I do this again I will have some students observe the players focus a little more on
behaviors. I also want to make time for large group discussion as an entire class.
The Trust Thermometer- Basic Instructions From Self-Science
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 17:19:18 PST
The Trust Thermometer is like a rating scale - it provides a quick check of individuals
and the group then leads to discussion.
Discussion can focus on several areas from the way students chose to participate in the
activity, to why some people are more trusting, to specific questions about how to
increase trust in this group.
This activity will help shift from the somewhat abstract definition of trust to a more
personal reflection. Later activities will explore trust in more depth. This is a subject
matter where going to fast will usually backfire - build trust in the group over time. .
Objectives Begin to examine trust in your life. Exploration of how trust is enhanced or
diminished at school. Create a fun mechanism to discuss a challenging topic. .
Experiment Have the group line up against one wall. For each situation, individuals take
a few steps away from the wall. Zero steps (staying on the wall) means you feel no trust
in the situation, three or four large steps indicates total or unconditional trust. After you
have read a few examples, invite students to give new situations..
Example situations:
1). Your best friend asks to borrow $5.
2). You are at lunch in the cafeteria.
3). Your best friend wants to blindfold you and take you someplace.
4). A club from school wants to blindfold you and take you someplace.
5). Some friends ask you who you want to ask on a date.
6). Your teachers want you to go to a math/music/chess or similar competition.
7). Your coach wants you to try out for a sport..
Discussion
* What happened for you in this activity? What were some of your thoughts, feelings, and
actions?
* In what ways was this activity an accurate depiction of your level of trust?
* What are the effects of competition at our school? How does competition affect trust?
* What is it that your best friend does, or allows you to do, that makes you so
comfortable with him/her?
Journal
People often talk about being trustworthy for others, what does it mean to be trustworthy
for yourself?
Teaching Self Science: The Role of the Facilitator

The main difference between teaching a traditional subject and teaching Self-Science is
your role in the classroom.
The traditional classroom teaching role often approaches that of a manager (i.e., the
teacher is primarily concerned with controlling and directing students). In Self-Science,
you must certainly maintain order and set limits, but think of yourself as a "facilitator," a
person who leads and pulls and tugs and demonstrates how to negotiate and keep the
process going.
Traditional curricula center around what you teach and how you teach it. In Self-Science,
the focus is almost reversed. How you teach is in itself a demonstration of using the
scientific method to study self. You might say that how you teach is what you are
teaching in Self-Science. In such a curriculum, who you are and what you personally
demonstrate is a great part of what you are teaching - the Rosenthal effect ("You get what
you expect") certainly operates here.
Teaching a Self-Science class can be an exciting journey in your own development. Start
by extending your own self-image and seeing yourself as a role model and group leader;
these are parts of your teaching repertoire.
A Self-Science teacher's role exceeds simply creating a safe environment. Preparing to
teach Self-Science requires more self-reflection than preparing for teaching most
subjects. Children learn from the style of the teacher. Who you are and what you
personally demonstrate is a great part of what you are teaching. Students are remarkably
perceptive. They observe, both consciously and unconsciously, and experiment with
behaviors that they see. As a facilitator, you are a part of the Self-Science group. Your
honest emotionality, your care with other's emotions, your word choices, your followthrough on commitments are all integral to the child's learning. While we all make
mistakes, children have little tolerance for hypocrisy - so whatever you ask of them, ask
more of yourself.
The more you can let children in on what you are doing or attempting to do, the safer the
group will feel. Teachers can model trust by expressing their feelings openly, labeling
actions clearly but not labeling children, giving feedback and reassurance so there are no
hidden surprises. Teachers build trust by participating in experiments as a member of the
group.
Providing a role model is not a magical process. It simply means being yourself, while
perhaps changing the emphasis to focus on your own choices about thoughts, feelings,
and actions.
Addressing Name Calling with Kindergartners

We wanted to teach the children how to deal with a situation where their feelings are
being hurt, in a constructive manner, on their own.
We conducted this experiment with a group of 14 Kindergartners. Ages 5-6.
Materials: None.
Part I: Set the Scene
We were having a problem with name calling in the classroom, and we wanted to help the
children learn how to handle it without always running to an adult to solve the problem.
So, the teacher had all of the children meet in a circle and she expressed concern about all
of the incidents of name-calling and hurt feelings in general that had occurred lately. She
then had the children volunteer how they felt when someone called them a name.
Everybody agreed that they feel "sad" and sometimes "mad" when that happens to them.
Then, they were asked to brainstorm about what they should do if someone was makeing
a bad choice and hurting their feelings. One of the first answers was to "Tell the teacher."
The teacher told them that that was one way to solve the problem, but asked if there
might be another solution. They talked for a while longer and came up with a plan of
action.
The child being hurt would first tell the child making the bad decision how that made
them feel, and ask them to stop. If the child making the bad decision continued, then the
hurt child should go find a teacher or an adult and have them intervene.
Part II: Role-Play
The teacher then explained that we were all going to practice our new plan, so she asked
for a volunteer. She was going to be the one making the bad decision, and the volunteer
acted like they were the one being hurt. This went on for about three rounds, and the kids
absolutely loved being able to take on the two roles.
Part III: Closure
We closed by having the children say the steps in our new plan of action, and then had
them resume their activities.
Conclusion:
I think that all in all, it turned out very well. Not only were the children better equipped to
handle some of their own problems, they were also encouraged to vent how they were
feeling. We did this a few weeks ago and it seems to really be working. I would definitely
recommend this for the early childhood level.
Self-Portraits as a tool for self-reflection
I introduced children to the concept of non-verbal communication through art. We

focused on the self-portrait as a non-verbal description of ourselves.
I did this lesson with a group of K-1 students in a suburban classroom. I had three classes
of approximately 19 children each. Ages ranging from 4-6 years old.
Materials: crayons and white drawing paper
(12 x 18)
Part 1: Student Objectives
The students will create drawings of themselves.
Students should include a place or activity which describes themselves.
Students can include personal details such a friend, a favorite toy, or a pet.
Discuss their drawings their classmates.
Part II : Student Exploration (5-10 minutes)
We gathered for a class conversation. I made sure everyone was comfortable. I introduced
myself and what we will be doing together. We discussed four self-portraits by famous
artists. I asked the children lots of questions and received many interesting observations.
What is a portrait?
How does this painting make you feel?
What is a self-portrait?
What does the painting tell you about the person?
Is this person happy or sad?
What are they doing?
How old is the person?
What are they wearing?
What have you learned about the person in the painting?
Is this a painting of a man or a woman?
Part III: Activity (20-30 minutes)
I showed the students 2 examples which I created so they can see what I am requesting of
them.
I instructed the students to draw a self-portrait in crayons and to be sure they used the
entire page starting at the top of the paper. I used the metaphor of a chocolate chip cookie
for the size of their face. A child's body is approximately 5-7 times the size of his/her
head. I asked them to include an activity they like to do or something they can imagine
doing. We talked about all the details that might include.
Part III : Sharing our drawings (10-15 minutes)
After everyone completed their drawings we gathered again as a group to share our
drawings. They had the option to pass if they did not want to talk with the class about
their art. Most children chose to share their work. I gave each child positive feedback, by
commenting on something unique about their self-portrait.
Watch Your Words: Negative Self-Talk
I adapted Lesson 7 "Watch Your Words", which is a lesson that explores "killer
statements" or "put-downs" that children make to one another, to a lesson plan for adults
that would explore their negative self-talk; the "killer statements" that adults make to
themselves.
This lesson was conducted with 5 female students all in their 20's and 30's.
In order for each student to be able to identify easily their own negative self-statements, I
asked each participant to write down on an index card an example of a negative selfstatement they regularly say to themselves. After this, I asked those students who were
willing to share their negative self-statement to do so. Almost everyone was very open
and very candid about their statements. All shared their statement except for one of the
students.
I then asked a couple of questions of the group to start the conversation, such as "Why do
people say these mean things to themselves?" and "What would happen if people stopped
saying negative things to themselves?".
We had a very good discussion about how people develop these habits and how much
happier we all might be if we took these negative statements out of our lives.
I then asked everyone to take a second index card and write down a positive statement
that could replace the negative one. I then asked them to put this positive statement in a
location that would force them to run into it several times a day, such as their wallet. The
idea behind this is that if we see the positive self-statement frequently enough, we will
eventually replace the negative one. We then took the index card with our negative selfstatement and ripped it up.
This was definitely a growing experience for teacher and student alike. At one point, one
of the students said that we all need to realize that we are our own worst critics and, even
though you may be judging yourself very critically, everyone else is busy with their own
self-criticism, so why don't we all just give ourselves a break?
Clarifying Values with Self-Science Value Short Cards
Using the Value Sort Experiment on page 87 of "Self Science," I encouraged my "class"
to examine their own values, to understand how and why others prioritize values
differently, and to possibly reassess their values based on what they learn from others.
What made this "class" especially interesting was the demographic. The "class" consisted
of family: my husband, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and mother-in-law and father-inlaw. The ages of the class ranged from 38 through 74. In addition, this is a group
generally not predisposed toward group introspective conversations (which is why I
chose the Value Sort experiment rather than one of the other more "touchy-feely" ones).
I followed the guidelines for the experiment reasonably closely, but allowed for unlimited
discussion between the participants. First, participants prioritized their own values. Next,
they shared with the group why they prioritized the values the way they did. Finally,
participants tried to come to consensus and create a single prioritized list of values.
The dynamic of the group made the results very interesting. Despite the differences in
age, there were striking similarities in values. For example, "family" was ranked first by
everyone, with "popularity" close to last. However, because of the differences in age and
life circumstances, some values were interpreted very differently. For example, my
father-in-law remembers vividly the economic benefits of WWII, so doesn't feel that
"peace" is so important a value as my brother-in-law, who has never seen a war.
Similarly, while "riches" were valued low by my brother-in-law, my mother-in-law, who
is retired and concerned about her financial survival, valued "riches" much more highly.
Another interesting result was how the pictures on the value sort cards influenced
participants' answers. While my sister-in-law considered "riches" to include "rich in
friends" and "rich in love", others saw the picture of the treasure chest on the card and
interpreted the value literally as financial wealth. If I were to do this experiment again, I'd
create cards without pictures so that each of the values could be interpreted without
influence by the participants.
Overall, the experiment was wildly successful. The experiment lasted for over an hour,
with side-discussions lasting even longer. The discussions helped the participants to talk
about personal values in a non-threatening way and helped us to better understand our
similarities and differences.
Discussing the source of Emotions with First Graders
We wanted to talk about different emotions we feel, and how they change. We also
wanted to explore what causes these emotions.
This lesson was conducted with a first grade class of nineteen students. The class is
comprised of five and six year olds, the majority of whom come from middle to upper
class families.
We introduced the word 'emotion', and defined it as "the way we feel in a given
situation". We named emotions we feel on a regular basis such as happiness, anger, fear,
and sadness.
Materials:
Pumpkin books (four small squares of paper, ech with a pumkin outline, and part of a
phrase about emotions), pens, and crayons.
This experiment was modified to fit our class theme of the week which was pumpkins.
Instead of having students act out emotions, they dictated them , and were able to draw
the faces on jack-o-lanterns that they felt fit the given emotion.
Part I:
The students assembled in a large circle. The topic of emotions was brought up and the
students were asked to define the word emotion. Several students were called upon to
answer. The answers were discussed and revised to come up with a class definition of
emotion: "The way we feel in a given situation".
Part II:
The phrase "I feel _______ when I ________ was modeled for the students, using
different examples of emotions. For instance: "I feel glad when I am with my family" or
"I feel sad when I fight with my friends".
Part III:
The students took turns around the circle, and shared their emotion statements for glad,
sad, scared, and mad.
Part IV:
The students illustrated jack-o-lantern faces to match the text on the pumpkin books. The
first page's text said: "I feel glad when I _______". Once the students had drawn their
'glad' jack-o-lantern faces, they dictated the rest of the emotion phrase to an adult who
wrote it in their book. This process continued for the mad, sad, and scared pages.
Part V:
We closed the lesson by having the students walk around and look at each other's
pumpkin books. Then we returned to the circle and discussed how emotions can be felt in
different circumstances for everyone.
Evoking Emotions Through Objects - Bumpety-Bump Experiment
I chose the first experiment in the Self Science book in order to introduce the concept of
emotional awareness. Because I am planning to continue with Self Science activities
throughout the year, I thought that "Bumpety-Bump" would be a good ice breaker and
introductory experiment. I wanted to look at the power of objects in evoking emotions as
well as their effect on children's current emotions.
I did the first experiment, "Bumpety Bump" with nine 5th graders at Trinity School. I
brought them into the Great Hall of the school (a spacious multi-purpose room) and had
them sit in a circle facing each other. I modified the experiment by bringing in a bag full
of knick-knacks and objects from my home. I asked the students to pick something from
my bag of 'goodies' that reminded them of something in the past. I then asked them, oneby-one, to share with their peers what the object reminded them of and what strong
feeling (if any) they remembered having. I began by sharing my personal event and the
students followed. Next, after all the students had finished sharing their memory, I asked
them how they felt today on a scale of 1-10 and asked them to pick a word that best
descibed their current feeling.
I found that the kids were very open, especially after I began by sharing my personal
stories. They enjoyed looking though the bag of objects that I had brought and oftentimes
could not pick one because the objects brought back 'so many memories'. Children
remembered past field trips and moments of happiness, deaths of pets and their
mourning, and silly/embarassing events that happened to them. I found that the objects
immediately brought back many emotions and the children had no problem remembering
how they felt.
When asked to describe how they felt on that day, the children appeared to have a harder
time. They hesistated when I asked them to rate themselves and came up with more
common feelings like happy, tired. They appeared to be more uncomfortable and many
students copied previous answers.
After everyone shared their feelings, I asked them a few of the discussion questions on
page 34 to reflect on what we had just done. I asked them: "Did anyone relate to a feeling
that any of your classmates just mentioned? Do you often feel this way? Did your past
memory affect the way you are feeling today? Can we control our emotions?"
The children definitely could related to the feelings shared with the group. They were
very enthusiastic telling their friends that they had felt that exact same feeling in different
situations. We discussed how we oftentimes do have control over our emotions: if you
think of happy thoughts, it can make you feel better. And vice versa. Most students
remembered happy memories, and likewise felt happy on that day.One girl who had
remembered her dog who had passed away said: "remembering by old dog makes me sad
now".
I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson. I definitely saw that being comfortable with the group is
key, and peer pressure has a lot to do with the answers provided. If I were to do this
lesson again, I would set aside more time as my class period was only 30 minutes. I do
not want to feel pressured or have a limited time constraint so that the children can have
more of a chance to speak. I would recommend Bumpety Bump as a great way to
introduce emotional intelligence. It can be played over and over in a variety of different
ways and can be personalized and expanded as needed.
Working on Trust with the Nickname Experiment

Date: Monday, October 28 @ 14:22:22 PST
Lesson 5: Confidences. The nickname experiment
Bianca Colon
I wanted to look at how students trusted and interacted with one another in a small group.
It reintroduced the concept of trust and the ability to confide in others. We discussed what
trust means to each person and why it is important. We talked about the importance of
confiding in others and what fears they might have.
We made a list of words on the bored about what trust is and if it was important in
confiding other people. All students agreed that to feel comfortable in confiding in
someone you must have some level of trust. When asked how important trust is there
answers varied. Some felt it depended on the friend, the situation, and what they might be
sharing. I asked why they might not want to share for what reason would they feel
uncomfortable in confiding in someone.
They didnt want to be talked about or pitied, they wanted to know that they were cared
about, being listened too, and respected. Trust was defined by the students as having
someones back no matter what or being able to tell someone your secrets and know
that they wont tell. They felt it is important to be able to confide in each other and feel
comfortable that their secrets would be kept as secrets.
I chose a total of five students, three were general education students, and two were in the
special education immersion program. These students come in contact with one another
everyday and I thought it would be nice for them to interact on a social level. Most of the
time general Ed students have special Ed students in their classroom but often it is
difficult to develop a friendship because of different levels in communication and social
needs. I thought it might be nice to interact on a different level.
I asked the students if they would be interested in playing a game for ten or fifteen
minutes, where we would have some fun and learn something abo9ut each other. I
explained that it was for one of my classes at school and even I would participate. The
five students I chose all agreed. I explained that we would play a game and learn to
confide and to trust new people.
I also explained that what we talked about was not to leave the room or be shared with
anyone else. I explained the nickname game to them, that we would each write down two
nicknames, one we liked and one we disliked. We would then take turns in reading out
our nickname and I would go first.
I stared by sharing the nickname that I disliked when I was younger. We each went
around taking turns sharing our disliked nicknames and reason why. Most of the reasons
were that they had been being teased, or it was a name their parents called them and it
was embarrassing. The students were having good time, listening to each other and
laughing together about some of the other students history of their nicknames.
One student was called Sugar Bear by his mother, which embarrassed him a lot. He could
never tell her he didnt like it, but he felt that he wasnt a kid anymore he was a man and
this name did not fit. Of course I could only smile at this 13-year-olds declaration of man
hood and rejection of his nickname. The experiment was going well. Students were
talking openly to each other and I found that they began to reveal more than just
nicknames, and we began to learn about each other.
The last student refused to read his nickname, he did not want to take his turn. He felt that
people were going to laugh at him and tease him about his nickname. This is when one of
the students said what can be more embarrassing than Sugar Bear, come on dude,
share. The student still refused to share with the other students, which made the other
students mad. They felt betrayed in a way because they had revealed something personal
about themselves, and let their guarded down only for it not to be returned.
I talked again about what trust was and we looked on the board again. We talked about
why some students may feel upset, he had listened to their names, laughed at their stories,
and even teased at times. The students felt we all needed to participate and if he wasnt
going to then he shouldnt be able to listen. They were mad and the experiment took a
shift.
After about ten minutes of talking, he finally revealed his nickname EZ (easy) which
came from the initials of his first and last name. The other students seemed disappointed,
I think after his initial reaction they expected for the name to be something else. Even one
replied with a thats it? A few commented on why he didnt want to share when they
felt that it wasnt a bad nickname. One of the students called him by his nickname and
thats when things really hit the fan. He got very upset and began shouting at people in
the room. I tried to calm him down but it became a shouting match between the students
and him. I sent the rest of the students off to class and I asked him to stay so we could
talk about what happened and why he got so upset.
He said that he really liked the nickname but it was what his last teacher had called him
and it made him miss her. He felt that if he told this to the other students that they would
laugh at him and he didnt want to do that. I asked him if he remembered me talking
about the game and what the rules were, and if he felt uncomfortable he should have
talked to me. I asked if he could understand why they other students might be upset that
they had shared something personal and they have the same worries about confidentiality.
He said he understood and was glad that he had finally told the group.
I wasnt able to talk to students as group on how they liked the game, but I was able to
ask them individually what they liked and disliked about the game. Most had the same
reaction that they felt that they learned something new about people, even people who
they thought they knew really well. They realized that there are some things that we dont
tell each other because they think it is embarrassing and that others will betray their
confidence. When asked if they trusted the group with what they shared some felt that it
wasnt a big deal if they told other people, that they didnt feel that they told a secret that
could come back to hurt them.
I felt that the lesson, experiment, went well. I feel that the students were open to
participate in an activity, which revealed a part of themselves to others. I chose students
who knew each other, but not well. I think it is important to go outside of our own social
circles to learn how to trust others and learn to be trusted by other people. I would
definitely do this lesson again. Although I had a student who did not want to participate
in the beginning, he let his own guard down and became open to others. I think next time
I would like to work with a larger group or with several groups of 5, so that I could get
different reactions from different sets of students. I enjoyed this lesson and discovering
another side to my students, as well as allowing them to see another side of me.
Addressing Killer-Statements with First Graders
Date: Monday, October 28 @ 14:09:23 PST
My first graders and I had a dicussion on what it means to have respect for others. We
also dicuss positive and negative behaviors/ words and how we feel when these words or
behaviors are used towards us or in our classroom.
I did this activtiy with 20 first graders. I had them sit in a cirlce. I open the dicussion by
asking them what does the word respect mean?
I then ask them if they could tell me some positive words or behviors they have used or
heared before. As they told me their resonses, I wrote them on a big piece of paper. I ask
them to tell me negative words or behaviors they have used or heared before. I ask them
how they felt when some one is mean to them? Or how they felt when they where mean
to some one else. I also ask them how they felt when they where nice to someone? Or
how they felt when some one is nice to them. Again, I wrote all their responses on the
paper.
After I was done asking questions, we sat and talked about how important it is to treat
one another with kindeness and respect I pointed out when we work as a family, it will
make comming to school a safe and fun place to be.
I ended the lesson, by asking them to see if they could really try to show resecept for
peolpe in the classroom and outside our class. If they can do this for one week, they will
recieve an award.I have made up rewards for them. I really felt the disccusion was
succesful, their responese were so funny and sincere. I recommend teachers to do this!
Naming Feelings: Adapted for First Grade
Date: Wednesday, October 09 @ 10:12:54 PDT
This lesson is based on Lesson 11 in the 2nd Ed. of Self- Science. Because the classroom
in which I work does not lend itself to pulling a small group of students to do SelfScience lessons, I have adapted this lesson to apply to a full classroom of students (24
first graders at St. Joseph's Elementary School in Atherton, Ca). Also, I changed and
expanded the existing lesson to make it a more kinesthetic experience for children at this
grade level.
1. I began the morning by doing some dramatic reading of situations from Aliki's book
titled "Feelings." I asked the students to guess what I could be feeling from my words,
tone, etc.. Next, I acted out some feelings without using words or sounds and asked the
students to guess what I could be feeling. They REALLY got into this. They thought it
was great that their teacher was standing in the front of the classroom yelling about
somebody stealing her crayons and then fake crying about a pet mouse that died. We
could have done this for a long time--they had such great names for a variety of feelings.
2. I modified the "Feeling Continuum" on p.52 in Self-Science. Instead of writing the
words on the board, I drew faces that exhibited each of the emotions on pieces of paper
and wrote the name of the emotion below them. I strung them to a long piece of rope and
attached the rope to opposite ends of the classroom. I then discussed each of the feelings
with the students and encouraged them to name synonyms or similar feelings. Next, I
asked the students to stand by the "feeling" that they were currently experiencing. I
continued by asking different questions and having them relocate (How do you feel on
your birthday? How do you feel when you forget to bring your homework to school?
etc.). They had a lot of fun with this, and moving around is always good for children of
this age! I tried to really encourage them not to just stand by the feeling that their friends
were standing by, and for the most part they were successful in doing this. I think that if
this were to be done at a time in the day when the students were already pretty hyped-up
that this could get out of control!
3. After they returned to their desks I had them think of feeling words which I wrote on
lined pieces of cardstock and slipped into a pocket chart I hung over the white board.
Then I handed out pieces of contruction paper with two large squares. The square on the
left had the words under it, "I like it when I feel _______" and the one on the right, "I do
not like it when I feel ________." The students thought of feeling words to write on the
lines and then illustrated them in the squares. Most of them used words we had put in the
pocket chart. They could come to the front and "borrow" pocket chart words to copy,
since spelling and far-point copying is difficult for many of them. (It probably would
have been a good idea to have written out some words that I would guess they would
have came up with beforehand because writing as they were talking took up too much
time. I could tell I needed to wrap it up pretty quickly, as I was loosing some of their
attention.) The illustrations were fantastic and REALLY telling about some of the
students. Only a couple of them drew only faces to illustrate their feelings. Most of them
were very creative and drew entire scences to illustrate feeling "surprised", "embarassed",
etc.. I was impressed at their ability to relate feeling words to situations and events in
their lives and even illustrate body language that clearly portayed the related feeling. I
gave them the opportunity to write their names on the back if they wanted to, but said that
since feelings can be really personal that they did not have to. Some did, some didn't. I
bound all of the pages and made it into a book that we keep in the classroom--a lot of the
kids like to read books we make as a class if they finish activities early or have free time.
4. Later that afternoon we had math stations. (The children rotate through 3 stations in
groups of 8). One of the stations was making a "Class Feelings Tally Chart." We had rows
of questions (How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? How do you feel when
your brother or sister gets a special gift?) that could all be interpreted in a variety of ways
(and were!). We had columns with small copies of the faces used in the continuum. Then
we tallied (5 people feel "happy" in the morning, 7 people feel "bored" when they are
waiting for their turn at something, etc.). This ended up being a nice way to incorporate
feelings at the same time as doing math! I asked the students to also come up with some
of their own questions to add to the chart. It was really interesting to see how each
student interpreted a question. We had some great discussions--Sometimes you can feel
jealous when your brother gets a special gift and you don't. Sometimes you feel excited
when he does because you know that he will share it with you and you are happy for him.
Etc..
5. We could have done feeling activities all day! The students showed that they are each
wealths of information about feelings and are able to verbalize and explain them quite
clearly, especially the more casually we discuss them together. This will be great to
continue with later in the year when we do more about feelings (in a religion unit).
Identifying feeling with third graders
Date: Monday, October 07 @ 12:56:24 PDT
Six third grade studnets were chosen to participate in the experiment.
There are three groups of children categorized for comprehension and reading. I chose a
boy and girl from each group at random. We sat in a semi-circle at the back of the room.
Materials:
-a dictionary for each student
-six feelings already marked in dictionary with a marker
-a folded place card with a feeling printed on the front
-six color markers
-a circle drawn on the inside of the place card
When the children sat down at the table, I asked each of them how they felt. Three of
them said fine and three of them said good. They were all happy they were chosen for the
experiment.
Questions:
What is a feeling? No one could answer.

Name some feelings? Happy, sad, angry were a few responses.
I looked up the word feeling and read them the definition. I stressed the importance to
look up words they did not know or understand. For instance how they were feeling - or
their feelings towards others. I used the school dictionary for children. It gave example
sentences they could relate to --- because they would giggle.
Description of feeling according to Scotts, Forgman Beginning Dictionary:
1.sense of touch. By feeling we tell what is hard from what is soft.
2.sensation; condition or being aware: She had no feeling in her leg.
3.emotion. Joy, sorrow, fear, and anger are feelings. The loss of the ball game stirred up
much feeling
4.feelings, tender or sensitive side of ones nature: You hurt my feelings when you yelled
at me.
I put a tent card in front of each student with a feeling written on it. I told them they were
going to represent that feeling. The cards were happy, love, hate, angry, afraid, and sad.
Sad started when I handed him the dictionary to look up the feeling word sad. Each child
looked up their word and read it for the group.
In turn, after each student read the definition I asked them if they ever felt the feeling and
to give an example. Many feelings were related to their friends or animals.
For instance:
I felt sad when my friend moved away.
I felt angry when so and so scratched me.
I love my parents. Why dogs and cats can hate each other out of fear of being hurt.
They are happy when they do well in school. They are afraid on certain rides at an
amusement park. There were other examples related to the same examples given in the
dictionary.
They each modeled their feeling with a tone of voice and an expression on their face.
They were having fun doing the experiment and did not want to change from a happy
face to a feeling they were not feeling at the moment.
On the backside of their tent cards they found circles. I asked them to draw a face of their
feeling.
The angry face had a jagged smile and steam coming out of the ears.
The afraid-face had teeny eyes an open small round mouth and ears that were pointed
upward not much emphasis on nose or hair.

The sad-face had an upside-down smile and small circle tears in a line down the cheeks
of black eyes.
The happy face was the happy face you see on the game two dots and an upward curved
mouth. no ears or nose
The love face had heart shape eyes and a yellow glow for a smile and yellow hair.
The hate face had big oval red cheeks, slanted upward eyebrows, evil eyes and a very
little body. All was colored black except the cheeks.
Questions:
Was it easy or hard to express their feelings? They said it was hard because they did not
want others to know if they were not happy.
Was it important for their teacher or parents to know how they felt?
We discussed some of the reasons -- if one is not happy how do we change feelings if
others can help.
Time ran out and I could not conclude with more reasons on why it is important to share
the feeling.
Conclusions:
Regardless of level A, B, or C comprehension category or gender, all the students
expressed all the feelings in a very natural non-threatened reply. The tones in their voices
and expressions on their faces were extremely animated. To add to this lesson in the
future I would have each student write a sentences on one feeling they shared with a
friend on the playground, to their teacher, to a parent and something they recently put in
their journals. On a daily basis, I would have the students included in their journals how
they were feeling each day and what they could do to change it or how to remember the
good feeling and how to have more of them.
Knowing who we are through our feelings is a very important tool when making friends,
having a better quality of life, and for personal enrichment
Privacy Blocks Experiment: Looking at Intimacy with 12 year olds
Six Situations are read to 12 year old children. As each situation is read, they write down
who they would share this information with. if anyone at all.
They have 4 options: they would tell only themselves(meaning nobody), they would tell
friends, family, or everyone.
The six situations were:
1-you hit a car with your bicycle and do not stop
2-you cheat on a test and you pass it
3-you know your best friend shop lifted a $10 item
4-your best friend told you a secret
5-you like someone that everyone hates
6-you knew you had only 6 months to live
I handed each student piece of paper with only their gender written on it. I read the 6
statements and they privately wrote their answers.
I discovered that this group of middle class chidren feel they have someone thay they can
confide in, someone that they can talk to.Yet, they wont tell on a friend who has shop
lifted: the hope is that this friend will work it out themself and confess.
They all seem to be trusted with keeping a secret, except for 1.I was surprised to have
total of 20 for the " self" answers and thought that this age group would be more open
with friends.This confirms the thought that as parents and educators we must be good
listeners and make ourselves available to chidren.
Emotional Music in 1st Grade
I completed Self Science Lesson 15, Evoking Emotions in a 1st Grade Music Class.
There are 20 students in the class, their ages were 6-7. I asked the students to bring their
favorite music after discussing music in our daily lives.
The class started with a discussion of our current emotions. Most of the children were
happy and/or excited to get started.
I played a song and then while the song was playing I asked the children to find the beat
with their bodies and then after the song had played about 3-4 minutes we all sat down.
The student that brought the music would tell the class why they brought the music and
then they would tell us what emotions they felt when they listened to their music. After
the person that had brought the music shared I let some other children tell me their
emotions.
Most children had brought upbeat music and happy was the most common emotional
response initially. After a couple of the songs the children's emotional lingo started to
expand and they started to report that they felt energetic, crazy, silly, happy and excited.
The fourth song had the fastest driving beat of all and the children were harder to control
afterward. The emotions had escallated at this time to wild. The fifth song was slower yet
most children still felt happy, excited and silly. The next song was my song and I had
chosen a sad song about a man loosing his love. It was harder for the children to tell me
their emotional state. This song appeared to conflict them because it had a very pretty
melody but it was sad. Some children told me that they felt sad, one child felt "slowing".
We discussed some of the possible emotions for "slowing" together and decided that it
meant calmed instead. One child expressed that he felt wierd.
Not very many of the emotions shared were negative emotions. Initially there was no
reason for it and on the saddest song the music still sounded nice. I was amazed at the
number of emotions that were named as this is the beginning of first grade and I was not
expecting such a grasp of emotional terms.
The question of why they brought the music was mostly answered because they liked it
or they liked to dance to it.
We finished the class with a review of the emotions that the music gave us. We then did a
check of the emotional level we were at and most children were still feeling crazy and
some were now tired.
I asked the children to listen to the music they hear in their daily lives this week and
decide how the music makes them feel when they hear it.
In conclusion 1st grade is an excellent age to start exploring the emotions that music can
evoke. This lesson helped some of the children to hear more words that described
emotions than they may have before. Most of the emotions in this lesson were positive
probably because of the music chosen. Boys and girls had equal emotional responses to
the music.
If I were to do the lesson again I would bring in more of the music and choose more
different types of music to get a better range of emotions. I would have chosen less dance
music as it caused a lot of excitement which caused some concern in the main room
teacher and made it harder for me to get straight responses.
Mars Lander Experiment: Connecting Self-Science to Literature
Date: Sunday, September 22 @ 17:24:18 PDT
In Chapters 36-43, Stanley and Zero attempt to survive in the desert, miles away from
civilization. The Mars Lander Experiment is a fictional way to help you think about what
you might do if you were in their position.
From Self Science Lesson 52: Reasonable Choices (pp. 128-130), Section: Developing
Accountability
MATERIALS: -Consult Self Science text prior to conducting the experiment. -Make
copies of Mars Lander: Individual Worksheet and Mars Lander: Nasa Response STEPS:
-Make sure students are seated in groups or tables of about 4 students each.
-Connect Mars Lander Experiment back to the novel Holes, by Louis Sacher. In Chapters
36-43, Stanley and Zero attempt to survive in the desert, miles away from civilization.
The Mars Lander Experiment is a fictional way to help you think about what you might
do if you were in their position.
-Hand out individual worksheets and read over the assignment with the students. They
are to rank the items on the list in order of necessity for survival, from 1 (most necessary)
to 15 (least important). Give them about 5 minutes to complete this worksheet.
-When they have finished, they need to consult with their group and come up with a
group ranking in addition to their individual ranking. Give them about 5 minutes for this
step.
-Ask them how they came to decisions individually vs. as a group. It may work better to
have them reflect on this in a written manner (e.g. journal entries), rather than verbally at
this age, as their metacognitive skills are not terribly developed yet.
Other questions: -Did you score better alone or in a group? Why? -Did it help to talk over
possibilities with other people? how?
-What did you do when as a team you couldn't agree on an answer?
-Was your behavior in the group similar or different to the way you usually act in groups?
How?
-What was helpful behavior on the part of group members?
-Then you can pass out a copy of NASA's rankings and discuss them in small groups,
then bringing discussion back to the bigger group.
-Close by tying the experiment back to Holes or "real life." How do the two connect?
Building Self-Responsibility with The Robot Experiment
Date: Thursday, August 15 @ 14:20:47 PDT
By Jennifer Brown
Learning to accept responsibility for ones self is a life long task A major impediment
to accepting responsibility for self is the tendency to blame someone else for a given
action. This cycle of blaming others and becoming a victim can be avoided by having
each person accept responsibility for his/her own behavior. Pg. 102 Self Science
Lesson 38 can be found in the developing accountability section of the Self Science
text, on page 102. Goal 7, Accepting Responsibility.
The main idea in this lesson is to have students think about and answer the question,
under what circumstances are you completely accountable for your actions? Who makes
choices? How much freedom do you have in your own life to choose for yourself. What
conscious choices do you make that hold you accountable for you actions?
I select this experiment because of the differences in motivation I experienced almost
daily in my students last semester. The students who always did their work, handed it in
on time, typed, double spaced and spell-checked also complained of parental pressure in
journal entries, yet usually followed up such entries with disclaimers such as, but I know
this pressure is good for me, otherwise I would be a bum who just does nothing. I want
to look at the ideas of free will, versus specific, in no uncertain terms directions from
teachers and parents that students are made to follow. I wonder how constant reiteration
of directions hinders free will in their lives, as well as looking at the price tag, if you will
of being told what to do, and not having to face the responsibility of being accountable
for their actions. I was curious how this compared to having free will and the addition of
accountability along with it.
The ROBOT EXPERIMENT requests that students become robots and the teacher is
their master. (Skinner) The students receive mundane orders from the teacher such
as, move your right arm, walk forward, move one step to the leftetc. Then, when
they become tired of the assignment, the teacher asks them in a journal or on a separate
sheet of paper to answer the following questions
1. Do you ever feel like a robot? When?
Kelly, an eleven year old: Yes. I feel like a robot when my mom tells me to clean up my
room all the time or when I cant express myself. When Im interrupted I feel like a robot,
or when I have to wait my turn to say something at the dinner table. I also feel like a
robot at school when I have no choices from my teacher, or if I want to answer a question
and Im interrupted by another student who just blurts out the answer.
Michael, a seven year old: Yes, I feel like a robot when my mom nags me to do
something. I also feel like a robot at school when my friends make me do stuff, like run
across the field. They tell me I have to do it, even if I dont want to. They can make me
do a lot of stuff, sometimes even if I yell at them and tell them I dont want to. They still
make me.
2. Who are your masters?
Kelly: My mom, my dad, my brother and my teacher.
Michael: My mom, my dad and my friends.
3. What do you like and/or dislike about being a robot?
Kelly: I liked that I didnt have to think for myself, so I wouldnt mess up on the
experiment. You just told me what to do and I followed you. What I didnt like is that it
was boring just to follow your commands. If I had to do it for longer, Id be bored.
Michael: I liked just doing what you said. It was easy and I didnt have to think for
myself. I didnt mind it.

Another part of the assignment is to ask if the students felt trapped when they were robots
and how much power they felt to un trap themselves. Since I just had Kelly and Michael,
rather than a whole class of students, I decided to change the question to:
What can your parents, teachers and friends do to make you feel less like a robot? What
can you do to make yourself feel less like a robot?
I asked Michael how he felt he could stand up for himself with his friends at school who
make him do lots of things. He said he didnt know. I asked him what he thought
would happen if he said, Im not a robot, you cant just tell me what to do. Im not going
to follow your orders because I dont have to and I dont want to. He said he didnt
know.
In Conclusion: What I learned from this experiment, is that neither Kelly or Michael,
despite being really successful academically and socially in school, have a certain idea or
ways of implementing ideas for freeing themselves from feeling like robots. They
know it sometimes makes them feels bad or trapped, not to be able to think for
themselves and to be nagged or pressured by friends to do something. However, they
havent been taught specific strategies for un-trapping themselves, or standing up for
themselves by the school system or their parents.
Children are often more comfortable being told what to do and acting like robots because
then they wont fail or have to be accountable for their actions. Therefore, I see it as up
to parents and teachers to pay specific attention to the need for students to be removed
from their comfort zone and to be taught these strategies for un -trapping themselves.
This includes teaching students how to think for themselves, and to teach them the
consequences of their free choices. This also includes teacher modeling taking
responsibility for themselves, parental involvement in modeling intrinsic motivation,
making students suffer consequences for their actions, owning their own feelings and
choices, etc.
Making choices by using free will is a life skill often neglected by teachers and parents
because they want their children to feel safe and happy, and no parent or a teacher wants
to watch a group fail when working together, or to have a student fail at a task. As a
parent or teacher, your role is to help the child. However, by offering pencils, paper, by
bringing students their lunch when they forget it at home, by doing too much for the
students as a parent and a teacher, the students dont learn to motivate themselves.
Therefore, they feel helpless when trying to decide for themselves, or to un trap
themselves from feeling like robots.
Questions:
What are some strategies youll implement in your classroom next fall to encourage
parents and yourself to motivate students intrinsically, and not have them act and feel like
robots? How will you take students out of their Robotic Comfort Zones and encourage
their own independent thinking? What do you think doing too much for a student
means? How will you implement consequences into your classroom rules to encourage
student accountability next year?
Super Simple Ultra Positive
Date: Friday, August 02 @ 15:37:16 PDT
Here at the "Many Rivers" program at Hall Elementary School in Portland, Maine we
display a colorful sign that says "YOWIE".
We teach the kids that each letter describes a unique form of respect: Y= respect for
yourself, O=for others, w=for the work you create, I=for the ideas you learn from
teachers and peers and E=for the classroom and natural environment.
A creative teacher can create all sorts of lessons re. the HOW of each letter, such as the
ennacting of skits that illustrate each kind. Through the year we need only refer to
"yowie" when some excellent example or related problem arises. It is our only
"discipline" code.
Identifying Feelings Related to Conflict
Date: Friday, July 05 @ 11:55:41 PDT
This activity is useful after teaching conflict resolution skills. It helps students to realize
which feelings are more positive and feel better.
Begin by reviewing past lessons on conflict resolution. (Talk It Out by Barbara Porro is a
great source) Use puppets or role play ways that people often try to resolve conflict:
yelling and saying unkind things; resorting to use of physical force or talking it out.
Brainstorm the ways people feel when conflict is resolved by yelling, saying hurtful
things or using physical force
Brainstorm the ways people feel when talking it out and coming to a solution both can
live with. Write these also on chart paper using a different marker
Act out as a class one or two of the feelings using motions, sounds and facial expressions
and worlds to show these feelings.
Play "Stump the Stars." One student leaves the room briefly or goes to a part of the room
where s/he can not see the others.
The group chooses a feeling to act out and welcomes back the student outside. Using a
agreed upon single, have the class act out the feel using as much movement, facial
expressions, and noise as needed. At an appropriate time, give the signal for the class to
stop. As the student if they can identify the feeling.
Things That Represent Me: Building Emotional Literacy and Safety with
Elementary
Date: Thursday, August 01 @ 16:02:47 PDT
This lesson is a variation of Lesson 14: Emotional Symbolism.
We wanted to share feelings by having the students bring in one photo and one item that
represent themselves.
This lesson is for a group of elementary school students in an inner-city classroom. Ages
range from 6-7.
We introduced the idea of feelings and how certain images or things can speak to their
feelings.
Required items:
Each student is asked to bring in one photo and one item that are special to them.
Activity:
All students sit in a circle on the floor and put their items in front of them. Names are
picked from a bowl. When a name is called, that student shows their photo and item and
talks about how they felt in that photo and how they feel about their item. The other
students can ask two "feeling" questions (suggestions will be written on the board).
Example questions:
1) How did you feel when that photo was taken?
2) How did you feel when you received that item?
3) How would you feel if someone took it away?
4) What makes you most happy or sad about the photo or item?
At the end of the activity, once all students have had a chance to talk about their photos
and item, the teacher will share how wonderful it was to have all kinds of feelings shared
together. The teacher will reiterate that talking about feelings can be very positive,
whether they are good or bad feelings.
Evoking Emotions
Date: Friday, July 05 @ 11:42:17 PDT
Introduction: I chose this lesson because it was Friday , 11:00 before lunch, and after a
testing session. I had 9 fifth graders. I thought the music would wake them up and that
they would see the value in being more aware of emotions.
These kids had a strong background in Conflict Management, Cooling off, and with "I
Statements". Although I was "volunteering" in this classroom, I knew these kids well
because I taught them in third grade, and worked with them in Fourth.
Objectives: Review emotion words and associate music with feelings.
Instructions:
I reviewed eight basic feelings (fear, anger,joy,sadness,acceptance,disgust, expectation,
and surprise) by writing each word on a card and asking for synonyms or phrases
describing the word. This was harder for them than I thought, so after this discussion I
gave them each a feeling card and had them act it out. The other kids tried to guess the
feeling. Some kids chose to work in groups of two because they were shy or thought they
had a hard word. When the guesses were wrong we discussed how you could be acting
one way, but a friend might not understand how you feel from just watching.
I believe this introduction lesson was similar to the Reading Body Language- lesson #13,
but I couldn't stop here because three kids had brought in music to share, and they had
seen my CD player primed and ready.
So on to Lesson 15! Each student played one song while the other kids wrote down
feelings. If they thought of another place while listening, they wrote that down too. They
shared if they wanted- they all did. They wrote feelings like relaxed, happy, determined,
energetic, competitive, motivated.
I had brought a couple of songs in case their music was similar in style-and it was- all
hip-hop, which they loved. I played Bach "Toccota" which they recognized as the scary
music in haunted houses, and the soft U2 "MLK " which was played at Superbowl halftime while names of 9/11 victims were projected in the background. These songs brought
feelings like frightening, sleepy, calm, mesmerizing and thought ful.
Beyond:
I asked if they learned more words for feelings. -Yes, they were written down. "Where
else do you learn such things?" -Books, TV, Nintendo. And finally "Is listening
important?" This question tied in nicely with the first part of the lesson because just
watching body language was difficult for them.
- Michelle
International Education Conference

July 1996
Overall Theme
The Learning Community of the Twenty-first Century
Date and Place

The Conference will take place during the weekend of Friday, July 26 to Monday, July 29
1996 at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana U. S. A.
Overall Program Format

Friday, July 26, 1996, is dedicated to four all-day Pre-Conference workshops focusing on
an overview of the background issues of the major themes of the Conference.
During the following three days sub-themes will be treated by recognized specialists in
the fields under consideration. The three morning sessions will be preceded by a Keynote address, followed by two one-hour seminars.
After lunch, the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions will consist of two one-hour
presentations followed by a round-table general discussion.
The Monday afternoon session will consist of a general discussion geared to the creation
of a resolution to be presented to the United Nations via CIRCES - France, which is a
recognized NGO by the United Nations in Switzerland. The formal afternoon sessions
will be followed by a Happy Hour during which informal discussions may be continued
in small groups for those interested.
Detailed Program
Pre-Conference Workshops - Friday, July 26, 1996
From 8:30 am to 12:00 noon AND From 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Program Outline
There are four one-day pre-conference workshops as follows:
1. The Individual and the Community which will deal with the building of a
Planetary Civilization. This workshop will be led by Dr. Bert Cunnington, Deputy
Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Administration at Griffith University,
Queensland, Australia. Dr Cunnington is co-author of Managing the New
Organization.
2. Science and Religion which will deal with the delicate but critical relationship
between these two fundamental aspects of human activity, especially as they
relate to the process of education. This workshop will be led by Dr. Dwight Judy,
Director of the Oakwood Spiritual Life Center in Syracuse, Indiana. Dr. Judy is
also the current President of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology.
3. The Mind/Body Relationship which will deal specifically with personality
development as it relates to the perceptive modalities of children, beginning with
the pre-natal period. This workshop will be led by Dr. Onslow H. Wilson, Editorin Chief of ARIADNE'S WEB, a magazine specializing in the integration of
Science, Tradition and Spirituality. Dr. Wilson is also President of CIRCES
International, Inc., an international, non-profit research organization, and
specializes in METAPHYSIOLOGY: Where Mind and Body Meet.
4. Awakening Our Children's Genius which will be led by Dr. Jacques R.
Rangasamy, Lecturer in Art and Communication at the University of . This
workshop will deal with approaches to recognizing the intellectual and other
strength of the child and will focus on ways of encouraging the flowering of the
child's budding genius.
6:00 - 07:30 pm - HAPPY HOUR
SESSION #1 - Saturday, July 27, 1996 - AM

Theme: The Individual and The Community
8:30 am - 9:30 am - Welcome and Opening Address (Moyers/ Winfrey)

9:45 - 10:45 am - An Over-View of the Whole Child Pre and Peri-Natal
Psychology indicates that important aspects of the child's personality are formed
long before birth, and that the events surrounding the birth process imprint the
child's consciousness in very profound ways. In addition, the Theory of Multiple
Intelligences, put forward by Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University, implies
that within each child at least one form of intelligence predominates. In fact this is
the basis upon which The Key School in Indianapolis operates. Clearly, teaching
to a child's dominant intelligence is teaching to the child's strengths, a fact which
can do nothing but awaken within the child a sense of confidence and well being.
It is under such conditions that the child would feel encouraged to put forward
his/her best. These ideas will be extended to the home with regard to the parents'
role in creating a home environment favoring a sense of security and well being
because many children consider "school" to be a "war zone", and the home should
not be seen as a continuation of that "war". It should, instead, be a safe haven.
11:00 am - 12:00 - Ethics, Expectations, and Excellence Although they may
often coincide, ethics should not be confused with morals since the former is
based upon philosophical considerations while the latter is based upon religious
preferences. Ethical behavior and emotional maturity go hand in hand. Therefore,
children should be encouraged to develop ethical patterns of behavior by learning
how to direct their emotional energies into constructive channels rather than
suppressing them. They should be taught to distinguish between what is legal,
what is moral, and what is ethical so that as young adults they are able to make
the career choices that reflect their true nature.
12:00 - 1:30 pm - LUNCH
SESSION #2 - Saturday, July 27, 1996 - PM
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm - Development of Personality Type According to Jungian

psychology there is a variety of ways in which an individual may choose to use
the mental faculties of perceiving and evaluating. The various permutations and
combinations yield a total of 16 types each of which has its own preferred ways of
perceiving and dealing with the world. Each child, in addition to its own unique
individuality, therefore has its own way of dealing with the world. Knowledge of
how each child prefers to deal with the world could be invaluable in the education
of the child's innate potentials.
2:45 pm - 3:45 pm - Education and the Business Community The goal of an
education is to prepare the child to play a constructive role in the world as an
adult. In one way or another, it is in the business arena that the educated adult will
make his/her contribution to the community. What will be the expectations of the
business community in the coming millennium? What should the educated citizen
of the future be expected to bring to the table?
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm - PANEL DISCUSSION This Panel Discussion will focus on
the topics of the day including, of course, answers to questions generated by
members of the audience. At the end of this period of formal discussions, the
proceedings will adjourn for the day and a period of relaxation and informal
discussions - The Happy Hour - will commence.
6:00 - 07:30 pm - HAPPY HOUR
SESSION #3 - Sunday, July 28, 1996 - AM

Theme: Innovative Approaches in the Global Learning Community
8:30 am - 9:30 am - Welcome and Key-note Address (Ted Turner)

9:45 am - 10:45 am - The Key School - Multiple Intelligences The Key School
of Indianapolis is turning out to be a very successful experimental validation of
Dr. Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelli-gences. Is the evidence
convincing enough to warrant a more general application of this method? What
are the shortcomings of this approach? Does it really teach to the child's
strengths? Does it actually foster a sense of confidence in the child? Dr. Gardner
himself is being invited to address these questions.
11:00 am - 12:00 - Home Schooling With the alarming increase in violence in our
Public Schools more and more parents are opting for Home Schooling. What are
the advantages and disadvantages of Home Schooling? Is it possible to create an
effective marriage between Public and Home Schooling such that the advantages
of both play to the advantage of our children and their education? In this session
we will explore these and many other questions concerning the relationship
between home and school.
12:00 - 1:30 pm - LUNCH
SESSION #4 - Sunday, July 28, 1996 - PM
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm - Perceptive Modalities What exactly is going on with the

hyperactive child? Are all aspects of "hyperactivity" treatable by means of diet?
What of the child who is just plain kinesthetic? The study of Neuro-Lingusitic
Programming shows that individuals may be grouped generally into three major
categories depending upon which sense is most relied upon for information
gathering and storage. Thus there are visuals who prefer visual cues, auditory who
prefer auditory cues, and kinesthetics who prefer kinesthetic or action cues. It is
the kinesthetic child who is nearly always in trouble in school mainly because he
or she gets bored by having to sit and gather information via their least preferred
senses of seeing and hearing. Efforts should be made to develop a pedagogy
which includes the kinesthetic sense so that such children do not "fall through the
cracks".
02:45 - 03:45 pm - Electronics in the Classroom - The Information SuperHighway Today much is being said about the Information Super-Highway. At the
turn of the Millennium where will our children be on this Super-Highway? Is it
not time that the youth of our nation be well plugged into the electronic revolution
so that as young adults they may be able to deal effectively with the Global
Village? Businesses are becoming more and more international in their
operations; daily we are becoming more and more in contact - and conflict - with
other cultures. Do we not need to prepare our youth to deal with the challenges of
globalization? In fact, the electronic medium is precisely suited to visual, auditory
and kinesthetic children. These are some of the issues which will be addressed in
this session.
4:00 - 06:00 pm - PANEL DISCUSSION This Panel Discussion will focus on the
topics of the day including, of course, answers to questions generated by members
of the audience. At the end of this period of formal discussions, the proceedings
will adjourn for the day and a period of relaxation and informal discussions - The
Happy Hour - will commence.
6:00 - 07:30 pm - HAPPY HOUR
SESSION #5 - Monday, July 29, 1996 - AM

Theme: Reason and Intuition - An Integrative Approach
8:30 - 9:30 am - Welcome and Key-note Address (Sogyal Rinpoche)

9:45 am - 10:45 am - Learning Styles This presentation is geared mainly for
those - Teachers and Parents alike - who are most intimately involved in the
education of children. Discovering and teaching to the learning preferences and
learning differences of children can only contribute positively to the awakening of
all children to their own potentials as well as to the development of respect for the
potentials of others.
11:00 am - 12:00 am - Inspiration in the Process of Discovery Inspiration is a
critical ingredient in Scientific Discovery. All discoveries share a common thread
or element of surprise - an unexpected moment of inspiration which, in a flash,
presents itself as an idea permitting a synthesis of previously separated and
seemingly unrelated elements. Such moments are rare indeed. But the question
arises: Can the frequency be improved? Can our youth be trained or encouraged
to be open to the inspiration of the moment? If so, how could one distinguish
between inspiration and quackery? Are there ethical considerations involved? This
session will attempt to deal with these thorny questions.
12:00 - 1:30 pm - LUNCH
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm - PANEL DISCUSSION This Panel Discussion will focus on
formulating a formal statement which will be forwarded to the CIRCES
Headquarters in Paris for presentation to the United Nations in Geneva,
Switzerland.
Where to get further information

Interested parties are requested to contact Onslow H. Wilson Ph.D. at :
Templar Research Institute
P. O. Box 279, PLAINFIELD, INDIANA 46168, U. S. A.
Rayeson@aol.com
74763.3714@CompuServe.com
Ph# 317-839-1591
FAX 317-839-1470
an Introduction to your Mind ...

Although there is no definitive model for the human mind, an analogy that is often
used is that of an iceberg. The part of the iceberg above water is known as the
conscious mind and the part below water is known as the subconscious or
unconscious mind. If you can learn to manage your subconscious mind you are
using far more of your mental potential.
We use our conscious mind for everyday rational tasks such as making decisions,
talking to people and so on. Our subconscious mind is being used all the time ...
subconsciously. It contains memories, skills, beliefs, habits, etc. It controls our
heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing, etc. There are Yogi's who can control their
heart beat by controlling their subconscious mind.
Our subconscious mind also contains all the skills we have learnt. Every time we
wish to use that skill our subconscious mind runs a "program" we have learnt. One
great example is driving a car. Once we are competent at driving we don't have to
consciously think about everything we are doing. It's like we are on autopilot, we
put our foot on the clutch, change gear and watch the traffic around us all at the
same time.
One very important point to note is that the subconscious mind does not think
rationally. Whatever you continuously tell it, it will believe. As Einstein said "The
imagination (i.e. subconscious) is stronger than the will". Use it well!
RETURN TO HOME PAGE

INTEGRATINGANDDEVELOPINGTHENARRATIVEKNOWLEDGEOF
ADULTLEARNERS
ACONSUMERCOMMENTARYONCOLUMBIAPACIFICUNIVERSITY'S
NONTRADITIONALAPPROACH
TOHIGHEREDUCATION
byEaronThomasKavanagh
Copyrighted(2000)AllRightsApply
ToHyperlinkedTableofContents
Preamble
Thecontentsofthisbriefarestructuredintothe3sectionsbelow.Themajorityofthe
contentinthisdocumentiswrittenbyEaronKavanagh.Insomecases,aspectsofthe
sectionsareexcerptsfromCPUliteratureorblockquotationsfromotherrelatedauthors,
andarenotedassuchwhereapplicableandintheReferencesectionattheend.
Caveat:Theinformationhereisbasedonmyexperienceandmyresearchintoavarietyof
ideas.Thecommentariesonthevariousprogramsarerandom,anddonotattempttotake
theplaceofconsultationwithanadvisorfromCPUorothercontactwiththatuniversity
anditsmaterials.Ihavemaderandomcommentariesonaspectsofratherthanthewhole
CPUprogram,astherearesimplyfartoomanycoursesandrequiredpapersonwhichto
provideafullandcompletecommentary.Theopinionsaremyownunlessotherwise
stated.WhileIhavehadover10yearsofexperienceasastudentwithColumbiaPacific
University(19892000),IdonotpromoteCPU,nordoInotpromoteCPU.InadditionI
havenofinancialinterestorotherinterestinCPU.Thisisthepostindustrialsocietywe
areresidinginthepostmodernworld;followingpostmoderntraditionsIamsimply
privilegingthevoiceofmyownexperiences.Myintentionisalsotofacilitateforthe
readeraperspectiveonCPUanditsprogramswhichcanonlycomeintobeingbyeither
participatinginthediscursiveinquiryanddialoguefoundatCPU,orparticipatingina
sharingdialoguewithsomeone,suchasmyself,whohasattainedacertainfacilitywith
thatdiscursiveinquiryanddialogue.Thisisthegenesisofsuchadialogueofideasandit
ismyhopethatthispresentationisbothhelpfulandinsightfulonthematterofCPUand
itsprograms.
CopyrightedMaterialAllRightsApply
PleaseNote:Thisdocumentisforthepersonalandeducationaluseofthereaderonly.
Alllegalrightsapply(CopyrightbyEaronKavanagh/2000).Permissiontociteisgiven
providedfullandpropercitationpracticesareobserved.Anyotherusewillonlybe
grantedinconsultationwiththeauthor.Pliagarismbringsstiffandunpleasant
consequences.
RETURNTOTOPOFDOCUMENT
TABLEOFCONTENTS:
Introduction
Find this
:
Part1:Knowledge,Humanism,andtheNarrativeSelf
1. BornwithUniqueGiftsand
ShapedbyOthers
TwoLearningStoriesfromPersonalExperience
o Discussion:RelatedViews(onLearningandtheNarrativeSelf)
fromEmpiricism,Phenomenology,DepthPsychology,
Constructivism,andSocialConstructionism
o Reflection:BacktotheTwoLearningStoriesfromPersonal
Experience
2. TheNarrative/TextualSelfandSociallyengenderedConstraintstoPraxis
Learning
o RelatedViewsfromFreire,Maslow,andSartre
3. PraxisandtheNaturalisticImportanceofNarrativeKnowledge
o ARelatedViewfromEducationPhilosopherHenryGiroux
o ARelatedViewfromEducationPhilosopherJohnDewey
o ABatesonianView:NarrativesasStorehousesofExperienceand
AbstractComplexity
o Praxis,theNarrativeSelfandExperientialLearning
o NotAllPersonsLearnintheSameManner
o PraxisandNarrativeKnowledgeViewedfromATranspersonal
PsychologicalPerspective
SomeIdeasofKenWilberAppliedtoPraxisandNarrative
Knowledge
InteractionswithSelf/OthersWhileSituating/Observing
MyselfInMyOwnNarrativeKnowledge
o PraxisandtheLearningJournal:InteractionsofSelf/Other/Context
TheLearningJournal(byMargaretJamesNeill)
TheLearningJournal:SomeMechanics(byLarryPorter)
o NotesonNarrativeKnowledgeandPraxis(Action/Reflection)in
QualitativeResearch
o NarrativeKnowledgeintheFunctionofAuthorshipWitnessedin
theWritingofThomasHardy
o FinalThoughtsonPraxisandNarrativeKnowledge
o
Part2:SomeDeconstructingThoughtsonTraditionalHigherEducation
1. TraditionalHigherEducationasTransactionBetweenSeller/University
andConsumer/Learner
2. Acquiringthe"Products"ofTraditionalHigherEducation(T.H.E.)
3. TheT.H.E.Transaction:CashforAdmittancetoaProfessionalKnowledge
Discourse
4. DiscourseandtheOppressionofExistingNarrativeKnowledge
5.
6.
7.
8.
StucturalistandPositivistDiscoursesinTraditionalHigherEducation
IdealogicalResistancetotheStructuralandPositivistDiscourses
FoucaultandSubjegatedLocalNarrativeKnowledges
ThePanopticonasApparatusforObjectificationandSocialControl:Is
TraditionalEducationanInvisiblePanopticon?
Part3:TheContextofNonTraditionalHigherEducation
Note:Ihaveaddedmyowndescriptivesubtitlestothetitlesofthe4majorProjects
makinguptheCPUcurriculum.Thesesubtitlesarenottobeconstruedasanofficial
subtitleforeachprojectandaremeantonlytoprovidea"flavor"ofeachprojectbased
onmyexperienceandacademictrainingpartakeninmyindependentstudies.
1. BacktoBatesonand"DoubleDescription":PrivilegingNarrative
KnowledgeAmidsttheDiscursivePracticesofTradititonalHigher
Education
2. 19891992:TheStoryofMyOwnExperiencewithNontraditionalHigher
Education(atCPU)
3. AnOverviewofCPU
4. TheGeneralCurriculumofCPU
5. The4ProjectsoftheCPUCoreProgram
o ProjectI:(FoundationalConstructsandActivities)
o MyCommentsonCPUProjectI
o ProjectII:(AnOrganizingFrameworkandMetaconcepts)
o MyCommentsonCPUProjectII
o ProjectIII:(IntegratingHealthandLifestylewithIndependent
Study)
o MyCommentsonCPUProjectIII
o FeedbackandSummaryforProjectIIICourse#LE331(writtenin
1995)
o ProjectIV:(VersatilityandIndependentScholarshipIntegration,
Synthesis,andAcademicPresentationofISP,Thesis,or
Dissertation)
o MyCommentsonCPUProjectIV
6. ISPOverview:
CareerConsciousnessintheNineties:PilotingaHumanServicesCareer
ThroughEconomicUncertainty
(MyBachelor'sIndependentStudyProjecttheacademicpresentation
andintegrationofthreeextracurricularprojectsoneexampleofthe
integrationofnarrativeknowledge).
ISPAbstract
o ISPTableofContents
o DescriptionofExtracurricularStudy1
7. Master'sThesisOverview:
ASocialPsychologyOfCollaboration,SocialLiberationAndRelational
Discourse:ReconcilingFamilyTherapyConsultationWithOurDiverse
PostIndustrialSociety
o ThesisAbstract
o AddendumNotetoAbstract:OntheIntegrationof"Narrative
Knowledge"
o ThesisTableofContents
8. The5RequiredKnowledgeAreasandLearningContracts
o MyCommentsandSampleLearningContractfromMy
PersonalizedMaster'sProgram
o EvaluationfortheAboveLearningContract
9. CoursesWhichAreFoundationCoursesandSupporttheCPUCore
CurriculumProjects,KnowledgeAreas,LearningContracts,and
DevelopmentofBachelor'sISP's,Master'sTheses,andDoctoral
Dissertations
10. 19932000:ContinuingtheStoryofMyOwnExperiencewithNon
traditionalHigherEducation(atCPU)
11. ThingstobeAwareofIfYouareThinkingofEnrollinginaCPUProgram
o AbusesofPowerandBureaucracyMandarins:ItemsthatCast
SuspicionontheCPPVE'sRefusaltoReapproveCPU'sPrograms
in1996,andCPU'sCourtBattlewiththeState
o ConclusionandThoughtsTowardtheFutureofCPU
12. AbouttheCPUMissionandPhilosophy
o AbouttheCPUApproach
o MinimumRequiredLengthforBachelor'sISPs,Master'sTheses,
andDoctoralDissertations
o CriteriaforContentAnalysisofBachelor'sISP'satCPU
o CriteriaforContentAnalysisofMastersThesesatCPU
o CriteriaforContentAnalysisofDoctoralDissertationsatCPU
13. DefinitionsPage
14. References
o
Find this
:
Introduction
Thisbriefaddressesthenontraditionalapproachtohighereducationemployedby
ColumbiaPacificUniversity(CPU),juxtapositionedagainstsomediscursive
practicesassociatedwithtraditionalhighereducationasaprofessionalfieldor
servicewhichseekstodisseminate"knowledge",information,andprofessional
trainingtoconsumers.InwritingthisIfeltthatitwasimportanttoaddressthe
following:
o
o
o
o
o
Thenatureofanarrative/textualselfwhichaccumulates
experience,
Thenarrativeknowledgewhichcomesaboutasaresultofsuchlife
experience,
Knowledgediscourse(definedinitssimplestformasthespoken
andwrittenactsofaparadigm)asitshowsupinuniversities,
professionaldisciplinesorfieldsofservice,
Howsuchknowledgediscoursesubjegates,marginalizes,and
oppressesacquirednarrativeknowledge,
Howtheproblemofreconcilingnarrativeknowledgewith
knowledgediscourseisaddressedbyCPU'snontraditionalmethod
ofeducationdelivery,itsclaimedmissionforexistence,its
philosophy,theneedsitseekstomeet,anditsapproachtohigher
education.
Theinformationofferedhereisinformedbymyexperienceof10yearswithCPU,
myresearchintomodernandpoststructuralphilosophicalideasandtheir
applicationtovarioussocialsciencefields,andexerptsfromCPU'sliterature.The
opinionsexpressedherearecertainlymyown.Thismixofideasandopinionsare
mycurrentthinking,writteninthespiritofdialogicalinquiry.Itisaworkin
progressthatisemergingasIponderandreflectuponmyownexperiencewith
CPUamidstthevariouspositionsmakingupthehighereducationdebate,
includingpositionsonaccreditation,educationdeliveryforprofit,distance
learning,theInternet,degreemills,traditionaluniversitiesasdiscoursemillsthat
perpetuatecertainsociallydominantdiscourses,thenoteddecreaseinliberal
studies,andthesocialconstructionofdiscourseboundthinkerswhothink"inside
thebox".
Ratherthanattemptingtoimposecertainideasas"truths"Ishallnoteupfrontthat
attheiressence,thestatementshereinarereallyquestions,writtentoengender
curiousity,furthercuriousityandreflectioninbothothersandmyself.Sincethis
articleiswrittenfromapostmodernperspective,evenanyresearchfindings
discussedaretreatedasideasfordialogicalinquiry,notasfactualdiscoveries
holdingtruthvalue.Asthe"author"oftheseideas,andfollowingalittleofthe
thinkingofFoucault,Irecognizetheseideasdonotexistas'fullymineand
separatefrommyselfasmycreation';rathertheyareideasthatarepartofanew
dialoguethatisexpandingacrosstheglobe,onethatisshapingandinformingmy
ownthinkingadialogueaboutknowledgediscourse,itsrelationstopower,and
itspayoffsforthepowerfulanditseffectsonthelesspowerful.Thisdocumentis
organizedaroundthenontraditionaleducationpracticeofprovidingformalcredit
fortheacquiredknowledge(fromrelatedanddocumentedexperience)thatadult
learnersmightbringtoanacademicprogram.Thearticlelooksatwhatsomeof
theforcesmightbethatwouldconspireagainstsuchapractice.Theseforcesare
identifiedasdiscursivepractices,heldinplacewithaparadigmaticdiscursive
adhesivemanufacturedbyahistorictraditionofpowerandprivilege,coupledwith
theneedtoperpetuateandexpandsuchdiscoursesintheinterestofholdingonto
suchpowerandprivilege.Inadditionthedocumentprovidessomeinformation
aboutCPU,andinkeepingwiththepostmoderntraditionofprivileging
subjegatedlocalknowledgessomeofmyownpersonalstorywithCPU.
Thisdocumentadoptsthefollowingpresuppositionsastheoreticalstances:
o
o
Personsarebornwithauniquenature,gifts,talents,andpotential,
Personsarecapableofactualizingtheirpotentialwhentheirnature,
gifts,andtalentsarerecognized,mirrored,andsupportedby
others,
Nurturingsurroundingswillserveandsupporttheprocessof
actualizationallthroughoutlife,
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Identityisnarrative,textual,anddiscursive,authoredbytheperson
ininteractionwithexperiencesandothers.Theidentitiesof
persons,therefore,arediscursivelyshaped/directedbytheirlife
experiencesandinteractionswithothersthroughinternaland
externaldiscourse,
Personsarealwayslearningpersonscannot"notlearn",
Personsareconstantlyengagedinasearchformeaningamaking
senseoftheirexperiences,
Personsattempttomakesenseoftheirexperiencebyinternally
constructingnarrativesofexperience,
Personsmakefurthersense(reconcileandupdatemeaning)by
interactionwithothers,
Meaningmakingbecomesproblematicwhentheframesof
referenceuseddifferfromthedominantframesofreferencearound
us,
Inthemeaningmakingprocesspeople'sidentitiesareoften
authoredbyothers,sometimestheseauthoringsbyothershold
greater"truth"valueinfamilyorsocietythantheperson'sown
understandingofhis/herself,
Theprocessofactualizationoftenrequiresidentificationwith,
separatingfrom,andreauthoringandreconfiguringsuch
dominantstories,
Personsaccumulatenarrativeknowledgevialifeexperience,
Suchnarrativeknowledgecanbeappliedacrossmultiplecontexts
andtherelatedvariablesarepaidattentiontoandlearnedfrom,
Aperson'saccumulated"narrative"knowledgebecomessubjegated
orrelegatedtoalesserstatusornonstatusbydominant
knowledgesanddiscourseswhenthosewhopromulgatesuch
dominantknowledgeshaveavestedinterestinmaintainingtheir
dominance,
Personsareconstrainedfromactualizingtheirfullpotentialbysuch
discursivepracticesembeddedandpermeatedviapersonaland
socialrelationships,
Personsexperienceabeginningtowardasocialliberationand
actualizationtowardpotentialwhendiscourses,socialandcultural
practices,andtheireffectsasconstraintsarebroughttothe
foreground,intoawareness,
Knowledgediscourseisaformofpowerwhichdisempowersand
subvertslocalnarrativeknowledgeandtheexpressionofsuchin
action,being,andspeaking.Personspossessingnarrative
knowledgearerepressedbyknowledgediscourseintoinactionand
anidentificationwithlesserbeing,
Throughcertainreflectiveprocessesnarrativeknowledgecanbe
reflecteduponbyitsowner(s),"drawnforth"asintheLatinword
"educo",andthenintegratedwithotherinformationorideasto
formthebasisofnewknowledge,
Postmoderneraeducationpracticesforadultsmustengenderways
inwhichtoreconcileandintegratenarrativeknowledgewith
knowledgediscourseincurriculumdesigns,
Theinclusionandintegrationofmultiplelifeandworkexperiences
inacurriculumengenderswhatSchon(1983)callspraxis,acycle
ofactionandreflectiononthemultipleaspectsofthelife
experienceandthenewknowledgeinthecurriculum.
Theaboveengendersa"relationaldiscourse",anacademicand
spokendialoguebetweenmultipleperspectives,broughtaboutby
suchdistinctionsobservedbyRicoeur(1992)astheselfas
speaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectofimputation.Ihave
expandedonRicoeur'sideaandincludedcertain"others"asfound
below.
1. theself(educator/writer)asspeaker/narrator/actor/moral
subjectofimputation,
2. theother(theconsumer/adultlearner)as
speaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectofimputation,
3. thelivedexperienceother(theadultlearneraspossessorof
vastreservoirsofnarrativeknowledge)as
speaker/narrator/actor,
4. educationalandprofessionalknowledgediscourseas
5. poststructuraldiscourse(aboutknowledgediscourse)as
speaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectofimputation
Relationaldiscourseincludesperspectivesofallofthesepositionsgiving
themallequalvoiceratherthanonedominantvoice.Whenbroughttobear
onthesubjectofeducational,therapeutic,andrelatedotherservicestothe
consumer(.e.g.,writing'about'theconsumerassubject/learner,or
engagingwiththeconsumerintheacademicdialogue)relationaldiscourse
engendersaspiritofcollaboration,andparticularly,socialliberationfor
theconsumerpositionratherthananexperienceofobjectification.
BornwithUniqueGiftsand
ShapedbyOthers
Thefollowingarticlerevealssomenewdiscoveriesinbrainresearchand
implicationsforourabilitiesaslearners,andwaspostedtotheCBCwebsiteon
March10/2000.
TeenageYearsCriticalTimeToOptimizeTheBrain
WebPostedFriMar1009:33:152000
LONDONThefirstfewyearsofyourchild'slifeareimportantforlearning.But
don'tstopthere.Accordingtonewresearch,children'sbrainscontinuetodevelop
wellintopuberty.
Thesefindingssurprisedthescientistswhocarriedoutthestudy.Theresultsare
publishedinthejournalNature.
Betweentheagesofthreeand15,researchersdiscoveredchangesinbrain
developmentsomeevenoccurredyearsafterthebrainhadreacheditsfullsize.
Previously,scientistshadbelievedthatthisdevelopmentslowedafterthefirstfew
yearsoflife.Theytheorizedthatbythetimeachildenteredfirstgrade,thebrain's
developmentwasprettymuchcomplete.Inthestudy,researchersatUCLA,the
NationalInstitutesofHealthandMontreal'sMcGillUniversityscannedthe
normalbrainsofboysandgirlsagesthreeto15.Theysawgrowthspurtsinthe
fibresystem.Thisrelaysinformationbetweenthebrainhemispheresandisagood
indicatorofbrainactivity.Thescansalsoshowednewconnectionsbeingmadein
someareas,whileotherareasshrunk.Inchildrenagesthreetosix,theteamsaw
rapiddevelopmentofthepartofthebrainthatcontrolstheplanningofnew
actions.Theresearchersalsofoundthatgrowthratesinanareaofthebrain
associatedwithlanguagespeededupbetweenagessixto15years.Inteenagersup
toage15,theresearcherssawpeakgrowthratesinthemiddleandbackareasof
thebrain.Thefindingssupportthebeliefthatapersonshouldlearnnew
languagesearlyinlife.Byhighschool,thebrainmaynotbebiologicallyableto
processthisnewinformation.Theabilitytolearnanewlanguagedropsquickly
afterage12,accordingtoresearchers.EndOfArticle
Intheaboveresearchthenormalbrainsofboysandgirlsages3to15were
scanned.Scientistsdiscoveredthatourbrainscontinuetoabsorbinformation,thus
implyingthatthebrain'sdevelopmentwasnotcompletearoundagefive,aswas
previouslysuspected.
Popularfolkwisdomtellsusthatpeoplearebornintotheworldwithvarious
personalities,somewithcertaintalents.Sometimeschildrenaresaidto"take
after"aparticularadultinthefamily,perhapsaparent,uncle/aunt,orevena
grandparent."Achipofftheoldblock"isacommonexpressiondenotingsuch
similaritiestoothersignificantpersons.Hasachildwhoisbeingspokenofin
suchamannermodeledthedemeanorofthisparticularadult?Hasthischild's
witnessingoftheongoingthematicdialogueoffamilymembersonsuch
similaritiesalertedthechildandshapedhis/herinterestinfurtheraligningwith
theidentifiedadult,associalcontructionistsmightmuse?Whatofthenatural
inclinationsortalentschildrenmightdemonstratefromtimetotime?
TwoLearningStoriesfromPersonalExperience
AsIthinkoftheabovequestionsIrememberdiscoveringmydaughterdrawing
circlesonthekitchenwallbeforeshecouldwalk.SincehermotherandIwere
bothartisticallyinclined(Iamusicianandhermotheranartist)wegaveherawall
onwhichtodraw.Sheisnowagiftedartistandpoetturning20yearsofage.
AlthoughthishappenedyearsbeforeIeventuallybecameafamilytherapistInow
lookbackandtakepoignantnoteinCorey's(1977)commentsonhumanism:
Thehumanists...takethe...positionthateachofushasanatureandpotential
thatwecanactualizeandthroughwhichwecanfindmeaning.Theunderlying
visionofthehumanistiscapturedbytheillustrationofhowanacorn,ifprovided
withtheappropriatenurturingconditions,willautomaticallygrowinnurturing
ways,asthepotentialinitautomaticallypushestowardactualization(Corey,1977,
p.101).
AsIreflectuponthisIalsorememberwithgreatthankshowmygrade5teacher,
a71yearoldIrishChristianBrother,sawsuchpotentialinmeforselfexpression
throughwriting,andhow,followingthemeaningoftheLatinword'educo',he
"drewout",encouraged,nurtured,andsupportedthislatenttalent.Priorto
meetingthisteacherIwasatimidkidfromapovertystrikenfamilylivingin
Newfoundland'sversionofHell'sKitchen,anddoingquitepoorlyinschoolwork
Igraduatedatthetopoftheclassbytheendofthatschoolyear.Isuppose,being
Irish,myteacheralsoknewthatsomeoftheKavanaghclanhadasocially
recognizedabilitywithwriting.Howhesawthistalentinmyselfeludesmetothis
day,somethirtysomethingyearslater.
Discussion:RelatedViews(onLearningandtheNarrativeSelf)from
Empiricism,Phenomenology,DepthPsychology,Constructivism,andSocial
Constructionism
Theabovescenariosreflectinteractionalsituationsthatareasoldastheroleoflearner
andmentor.PhilosopherJohnLocke(16321704),anempiricistwhobelievedthat
knowledgecomesfromexperience,andoneofthefirsttoaddresstheaboveideasand
humandevelopment,believedthatchildrenweretabularosaasblankslateswrittenon
andshapedbytheinteractiveprocesswithothersasitoccurredthroughthelifespan,
particularlytheearlyyears(White1989).Identity,accordingtoLocke,isshapedby
personalexperienceandthememoriesofsuch.EarlyphenomenologistssuchasHenry
Rousseau(17121778)believedthateachindividualcomesintotheworldbearingunique
giftsofpersonalityandtalent.Rousseaualsobelievedthattheaimofeducationshouldbe
tooffsetthecorruptinginfluenceofinstitutions,andthatchildrenshouldbeallowedto
developwithoutinterference,especiallyfromchurchorstate(Dworetsky1990,p.6).
BasedonmyinteractionswithmydaughterandotherexperiencesIwilltaketheposition
thattheperspectivesofbothRousseauandLockemightofferinsight;aspecialtalentcan
beenhancedbyinteractionswithnurturingmentors,justasitcanbequashedbythe
internalizationofdoubt,deliveredbyunsupportive,criticalindividuals.Asadult
educationtheoristStephenD.Brookfieldwrites,
Weassimilateandgraduallyintegratebehaviors,ideas,andvaluesfromothersuntilthey
becomesointernalizedthatwedefine'ourselves'intermsofthem.Unlessanexternal
sourceplacesbeforeusalternativewaysofthinking,behaving,andliving,weare
comfortablewithourfamiliarvaluesystems,beliefs,andbehaviors(Brookfield1992,pp.
1215).
Hopefully,thealternativewaysofthinking,behaving,andlivingofferuschoicesandthe
abilitytoappreciate,contextualize,andbuilduponourexistingexperiences.Another
adulteducationaltheoristandholisticpsychiatrist,RichardCrews,M.D.,aHarvard
alumnusandpresidentofColumbiaPacificUniversityhasmuseduponthefollowing
questionandoneparticularreply,(1994)"Wheredodreamsgotodie?Oftentheygoto
graduateschool".Crews'statementcertainlyindicatesaparadigmclashbetweenthe
graduatestudentandtheeducationdeliverysystem.ItwouldappearalsofromCrews'
statementthatsomethingcouldbelostforthelearnerashe/sheembarksuponthe
graduatelearningprocessinatraditionalUniversity.Mythesis,inkeepingwiththeabove
statementbyBrookfield,isthatthenarrativeself,asauthoredbythelearner,islostasthe
learnerbecomesreauthoredbytheknowledgediscoursewhichhe/shebecomes
immersedinwhileattendingthetraditionalUniversity.Somemightaddthatthis
personallyauthoredselfliesincloseproximitywiththesoul.Heidegger(1947)has
cautionedustorecognize"theseductionsofthepublicrealm",certainlythearenain
whichtheknowledgediscoursedwells.AsSocratesexplains
Wedonotknowneitherthesophists,northepoets,northeorators,northeartists,norI
whatisthetrue,thegood,andthebeautiful.Butthereisthisdifferencebetweenus;that
althoughallthesepeopleknownothing,theyallbelievetheyknowsomething.I,however,
ifIknownothing,atleastamnotindoubtaboutit.Thusallthatsuperiorityinwisdom
accordedmebytheoraclereducestobeingconvincedthatIamignorantofwhatIdonot
know(Socrates,ascitedinRousseau,1750).
LiketheknowledgediscoursesoftheeraofSocratestheknowledgediscoursetoday
needstolookgoodinthemodernAthensthearenaofthepublic,tostandbehindwhat
appearsasasolidfoundationalpodiumofresearch,theassumptionsofwhatconstitutes
validityandreliabilityinresearch,andtheblessingoftheinstitutionsofpower.Italso
needstobeabletoconvincethemostlyignorantpublicandproponentsofother
knowledgediscoursesofitspowerandgreatness.Theknowledgediscourseisclosely
alignedwiththeintellectandtheintellect'sobsession/insecurityforknowingtruth,andas
Moore(1992,p.245246)writes,theintellectneedstoknowandhaveproofthatitison
solidground.
ThomasMoore,aJungianpsychotherapist,whohaswrittenCareOfTheSoul,provides
anilluminatingexampleofthecontrastbetweenthenarrativesoulfulnessofpersonal
experienceandthelackthereofintheknowledgediscourse:
OnceIwasaskedtositinontheoraldefenseofamaster'sthesisinpsychology.Ireadthe
quantitativeresearchpaper,andfoundoneparagraph,onpageninetyfive,devotedto
"discussion".DuringthequestioningIaskedthestudentwhythediscussionofherstudy
wassobrief.Therestofthecommitteelookedatmewithalarm,andlaterIwastoldthat
thediscussionwassupposedtobeatleastthatshortsince"speculation"wasn'ttobe
encouraged.Thewordspeculationrangoutlikeanobscenity.Whateverwasnotfirmly
groundedinquantitativeresearchwasconsideredspeculationandhadlittlevaluein
comparison.Tome,though,speculationwasagoodword,asoulword,comingfrom
speculum,mirror,animageofreflectionandcontemplation.Thisstudenthadfulfilledthe
spirit,sotospeak,ofhertopicbydoingacarefulquantitativestudy,butshehaddone
littleforitssoul.Shecouldrecitetheharddetailsofherresearchdesign,butshecouldn't
reflectonthedeeperissuesinvolvedinherstudy,eventhoughshehadspenthundredsof
hoursgatheringdataandworkingupherresearch.ShewasrewardedforthiswhileIwas
consideredoutoftouchwithmodernmethodology.Shepassed,butIfailed.
Theintellectoftendemandsproofthatitisonsolidground.Thethoughtofthesoulfinds
itsgroundinginadifferentway.Itlikespersuasion,subtleanalysis,aninnerlogic,and
elegance.Itenjoysthekindofdiscussionthatisnevercomplete,thatendswithadesire
forfurthertalkorreading.Itiscontentwithuncertaintyandwonder.Especiallyinethical
matters,itprobesandquestionsandcontinuestoreflectevenafterdecisionshavebeen
made.
Thealchemiststaughtthatthewet,sludgystufflyingatthebottomofthevesselneedsto
beheatedinordertogeneratesomeevaporation,sublimation,andcondensation.The
thickstuffoflifesometimesneedstobedistilledbeforeitcanbeexploredwith
imagination.Thiskindofsublimatingisnotthedefensiveflightfrominstinctandbody
intorationality.It'sasubtleraisingofexperienceintothoughts,images,memories,and
theories.Eventually,overalongpeiodofincubation,theycondenseintoaphilosophyof
life,onethatisuniqueforeachperson.Foraphilosophyoflifeisnotanabstract
collectionofthoughtsfortheirownsake,itistheripeningofconversationandreading
intothoughtsthatareweddedtoeverydaydecisionsandanalysis.Suchideasbecome
partofouridentityandallowusconfidenceinworkandinlifedecisions.Theyprovidea
solidbasisforfurtherwonderandexplorationthatreaches,throughreligionandspiritual
practice,intotheineffablemysteriesthatsaturatehumanexperience.
Soulknowstherelativityofitsclaimontruth.Itisalwaysinfrontofamirror,alwaysina
speculativemode,watchingitselfdiscoveringitsdevelopingtruth,knowingthat
subjectivityandimaginationarealwaysinplay.Truthisnotreallyasoulword;soulis
afterinsightmorethantruth.Truthisastoppingpointaskingforcommitmentand
defense.Insightisafragmentofawarenessthatinvitesfurtherexplanation.Intellecttends
toenshrineitstruth,whilesoulhopesthatinsightskeepcominguntilsomedegreeof
wisdomisachieved.Wisdomisthemarriageofintellect'slongingfortruthandsoul's
acceptanceofthelabyrinthenatureofthehumancondition(Moore1992,pp.247247).
Iwillalsoaddtotheabovepositiontheperspectivesofconstructivismandsocial
constructionism.Bothofthelatterperspectivesarequitesimilar,andworkwelltogether.
Constructivismaddressestheindividual'sperceptionoftheworld,whilesocial
constructionismaddressesinteractionswithinsociety.Constructivismtakestheviewthat
personscannotfullyknowtheworldaroundthem,byvirtueofbiologicaldefectsinthe
perceptualsenses(Maturana&Varela,1987;vonForster,1984;vonGlaserfeld,1984).
Accordingtoconstructivismweperceive/experiencetheworldandmakemapsor
impressioniststoriesofitwhichgointomemory.Theprocessentailscertainrandom
deletions,andourstoriesandmapsarenotcompletelyrepresentativeofourexperience.
Wetrytomakesenseofourexperience,andthemeaningwegivetothingsshapesour
identityandpossiblytheschemasbywhichwewillusetogivemeaningtofuture
experiences;thebuildingblocksofcognition,thepacketsbywhichweorganizeandmake
senseofexperiencesareknowntocognitivepsychologistsas"schemas"(Goleman,1985,
p.75).
Inmostcasestheprocessofmakingsenseofourexperienceentersintoarelational
domain,thatis,wetalktoothers,comparenotes,orenterintopossiblecontextbuilding
activitiessuchasreadingorinteractionwithothermedia.Theserelationalactivitiesarea
processbywhichsenseismade,meaningsareestablishedandrealityisbroughtinto
being,sociallyconstructedthroughaprocessofinteractionwithothersandideas.Social
constructionism,comparedtoconstructivism,isanexpandedviewwhichincludesthe
individualinaspeakingdiscoursewithacommunityofindividuals,interactingwith
othersandcreatingcommonagreements/disagreementsaboutthenatureoftheworldin
whichtheylive(Gerger,1985;Buirs&Martin,1995,p.154).Thisexpandedcontext
enablestheviewthat"truth"aboutanythingisaconstructedagreementbetweenpeoplein
conversation,basedonareconcilingofindividualperceptionsorconclusions.Onalarger
socialscalethisisacompoundedprocesswherepeopleareshaped/encouragedto
conformtotheconditionsofcultureandtraditioninwhich,asHeidegger(1947)
observed,theyare"thrown"into.AsWeinstein(1997)hasobserved,itisnotuntilsuch
conditionsbecomeunbearabledopeoplerevolt,hopefullybringingaboutchange.Ina
worldinwhichweareexpectedtoconformthereislittleroomforattentiontosoul,and
mostofusliveoutourlivesconformingtotheexpectationsaroundus.
Goleman(1985)writesabouthowcertainsociallyconstructed"frames"ofagreement
betweenpeoplesetthebasicrulesofbehavior.Attributingtheoriginofthenotionof
"frames"toErvingGoffman(1974),Golemanwritesthefollowing:
Aframeistheshareddefinitionofasituationthatorganizesandgovernssocialevents
andourinvolvementinthem.Aframe,forexample,istheunderstandingthatweareata
play,orthat"thisisasalescall",orthat"wearedating".Eachofthosedefinitionsof
socialeventsdetermineswhatisappropriatetothemomentandwhatisnot;whatistobe
noticedandwhatignored;what,inshort,thegoingrealityinvolves.Whentheframeisa
nurseryschoolcarnivalthe"Sword"isofflimits.
Aframeisthepublicsurfaceofcollectiveschemas.Bysharingtheunderstandingofthe
concepts"play","sales",and"date",wecanjoinintheaction,enactingourpartsin
smoothharmony.Aframecomesintobeingwhenitsparticipantsactivatesharedschemas
forit;ifsomeonedoesnotsharethegoingschema,theresultscanbeembarrassing.
Iftwopersonsareonadate,certainactivitiesmaybeconsideredasthenorm,suchasa
goodnightkiss.Ifonepersondoesnotinitiatethegoodnitekisstheabsenceofsuchmay
beinterpretedbytheotherpersonasalackofsexualinterest,orasasignthatasocial
gaffewasmadeearlierintheevening.Ifthekissistoosexual,itmaybeinterpretedas
beyondthethresholdofappropriatefirstdatebehavior,andpossiblythattheother
person'sultimateagendafortheeveningisonlysex,asopposedtobeingrelatedtogether.
Attheoffice,amuchdifferentframeofreference,thesamekissplantedonthelipsofa
colleaguecouldbringachargeofsexualharassment.WhenIwasattendingatrainingon
NeuroLingusiticProgramming,anapproachtorelationalcommunicationsandmodeling
behavioralexcellence,thetrainerobservedthatmuchofconflictisactually"framewars",
peopleoperatingoutofdifferentframesofreference(personalconversationwithWyatt
Woodsmall,Ph.D.,1991).
Mostoftheframesofsocialprotocolareakintoscriptsthathavebeenprewrittenforus,
rootedineitherearlyorrecent"politicallycorrect"tradition,bringingaboutsome
semblanceofsocialorder.Itappearsthatweare"thrown"asHeideggersuggestsintothis
order.Ofcourse,suchideasarenotnew.EvenKrishnaspeaksaboutsuchmatterstohis
discipleArjunaintheancientHindutextknownastheBhagavadGita.Atonepointinhis
prebattleconversationwithArjunaKrishnanotestheconfusionoflivinginaworld
wherewearepulledbyallegiancesandothersocialprotocols.Krishnacountstheperson
whoisbornintoafamilyofYogisthosewhocanseethroughthesepracticesofsocial
orderasverylucky.Whileweagreetosomeframes,therearemanythatwedonot
agreeto,butfollowalongwithsoastoavoidundesirednegativeattention.Ashistoryhas
revealed,whatispoliticallycorrectfrequentlychangesfromoneeratothenext.Whileit
waspoliticallycorrecttohuntdownandkillWiccanscenturiesago,itisnolongerin
favor.Thesocialpersecutionofhomosexualsisnolongerpoliticallycorrectbutwas
condonedforcenturies.BlacksandwhitesarenolongerseparatedinNorthAmerica.
Basedonthelargedecreaseinchurchattendanceinthepastdecades,somewouldsurely
saythatreligionisnolongerpoliticallycorrect.Livingwithasignificantotherbefore
marriagewasnotpoliticallycorrectuntilthesixtiesbroughtincertainwidescalesocial
changes.Nowmarryingone'ssignificantothermightnotbepoliticallycorrect,atleastto
thelargepopulationthatnolongerbelievesinmarriage.Ontheselattermattersthereis
nowsomesemblanceofbeingabletomakeachoice.
Manyofthechangeswehaveseensincethesixtiesareexamplesofthepeople'srebellion
againstpoliticallycorrectframesofreferencethattheydidnotbelievein.Oncethewinds
ofchangebegantoblowintheirdirectionbringingwhatanthropologistGregory
Bateson(1979)called"newsofdifference"peoplebegantoseethatchoicewaspossible
andrebelledagainsttheoldorder.Gaysandlesbiansstartedcomingoutofthecloset,
womendemonstratedforequality,therewasahugebacklashtotheVietNamwar,Afro
Americanscampaignedforequalrights,divorcesincreased,etc.Infact,manypersons
foundthatthesocialframesofreferencethatwerethenormwereactuallyoppressing
theirmorenaturalinstinctstowardmakingtheirowndecisions,takingpersonal
responsibilityforsuchdecisions,learning,buildingonsuchlearning,andselfactualizing
theirpotential.Oneofthegreatvaluesinliftingrepressionisthatpeoplegettohavea
chancetoexperiment,tolearn,togrow.SoweinNorthAmericaexperiencedasexual
revolutionandasocialrevolution.
Reflection:BacktotheTwoLearningStoriesfromPersonalExperience
Nowlet'sreturntotheearlierexamples.Inthecaseofmyyoungdaughterwewantedto
provideopportunityforhertodevelopanytalentshemightshow.Wewantedhertoenjoy
herdrawncirclesandtheprocessofdoingso,tolettheprocessofmakingthosecircles
onthekitchenwallleadhertowhateverstateitledto,evenpeakexperiences.Wewanted
toprovidesupportforthisnaturallyunfoldingprocessand,likeSocrates,to"drawout"
thistalentandwhateverlearningshewouldmakefromit.Bysupportingher,encouraging
her,andstayingoutofherwaywewouldallowhertoidentifywithhercreation,and
allowhertoparticipateintheformationofherownidentitybydoing,beingandengaging
inheractivityinsuchawayasMooredescribesearlier,the"mirror,animageof
reflectionandcontemplation".Bybeinginherownprocess,byherinteractionswithher
work,andbyourpositivereflectionsshecouldmakeherownnarrative,anarrativeof
discoveryandjoyathercreationanditsacceptanceandlovefromthosearoundher.
Hopefullyherstorywouldbeahappyandfulfillingstory.Toenablethatwehadtostay
outofherway,avoidrepressingherideas,aswellasoffercontinuedencouragement,
whichwedid.Ourdaughterwouldbecomeherownexperimenterfromanearlyage,and
asMaslowhasstated,perhapsasenseofselfactualizationwouldleadtothecreativity
thatissopresentinselfactualizedindividuals.Piaget(citedinGoleman)haswrittenthat
cognitivedevelopmentiscumulative.Understandinggrowsoutofwhathasalreadybeen
learned.Irecentlyaskedmydaughterhowfarbackshecouldrememberdrawing.He
pausedforamomentandthenreplied,"Fromagefour".Ithenaskedherifshehad
learnedmuchfromherownpracticesandexperimentsinartandpoetryandinher
dialogingwithothers,incomparisonwithwhatsheislearningformallyinhercollegeart
program."Absolutely"washerreply.Ithenproposedawrittensetofreflectivequestions
tomydaughtertoacquireasenseofwhatshehaslearnedfrompractice,reflectionand
dialoguewithothershernarrativeknowledge.Thequestionsareasfollows:
Whatskills,knowledge,andexperiencehaveyouaccumulatedsinceyou
canrememberdoingartandpoetry,butbeforeyoubegantakingformal
trainingintheseareas?
Howdoyouknowthatyouhaveattainedsuchskillsandknowledge?
Howcanyoudemonstratethoseskillsandknowledgetoothers?For
example,throughatest,writtensummary,evaluationfromothers,orother
activity,performance,ordemonstration?
Whatwouldbeyourcriteriaforthesuccessofsuchademonstrationof
skillsandknowledge?
Ifyouhavealreadydemonstratedsuchskillsandknowledgewritealittle
abouthowyouhavedonesoandwhatfeedbackyouhavereceivedfrom
othersthathelpyoubelieveinyoursuccessatdemonstratingsuchskills
andknowledge.
Whendidyoubegintobelievethatyouwereanartist/poet,orcreative
individual?
Mydaughter'swrittenanswersareasfollows:
UnderConstruction!!!MyDaughter'sAnswersWillBePostedSoon!!!
AsRousseaustates,
Itisagrandandbeautifulsighttoseeamanemergesomehowfromnothingfromhisown
efforts;dissipate,bythelightofhisreason,theshadowsinwhichnaturehadenveloped
him:riseabovehimself,soarbymeansofhismindintotheheavenlyregions;traverse,
likethesun,thevastexpanseoftheuniversewithgiantsteps;and,whatisevengrander
andmoredifficult,returntohimselfinordertostudymanandknowhisnature,his
duties,andhisend(Rousseau,1750).
AsGolemanwrites(1985,p.75),"Wehavebecomewhoweare,learnedwhatweknow,
byvirtueoftheschemaswehaveacquiredalongtheway.Schemasaccruewithtime;the
schemaswehaveatagivenpointaretheendproductofourparticularprivatehistory".
Mydaughterestablishedatanearlyagethatshelikedcreativeendeavors.Shehadsupport
andrecognitionfromherlovedonesforsuchendeavors,withoutanyaccompanying
pressure.Herdevelopingschemasopenedupforherwhatpostmodernfamilytherapy
psychiatristKarlTommhastermedas"conceptualspace"anditsattendantpossibilitiesin
creativity,ratherthanclosedownsuchconceptualspaceandpossibilities.Indiscussing
thebenefitsofpeoplehavingaccessto"conceptualspace"intheirlives,Tomm(1988,
p.54)notesthatnamingorexternalizingconstraintsthatengenderschemasofinaction
andpowerlessness(andtheexperiencedrelatedproblem)canleadtotheinternalizingof
personalagency.FreedmanandCombs(1993,p.296)notetheimportanceof"opening
spaceforrecoveringandgeneratingalternativeexperienceandknowledge"(p.296).
Andmydaughterstartedevolvingasanactiveartistfromthemomentshedrewhervery
firstcircleonthewall.Butwhatifwe,herparents,interferedwithherdesiretoexpress
herselfwithcirclesonwalls?Ordidn'tencouragehercreativity?Wouldshetaketo
creativeactivitiesinlateryearswhentheopportunityformallypresenteditselfviaanart
class?Orwouldshehaveapainfulexperiencethatmightconstrainherfromfulland
activeparticipationincreativity?Wouldcreativityorarthaveanegativeassociationfor
her?Wouldshebecomeoneofthemanypersonsthat,uponseeingamusician,artist,
poet,sculptor,orwoodworker,exclaim"IwishIhadyourtalentifonlyIcoulddoas
you,you'resolucky"?Intheearlierexampleofthechildbeingtoldthathe"tookafter"a
relative,whatiftheimplicationof"takingafter"arelativeispainfullynegative,for
examplewhatifyoungJohnnyissaidtotakeaftertheuncleJoe,theserialchild
rapist/murderer?Howwillthesenotsofavorableexperienceseffectorconstrainthe
identityofthechild,the"HereIAm",asRicoeur(1992)termsit?
TheNarrative/TextualSelfandSociallyengenderedConstraintstoPraxisLearning
Althoughtheterm"praxis"willbedealthwithingreaterdepthinalatersection,Schon
(1983)tellsusthatpraxislearningisalearningprocessthatisachievedthrougha
combinationofactionandreflection.Brookfield(1986)definespraxisasacontinual
processof(1)activity,(2)reflectiononactivity,(3)collaborativeanalysisofactivity,(4)
newactivity,(5)furtherreflection,and(6)furthercollaborativeanalysis.Thisisquite
similartothenaturalisticwaysinwhichpersonslearnwhattheylearn,whetheritbe
infantilecrawlingandwalkingorsuccessfullyhammeringanail.Oneimplicationof
Miller,Galant&Pribram'sTOTEmodelofbehavior/learningproposedintheirPlansand
theStructureofBehavior(1960citedinDilts,Grinder,Bandler,Bandler,&DeLozier,
1980)istherealizationthatpersonsarealwayslearning,evenunconsciously,viaa
processofmodelingemployingsequencesoftestoperatetestexitinvolving
thoughts/speech/andactions.Suchsequencesusuallybeginwithcuriosity,anaspectof
conceptualspacewhichstaysopen,availableforthelearning/investigativeprocessrather
thanclosingdown;anotherrelevanttermhereis"possibility".Thelifestrategiesthat
personsdeveloparetheresultsofsuchmodeling,andonequestionpertainingtosame
mightbe"Arethevariousstrategiesoneuseswellformedenoughtoachievetheir
intendedoutcomes?".Schemasthatareunconsciouslyconstructedfromsuchmodeling
experiencessometimesservetoopenconceptualspaceandengendergreatpossibilities,
experimentation,learning,andknowledge.Otherdevelopedschemasresultinclosing
downconceptualspaceandproducingselfdoubtanddisempowermentfollowedby
inaction.Theinternalizationofshameisonemeansbywhichaschemaisformedwhich
producesselfdoubt.Thepersonhaslearnedsomethingforsure,butwhatislearnedis
that"Iamnogood",orsomeotherselfconceptthatwouldresultinadenialofachieving
desiredoutcomes.Theoutcomesachievedbyapersonoperatingfromsuchaschema
mightbethoseoffailureoutcomesthatperpetuatetheselfidentityasitisperceivedby
itsowner.
Woodsmall(1988)writesthattheschemasofhighperformersusuallyincorporate(1)
enablingbeliefsthatsupporthighperformance,(2)valuesthatmotivatethehigh
performertosuchlevelsofperformance,(3)andinternalmentalapproach(cognitive
strategy)thatinvolvesaspecificmentalsyntaxandsequence,and(4)arelatedphysiology
"mentalandphysical'postures'thatleadtoincreasedperformance...oftheactivity
involved".Evencommunication,accordingtorecentresearch(Potter&Wetherell,1987),
iscarriedoutasastrategy,aseriesofmovesperformedforthepurposeofbringing
somethingintorealityratherthansimplytorepresentthingsastheyareperceivedfrom
theworld.Burr(1996)commentsonthisviewofcommunicationproposedbyPotterand
Wetherell:
WetherellandPottersuggestthat,ratherthantakewhatpeoplesayasanexpressionof
internalstatesorunderlyingprocessesweshouldlookatwhatpeoplearedoingwiththeir
talk,whatpurposestheiraccountsareachieving.Andsinceapersonmaybetryingto
bringaboutdifferenteffectswithhisorhertalkatdifferentpointsintheinterview,itis
notsurprisingthatwefindthevariationthatwedo.Thisviewthereforedeniesthatthere
areanyinternalstructurestothepersonthatwecouldcall"attitudes"andinsteadlooksat
whatpeoplesayasintentional,sociallydirectedbehaviorwhichperformscertain
functionsforthem(Burr1996,pp.114115).
FromPotterandWetherell'ssocialconstructionistperspectivespeechisactionand
speech/actionmakescertainthingshappenbringingcertainrealitiesintobeing.
Languagefromthisperspectiveincorporatessentencesperformingacts,andlanguageis
seenasahumansocialpractice.Gergen(1989)holdsaviewthatdovetailswithPotter's
andWetherell'sperspective,thatpersonsare"motivatedbyadesirefor'speakingrights'
or'voice',andtohavetheirinterpretationofeventsacceptedasthetruthfulone.The
personwhoisableto'warrantvoice'isthereforeaskilledoperatorwithagood
understandingofwarrantingconventions"(citedbyBurr1996,p.120).Burrstatesthat
fromthisperspectionthosethatareabletowarrantvoicewillenjoygreaterpowerin
society,greaterresources(money,jobs,education,etc.),andgenerallyhighersocial
standing.
Theselfidentity,seenfromtheconstructivist/socialconstructionistview,isinformedby
themeaningsassignedtoamultitudeofpersonalexperiencestories,andfurtherinformed
byimputationsofothers.Criteswritesthat
...IcannotconcludefrommychildhoodmemoriesthatIwasissuedthisselfatbirthor
inthewombandthatithassimplyunfolded...Inthefirstplaceaselfidenticalselfis
notthepreconditionofexperience,butitsconsequence.Thesenseofself,rootedina
personalpast,arisesoutofmanifoldinteractionswiththings,someofthem,likethecrack
inthebaseboardorthejingle,reiteratedoverlongerorshorterperiodsoftime.Inone
case,thereiterationofthecrackcalledforththespontaneousmemoryoftheoriginal
situation,intheothercase,acomplexanalogyofsituationcalledforththeappropriate
jingle."My"selfwithitspersonalpasttakesformoutofjustsuchnetworksofanalogous
experiencepresentandremembered.Butinthesecondplace,experienceisitself
mediatedbycodedsound,image,language,allpresupposingavastsocialprocessingof
suchforms,perhapslongantedatingtheawakeningofthepersonalselftoconsciousness
(Crites1986,p.158).
Whileapersoncancontinuetobeidentifiedovertimebytheknown/observableaspects
ofhis/hercharacter,itcanbedifficultforthepersontomaintainaconstancyofcharacter
overtime.AswithCrites(above)identityisseenbyRicoeurasarelationallystoried
process.The"WhoIAm"existsinfrontoftheOther.BecauseIamtherefortheOtherI
amaccountable;butcanaconstancyofthisaccountabilitybemaintainedovertime?Ifit
isnotmaintained...what/whoofidentitydoIbecome?Intheother'seyes?Andinmy
eyes?Ricoeurhasassertedthatthecharacterizationofselfhoodoneinrelationwith
one'sexperiences,thoughts,actions,passionsisnotwithoutambiguity.
...thereisnodoubtthatthe"HereIAm!"bywhichthepersonrecognizeshimselfor
herselfasthesubjectofimputationmarksahaltinthewanderingthatmaywellresult
fromtheself'sconfrontationwithamultitudeofmodelsforactionandlife,someof
whichgoasfarastoparalyzethecapacityforfirmaction.Betweentheimaginationthat
says,"Icantryanything"andthevoicethatsays"Everythingispossible,butnot
everythingisbeneficial(understandinghere,toothersandtoyourself),"amuteddiscord
issounded.Itisthisdiscordthattheactofpromisingtransformsintofragileconcordance.
"Icantryanything",tobesure,but"HereiswhereIstand"!(p.168).
Howdoesthestanding"here"asRicoeurtermsitthe"butHereiswhereIstand!"
differfromMartinHeidegger's(1947)phenomenological/existentialdescriptionof
"StandingintothetruthofBeing"?InRicoeur'sstatementthespeakeracknowledgesthat
"everythingispossible"butchoosesto"standhere",tomovenofurther.Whatconstrains
thespeaker?The"muteddiscord"tellsusthereisthepresenceofdoubtandsuchdoubt
hasmorestrengththantheutterancethat"Everythingispossible".Heidegger's"standing
into"indicatesamovementforward,astandthatisnottobetoppledeasily,aconviction
thatiscommitmentinBeing.Heideggerwritesof"thequietpowerofthepossible",and
"toaccomplishmeanstounfoldsomethingintothefullnessofitsessence,toleaditforth
intothisfullnessproducere.Thereforeonlywhatalreadyiscanreallybeaccomplished.
Butwhat'is'aboveallisBeing".Justwhatcanitbethatconstrainstheflowofpossibility
ofBeingthe'alreadyis'ofidentity?ItseemsthattheanswerlieswithRicoeur's
descriptionof"theself'sconfrontationwithamultitudeofmodelsforactionandlife,
someofwhichgoasfarastoparalyzethecapacityforfirmaction".Suchmodelsforlife
andactionareaspectsofdiscourseswefindourselvesembeddedwithinpartofthe
agreementframesand/ordescriptionsofrealitywhichconstitutesocialorderasitexists
atanygivenmoment.
AccordingtoParker(1992)"theselfisconstructedindiscoursesandreexperienced
withinthetextsofordinarylife".Texts,accordingtoParker,aredelimitedareas(suchas
thrillers,terrorism,oregopsychology),"ofthewiderangingdiscoursesinaculture,
whichconstituteanobjectofinterest".Parkerpointsoutthateventhediscoursesofnew
professionalparadigms,despitehavingmadeabreakfromtheirparentparadigm,canbe
embeddedinwiderculturallyboundeddiscourses.Theselfininteractionwiththeworld
becomesastoried/textualself.AseminentcognitivepsychologytheoristandHarvard
professorJeromeBruner(1986)writes
LikeCliffordGeertzandMichelleRosaldo,IthinkofSelfasatextabouthowoneis
situatedwithrespecttoothersandtowardtheworldacanonicaltextaboutpowersand
skillsanddispositionsthatchangeasone'ssituationchangesfromyoungtoold,andfrom
onekindofsettingtoanother.Theinterpretationofthistextinsitubyanindividualishis
senseofselfinthatsituation.Itiscomposedofexpectations,feelingsofesteemand
power,andsoon(Bruner1986,p.130).
Meaningmakingbecomesacentralactivityinthepersonalprocessofauthoringthe
textualselfidentityandthenaturalisticlearningprocesswhichincorporatesthe
unconsciousconstructionofschemas.Yet,simultaneously,fromthevariouspositional
perspectivesofotherswhowitnesstheactsofanindividual,comeotherwritingsofthe
storied/textualpersonhoodofthatindividual;othersarewritingtheirownversionofthe
individual'stextualidentityshapingtheirownnarrativesandopinionsoftheperson.The
personstandsindentifiedinthemidstofthosewhoidentifyhim.Aproblemoccurswhen
thewritings/readingsofaperson'slifethataremadefromthevariousperceptual
positionsofothersaredifferentfromtheindividual'saccountofhisownidentity.Which
renderingofsuchidentitydoestheselfassume?Willtheindividual'sownsenseofselfbe
privileged,orwillitbepushedunderbyeveryoneelse'sversionofthatindividualasan
entityintheworld?Inthecaseofthenativeshaman,willhebeseenasasupersticious
oldfoolbyamorepowerfullystatusedscientist?Andwilltheinstructorwhotrains
teachersinhomeeconomicsseetheexperiencedtrainedhomemakeronlyasa
homemaker,adoerofmenialtasks?Sartreprovidesinsightontheconstrainingnatureof
self/identityauthoredbyothersinthefollowingexampleofhowcertainworking
individualsmustconstraintheirbehaviorandattentionalrangeasbefitstheirrole:
Theirconditioniswhollyoneofceremony.Thepublicdemandsofthemthattheyrealize
itasaceremony;thereisthedanceofthegrocer,ofthetailor,oftheauctioneer,bywhich
theyendeavortopersuadetheirclientelethattheyarenothingbutagrocer,anauctioneer,
atailor.Agrocerwhodreamsisoffensivetothebuyer,becausesuchagrocerisnot
whollyagrocer.Societydemandsthathelimithimselftohisfunctionasagrocer,justas
asoldieratattentionmakeshimselfintoasoldierthingwithadirectregardwhichdoes
notseeatall,whichisnolongermeanttosee,sinceitistheruleandnottheinterestof
themomentwhichdeterminesthepointhemustfixhiseyeson(thesight"fixedatten
paces").Thereareindeedmanyprecautionstoimprisonamaninwhatheis,asifwe
livedinperpetualfearthathemightescapefromit,thathemightbreakawayand
suddenlyeludehiscondition(Sartre1956,59).
Shotter(n.d.)writesthat"oneofourtasksinunderstandinganOtheristodojusticeto
theuniquenessoftheirotherness".IfwearegoingtoauthortheOther'sidentity,we
shouldfindoutwhothisindividualis,fromhis/herownsubjectiveposition.Whatisthe
knowledgewhichthepersonpossesses?Whataretheartifactsofthisperson'sexistence?
Whatarethisperson'sinterests?Naturalisticresearchhasbeencallingforthispracticeof
understandingtheOtherfromtheOther'spositionforsomeyears(Lincoln&Guba,
1985).
FamilytherapistsWhite&Epston(1990)writethefollowingontheambiguousnotionof
atextualselfwhichisconstantlybeingauthoredandreauthored:
Socialscientistsbecameinterestedinthetextanalogyfollowingobservationsthat,
althoughapieceofbehavioroccursintimeitisattendedto,themeaningthatisascribed
tothebehaviorsurvivesacrosstime.Itwasthisascriptionofmeaningthatdrewtheir
attention,andintheirattemptstounderstandthistheybegantoinvokethetextanalogy.
Thisenabledtheinteractionofpersonstobeconsideredastheinteractionofreaders
aroundparticulartexts.Thisanalogyalsomadeitpossibletoconceiveoftheevolutionof
livesandrelationshipsintermsofthereadingandwritingoftexts,insofaraseverynew
readingofatextisanewinterpretationofit,andthusadifferentwritingofitp.(9).
Notingthatthe"I"ofthephilosophiesofthesubjecthasbeenwithoutanyassuredplace
indiscourseRicoeur(1992,p.16)stressesthatahermeneuticsorwaytoward
interpretationoftheselfoughttoincludethreeelements:(1)thedetourofreflectionby
wayofanalysis,(2)thedialecticofselfhoodandsameness,and(3)thedialecticof
selfhoodandotherness.TogaingreaterinsightintotheworkingsoftheselfRicoeur
posesthequestion"Who",asin"Whoisspeaking?","Whoisacting?","Whois
recountingabouthimselforherself?",and"Whoisthemoralsubjectofimputation?"
ExpandingonthisbypointingouttherelationshipbetweenlanguageandactionRicoeur
observesthefollowing:
...itisinstatementshenceinpropositions,inparticularonthebasisofverbsand
speechactsthattheagentofactiondesignateshimselforherselfastheonewhoisacting.
Inanothersense,thesecondsubsetannexesthefirst,inasmuchassppechactsare
themselvesactionand,byimplication,speakersarethemselvesactors.Thequestions
"Whoisspeaking?"and"Whoisacting"appearinthiswaytobecloselyinterconnected
(Ricoeur1992,p.17).
RelatedViewsfromFreire,Maslow,andSartre
Applyingsuchideastosocialinteraction,onecanunderstandhowapersonorculturecan
feelasenseoflessthaninidentity,disempowermentandshamewhenbullied,colonized,
andmadetofeellowerthanbytheother.Writingfromanaturalisticperspectiveonthe
effectsofsocialoppressiontheeducationalphilosopherPaoloFreire(1970)assertsthat
Theoppressedsufferfromthedualitywhichhasestablisheditselfintheirinnermost
being.Theydiscoverthatwithoutfreedomtheycannotexistauthentically.Yet,although
theydesireauthenticexistence,theyfearit.Theyareatoneandthesametimethemselves
andtheoppressorwhoseconsciousnesstheyhaveinternalized.Theconflictliesinthe
choicebetweenbeingwhollythemselvesorbeingdivided;betweenejectingtheoppressor
withinornotejectinghim;betweenhumansolidarityoralienation;betweenfollowing
descriptionsorhavingchoices;betweenspectatorsoractors;betweenactingorhavingthe
illusionofactingthroughtheactionoftheoppressors;betweenspeakingoutorbeing
silent,castratedintheirpowertocreateandrecreate,intheirpowertotransformthe
world(pp.3233).
Maslowexpandsonthisfurther:
Thetimidmanmay...tendtoidentifyprobingcuriousityassomehowchallengingto
others,asifsomehow,bybeingintelligentandsearchingoutthetruth,heisbeing
assertiveandboldandmanlyinawaythathecan'tbackup,andthatsuchaposewill
bringdownuponhimthewrathofother,older,strongermen.Soalsomaychildren
identifycuriousprobingasatrespassupontheprerogativeoftheirgods,theallpowerful
adults.Andofcourseitiseasiertofindthecomplimentaryattitudeinadults.Foroften
theyfindtherestlesscuriousityoftheirchildrenatleastanuisanceandsometimesevena
threatandadanger,especiallywhenitisaboutsexualmatters.Itisstilltheunusualparent
whoapprovesandenjoyscuriousityinhischildren.Somethingsimilarcanbeseeninthe
exploited,thedowntrodden,theweakminorityortheslave.Hemayfeartoknowtoo
much,toexplorefreely.Thismightarousethewrathofhislords.Adefensiveattitudeof
pseudostupidityiscommoninsuchgroups.Inanycase,theexploiter,orthetyrant,out
ofthedynamicsofthesituation,isnotlikelytoencouragecuriousity,learningand
knowledgeinhisunderlings.Peoplewhoknowtoomucharelikelytorebel.Boththe
exploitedandtheexploiterareimpelledtoregardknowledgeasbeingcompatiblewith
beingagood,nice,welladjustedslave.Insuchasituationknowledgeisdangerous,quite
dangerous.Astatusofweaknessorsubordination,orlowselfesteeminhibitstheneedto
know.Thedirect,unhibitedstaringgazeisthemaintechniquethatanoverlordmonkey
usestoestablishdominance.Thesubordinateanimalcharacteristicallydropshisgaze.
Thisdynamiccansometimesbeseen,unhappily,evenintheclassroom.Thereallybright
student,theeagerquestioner,theprobingsearcher,especiallyifheisbrighterthanhis
teacher,istoooftenseenasa"wiseguy",athreattodiscipline,achallengerofhis
teacher'sauthority(Maslow1962,pp.5960).
NotehowMaslowobservesthatthedynamichespeaksofhasitshighstakesexistence
entwinedwithpowerandcontrol.Thoseinpowerorsomeformofdominantstatusinvoke
theoverlordinggazebywhichtheycanshameorevenoppressthoseotherswhomthey
perceiveasathreattosuchpowerandposition.MaslowalsocitesFreud'sviewthatthe
greatestcauseofmuchpsychologicalillnessisthefearofthe"knowledgeofoneselfof
one'semotions,impulses,memories,capacities,potentialities,ofone'sdestiny"(p.57).
Maslowwrites,further:
Butthereisanotherkindoftruthwetendtoevade.Notonlydowehangontoour
psychopathology,butalsowetendtoevadepersonalgrowthbecause,this,too,canbring
anotherkindoffear,ofawe,offeelingsofweaknessandinadequacy.Andsowefind
anotherkindofresistance,adenyingofourbestside,ofourtalents,ofourfinest
impulses,ofourhighestpotentialities,ofourcreativeness.Inbrief,thisisthestruggle
againstourowngreatness,thefearofhubris.
AsMaslowasserts,thefearofknowledgeofoneselfisbroughtaboutbyaconditioning.
Thiscanbeunderstoodfurtherbyanexamplefromthefieldoffamilytherapyandclients
fromthelowestsocioeconomicclass.AsatherapistthatprovidesservicestoBritish
Columbia'sprovincialchildprotectionagency,Imeetwithmanypeoplethataremembers
ofthelowersocioeconomicclass.Thisactivityhasledmetobecomeattunedtohow
membersofthisgrouptendtorespondlessfavorablytomakingbehavioralchangesfrom
talktherapythanmembersofthemiddleclass.SalvadorMinuchin,afamilytherapy
pioneerwhoforgedaninfluentialcareeroutofworkingwithfamiliesintheslumsof
America,recentlycommentedthattheproblemwiththepoorwasthatwhiletheyknew
howtonurturetheirchildrentheywere"ineffectiveintakingcontroloftheirkids.What
theydidnothavewastheconstancythatallowedthemtogivethechildrenasenseofself
efficacy"(inSimon1996,p.53).Whywasthismuchlauded"constancy",primarily
devisedasadistinctionbymiddleclasstherapistsoriginatingfrommiddleclassfamily
backgrounds,notpresentintheparentsfromthepoorclass?Whatwasneededto
understandthelackofsuch"constancy"wasapoliticalanalysisofpower.WhileFreire
(1970)wroteonpowerandoppressioninLatinAmerica,itwasnotuntilthe1980'sthat
thepoliticalanalysisofpoweranditsrelationstoeconomicsandclasscameintouse
withinthefamilytherapyfield.Suchananalysiswasbroughtinbyfeministsandfromthe
writingsofFoucault,andbyWhite&Epston(1990).
TheabovelackofapoliticalanalysisofpowerismadeobviousbyMinuchin'sreflections
onhisearlywork.Reflectingonhisearlypioneeringwork,Minuchinobservedthatthe
naivetofheandhiscolleagueswasthattheycouldnotlookbeyondthefamiliesthey
workedwithand"recognizetheimpactofthelargerculture"ontheirlives.Theimpactof
thelargercultureuponthelivesofthelowersocioeconomicclassincludestheeffectsof
conquest,colonization,powerdifferential,andobjectification.Oftenthoseinthelower
socioeconomicclassliveonsocialwelfare,aresegregatedfromtherestofsocietyin
socialhousingprojectsandreservations,haveeducationlevelsthatarebelowthesocial
norms,andareconstrainedbywhatsometermasalearnedhelplessness.Learned
helplessness,ifwefollowthethinkingofSartre,andFreire,isnotlearnedbuttaught,
throughsociopoliticalprocesses,andperpetuatedthroughshame,dehumanization,and
disempowerment,whichareacquiredviaaninternalizeddualistichierarchicalidentity.
Sartrewritesthatpureshameisthefeelingofbeinganobjectinfrontofanother,inthat
theindividualrecognizesoneselfasa"degraded,fixed,anddependentbeing,whichIam
fortheOther"(1956,p.384).Freire(1970)writesthattheoppressedsufferfromthe
dualitythatestablishesitselfintheirinnermostbeing,inthattheyhaveinternalizedthe
consciousnessoftheoppressorinadditiontotheirown;thestrugglebecomesan
internalizedstruggle.Freireassertsthattheresultisthattheoppressedpersonisdivided,
"castratedintheirpowertocreateandrecreate,intheirpowertotransformtheworld"(p.
33).
Whatisusuallylackinginthelivesofsuchpeopleisasenseof"power"theabilityto
createorbringaboutdesiredrealitiesthroughpersonalagencyorthewarrantingofvoice.
Theexperienceofpowerthatdoesexistforthesepersonsisadiminishedorrestrained
power.Thesepersonsaredeniedtherewardsthatthosewhocanwarrantvoiceareableto
reappower,money,socialstatus,education,andvaluableemployment.Employmentis
virtuallynonexistent,foodandclothingarelimited,andfoodbanksaredependedupon
weekly.Thesepersonsfeelasenseofshamebytheirplaceinthecommunity,andany
senseofpossibilityisdiminished.Someenacttheirlimitedexperienceofpowerover
familymembersthroughviolence,orgaintemporaryescapefromtheirconditionthrough
misuseofalcoholorothermindalteringsubstances.Thesepersons'senseofselfasa
speaker/actor/agentismediatedbyexternalsocialcircumstances,adiscursiveauthoring
oftheiridentiesbythoseauthoritiestheyengagewithandtheirexperiencedlackof
power.Theidentificationwiththeconditionoftheircircumstancesandinternalized
shamegetsinthewayofidentifyingandusingtheirownnarrativeknowledges.
Thereseemstobeastrongcorrelationbetweensocialoppressionandshame.Shamehas
beenidentifiedbyexistentialphilosopherJeanPaulSartre(1956)asarelationalprocess
broughtaboutunderthegazeofacondescendingother.Hiscommentsareasfollows:
Pureshameisnotafeelingofbeingthisorthatguiltyobjectbutingeneralofbeingan
object;thatis,inrecognizingmyselfinthisdegraded,fixed,anddependentbeingwhichI
amfortheOther.Shameisthefeelingofanoriginalfall,notbecauseofthefactthatI
mayhavecommittedthisorthatparticularfaultbutsimplythatIhave"fallen"intothe
worldinthemidstofthingsandthatIneedthemediationoftheOtherinordertobewhat
Iam(p.384).
Shame,then,isastatethatisincitedwhenoneisdefinedandclassified(theauthoringof
identity)byotherswithgreatersocialstatus,power,andauthority.Therelationship
betweenadegraded,fixed,anddependentbeinginthefaceofotherswhohavethepower
toclassifyordefinethestatusofthatbeingisonewhichisbothdehumanizingand
oppressive.Iconcludethatoppressivesocialrelationshipsandthesocialandarchitectural
structuresthatoriginateandmaintaintheirimbalancesofpowerbreedshame,
dehumanization,anddisempowermentviatheprocessbywhichmarginalizedindividuals
andmarginalizedgroupssubjectifythemselvesasMadigan(1992)writes"internalized
dialoguemediatedthroughexternalculturalnorms".Internalisedshame,then,maybethe
greatestblocktobothcreativelearningandtheintegrationofnarrativeknowledgethatis
soimportanttoactualizationtowardone'spotential.But,then,theprocessesbywhich
suchshameisbroughtaboutareagentsofthedesiretokeeptheweakerintheirplaceof
weakness,forthebenefitofthosewhodominate,whetheritbeineducation,rightsto
knowledge,orgovernment.
PraxisandtheNaturalisticImportanceofNarrativeKnowledge
TheUniversityiscommonlyunderstoodasa"place"whereonegoesinordertogain
higherknowledgethatisinsomewaycertifiedasbeinghigherknowledgeandaccepted
assointhecommunityandworkplace.PoststructuralphilosophersMicheleFoucaultand
JeanFrancoisLyotardidentifytwokindsofknowledgeintheirwritings:
1. "Narrative"Knowledge:
Whatapersonknowsfrompersonalandculturalexperience.This
informallyacquiredknowledgecouldalsobegleanedfromworkingina
vocationalarea,andmuchofitisacquiredviaoralmeans,writtenmeans,
aswellasbycarryingoutvariousactivities,alldependinguponthenature
ofthevocation.Ahomemakermightactuallypossessskillsinenvisioning,
organizing,investigation,problemsolving,scheduling,consultation,and
otherareas,allrelatedtomanagement.Shemostlikelyalsopossesses
additionalskillsthatare"hightouch",(Naisbett,1992)relatedtocare
giving,(listening,administeringmedication,etc.),allofwhichare
associatedwithsomecaregivingprofessions,someofwhichwillbe
learnedformallywithincertainprogramsinauniversitysetting.Most,if
notall,oftheseskillshavebeenlearned"onthefly"andinconsultation
withothers(e.g.,atthemorningcoffeeklatchafterthekidsareoffto
school).Anotherperson,anativeIndianshamanforexample,might
possessanelaborateunderstandingoftraditionalfirstnationsspirituality
andapproachestohealing.ThelateFrankFoolsCrowfromSouthDakota
wasonesuchperson;hepossessedsuchlocalnarrativeknowledgeof
enormousbreadthanddepth,yetitwasnotvalidateduntilanthropologist
ThomasMailspublishedhistwobooksonFoolsCrow.Priortothatwhat
FoolsCrowknewwasunderground,containedlocallywithintheculturein
whichhepracticedhisvocation.IfFoolsCrow,beforehisdeath,decided
togetadegreeinSouixshamanismwouldhehavetogotoauniversity
andlearnitfromawhiteanthropologistorethnobotanisteventhoughhe
wasthedefactoexpertinthesubject?Thisviewofknowledgeasbeing
personalorcontextualtoaperson'sbeingisheldbySchon(1986).Within
Schon'sviewsuchnarrativeknowledgeexistswithinthepersonas
representationsoflifeexperience.
2. FormallyAcquiredKnowledge:
Thisknowledgelaysclaimtobeing"true",toberepresentativeofthe
workingsofbothnaturalphenomenaandhumanprocessesintheworldas
theyactuallyoccur;claimingtohavewrestled,asFrancisBaconasserted,
"theearth'ssecretsfromher".Itisbasedonthenineteenthcentury
positivistbeliefthatthatthereisknowledge"outthere"intheexternal;
thereisarightanswerandIcanfindit.Suchknowledgeisclaimedtobe
arrivedatviaprocessesnownormallyfoundinanacademicenvironment.
Itisusuallyclaimedtohavebeeenacquiredviaasetofrigorousresearch
oranalyticalprocedures,anditislegitimatedbytheparadigmatic
discourseoftheparticularprofessionalfieldinwhichitisdiscovered,and
incooperationwiththepoliticalandinstitutionalpowersthatbe.
Regardingresearchinthesocialsciences,manyinfluetialacademicsare
writingthatsuchresearch,carriedoutintheoldmanner(atleastinthe
socialsciences)aremissingthemark,doinganinjusticetotheuniqueness
ofthebeingofOthers(Shotter,1999;Wittgenstein,1953;Bruner,1986),
creatinga"hegemony"overus(theresearchers)"thatoftryingtoexplain
thecausesofeventintermsofourownabstractionsfromthem(Shotter,
1999)".
Athirdkindofknowledgenotspecifiedassuch,probablybestdescribedasacritical
thinkingskill,andimpliedinthewritingsofauthorssuchasFoucault,Ricoeur,Lyotard
isknownasdiscourseanalysis.Discourseanalysisisapracticewhichidentifies
distinctionsofpowerrelationsandrelatedpracticesassociatedwithprofessional
knowledgediscourses.Considerforamomenttherelationshipbetweenknowledge
discoursesandlocalnarrativeknowledge.Whenitcomesdowntorecognizinginformally
acquiredknowledgeinuniversitiesthepowerrelationsandpracticesofknowledge
discoursehaveabullying,colonizing,andgenocidaleffectonlocalnarrativeknowledges
marginalizingthem,forcingthemunderground,refutingthemasinvalid,andeven
wipingsomeofthemoutasanythingofmeaningorimportance.Whilethetraditional
Universitymostlyconcentratesondisseminatinganddevelopingprofessionalknowledge
discoursesthereissomesmallattentionpaidtodiscourseanalysisinsomesocialscience
departments.Thereisvirtuallynoattentionbeingpaidtolocalnarrativeknowledges,
otherthanto"represent"thenarrativeknowledgesofsomeculturesandmarginalgroups
forthepurposeofeducating/entertainingthevoyeuristicsocietywenowlivein.Butwhat
aboutthelocalnarrativeknowledgeoftheadultlearnersinsuchaneducationsystem?
Suchlocalnarrativeknowledgecontinuestoremainunrecognized.Mostestablishments
thatwouldrecognizesuchknowledgeandattempttohelpthelearnerincorporateitinto
anacademicprogramareautomaticallylabelledbysomeconservativesinthisknowledge
ascommodityeraas"degreemills"orothertermswhichleadonetowonderwhatmight
bethecombinationofemotion,thought,andpolitical/powerintentionbehindthistypeof
namecalling,andhowsuchinstitutionscouldbeperceivedasathreatbythepurveyorsof
thetraditionalknowledgediscourse.Iwriteoftheimportanceofdiscourseanalysis
becauseitisacriticalskillbywhich,withmucheffort,thelearnerwillbeabletosee
throughthealmostopaqueveilofdiscoursewhichhighereducationisbecoming,perhaps
oneoffarlessimportancethanitleadsitelfandotherstobelieve.
ARelatedViewfromEducationPhilosopherHenryGiroux
Despitethetrendinuniversitiestowardformalknowledgeasacommoditythatcanbe
traded(Lyotard1984,pp.36),educationalphilosopherssuchasHenryGirouxhave
expressedtheneedforhighereducationtodevelopacriticalpedagogyandaddressthe
learner'sstatusasapoliticalentitywithinthecommunity.Thisentailshelpinglearners
locatethemselvesaspoliticalsubjectsinapoliticalsociety,anddrawingoutfromlearners
criticalskillsthatarecongruentwiththeirlivedexperience.WritesGiroux:
Educationmustbeunderstoodasproducingnotonlyknowledgebutalsopolitical
subjects.Ratherthanrejectingthelanguageofpolitics,criticalpedagogymustlinkpublic
educationtotheimperativesofacriticaldemocracy(Dewey,1916;Giroux,1988a).
Criticalpedagogyneedstobeinformedbyapublicphilosophydedicatedtoreturning
schoolstotheirprimarytask:placesofcriticaleducationintheserviceofcreatinga
publicsphereofcitizenswhoareabletoexercisepowerovertheirownlivesand
especiallyovertheconditionsofknowledgeproductionandacquisition.Thisisacritical
pedagogydefined,inpart,byanattempttocreatethelivedexperienceofempowerment
forthevastmajority.Inotherwords,thelanguageofcriticalpedagogyneedstoconstruct
schoolsasdemocraticpublicspheres.
Inpart,thismeansthateducatorsneedtodevelopacriticalpedagogyinwhichthe
knowledge,habits,andskillsofcriticalratherthansimplygoodcitizenshiparetaught
andpracticed.Thismeansprovidingstudentswiththeopportunitytodevelopthecritical
capacitytochallengeandtransformexistingsocialandpoliticalforms,ratherthan
simplyadapttothem.Italsomeansprovidingstudentswiththeskillstheywillneedto
locatethemselvesinhistory,findtheirownvoices,andprovidetheconvictionand
compassionnecessaryforexercisingciviccourage,takingrisks,andfurtheringthe
habits,customs,andsocialrelationsthatareessentialtodemocraticpublicforms...A
criticalpedagogyfordemocracydoesnotbeginwithtestscoresbutwiththequestions:
Whatkindsofcitizensdowehopetoproducethroughpubliceducationinapostmodern
culture?Whatkindofsocietydowewanttocreateinthecontextofthepresentshifting
culturalandethnicborders?Howcanwereconcilethenotionsofdifferenceandequality
withtheimperativesoffreedomandjustice(Giroux1991,4748)?
Giroux'sstatement(above)clearlyindicatestheimportanceoflearnersbeingableto
exercisepowerovertheirownlivesandovertheconditionsofknowledgeproductionand
acquisition,findingtheirownvoicesandtakingrisks,thusengenderingagreatersociety
offreethinkerswhoarewillingtostanduptocertaininjusticeswithanewethicalvision.
Girouxwritesthateducatorsmust
...gobeyondthepostmodernnotionofunderstandinghowstudentexperiencesare
shapedwithindifferentethicaldiscourses.Educatorsmustalsocometoviewethicsasa
relationshipbetweentheselfandtheother.Ethics,inthiscase,isnotamatterof
individualchoiceorrelativismbutasocialdiscoursegroundedinstrugglesthatrefuseto
acceptneedlesshumansufferingandexploitation.Thus,ethicsistakenupasastruggle
againstinequalityandasadiscourseforexpandingbasichumanrights.Thispointstoa
notionofethicsattentivetoboththeissueofabstractrightsandthosecontextswhich
produceparticularstories,struggles,andhistories.Inpedagogicalterms,anethical
discourseneedstobetakenupwithregardstotherelationsofpower,subjectpositions,
andsocialpracticesitactivates.
ButGiroux'suseoftheterm"findingvoice"impliesthatthereisasenseof"lostness"of
crucialexpression,orthat"voice"hasbeenconstrainedorsilencedtothedegreethatit
seemstobelost.Perhapsthisisthepowerfuleffectoftheknowledgediscourses,which
renderasunimportantandinvalidthe"voices"ofnarrativeknowledge.To"findvoice"
requiresinteractingwithandrecognizingtheconditionsofone'slivedexperience,often
amongstsupportandencouragementfromothersinanacademicallyproducedworld
wherepeoplemustlooktoseejustwheretheirvoiceswentto.Suchinteractioniswhere
thestageofcongruencywillbesetasoneconnectswiththepains,failures,wins,and
wisdomsofone'spersonaland/orculturalnarratives,inrelationtothoseforceswhich
restraintheprivilegingofknowledgegainedfromsuchlivedexperience.Thishasbeen
aptlydemonstratedbyfeminism,whichhasselforganizedbybuildingonthelived
experienceofwomen,andbyprivilegingthevoicesoftheirlivedexperience,pains,
experienceofinjustice,gifts,joys,uniqueness,andwisdom.Feministwriters,for
example,havelocatedthevoiceofwomens'livedexperience(selfdescriptions)as
exhibitinggreaterpriority,representation,andmeaningoverdescriptionsfromothers
(experts)inmattersoffamilylifeandworklife.Similarly,writingonresearchpractices,
Robson(1993)statesthatfeministwriters,suchasStanleyandWise(1983)
...maintainthatobjectivityis,inprinciple,impossibletoachieveandthatallresearchis
effectively'..."fiction"inthesensethatitviewsandsoconstructs"reality"throughthe
eyesofoneperson'(p.174).Thisstancecastsseriousdoubtsonthepossibilityofascience
basedonresearchgeneratingcumulatingknowledge(Robson,1993,p.65).
Inthefamilytherapyliteraturesuchnotionsasaboveareechoedbysuchfeministwriters
asRachelHareMustinandJeanneMarecek(1988,p.455),whoobservethatwithinthe
discourseoftherapythereareculturalassumptionsaboutgenderrelations.Theauthors
challengetheideaofasinglemeaningofrealityandsuggestthatmeaningsresultfrom
socialexperience.Feminismhasplayedanenormousroleininfluencingtheemerging
poststructuralcollaborativeapproachestofamilytherapy.Thefeministcritiqueoffamily
therapyhasmadeitspractitionersawareoftheuniqueexperienceandperspectiveof
women,andincreasedawarenesswithintheprofessionofhowtraditional(modernist)
therapeuticpracticeshadmarginalizedtheexperienceand"voices"ofwomenclients
(HareMustin,1978;HareMustin,1987;Coleman,MyersAvis,&Turin,1990;Feinstein,
1990;Goldner,Penn,Sheinberg,&Walker,1990;MyersAvis,1992;HareMustin,1994).
Thefeministcritiqueoffamilytherapyhasalsoplayedanimportantroleinestablishing
therapeuticapproachesthataddresstheexperienceandneedsofwomenfromafemale
perspective,thusprovidingaspaceforsuchvoicesofselfexpression.
ARelatedViewfromEducationPhilosopherJohnDewey
JohnDewey,awellknowneducationalphilosopherandpsychologistintheearly20th.
century,calledforeducationtoincludethelocalnarrativeknowledgeofthelearner.
Crews(1989),observessomeinterestingideasfromDeweyontheintegrationoflocal
narrativeknowledgeintoanacademicprogram.
Heemphasizedtheimportanceofindividualizingeducation,ofhavingeducationflowout
ofpersonalinterests,andofhavingintellectualactivityrelevanttoandintegratedwith
vocationalactivity.Also,withoutusingtheword"wholistic",herecognizedthe
importanceofawholisticperspectiveineducationandinotheraspectsoflife.The
followingquotationsarefromhisDemocracyandEducation:Anintroductiontothe
PhilosophyofEducation,whichwasfirstpublishedin1916:
Theinclinationstolearnfromlifeitselfandtomaketheconditionsoflife
suchthatallwilllearnintheprocessoflivingarethefinestproductsof
schooling.
Educationmeanstheenterpriseofsupplyingtheconditionswhichinsure
growth,oradequacyoflife,irrespectiveofage.
Thecriteriaofthevalueofschooleducationaretheextenttowhichit
createsadesireforcontinuedgrowthandsuppliesmeansformakingthe
desireeffectiveinfact.
Theaimofeducationistoenableindividualstobeabletocontinuetheir
education...theobjectandrewardoflearningiscontinuedcapacityfor
growth.
Awagonisnotperceivedwhenallitspartsaresummedup;itisthe
characteristicconnectionofthosepartswhichmakesitawagon.And
theseconnectionsarenotthoseofmerephysicaljuxtaposition;they
involveconnectionwiththeanimalsthatdrawit,thethingsthatarecarried
onit,andsoon.
Aristotlewaspermanentlyrightinassumingtheinferiorityand
subordinationofmereskillinperformanceandmereaccumulationof
externalproductstounderstanding,sympathyofappreciation,andthefree
playofideas.Iftherewasanerroritlayinassumingthenecessary
separationofthetwo:insupposingthatthereisanaturaldivorcebetween
efficiencyinproducingcommoditiesandrenderingservice,andself
directivethought;betweensignificantknowledgeandpractical
achievement.
Thereisalreadyanopportunityforaneducationwhich,keepinginmind
thelargerfeaturesofwork,willreconcileliberalnurturewithtrainingin
socialserviceableness,withabilitytoshareefficientlyandhappilyin
occupationswhichareproductive.
CriticismsofDewey'sideashavecenteredaroundtheconcernthatchildrendonotknow
enoughaboutadultoccupationsfortheirintereststobeasafeguidefortheireducation.
Theyarenaveandfickle.Achildmaywanttobeasoldieronedayandaclownthenext.
Further,childrendonothaveabroadfundofknowledge.Theydonotknowenoughabout
theadultworldandthesocietyinwhichtheylivetomakereasonableeducationalchoices.
Theydonotunderstandthesignificanceorcontextofwhattheyaredoingandwhatthey
arelearning.NoticethatalltheseobjectionsdisappearwhenDewey'sprinciplesare
appliedtotheeducationofaccomplishedadults(Crews,1989).
BothGirouxandDeweywriteaboutincorporatingthelivedexperienceoftheselflocal
narrativeknowledgeintoacademicprograms.Findingone'svoice,asGirouxtermsit,
canalsomeansstandingupethicallytoanyoppressionthatoneexperiencesfromothers,
andhowsuchoppressionmayattempttoshapeone'sidentity.Yet,findingone'svoice
usuallyoccurswiththeassistanceofothersandsomeselfsearching.Ricouerprovides
interestinginsightonthisself/otherrelationintheaccumulatingofidentitybyobserving
thattheselfidentitydoesnotexistintheworldbyitself.Whileitmightcomeintothe
world,asRousseaubelieved,throughaphenomenologicalunfolding,selfgathersidentity
andmeaningasitmovesnarrativelythroughlivedexperience.AsSarbin(1986)has
noted,peopletrytomakesenseandmeaningoftheworldbyplacingthepiecesof
personalexperienceintonarrativeform.AsMadiganwrites,"thestoryofourlives
throughtimeissaidtobeperformedwithinasetoflanguagerulesor"games"
(Wittgenstein,1963).Itisaperson'sstorieddiscourse,adiscourseshapedandspoken
throughasociopoliticalculturalcontext,thateventuallydeterminesthemeaninggivento
anexperience(Madigan,p.258).
ABatesonianView:NarrativesasStorehousesofExperienceandAbstract
Complexity
Theimportanceofnarrative,fromtheperspectiveofthelateanthropologistandluminary
thinkerGregoryBateson,isrevealedbyphysicistFritjofCapra(1988).Caprawritesthat
Bateson"consideredstories,parables,andmetaphorstobeessentialexpressionsof
humanthinking,ofthehumanmind"(p.78).CaprawritesthatalthoughBatesonwasa
complexabstractthinker,hideliveredhisideasviastories,sothattheywouldbe
experiencedconcretelybythelistener.Batesonviewedstoriesasalanguageof
relationships,andviewedrelationshipsas"theessenceofthelivingworld".Capra
expandsonthisperspective:
Stories,Batesonwouldsay,aretheroyalroadtothestudyofrelationships.Whatis
importantinastory,whatistrueinit,isnottheplot,thethings,orthepeopleinthestory,
buttherelationshipsbetweenthem.Batesondefinedastoryas"anaggregateofformal
relationshipsscatteredintime",andthisiswhathewasafterinallhisseminars,to
developawebofformalrelationsthroughacollectionofstories(Capra1988,p.78).
and
OneofthecentralideasinBateson'sthoughtisthatthestructureofnatureandthe
structureofmindarereflectionsofeachother,thatmindandnatureareofanecessary
unity.Thusepistemologically"thestudyofhowitisthatyoucanknowsomething",or,
ashesometimesputit,"whatit'sallabout"ceasedtobeabstractphilosophyforBateson
andbecameabranchofnaturalhistory(Capra1988,p.80).
Stories,then,canconveyacomplexsetofrelationshipsthatcanexistsystemicallyatany
givenmomentandcanvaryovertemporallinearity.Ihavealreadyestablishedthatall
events,whetherexperiencedsubjectivelyornot,becomestructuredasstory(alsoknown
asnarrative)(Sarbin,1986)forthepurposeofremembering,operatingontoestablish
meaning,andforthepurposeofretelling(canbeconsideredas"performing").Evenone
individual'switnessingofadiscussionbetweentwootherindividualsbecomesanarrative
whichcanbeperformedfromthreedistinctpositions,thepositionofthewitness,the
positionofspeaker#1,andthepositionofspeaker#2.Suchnarrativesarestructured
temporallyintoeventsequencesorchapters(e,g.,hesaidthis,andthenhesaidthat,and
thensherepliedthat,etc.).Theprocessofmakingsenseofaneventafteritoccurs
interactingwithandreflectingonthedevelopingstoryusuallyinvolvesactivityakinto
whatconversationanalysisresearchJerryGale(1996,p.117)hastermedasaperiodof
"soaking"oneselfinthedata,thedatabeingthepiecesoftheeventandresulting
sequences.Narrativesummariesofeventsarerarelystructuredutilizingthestructural
categoriesoutlinedbyLabovasdenoting"wellformedness"(1972,1982;Labov&
Waletsky,1967;Riessman,1993).Riessman,(1993,p.19),citingLabov'soutlinefora
"fullyformed"narrative,statesthatanarrativeshouldincludesixcommonelements:
...anabstract(summaryofthesubstanceofthenarrative),orientation(time,space,
situation,participants),complicatingaction(sequenceofevents),evaluation(significance
andmeaningoftheaction,attitudeofthenarrator)resolution(whatfinallyhappened),
andcoda(returnstheperspectivetothepresent).Withthesestructuresatellerconstructs
astoryfromaprimaryexperienceandinterpretsthesignificanceofeventsinclausedand
embeddedevaluation(p.19).
Thereasonthatnarrativesummariesareoftennotwellformedisthattheprocessof
meaningmakingisoftenmediatedbydominantsocialdiscourseswhichprovide
mainstreammeaningsthathavetruthvaluetheyareacceptedasthepoliticallycultural
correctnorm.Oneofthereasonsthatsomanypeopleusetheservicesoftherapistsisto
makesenseoftheirexperiencebyfindingalternatemeaningsotherthatthemainstream
meaningsavailable.That'sbecausesometimesthemainstreammeaningsaresocially
oppressive.Considerthisifanadolescentissomewhathyperactiveintheclassroom
settingdoesthatmeanthathehasAttentionDeficitHyperactivityDisorderandneedsto
beplacedonRitalin?Hasanyoneeveridentifiedthefactthatschoolsarehighlyinvested
inattentivebehaviorandifoneisnotattentiveoristroublesomeitinterruptstheflowof
theentireendeavor,whichisdidacticlearningforthewholeclass?Hasanyonenoticed
thatboystendtowardmoreinattentiveactivitythangirls?Cancurriculumbedesignedto
utilizesuchdifferencesratherthanmarginalizethechildrenthataresingledoutas
troublesomeandthenpathologized?
Intheprocessoftheselfmakingmeaningimportantinformationbecomesdeleted.
Constructivistshavealreadyprovedthatbiologicallywewilldeleteaspectsofinformation
becausewearebiologicallystructurallydeterminedthatwayitisnotpossibleto
remembereverything(vonGlaserfeld,1984;vonForster,1984;Maturana&Varela,1987;
Bandler&Grinder,1975).Awellformednarrativesummaryshouldprovideastorythat
wouldrepresentandbringtomind,ascloselyaspossible,thekeyeventsthathad
occurredintheexamplediscussionbetweenthetwopeople.Whileeachspeaker'sviewis
subjective,eachseesonlytheotherspeaker,thewitnesshasanbinocularviewofboth
speakers.Theactofthethreepeopledebriefingeachsharingone'sversionoftheevents
thatmakeupthediscussionhasthepotentialtogenerateacollaborativelyunderstood
narrative.Thiswouldbesimilartothepractice,innaturalisticresearch,ofobtaining
validationinanefforttoestablishdesirablelevelsoftrustworthiness(Yin,1989;
Robson,1993;Lincoln&Guba,1985).
Praxis,theNarrativeSelfandExperientialLearning
Examinedfromapostmodern/poststructuralperspectivetheselfininteractionwiththe
worldbecomesastoried/textualself.Aseminentcognitivepsychologytheoristand
HarvardprofessorJeromeBruner(1986)writes
LikeCliffordGeertzandMichelleRosaldo,IthinkofSelfasatextabouthowoneis
situatedwithrespecttoothersandtowardtheworldacanonicaltextaboutpowersand
skillsanddispositionsthatchangeasone'ssituationchangesfromyoungtoold,andfrom
onekindofsettingtoanother.Theinterpretationofthistextinsitubyanindividualishis
senseofselfinthatsituation.Itiscomposedofexpectations,feelingsofesteemand
power,andsoon(Bruner1986,p.130).
Inthecaseoftheadultindividualthematterofcreatingawellformednarrativeoflife
experienceforthepurposeofintegrationintoanacademiccurriculumisbothmore
simpleandmorecomplexsimultanously.Thatiswhyspecialattentionneedstobepaidto
coachingthisindividualadultandhelpingto"drawout"therelatedlifeexperience
narrativesothatitiscontextualtothecurriculumsubjectareasandproperlypresentedin
anacademicformat.Thisiswherethenotionof"praxis"comesin.Ricoeur(1992,p.173)
informsusthatpraxis,intheviewofthephilosopherAristotle,means"practicalscience",
thatpraxis"isanactivitythatproducesnoworkdistinctfromtheagent,anactivitythat
hasnoendotherthanactionitself".HereareAristotle'scommentsontherelationof
praxistopracticalwisdom:
Regardingpracticalwisdomweshallgetatthetruthbyconsideringwhoarethepersons
wecreditwithit.Nowitisthoughttobethemarkofamanwithpracticalwisdomtobe
abletodeliberatewellaboutwhatisgoodandexpedientforhimself,notinsome
particularrespect,e,g.,aboutwhatsortsofthingconducetohealthorstrength,butabout
whatsortsofthingconducetothegoodlifeingeneral.Thisisshownbythefactthatwe
creditmenwithpracticalwisdominsomeparticularrespectwhentheyhavecalculated
wellwithaviewtosomegoodendwhichisoneofthosethatarenottheobjectofanyart.
Itfollowsthatinthegeneralsensealsothemanwhoiscapableofdeliberatinghas
practicalwisdom(citedinRicoeur1992,p.175).
and
Practicalwisdom...isconcernedwiththingshumanandthingsaboutwhichitis
possibletodeliberate;forwesaythisisabovealltheworkofthemanwithpractical
wisdom,todeliberatewell,butnoonedeliberatesaboutthingsinvariable,norabout
thingswhichhavenotanend,andthatagoodcanbebroughtaboutbyaction.Theman
whoiswithoutqualificationgoosatdeliberatingisthemanwhoiscapableofaimingin
accordancewithcalculationatthebestformanattainablebyaction(citedinRicoeur
1992,p.175).
RicoeurwritesthatthefirstgreatlessonthatAristotleleavesuswithis"toseekthe
fundamentalbasisfortheaimofthe'goodlife'inpraxis".Thesecondgreatlessonthat
Aristotleleavesuswithis"toattempttosetuptheteleologyinternaltopraxisasthe
structuringprinciplefortheaimofthe'goodlife'".Thegoodlifecanbeseenas"living
well",orwhateverimageeachofushasofafulllife.Thereisacertainreflexivity,orself
reflection,thatiscalledforbythecommentsofAristotleandRicoeur.Indeed,Ricoeur,in
addressingtheselfposesthequestionwho,asin(1)whoisspeaking,(2)whoisacting,
(3)whoisrecountingabouthimselforherself?,and(4)whoisthemoralsubjectof
imputation?.InRicoeur'sviewtheselfisthespeaker,theactor,thenarrator,aswellas
thesubjectoftheimputationsofothers.Therefore,thestructuringofalifeexperience
narrativeforintegrationintoaspectsofadegreeprograminvolvesrevisitingactionsofthe
past,andreflectinguponthoseactionstodeterminewhatwaslearnedthatisnow
applicabletothe"goodlife",whichcertainlyistheaimoftheactionofanydegree
program.Onceagain,wearebacktoRiessman's(1993,p.19)citingofLabov'soutlinefor
a"fullyformed"narrative,whichstatesthatanarrativeshouldincludesixcommon
elements:
...anabstract(summaryofthesubstanceofthenarrative),orientation(time,space,
situation,participants),complicatingaction(sequenceofevents),evaluation(significance
andmeaningoftheaction,attitudeofthenarrator)resolution(whatfinallyhappened),
andcoda(returnstheperspectivetothepresent).Withthesestructuresatellerconstructs
astoryfromaprimaryexperienceandinterpretsthesignificanceofeventsinclausedand
embeddedevaluation(p.19).
Thus,praxisinvolvesactionandreflection.Dr.PaulRobinson,amedicaldoctorwhouses
someoftheseconceptsinthetrainingofmedicalpractitionersregardspraxisas
alternatingbetweenActivityandReflection.Hetakesabroaddefinitionofthetwoterms,
definingActivityaspossiblybeingphysicalactivitysuchasamanualskill,butalso
includeslistening,reading,andthinking.HedefinesReflectionaspossiblyincludinga
physicalelement,andmayrefertodiscussionaswellascontemplation.Education
theoristStephenBrookfield(1986)utilizestheword"praxis"todescribeanadultlearning
processwhichentailsacyclicprocessofactivity,reflection,andanalysis.D.A.Kolbis
knownforhisworkwithlearningstyles,anddevelopedtheLearningStylesInventory,
whichiswellknowninadulteducation.Kolb'smodelofexperientiallearning
incorporatesafourelementcycleof:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Concreteexperience
Reflectiveobservation
Abstractconceptualization
Activeexperimentation
RobinsonprovidesanexplanationofKolb'sfourelementcycle:
Thefourelementsaredrawnfromtwodimensions,eachofwhichformsadialectic,and
representthethingsthatcanbedonewithinformation.Thefirstistograspthe
information,ietobecomeawareofit.Thedialecticliesbetweengraspinginformationby
firsthandexperience(concreteexperience),whichhereferstoasapprehension,and
graspingbycallingupamemory(abstractconceptualisation),whichhereferstoas
comprehension.Thefirstoftheseisexternalandtheinformationisonlyavailableinthe
'hereandnow':onlywhenyouareactuallytouchingapieceoficedoesitfeelcold.The
secondisaninternalprocessandisnotboundbytheinstantoftime.
Thesecondistotransformtheinformation.Similarly,thereisadialecticbetweenthe
externalprocessofactiveexperimentationandtheinternalisedreflectiveobservation.
Thetransformationofinformationisthekeytocreatingknowledgeandiscrucialthat
learningisanactiveprocess.
Implications
Kolbsaysthatallfourelementsarerequiredforeffectiveexperientiallearning.
Individualshavedifferentpreferencesandnaturalstyleswhichcanberepresentedas
differentpointsalongeachofthetwodimensions.Similarlydifferentoccupationscallfor
differenttypesofknowledge.
Itisimportantforbothlearnerandteachertobeawareoftheirownpositionsonthese
dimensions,sothattheycanpayadditionalattentiontotaskswhichfalloutsidetheir
naturalpreferences.Thereisaninventoryfordetermininglearningstylesintheseterms
presentedinthebook(Robinson,2000).
RennerexpandsfurtheronKolb'sfourpartmodelofexperientiallearning:
Alearner,tobefullyeffective,needsfourdifferentabilities.Shemustbeabletoinvolve
herselffully,openly,andwithoutbiasinnewexperiences(CE),shemustbeabletoreflect
onandobservetheseexperiencesfrommanyperspectives(RO),shemustbeableto
createconceptsthatintegrateherobservationsintologicallysoundtheories(AC),andshe
mustbeabletousethesetheoriestomakedecisionsandsolveproblems(AE).
Tostateitanotherway,learningcanbeseenasaprocessinwhichapersonexperinces
somethingdirectly,notvicariously,reflectsontheexperienceassomethingneworas
relatedtootherexperiences,developssomeconceptbywhichtonametheexperience,
andusestheconceptinsubsequentactionsasaguideforbehavior.Outofthosefoursteps
thepersonderivesanewsetofexperiencesthatleadtoarepeatofthelearningcycle
(Renner1989,p.129).
NotAllPersonsLearnintheSameManner
ItisimportanttorememberKolb'sfindingsthatallpeopledonotlearninthesame
manner.Kolb,adevelopmentalpsychologist,hasidentifiedfourlearningstyles,asfound
intheLearningStylesInventory(LSI).KolbandhiscolleagueshavetestedtheLSIon
differentgroupswhichincludemanagers,collegestudents,medicalstudents,andcolege
faculty.Thefourlearningstylesidentifiedareasfollows:
Converger
TheConverger'slearningstyleemphasizesabilitiesinAbstractConceptualization(AC)
andActiveExperimentation(AE).Anindividualwiththislearningstyleseemstodobest
inactivitiesrequiringthepracticalapplicationofideas.Hisknowledgeseemstobe
organizedsothatthroughhypotheticaldeductivereasoninghemayfocusitonspecific
problems.Researchhasshownconvergerstoberelativelyunemotional,havinga
prferenceforworkingwith"things"ratherthanpeople,andhavingnarrowtechnical
interests,generallychoosingtospecializeinengineeringandphysicalsciences.
Diverger
TheDivergerhasalearningstyleopositetothatoftheConverger,withstrenghtin
imaginativeabilityandbeingabletoviewcomplexsituationsfrommanyperspectives.He
performswellin"brainstorming"sessions.ResearchhasshownDivergerstobeinterested
inpeople,havingbroadculturalinterestsoftenspecializinginthearts.Thisstyleof
learningischaracteristicofhumanitiesandliberalartsprograms.Counsellors,personnel
managers,andsociologiststendtowardthisstyle.
Assimilator
TheAssimilator'sdominantlearningabilitiesareAbstractConceptualization(AC)and
ReflectiveObservation(RO).Personswiththislearningstyleexcelinthecreationof
theoreticalmodelsandinductivereasoning.Althoughheisconcernedwiththepractical
useoftheories,itismoreimportanttotheAssimilatorthatthetheorybelogicallysound;
andifthetheorydoesnotfitthe"facts",heislikelytoreexaminethosefacts.This
learningstyleismorecharacteristicofpersonsinthebasicsciencesandmathematicsthan
theappliedsciences.
Accomodator
TheAccomodator'slearningstrengthslieindoingthingsandinvolvingoneselfinnew
experiences.QuitetheoppositeoftheAssimilator,thispersonexcelsinsituationswhere
hemustadapttospecificimmediatecircumstances,andifhisplanortheoretical
explanationdoesnotfitthesituation,hewilldiscardit.Hetendstosolveproblemsinan
intuitive,trialanderrormanner,relyingonothersforinformationinsteadofhisown
analyticability.TheAccomodatorisateasewithpeopleandoftenfoundinaction
orientedjobsinbusiness,marketingorsales(citedinRenner,1989).
Theimplementationofnarrativeknowledgeintohighereducationprogramswillrequire
attentiontothedifferentlearningstyles.(Pleasenote:Morewillbepostedonthislater).
PraxisandNarrativeKnowledgeViewedfromATranspersonalPsychological
Perspective
KenWilber,oneofthemajortheoristsinthefieldoftranspersonalpsychology,has
concludedthatpersonalgrowthortheactualizingofone'spotentialconsistsofongoing
cyclesofidentification,disidentification,andtranscendencewithinsequenced
structuresthatemergeinconsciousness.Aseachstructureisdisidentifiedwith,theself
transcendsit,therebygainingtheabilitytooperateuponit.Asthisishappening,theself
isconcurrentlyidentifyingwiththenexthigherorderedstructurethatispresentingitself.
HereishowWilberdescribesthisprocess:
Ateachstage,ahigherorderedstructuremorecomplexandthereaftermoreunified
emergesthroughadifferentiationofthepreceding,higherorderlevel.Thehigherorderis
introducedtoconsciousness,andeventually(itcanbeinstantaneous,orcantakealonger
term)theselfidentifieswiththatemergentstructure(Wilber1980,p.104).
AninterestingobservationaboutWilber'stheoryisthatitseemstoincorporatethepoint
ofviewoftheearlydevelopmentalistsRousseau,andlaterGesell.WilliamCrain,
authorofTheoriesofDevelopment,providestheproofofthisobservation:
Rousseauintroducedseveralkeyideasintodevelopmentaltheory:(1)Thatdevelopment
proceedsaccordingtoaninnerbiologicaltimetable.Forthefirsttime,wehaveapicture
ofdevelopmentunfoldingfairlyindependentfromenvironmentalinfluences.Childrenare
nolongersimplyshapedbyexternalforces,suchasadultteachingsandsocial
reinforcements.Theygrowandlearnlargelyontheirown,accordingtoNature'splan...
(2)Rousseausuggestedthatdevelopmentunfoldsinaseriesofstages,duringwhich
childrenexperiencetheworldindifferentways.Childrendifferfromadultsnotbecause
theyareblankslateswhichgraduallytakeonadultteachings,rather,ateachstage,the
child'spatternsofthoughtandbehaviorhavetheirownuniquecharacteristics.(3)
Rousseauproposedanewphilosophyofeducation,onewhichwewouldcall"child
centered"...weshouldfitourlessonstothechild'sparticularstageofdevelopment.In
thisway,childrenwillbeabletojudgemattersaccordingtotheirownexperienceand
powersofunderstanding.
Gesellsuggestedthatdevelopmentisinfluencedbytwofactors:(1)Thechildisaproduct
oftheenvironment;(2)Butmorefundamentally,Gesellbelieved,thechild'sdevelopment
isdirectedfromwithin,bytheactionofneeds.Gesellcalledthisprocessmaturation....
InGesell'shands,Rousseau'sideaofaninnerdevelopmentalforcebecametheguiding
principlebehindextensivescholarshipandresearch.Gesellshowedhowthematurational
mechanism,whilestillhidden,manifestsitselfinintricatedevelopmentalsequencesand
selfregulatoryprocesses.Gesellindicatedthattherearegoodreasonstosupposethat
developmentfollowsaninnerplan(Crain1980,pp13023).
Wilberexpandsontherelationshipofhistheorytothespecificsofpersonalgrowth:
...ateachpointinpsychologicalgrowth,wefind:
1. Ahigherorderstructureemergesinconsciousness(withthehelpof
symbolicforms).
2. Theselfidentifiesitsbeingwiththathigherstructure.
3. Thenexthigherorderstructureeventuallyemerges.
4. Theselfdisidentifieswiththelowerstructureandshiftsitsessential
identitytothehigherstructure.
5. Consciousnesstherebytranscendsthelowerstructure.
6. Andbecomescapableofoperatingonthatlowerstructurefromthehigher
orderlevel.
7. Suchthatallprecedinglevelscanthenbeintegratedinconsciousness,and
ultimatelyasConsciousness.
Wenotedthateachsuccessivelyhigherorderstructureismorecomplex,moreorganized,
andmoreunifiedandevolutioncontinuesuntilthereisonlyUnity,ultimateinall
directions,whereupontheforceofevolutionisexhausted,andthereisperfectreleasein
RadianceastheentireWorldFlux.
Everytimeoneremembersahigherorderdeepstructure,thelowerorderstructureis
subsumedunderit.Thatis,ateachpointinevolution,whatisthewholeofonelevel
becomesmerelyapartofthehigherorderwholeofthenextlevel(Wilber,1980p.80).
And
[Inpsychologicalandtranspersonaldevelopment]aseachhigherorderstructureemerges,
theselfeventuallyidentifieswiththatstructurewhichisnormal,natural,and
appropriate.
Asevolutionproceeds,however,eachlevelinturnisdifferentiatedfromtheself,or
"peeledoff"sotospeak.Theself,thatis,eventuallydisidentifieswithitspresent
structuressoastoidentifywiththenexthigherorderemergentstructure.Moreprecisely
(andthisisaveryimportanttechnicalpoint),wesaythattheselfdetachesitselffromits
exclusiveidentificationwiththatlowerstructure.Itdoesn'tthrowthatstructureaway,it
simplynolongerexclusivelyidentifieswithit.Thepointisthatbecausetheselfis
differentiatedfromthelowerstructure,ittranscendsthatstructure(withoutobliteratingit
inanyway),andcanthusoperateonthatlowerstructureusingthetoolsofthenewly
emergentstructure(Wilber,1980p.80).
SomeIdeasofKenWilberAppliedtoPraxisandNarrativeKnowledge
Thekeytermshereare"identify"with,disidentify"with,"transendence"and"operate
on".Whenweareinacompellingstateoflearningweactuallywanttoexperienceanew
emergingstructure,bywhichwillbedelivered"difference".Wewanttheprize,a
discovery,whatiswaitingaroundthecorner.Yetwhenweareengagedin
action/reflectionwearealsoinaprocesssimilartosiphoningtryingtogetthejuicesof
thatinnerdevelopmentalforceflowingupthehose.Anotherkeytheme(althoughnot
explicitlymentionedbyWilberas"reflection")isthat"reflection",moreimportantly,
"perturbs"thenaturalforceofmaturationcatalyzing/alchemizingthespirit,producinga
quickeningorshiftofconsciousness,whiledrawingforththesystemsofrelationshipsthat
areembeddedwithinone'slifeexperience,uponwhichthepersoncannow"operateon",
havingmovedtoahigherorderedstructureofawareness.
WhenIreflectonIamengaginginaprocessofidentifying/disidentifying.The
disidentifyingoccursbyaprocessofobserverobservingtheobserverobservingthe
observed,whichisnotdissimilarfromcertainmeditativepracticeswhichoriginateinthe
East.Fromawesternpointofviewthisnotionisdescribedbyatheoryknownassecond
ordercybernetics,(morewillbepresentedonthistheoryinthisarticleandinthe3rd
majorsectionofthisdocument).Whilethisphenomenomseemsalittlefarfetched,it
actuallyrepresentsthenotionthatpersonsareabletoenterintocreativehigherordered
statesofawarenesswheretheycanorganizethemselvesaround,reflecton,andoperate
uponlifeexperience.Undersuchstatesofawarenesspeakexperiencesevenlong
standingproblemscanbesolved.Sometherapists,forexample,havebeenabletoperturb
andtransformtheirclientstranslationofthemeaningofeventsviasubtleand
nonobtrusiveconversationinsuchamannerastofacilitatesuchadvancedlevelsof
awarenesspeakexperiencesifyouwill.Familytherapiststhatengageinsuch
conversationalstorypractices,suchfamilytherapistsasthoseoperatingfromasecond
ordercyberneticsandpoststructuralperspective,describethemselvesasadoptinganon
expertstancewhicheschewsanyclaimtoanobjectiveunderstandingoffamilies.How
cananonexpertstancebringabouttransformationintheperspectivesoffamiliesontheir
relationalproblems?Boscolo,Cecchin,Hoffman,andPenn(1987)explain,observingthat
suchtherapistsadopttheviewthat
...Therapistscanneverknowapriorihowafamilyshouldbe,thetherapistsmustactas
astimulus,aperturbationthatactivatesthefamily'scapacitytogenerateitsownsolutions.
Inasense,theneutralpositionpresentsadoublemessagetothefamily.Itstatesthe
solutiontheyhavefoundhasbeenperfectuntilnow,butfromthismomentontheyhave
enteredintoanotherinteraction(thetherapy)thatwillallowthetherapistandthefamily
toinventtogetherotherpossibilitiesfromwhichnewsolutionsmayarise(p.98).
WritingabouttheMilanTeam,agroupofItaliantherapistswhichusedthesecondorder
cyberneticsperspective,theaboveauthorsnotethat
ThestancetheMilanTeamtakesinregardtointerveninginhumansystemshasbeen
influencedmostrecentlybysecondordercyberneticsandHumbertoMaturana's
formulationofstructuralautonomyinlivingsystems.Theriseofsecondorder
cyberneticstookawaythenotionofan"objective"observerwhoisouttoinfluencea
systeminapredictableway.Inaddition,wearemoreandmorecompelledtotakenoteof
andrespecttheeventsinthesystemthatrepresentsthefamily'sselfcreativeactivitythat
iswhattheMilanTeammeanswhentheyrefertothefamily'scapacitytohealitself.This
ideacomesfromMaturana,whoclaimsthattheresponsetoanyperturbationofferedtoa
livingsystemwillbedeterminedbythatsystem'sinherentstructure.Therefore,the
therapistcannolongersearchforspecificinterventionsthatwillproducespecificresults;
rather,heorshemusttrytoachieveastructuralcouplingwiththesystemthatis,the
pointwheretheinteractionbetweenthetherapistandthefamilyisincontinual
calibration,andthatcalibrationisintheserviceoftheselforganizingcapacityofthe
system(Boscolo,Cecchin,Hoffman,andPenn,1987,p.102).
Theroleofeducator(intheory)issomewhatsimilartothatofthetherapist,althoughthe
resultofexposuretoeducationnowadaysisseldomsimilartotheresultsoftherapy.
Wilberwritesthattheroleofthetherapist(orguru/mentor/educator,forthatmatter)isto
beatranslatorormediatorofone'sexperienceintheworld,ortohelptheindividualmake
personaltranslationsthatarewellformedinthatthosetranslationsbringabouta
transformationofthemeaningofthesituationtoallowtheindividualtogrowbeyondit
insuchamannerastobeabletooperateonitasopposedtobeingoperateduponbya
situation.Thisisparticularlyusefulforpersonswhenthedominantdiscursivecontextsfor
interpretingsuchexperienceprivilegerepressionratherthangrowth.Wilberwritesthe
followingasanexampleofthetherapistastranslator:
Thetherapisthelpstheindividualretranslatethesymptom/symbolbacktoitsoriginal
form.Thisiscalled"theinterpretation",andagoodtherapistisagoodinterpreter.The
therapistmightsay,forexample,"You'refeelingsofdepressionaremaskedfeelingsof
angerandrage"hetranslatestheforeignlanguageofthesymptombacktotheoriginal
form.He"tells"theindividualthe"meaning"ofhisdepression(orhelpshimdiscoverit
forhimself),andthushelpshimretranslateitintermsmoreconsonantwiththedeep
structurefromwhichthesymbolsandsymptomsoriginate.
Thetherapeutictranslationcontinuesinthatfashion(theworkingthrough)untilagenuine
andmoreorlesscompletetransformationofconsciousnessfromthelowertotheupper
leveloccurs,sothatthesymbolbecomessign,andtheangercanenterawarenessinits
originalform,which,asitweredissolvesthesymptom.(Wilber,1980).
Whatwehaveaboveisatransformationofmeaningoftheparticularsymptomor
concern,andindeed,atransformationofmeaningoftheentireexperience.Thesystemic
setofrelationshipswithinthenarrativearenowshiftedastheinterpretationshifts.Inthe
storyaboveiftheinterpretationmakessensetotheclient,thefeelingsofdepressionare
identifiedasmaskedangerandrage.Iftheyareexperiencedassuchbytheclientduring
thetherapeuticconversation,theproblemcontextshiftstodealingwiththesymbolsof
angerandrage,andperhapsthesourceunderwhichtheangerandrageunfolded.The
experiencehasbeenreflectedon(inthiscase,throughdialogue),transformationhas
occurred,andnewinsightshavearrivedthusproducingnewknowledge.More
importantly,theclienthasexperiencedsomeformofshiftintoaheightenedawareness
(thiscomesalongwiththeinsightandthefeltemotionswhichwerecutoffbythe
situationaldepression).
Withthisshiftintoanewlevelofconsciousness(atranscendance),theclient'senergyor
flowisfreeduptooperateonthenarrative,thusproducingtheabilityfornewinsight,
perhapsan"AHA!Experience",andnewlearnings.Then,ofcourse,thewholecyclewill
startagain,astheproblemsymbolhasbeentransformedtoangerandragewhich,
presumably,hasnotbeentransformed.Rather,theangerandragehasbeenrepressed,a
digressivetransformation.Wilberalsoobservesthatothermethodsoftranslatingand
transformingincludeperturbing.Perturbingtakesplaceinspiritualpracticewhena
mastersetsupcertaindisciplineswhichchallengetheeverydayrealityofadisciple;
meditationandfastingareexamplesofsuchdisciplines.Transformationoccursasa
drawingforth,muchliketheeducationthatisdescribedbytheLatinword"educo",which
meansto"drawforth".Suchtransformationordrawingforthresultsininsights,as
conceptualspaceisopenedforthedisciple.Themajordifferencebetweentherapyand
education(asitiswidelypracticetoday)isthatgoodtherapywillleaveanindividualwith
notonlyatransformationofmeaning,butwiththeabilitytolookatmeaningsasbeing
relativetothemannersinwhichlifesituationsareexamined,whereasmosteducationwill
leavethelearnerwithexplicitspecificsastowhatthingsmean.
Poststructuraltherapistshelpindividualsreflectontheirnarrativestoengender
alternativemeaningswhichcanbringaboutatransformation.WhiteandEpston(1990)
discusstheimportanceoflookingforexceptionstoaproblembehavior,andidentifythese
as"uniqueoutcomes"inaperson'sstrugglewithaproblem.Forawriter,forexample,
writinganythingduringaboutwithwriter'sblockwouldbeseeninapositivelightasone
ofpossiblymanyuntold"uniqueoutcomes"againstabackgroundstoryofconstraintsor
difficultieswiththewriting.Uniqueoutcomeshavebeendefinedasaspectsofaperson's
experiencewithconstraintsthatareexceptionsorcontradictionstotheproblem,suchas
wouldnothavebeenpredictedbyareading/retellingofthedominant(problemoriented)
story(Zimmerman&Dickerson,1996,p.57;WhiteandEpston,1990).Indiscussingthe
benefitsofopening"conceptualspace"forclientstoescapetheinfluenceoftheproblem
intheirlives,Tomm(1988,p.54)notesthatexternalizingconstraints(andtheproblem
itself)canleadtotheinternalizingofpersonalagency.FreedmanandCombs(1993,
p.296)notetheimportanceof"openingspaceforrecoveringandgeneratingalternative
experienceandknowledge"(p.296).Irrespectiveoftheendpurposetobemet,theactof
openingconceptualspaceiswhatthetherapist,themystic,andthepraxislearnerare
questingfor,foritiswithinstandingintoopenconceptualspacethattransformationand
theabilitytotransendandoperateonoccurs.
Praxis,then,isadrawingforththatiscarriedoutbythelearnerinquestofopening
conceptualspacetoseewhatelsecanhappen.AsIhavealreadymentioned,onemanner
whichfacilitatesthisistheuseofareflectivejournal,inwhichtheindividualwrites
experiencesandthoughts/feelingsaboutsuchexperiences,whileobserving
himself/herselfengaginginthisactivity.Anotherformofpraxisisthewritingdownof
one'sdreams,apsychoanalyticalpractice.AsIwritethisIamthinkingoftheapproachof
Jung,forthatistheformofpsychoanalysiswhichIhavesomeexperiencewith.Asone
progressesalonginthewritingofone'sdreamsvariousthemesorpatternsbeginto
emerge.Thisissimilartousingaqualitativemethodofanalysisuponaseriesofresearch
interviews.Suchanalysiswillalsobringabouttheemergingofthemes,differences,
similarities,etc.Therecognitionof,theawarenessandreflectiononopensupfurther
possibility.
InteractionswithSelf/OthersWhileSituating/ObservingMyselfInMyOwn
NarrativeKnowledge
EvenasIwriteinthemoment,astheauthorofthisdocument,Iamengagingin
action/reflection.Therearemomentswheninsightcomessometimesprofoundinsight.
Andtherearehoursanddayswherethewholeprocessisastruggle.YetIobservemyself
engagingwithmyownideas,experience,andtheideasofothers.Ichoosetobe
transparent,tobepublicinsituatingmyselfwithinthecontextsofwhereIhavecome
from,myjourney,andwhatinformsmythinkinginwhatIcurrentlyobserveand
participatewithmuchofitshapedbynarrativeknowledge.Thisprocessutilizesaction
andreflectionandembracesboththeobservedandtheobserver,theinternalandthe
external,recursivelybackandforth.Evolutionofthoughtandexperienceistheresult.
Onemighttermtheaboveasaformoftransparentinternalreflexivedialoguebetween
thatwhichinfluencesthewritertoundertakesuchobservationandwriting,andwhatis
observedandinteractedwith.Thus,thisheuristiclikeprocess(Moustakas,1990)of
reflectingonone'shistory,thepresentself,theobserved,andotherrelatedideas,inan
internalandexternaldialoguewiththeideasothers,reflectsFreire'sexhortationthat
Thosewhoauthenticallycommitthemselvestothepeoplemustreexaminethemselves
constantly.Thisconversionissoradicalasnottoallowofambiguousbehavior(1985,
p.46).
Freire'scommentsreiterateadistinctionwhichIbroughtupealierinthisdocument
"relationaldiscourse",theactofincludingtheOtherinone'sconstructionandevolution
oftheory,practicethroughaction,reflectionanddialogue.Theinclusionandintegration
ofmultiplelifeandworkexperiencesinacurriculumengenderswhatSchon(1983)calls
praxis,acycleofactionandreflectiononthemultipleaspectsofthelifeexperienceand
thenewknowledgeinthecurriculum.Theaboveengendersa"relationaldiscourse",an
internalacademicandspokendialoguebetweenmultipleperspectives,broughtaboutby
suchdistinctions(observedbyRicoeur,1992)astheselfasspeaker/narrator/actor/moral
subjectofimputation.IhaveexpandedonRicoeur'sideaandincludedcertain"others"as
foundbelow.
1. theself(educator/writer)asspeaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectof
imputation,
2. theother(theconsumer/adultlearner)asspeaker/narrator/actor/moral
subjectofimputation,
3. thelivedexperienceother(theadultlearneraspossessorofvastreservoirs
ofnarrativeknowledge)asspeaker/narrator/actor,
5. poststructuraldiscourse(aboutknowledgediscourse)as
speaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectofimputation
Relationaldiscourseincludesperspectivesofallofthesepositionsgivingthemallequal
voiceratherthanonedominantvoice.Whenbroughttobearonthesubjectof
educational,therapeutic,andrelatedotherservicestotheconsumer(.e.g.,writing
'about'theconsumerassubject/learner,orengagingwiththeconsumerintheacademic
dialogue)relationaldiscourseengendersaspiritofcollaboration,andparticularly,social
liberationfortheconsumerpositionratherthananexperienceofobjectification.
ThisheuristicprocessalsoreflectsCharlesWaldegrave'spracticeofdevelopingand
evolvingpracticesthataregroundedby"action"and"reflection"praxis.Waldegrave,a
familytherapist,livesinNewZealandandworkswithmanylocalMaori.HisNew
ZealandFamilyCenteremployslocalsandislargelymodeledonwhatheandhis
colleagueshavelearnedfromlocals(mostlynonwhites).Asstatedpreviously,the
interactionofactionandreflectionbecomearecursiveprocessbywhichthetherapist's
practiceandtheoryevolves.Waldegrave'sapplicationofpraxisisgroundedinactionand
reflection,asevidencedbyhiscenter'suseofretreats,(3peryear)wheretheactionsof
theprevioustimeperiodarereflecteduponandapproachesareevolvedfromthisprocess
(personalcommunicationwiththerapistVikkiReynolds;September10,1999).This
remindsmeofIgnatioMartineBaro'sconceptionofaliberationpsychologythatis
groundedinthelivesofthepeopleitserves.FollowingMartineBaro'sthinking,therapy
shouldbebornoutofpraxis,agrassrootsevolutioninspiredandinformedbythelived
experienceofthepeopleandrelevanttotheculturalrealityandmeaningsystemsofthe
people,asarrivedatbythetherapistincollaborativedialoguewiththosepeople.
Suchselfstudyisanextensionofrelationaldiscourseinthatitincludesinternaldialogue
withtheselfinadditiontotheobserver/participatorinteractingwiththeobserved(e.g.,
theconsumer),therelatedideasofone'sfield,andinformationfromotherfields(e.g.,
poststructuralphilosophy)oranythingelsethatmightopenupconceptualspaceor
expandthepractitioner'sownparadigmaticprofessionaldiscourse.Thisinward/outward
reflectioninthecontextofone'sparadigmaticdiscourseisaddressedalsobyCeltic
scholarJohnO'Donohue(1998):
Theworldisfullofwords.Therearesomanytalkingallthetime,loudly,quietly,in
rooms,onstreets,ontelevision,onradio,inthepaper,inbooks.Thenoiseofwordskeeps
whatwecalltheworldthereforus.Wetakeeachother'ssoundsandmakepatterns,
predictions,benedictions,andblasphemies.Eachday,ourtribeoflanguageholdswhat
wecalltheworldtogether.Yettheutteringofthewordrevealshoweachofusrelentlessly
creates.Everyoneisanartist.Eachpersonbringssoundoutofsilenceandcoaxesthe
invisibletobecomevisible....Anunknownworldaspirestowardreflection.Wordsare
theobliquemirrorsthatholdyourthoughts.Yougazeintothesewordmirrorsandcatch
glimpsesofmeaning,belonging,andshelter.Behindtheirbrightsurfacesisthedarkand
thesilence.Wordsarelikethegodjanus,theyfaceoutwardandinwardatonce....In
ordertokeepourbalance,weneedtoholdtheinteriorandexterior,visibleandinvisible,
knownandunknown,temporalandeternal,ancientandnew,together(pp.xvxvi).
Ongoingselfreflection,thestuffofpraxis,mustbecarriedoutifoneisgoingtofollow
thethinkingofGirouxtobeapoliticalperson.Ifoneistobeinapositionof
authority/influencesuchastherapist/educatorthenoneneedstobelisteningforthe
presenceofinjustice,conquest,colonization,andobjectification.Ifoneistocultivatea
relationaldiscoursewithothersthatwillhavetoincluderelationallydiscursivelistening
tothestoriesofthosewhocomefromoppressedandmarginalizedsegmentsofsociety.
Moreimportantly,thatindividualwillhavetobeattunedtothepowerofknowledge
discoursetosubvertnarrativeknowledge.Theenactmentofsuchpowerisoneofthe
moresubtleforcesthathasbeenemployedinthehistoricpracticesofcolonizationand
genocide;thewipingoutofpeople'sliterature,oralteachings,languageandnarrative
knowledgeisconsideredtobeofequalimportancetothemoreseveremeasuresinthe
practiceofgenocide.
Relationallydiscursivelisteninginvolvesalisteningwhichbothaddressestheimmediate
situationofothersandgoesbeyonditsimultaneously.Suchdiscursivelisteningtravelsfar,
intothecontextoftheOther'slife,keepingaproverbial"eartotheground"forthe
presenceofinjustice,conquest,colonization,andobjectification.Ittakesadiscursive
standagainstthesethingsastheyappearintheother'spersonalstory,andincludesthe
existenceofsuchthingsasapotentialforceintheconstructionoftheother'sproblems.It
discursivelyperformsthehighervaluesofsocietyandmakesjudgmentcallsagainst
injustice.Itpointsoutgapsinlargesystemaccountabilityanddemandssuch
accountability,whetheritisgenderaccountability,raceaccountability,class
accountability,orcorporateorgovernment,oreducationalsystemaccountability.Itgoes
totheheartofthematter.
TheLearningJournal(byMargaretJamesNeill)
Personaljournalscanbeveryusefulincarryingoutpraxislearning.Ireceivedthisvery
relevantarticleonontheuseofapersonaljournalaspartofthereadingmaterialshanded
outwhileIwasattentingoneofNTLInstitute's"HumanInteraction"laboratory,aneight
dayinteractiveprocesswhereonelearnsnewandinterestingthingsaboutoneself
primarilythroughgroupinteractionwithothers.NTLwasthepioneeroftheTgroup
(traininggroup)in1947.TheTgroupistheoriginalformatoutofwhichsprang"team
building"processes.Althoughthearticleaddressesthevalueoftheuseofajournalin
humaninteractionlaboratoriesitisanequallyvaluabletooltobeusedinavarietof
contexts,includingwork,education,andpersonallife.Becauseofthegreatrelevanceof
thisarticleIamincludingitinitsentirety.ThisarticleisfoundintheReadingBookfor
HumanRelationsTraining,publishedbytheNTLInstitute(1982).
TheLearningJournal
MargaretJamesNeill
Perhapsoneofthemostdifficultlearningtaskswehaveisworkingwithandonourselves.
Thefaddismofmanyselfdiscoverymethods,includingmeditationtechniques,the"Zen"
ofalmosteverything,biofeedback,selfdefenseschools,est,andmindcontrolprograms
suggeststhatweareeagertolearnmoreaboutourselvesperhapstoreducethestressof
dailylivingandsowerushtotrynewtechniques.
However,someresearchsuggeststhatour"stayingpower"isnotasgreatasour"starting
power".Transcendentalmeditationhasnotreacheditsgoalof1%ofthenation's
populationmeditatingtwicedaily.Andthisisnottheonlyprogramforcedtoreconsider
itstimetableandreviseitsexpectationsdownward.Indeed,thephenomenomiscommon,
reinforcingtheideathattoworkwithandonone'sownpersonaldevelopmentmaysound
easy,butisusuallydifficulttobuildintoaconsistentdailyroutine.
Thelearninglaboratorysettingisoftenagoodplacetostartanewprocess,behavior,or
technique,butitthenmustbebuiltintoone'sdailyrepertoirebackhome,atwork,with
family,and/orwithothersharedrelationships.
Thepersonallearningjournalisonesuchprocess/technique.Itoffersanopportunityfor
engagingoneselfinexploringavarietyofdimensionsofone'sownexperienceandbeing
anditissomethingwecan"transplant"withrelativeeasefromlaboratorytobackhome.
TheWhatandWhy
Effectivejournalkeeping,aswithothermoreprivatetechniques(suchasmeditation),can
beameansfordeepeningoutinsightsintothetotalflowofourlifeprocesses,learningto
perceiveandattendtotheselfinnewways,discoveringnewdimensionsoftheself,and
developingapersonalfeedbacksystem.
Atonelevel,wecansaythatajournalissimplyawrittenrecordofourdailylives.
However,aswekeepandinteractwiththejournalbyreadingitaloudtoourselvesorin
thepresenceofothers,orintoataperecorderandplayingitbacktoourselves,webegin
toexpandthissimplerecordintoadialoguewithourselves.Suchdialogueisamost
effectivemeansoflearningaboutourselves.Inthiswaywecanmoreclearlyseewhere
wehavebeen,thechoiceswemakeandthemeanswehaveusedtoexpressourselvesin
theworld.Ifwecanconceiveofajournalasameansofestablishingadialoguewithself
orasapersonalfeedbackmechanism,wecanthenidentifysomeassumptionsandsome
reasonsforusingthepersonaljournalasanintegralpartofthelaboratorylearning
experience.Therearetwoassumptionswemakewhenusingajournalasameansof
learningaboutourselves:
1. Thereisa"self".Weareallmorethanthesumofthepartsofthephysical,
biological,andsocialwhichscientistshavebeenabletoidentify,describe
andcatalogue.Thereisalifeforcewithineachofuswhichmovesus
towardwhatMaslowcalls"selfactualization"aprocessbywhichwe
increaseourcapacitytoknow,value,andchooseour"lifepath".Eachof
usexperienceslifeinauniquewayandthatisworthwritingabout!
2. Wecanincreaseourcompetencetoknow,value,andchooseourlifepath
byavarietyofmethods.Writingdownourlifeflowisasystematicway
andusingitasaguideisonemethodtoknowourselvesbetter,toseeand
hearourselvesinnewwaysandtobeabletoincorporatethisinformation
intoournextexperiences.
Somereasonsforstartingajournalaspartofyourlaboratoryexperiencemightbe:
1. Toexperimentwithnewbehavior.Ifyou'veneverkeptapersonaljournal
thismaywellbeanewbehavioryouwanttotryout.
2. Todevelopaninternalfeedbacksystemforyou.Itfeedsbacktoyouwhat,
how,andwhereyouwereduringthecourseofaday.Itisdifferentfrom
feedbackrequestedandreceivedfromothers.Itisindeedaninternal
dialogue.
3. Toexpressfeelingsfreelyandtoexplorethosefeelingmoments;toreflect
onthepersons,tasks,processesandspecificstimulithatevokeemotional
responsesinyouandonyourownbehaviorwiththosefeelingsand
persons.Throughthisexpressive/reflectiveprocesswelearnwhatourown
dynamicsareourownenergizingpatterns.
4. Tolearnmoreaboutimportantaspectsofourlives:(a)Ourpersonal
history"WherehaveIbeeninmylife"?(b)Ourcurrentstatus"Where
amInowinmylifepathandpattern"?"Whatbringsmetothis'now'place
andwhatdoIperceiveaboutmyselfinrelationtothisspace/timereality"?
(c)Ourfuturepotential"WhereamIgoing"?"Whoisthisperson
movingintothefuture"?
5. Toenhanceourcapacitytobeawareoftheinnerdynamicsormovement
ofourownlives.Itcanhelptoexpandourconsciousnessofthebody
mindspiritunityofourselves,toincreaseoursensitivitytoothers.Aswe
digourownpersonalwell,wemayeventuallyreachtheundergroundriver
fromwhichourbasicunitysprings.
Apersonaljournalcanbeaverypowerfullearningtoolandprocessduringandaftera
laboratoryexperience.Butwemaybeconfusedaboutwhatitis.Isitadiary,alog,a
timeandmotionstudy?Ajournalisnoneofthese,yetallofthemandmore.Miller
writesthatapsychologicaljournal"actsasareflectoroftheinnercoursewearecharting
daybyday,andcangiveusthestimulationandsupportwhichmanyseekfromthe
outsideworld".1Shedifferentiatesbetweenadiaryandajournalbynotingthatwherea
diaryisguidedmorebyexternalevents,thejournalisdirectedbyinternalthemes.
Progoffconceivesofthe"IntensiveJournal"asalifetimeprocess.2
Thechartattheendofthisarticledescribessomeofthepossiblecontentofyourjournal
anditspotentialimpactonyou.Theseeffectscanbeachievedifyouhaveaplanforusing
thejournalwhichincludeswriting,readingandreflectingonyourwriting.
Yourlaboratoryexperiencesandyourjournalarestepstowardfreedomandrsponsibility.
Yourjournalcanbecomethevehiclethroughwhichyoudiscoveryourownwayinthe
world.
Themosteffectiveworkwiththejournaloccurswhenyousetasidesometimeeachday
forwriting.Wesuggestatleastahalfhourdailyduringyourlaboratory.Developingthis
disciplinebackhomecanbedifficult.Thesesuggestionsmayhelpyoubuildinthis
personaltimebackhome:3
1. Reviewyourcurrentweeklyschedule.Identifythetimeyouspendalone
now.Ifnone,thenreviewyourscheduleasecondtimeandlookfor
possibletimeswhenyoucouldbealone.
2. Setarealisticgoalforwritinginyourjournal.Thismaybeginwithoncea
week,twiceorthreetimeseachweek.
3. Donotpuinishyourselfwithnegativethoughtsandevaluationsifyoudo
notadheretoyourscheduleimmediately.
4. Beginwritingthosepartsofthejournalthatareeasyforyou;thenmoveto
thelessfamiliarandmoredifficultparts.
5. Determinetohavesomealonetimeonaregularbasisforyourself,and
thenremembertodoit.
Yourpersonaljournalisaroutetoyourowninnerrichesandresources.Welcometothe
companyofthousandsofuswhohavediscoveredthispath.
TABLE1
JournalChart
Content
What To Write
Potential Effect(s)
1. Events
What happened, in sequence? How

did the event start? How did it end?
When, in time, did it start? End?
List the people, things, content of
the event.
Increased awareness of
timing cues you wish to
know when something
begins and ends. Increased
skill in describing behavioral
sequence in an interaction
process.
2. People
Name persons,; describe them

physically; sex, race, age, height,
weight, physical condition. Note
the ones who were most important
to you. Describe their behavior,
verbal and/or non/verbal, which
made an impact on you.
Increased observation skills,

increased ability to identify
what types of persons and/or
behaviors evoke a response
in you. Increased awareness
of what you attend to and do
not attend to with other
persons.
3. Feelings
What you felt/feel. How your body

felt/feels (was there a change in
breathing? What nonverbal,
physical cues were present at the
time the feeling was recognized?)
What was the flow of feeling
during the day - the highs, the
Increased awareness of the

flow of your emotional
responses, recognition of
feelings as a constantly
changing flux throughout the
day. Awareness of body
changes as feelings change.
lows, the neutral or quiet times?

Who or what was involved with
you when the feelings occurred?
Increased attention to
physical responses to people
and processes, awareness of
your own nonverbal cues,
internal and external (overt
behavior).
4. Striking
thoughts or
"insights"
Write out the complete thought. If

possible, describe what you were
doing when the thought occurred.
Write down any other associations
you make with the thought. Make a
full report.
Increased awareness of your

own learning; syntheses of
your daily life experiences;
sensitivity to your own
wisdom; potential sources
for action in the laboratory
or back home.
5. Experiences with
ideas
Ideas may come from yourself,

other people, or books. Write them
down. Briefly (2 or 3 sentences)
describe their impact on you.
Increased awareness of the

extent to which ideas,
language and thought affect
you and have impact on your
behavior.
6. Experiences with
things
Paintings, plays, water, novels,

books, trees, flowers, food, and
rocks are only a few of the things
which may impact you during a
day. Note them.
Recognition and
appreciation of non-human
materials and your
sensitivity to them.
7. Dreams/
fantasies
Write out the dream completely

and accurately, with as much detail
as possible.
Knowledge about your own

personal symbolic language;
a new means of
understanding your life
experiences from an inner
perspective.
S.U.Miller,"KeepingaPsychologicalJournal,"Synthesis,1:2,109.
IraProgoff,AtaJournalWorkshop,NewYork:DialogueHouseLibrary,1975.
3
SeealsoPorter."TheLearningJournal:SomeMechanics."
2
TheLearningJournal:SomeMechanics
byLarryPorter
IamincludingthisarticlebyLarryPorterasitprovidesaslightlydifferentperspectiveon
thelearningjournal.LiketheearlierarticlethisisfoundintheReadingBookforHuman
RelationsTraining,publishedbytheNTLInstitute(1982).
Keepingajournalisonewayoforganizingandexaminingone'sexperiencesoastolearn
fromit.Onewaytodothisistofocusonthreeelements:
1. adescriptionoftheexperience(i.e.,the"event"or"episode"What
happened");
2. yourreactionstotheexperience(whatyouthought,felt,wanted,did);and
3. whatyoulearnedbyexamininghowyoureactedtowhathappened.
Formanypeople,whethertheyareawareofitornot,themostdifficultpartis#1,a
descriptionoftheexperience.Thisissobecauseweareaccustomedtointerpretingand/or
evaluatingourperceptions,oftenwithoutrealizingwhattheperceptionsare,inany
objectivesense.Askedtodescribeaninteraction,manypeoplewouldsay,"Joegavemea
hardtime."Thisisnotdescriptiveitisinpretative/evaluative.(Tocheckthis,whatdo
youseeorhearwhensomeonesays"Hardtime?"Whateveritis,it'snotnecessarilygoing
tobewhatanotherpersonseesorhears).Adescriptionwouldbe,"Joesaidhewasn't
readyyettogivemetheinformationIwanted,"or"Joeinterruptedmeanumberoftimes
whenItriedtoexplaintohimwhyIneededhishelp."
For#2(yourreactions),trytogetintouchwithwhatyouthought,felt,wanted,did
whicheverofthesewerestrongenoughinyoutobenoticeable.Ifyouwanttolearnfrom
theepisode,youmayneedtoworkhardtogetatyourreactionsespeciallyyourfeelings,
whichsomanyofushavelearnedtoignore,suppress,ordistort.We'renotalwaysaware
ofthemoresubtleofouractionseither,sowemayneedtodigtogetthemout.Wemay
beconfusedaboutorunawareofwhatwereallywanted,soitmaytakecareful
explorationtobecomeawareofitretrospectively.
Reactionstothesameextentcanvarygreatlyfrompersontopersonandcontextto
context.Forexample,herearesomepossiblereaction'stoJoe'srefusaltogivethe
information:Actions"Ifrownedathimandwalkedaway.""ItoldhimIhadenough
delayingtactics.""IsaidIwassorryhefeltthatwayaboutit.""Iaskedhimwhenhe
thoughthewouldbeabletogivemetheinformation."Feelings"Ifeltangryand
frustrated.""Ifeltanxious,becauseIreallyneededtheinformation.""Ifeltsadthatour
workingrelationshipwassopoor.""Iwasfrightened,becauseIwasafraidI'dlosemy
job."Desires"Iwantedtohithim.""Iwantedtoget'straight'withJoe.""Iwantedtoget
theinformationIneededassoonaspossible."Thoughts"Ithought,'OhGod,whydoes
thishavetohappentome?""IthoughtJoewastryingtopullafastoneonme.""I
thought,'Joe'sdoingthebesthecan'."
Obviously,alloftheabovearepossiblereactions(andtherearemany,manyothers)tothe
describedincident.Thelearningwouldprobablybedifferentforeachreaction.For"I
frownedandwalkedaway,"itmightbe"Ihaveatendencytosendoutunclearsignalsand
notengageinproblemsolvingsometimes."For"ItoldhimI'dhadenoughdelaying
tactics,"itcouldbe"Sometimesigooffhalfcockedandmakeinterpretationsofother
people'sbehaviorbeforeIhaveallthefacts.""Iwasfrightened,becauseIwasafraidI
wouldlosemyjob"mightcallforanexaminationofhowIfeelaboutjobsecurityand
aboutthesecurityofthisjobinparticular.Andsoforth.
Thereactions,inotherwords,cansuggestissuesweneedtoworkon,explore,thinkabout.
Theymayindicatethatwe'vemadesomeheadwayinourefforttochangecertain
behaviors.Theymayhelpusmakegreatersenseoutofthingsthathavehappenedtousin
thepast.Andtheymayprovideuswithinformationthatwillbeusefultousthenexttime
asimilarsituationoccurs.
Itisnotusuallynecessarytowritedownwhatwethoughtandfeltandwantedanddid.
Instead,includewhicheverofthese(andattimesitmaybeallfour)havesalienceforyou
eitherbecausetheyjust"popout"orbecauseyou'vebeenabletopuzzlethemout.
Makejournalentiresinwhateverwaysworkforyou.Onewayistodividethepageinto
threeverticalcolumns,header"Episode"or"Event,""MyReaction,"and"WhatI
Learned."Anotheristowriteonebeneaththeother.Don'tworryifyouhavetoleavethe
thirdcolumnblankforawhile.Itmaybethatthiswillbecomeapparentonlyaftera
numberofsimilareventsbegintohelpyoumakesenseofyourreactions.Also,the
"learning"maynothaveoccurredatthesametimeastheexperience(otherwise,there'd
belesspointinkeepingthejournal).Itmostoftencomesafteryou'vedonesomecareful
thinkingaboutwhatreallyhappened(thedescription)andhowyoureactedtoit.The
journalrequiresandenablesyoutodothatthinking.1
1
SeealsoM.JamesNeill,"TheLearningJournal."
NotesonNarrativeKnowledgeandPraxis(Action/Reflection)inQualitative
Research
Asthetitleaboveimplies,thissectionwillconsistofaseriesofblockquotationsfrom
principalauthorsaddressingthefieldofqualitativeresearch.Eachoftheseauthors
addressestheimportanceoftheobserver'sobservationsandreflectionsonthose
observations.Suchobservations,whetherinpersonalorprofessional,orresearch
contexts,canformthebasisofresearchquestions,orquestionsorhypothesesfor
wideningordeepeningaresearchproject.Thepointofthissectionisthatobservations
madeinthecourseofinteractionsconstitutesaformofnarrativeknowledge.Granted,
suchnarrativeknowledgemaybeinarawformandneedfurtherdeconstruction,ortobe
"operatedon"through"translationandtransformation",astranspersonalpsychology
theoristKenWilber(1980)termsit.Typically,withchildren,forexample,questionscome
outofachild'sinteractionwiththeworld.Thechildthenasksthosequestionsinaneffort
tomakesenseofhis/herworld.Theparentandteacherstranslatethechild'sexperiences
intoconstructedcontextsandmeaning.
Thisprocessofaction/reflectionisevidentfromanearlyage,andwedevelopfurtheras
weoperateonourexperienceinourquesttoproduceinsightandnarrativeknowledge.
Throughoutmostofourlivesweseektranslationofexperienceandtransformationof
meaning,whetherthroughourowninternalresourcesorthroughdialoguewithothers.
Therapy,asweknowit,isaformalizedformoftranslationandtransformation,usually
enteredintowhenourowninternalresourcesandsignificantothers(lovedones,friends,
etc.)arenotenoughtodirectlyaddressthetranslationandtransformationofparticular
phenomenainourlives.Theultimatetransformationisthetransformationoftheself,
whetheritbethroughselfactualizationofourvaluesandinborntalentsorextended
furtherintothetranspersonalrealmthroughmeditationorothermysticpractices(see
Wilber,1980).Inthissectionexamplesaregivenrelevanttotheexerciseandinportance
ofpraxisinqualitativeresearch.InthesectionfollowingthisoneIwillpaymore
attentiontotranslationandtransformationandtheuseofpraxisinthatendeavor.Inthis
sectiontheterms"naturalisticresearch","qualitativeresearch","heuristicresearch"and
"ethnography"areusedtodistinguishakindofresearchthattakesplaceinnaturalistic
circumstances,whetheritbewithpeopleassubjectsorunobtrusivelyviathestudyof
documents.
TheValueofPersonalandProfessionalExperienceinQualitativeResearch
ThefollowingcommentsarefromStrauss&Corbin(1990):
Personalandprofessionalexperience.Theseareoftenthesourcesofproblems[thatare
thebeginningofresearchproposals].Apersonmayundergoadivorceandwonderhow
otherwomenormenexperiencedtheirowndivorces.Or,someonemaycomeacrossa
probleminhisorherprofessionorworkplaceforwhichthereisnoknownanswer.
Professionalexperiencefrequentlyleadstothejudgementthatsomefeatureofthe
professionoritspracticeislessthaneffective,efficient,human,orequitable.So,itis
believed,perhapsagoodresearchstudymighthelptocorrectthatsituation.Some
professionalsreturntostudyfortheirhigherdegreesbecausetheyaremotivatedbythat
reformambition.Theresearchproblemsthattheychoosearegroundedinthatmotivation.
Choosingaresearchproblemthroughtheprofessionalorpersonalexperienceroutemay
seemmorehazardousthanthroughthesuggestedorliteratureroutes.Thisisnot
necessarilytrue.Thetouchstoneofyourownexperiencemaybemorevaluablean
indicatorforyouofapotentiallysuccessfulresearchendeavor.
Certainly,anyonewhoiscuriousorconcernedabouttheworldaroundhimselforherself
andwhoiswillingtotakerisksshouldnot,aftersomedeliberationandusingthesources
suggestedabove,havetoomuchtroublefindingaproblemareatostudy.Thenextstepis
askingtheproperresearchquestion(1990,pp.3536).
AFieldworkJournal
ThefollowingcommentsarefromJamesP.Spradley(1980).
Inadditiontofieldnotesthatcomedirectlyfromobservingandinterviewing(the
condensedaccountandexpandedaccount),ethnographersshouldalwayskeepajournal.
Likeadiary,thisjournalwillcontainarecordofexperiences,ideas,fears,mistakes,
confusions,breakthroughs,andproblemsthatariseduringfieldwork.Ajournalrepresents
thepersonalsideoffieldwork;itincludesreactionstoinformantsandthefeelingsyou
sensefromothers.
Eachjournalentryshouldbedated.Rereadingyourjournalatalatertimewillrevealhow
quicklyyouforgetwhatoccurredduringthefirstdaysandweeksoffieldwork.Months
later,whenyoubegintowriteupthestudy,thejournalbecomesanimportantsourceof
data.Doingethnographydiffersfrommanyotherkindsofresearchinthatyou,the
ethnographer,becomeamajorresearchinstrument.Makinganintrospectiverecordof
fieldworkenablesapersontotakeintoaccountpersonalbiasesandfeelings,to
understandtheirinfluencesontheresearch(1980,pp.7172).
TheUseoftheReflexiveJournalinNaturalisticResearch
ThefollowingcommentsarebyLincoln&Guba(1985).
Thetechniquesdiscussedintheprecedingpagesapplyspecificallytotheestablishmentof
credibility,transferability,dependability,andconfirmability[translatestoreliability,
validity,andgeneralizabilitystandardcriteriaforestablishingacceptableresearch
results].Onefinaltechniqueshouldbementionedthathasbroadrangingapplicationto
allfourareasandprovidesabaseforanumberofjudgementcallstheauditormustmake,
forexample,extenttowhichtheinquirer'sbiasesinfluencedtheoutcomes.Thattechnique
isthereflexivejournal,akindofdiaryinwhichtheinvestigatoronadailybasis,oras
needed,recordsavarietyofinformationaboutself(hence,theterm"reflexive")and
method.Withrespecttotheself,thereflexivejournalmightbethoughtofasproviding
thesamekindofdataaboutthehumaninstrumentthatisoftenprovidedaboutthepaper
andpencilorbrassinstrumentsusedinconventionalstudies.Withrespecttomethod,the
journalprovidesinformationaboutmethodologicaldecisionsmadeandthereasonsfor
makingtheminformationalsoofgreatimporttotheauditor.Whilemuchthought
remainstobegiventothenatureofsuchajournal,itwouldappearreasonabletosuggest
thatitconsistofseparatepartsthatincludethefollowing:(1)thedailyscheduleand
logisticsofthestudy;(2)apersonaldiarythatprovidestheopportunityforcatharsis,for
reflectionuponwhatishappeningintermsofone'sownvaluesandinterests,andfor
speculationaboutgrowinginsights;and(3)amethodologicalloginwhich
methodologicaldecisionsandaccompanyingrationalesarerecorded.Entriesshouldbe
madeonadailybasisinthedailyscheduleandpersonaldiary,andasneededinthe
methodologicallog(1985,p.327).
Reflection
ThefollowingcommentsarefromcriticalethnographerJimThomas(1993).
Ethnographicresearchersareactivecreatorsratherthanpassiverecordersofnarrativesor
events.Allethnographyrequiressystematicintellectualorpersonalinvolvementwithour
subjects,regardlessofwhetherwearerelyingonartifactsorfullyimmersedwiththe
subjectsthemselves.Reflectionreferstotheactofrigorouslyexamininghowthis
involvementaffectsourdatagathering,analysis,andsubsequentdisplayofthedatatoan
audience.Throughreflection,anactofrepeatedthinkingaboutourproject,weattemptto
becomeselfawareoftheprocessesandconsequencesofknowledgeproductionby
bringingtheoriginalactofknowledgebackintoconsciousness(Gadamer,1976,p.45)
(Thomas1993,p.46).
HeuristicResearchandtheNarrativeSelf
HeuristicResearchplacesacentralemphasisontheuseoftheselfintheresearchprocess.
IfirstcameacrossthemodelwhenIwasactingasaclinicalsupervisorforagraduate
studentinfamilycounselingattheagencywhereIwork.Thestudentwasstudyingatthe
regionallyaccreditedPacificaGraduateInstitute.Thisinstitutionprovidesprograms
centeredarounddepthpsychologyandmythologyanddrawsfromworkswhichinclude
thoseofJung,JamesHillman,andJosephCampbell.Thisstudentwasabouttobeginher
MAthesisandintroducedmetotheideasofMoustakas,whichIfoundtobeveryrelevant
tothenotionofnarrativeknowledgeinacademicpursuits.
ThefollowingcommentaryisbyClarkMoustakis,fromhisbookHeuristicResearch:
Design,MethodologyandApplications(1990);intheabridgedsectionsfoundbelowheis
outliningtheconceptsandprocessesofheuristicresearch.
IdentifyingwiththeFocusofInquiry
Throughexploratoryopenendedinquiry,selfdirectedsearch,andimmersioninactive
experience,oneisabletogetinsidethequestion,becomeonewithit,andthusachievean
understandingofit.Salk(1983)hascalledthiskindofidentificationwiththefocusof
investigation"theinvertedperspective"(abridgedfromMoustakas1990,p.15).
SelfDialogue
Inadditiontothesignificanceofbecomingonewithwhatoneisseekingtoknow,one
mayenterintodialoguewiththephenomenom,allowingthephenomenomtospeak
directlytoone'sexperience,tobequestionedbyit.Inthisway,oneisabletoencounter
andexamineit,toengageinarhythmicflowwithitbackandforth,againandagain
untilonehasuncovereditsmultiplemeanings.Thenoneisabletodepicttheexperience
initsmanyaspectsorfoldingsintocorethemesandessences.Selfdialogueisthecrucial
beginning;therecognitionthatifoneisgoingtobeabletodiscovertheconstituentsand
qualitiesthatmakeupanexperience,onemustbeginwithoneself.One'sownself
discoveries,awarenesses,andunderstandingsaretheinitialstepsoftheprocess.(abridged
fromMoustakas1990,p.16).
TacitKnowing
Underlyingallotherconceptsinheuristicresearch,atthebaseofallheuristicdiscovery,
isthepowerofrevelationintacitknowing.Polyani(1983)hasstatedthatallknowledge
consistsorisrootedinactsofcomprehensionthataremadepossiblethroughtacit
knowing:"Wecanknowmorethanwecantell...Takeanexample.Weknowaperson's
face,andcanrecognizeitamongamillion.Yetweusuallycannottellhowtorecognizea
faceweknow...thisknowledgecannotbeputintowords"(p.4).Suchknowledgeis
possiblethroughatacitcapacitythatallowsonetosensetheunityorwholenessof
somethingfromanunderstandingoftheindividualqualitiesorparts(abridgedfrom
Moustakas1990,pp.2021).
Intuition
Fromthetacitdimension,akindofbridgeisformedbetweentheimplicitknowledge
inherentinthetacitandtheexplicitknowledgewhichisobservableanddescribable.The
bridgebetweentheexplicitandthetacitistherealmofthebetween,ortheintuitive.In
intuition,fromthesubsidiaryofobservablefactorsoneutilizesaninternalcapacityto
makeinferencesandarriveataknowledgeofunderlyingstructuresordynamics.Intuition
makesimmediateknowledgepossiblewithouttheinterveningstepsoflogicand
reasoning.Whilethetacitispuremysteryinitsfocalnatureineffableandunspecifiable
intheintuitiveprocessonedrawsonclues;onesensesapatternorunderlyingcondition
thatenablesonetoimagineandthencharacterizethereality,stateofmind,orcondition.
Inintuitionweperceivesomething,observeit,andlookandlookagainfromcluetoclue
untilwesurmisethetruth.
Themorethatintuitionisexercisedandtested,themorelikelyonewilldevelopan
advancedperceptivenessandsensitivitytowhatisessentialindiscoveryofknowledge.
Polyani(1969)viewsthelived,expressedintuitionasaskill,developedintoeffectiveness
throughpractice.Referringtointuition,hestates"thatgreatpowersofscientificintuition
arecalledoriginality,fortheydiscoverthingsthataremostsurprisingandmakemensee
theworldinanewway"(p.118).
Intuitionmakespossibletheperceivingofthingsaswholes(abridgedfromMousatakas
1990,p.23).
Indwelling
Indwellingreferstotheheuristicprocessofturninginwardtoseekadeeper,more
extendedcomprehensionofthenatureormeaningofaqualityorthemeofhuman
experience.Itinvolvesawillingnesstogazewithunwaveringattentionandconcentration
intosomefacetofhumanexperienceinordertounderstanditsconstituentqualitiesand
itswholeness.Tounderstandsomethingfully,onedwellsinsidethesubsidiaryandfocal
factorstodrawfromthemeverypossiblenuance,texture,fact,andmeaning.The
indwellingprocessisconsciousanddeliberate,yetitisnotlinealorlogical.Itfollows
clueswhenevertheyappear;onedwellsinsidethemandexpandstheirmeaningsand
associationsuntilafundamentalinsightisachieved(abridgedfromMoustakas1990,
p.24).
Focusing
Anotheressentialprocessintheheuristicinquiryisthatoffocusing.Itisbothaconcept
thatpointstoasignificantidearelevanttopersonalgrowth,insight,andchange,anda
processthathasbeenperfectedandadvancedasatherapeuticstrategybyGendlin(1978).
Thestepsoffocusingasusedinheuristicresearchincludetheclearingofaninwardspace
toenableonetotapintothoughtsandfeelingsthatareessentialtoclarifyingaquestion;
gettingahandleonthequestion;elucidatingitsconstuents;makingcontactwithcore
themes;andexplicatingthethemes.Focusingfacilitatingarelaxedandreceptivestate,
enablesperceptionsandsensingstoachievemoredefiniteclarification,tapsintothe
essenceofwhatmatters,andsetsasideperipheralqualitiesorfeelings.
Focusingisaninnerattention,astayingwith,asustainedprocessofsystematically
contactingthemorecentralmeaningsofanexperience.Focusingenablesonetosee
somethingasitisandtomakewhatevershiftsarenecessarytoremoveclutterandmake
contactwithnecessaryawarenessesandinsightsintoone'sexperience(abridgedfrom
Moustakas1990,p.25).
TheInternalFrameofReference
Heuristicprocessesrelatebacktotheinternalframeofreference.Whethertheknowledge
derivedisattainedthroughtacit,intuitive,orobservedphenomenawhetherthe
knowkedgeisdeepenedandextendedthroughindwelling,focusing,selfsearching,or
dialoguewithothersitsmediumorbasistheinternalframeofreference.
Toknowandunderstandthenature,meanings,andessencesofanyhumanexperience,
onedependsontheinternalframeofreferenceofthepersonwhohashad,ishaving,or
willhavetheexperience.Onlytheexperiencingpersonsbylookingattheirown
experiencesinperceptions,thoughts,feelings,andsensecanvalidlyprovideportrayals
oftheexperience.Ifoneistoknowandunderstandanother'sexperience,onemust
conversedirtectlywiththeperson.Onemustencouragetheothertoexpress,explore,and
explicatethemeaningsthatarewithinhisorherexperience(abridgedfromMoustakas
1990,p.26).
NarrativeKnowledgeintheFunctionofAuthorshipWitnessedintheWritingof
ThomasHardy
ThefollowingarticleisbyauthorRogerGuttridge,wholivesinWimborne,Dorset,
England.ThearticlewasfoundintheMarch,1999issueofDownhomerMagazine:A
LittlePartofNewfoundlandandLabradorforPeopleEverywhere.Rogerwritesaregular
columnforthatmagazinetitled"TheOldWorldConnection".Iamincludingthearticle
inthisdocumentbecauseIthinkitrepresentsaninterestingexampleofhowone's
narrativeknowledgecanbeusedinwritingliterature,asevidencedbyThomasHardy's
useofhisownnarrativeknowledgeintheshapingofhisownwriting.Roger'sbiography
note(attheheadofthearticle)statesthefollowing:
RogerisafreelancewriterfromDorset,England,whosespecialinterestsincludethe
historictransatlanticlinksbetweenNewfoundlandandLabradorandsouthwestEngland
andIreland...
TheThomasHardyConnection
byRogerGuttridge
AletterfromDownhomerreaderGeoffBowepromptsmetowriteontheconnection
betweenNewfoundlandandtheclassicWessexnovelsofThomasHardy.Dr.Bowe,ofthe
DepartmentofPhilosophyattheUniversityofAthens,kindlycommentsthathe"enjoyed
immensely"mycolumnintheNovemberissueandadds:"Theconnectionbetween
WessexandNewfoundlandwasunknowntomeuntilIreadthisarticle.Ihavealways
beenagreatfanofThomasHardy'snovelsandthearticlehelpsexplaintheconnectionI,
asaNewfoundlander,feelwithHardy'sdepictionofcharactersandlifeinWessex.
Incidently,ifmemoryserves,HardymentionsNewfoundlandandtheGrandBanksinthe
MayorofCasterbridge."
ThevastnumberofNewfoundlanderswithancestorsfromEngland'swestcountry
countiesneedlooknofurtherthanHardy'snovels,shortstoriesandpoemstogainan
insightintothehomelandandlifestyleoftheirancestors.Severalofhisnovelshavebeen
turnedintomajormoviesortelevisionseriesincludingFarFromtheMaddingCrowd,
TheMayorofCasterbridge,Tessofthed'Urbervilles,JudetheObscure,The
WoodlandersandtheReturnoftheNative.Hardylivedalmosthisentirelifeinthecounty
ofDorsetandtheareacoveredbythe"Wessex"ofhisnovelsincludesDorset,Devon,
SomersetandHampshireroughlytheareafromwhichtwothirdsofNewfoundland
settlerscame.Hiswritings,althoughficticious,arebasedonrealeventsandtraditions,
realplaces,reallandscapesandarealculture.Muchofthisculturetravelledto
NewfoundlandwiththepeoplewhosailedonthecodshipsfromtheportsofDorsetand
devon.
ItwasHardy'shabitinhiswritingstosubtlychangethenamesofplacesbutoftenina
waywhichmakesiteasytoidentifythecommunitiesonwhichtheyarebased.Hisnames
fortheDorsetportsofPoole,WeymouthandBridgeport,forexample,areHavenpool,
BudmouthandPortBredy.Similarly,SturnminsterNewtonanothercommunitywith
strongnewfoundlandconnectionsiscalledStourcastle,whileBlandfordForum,whichI
alsowroteaboutinarecentissue,isShottsfordForum.
Hardywasbornin1840inthevillageofHigherBockhamptonincentralDorsetjusta
coupleofmilesfromPuddletown,wherehehadmanyrelatives.Geographically,thiswas
attheveryheartofthemainareaofemigrationtoNewfoundlandandhegrewupsteeped
inthesametraditionsastheancestorsofsomanynewfoundlanders.Puddletown,which
HardycalledWeatherburyandwhichfeaturesprominantlyinhisnovel'FarFromthe
MaddingCrowd',isitselftheancestralhomeofmanyNewfoundlandersincluding(I
noticedinavisittoTwillingatechurchin1997)thePearcefamilyofTwillingate.
Asanadult,ThomasHardylivedinseveralDorsettowns,includingSturminsterNewton
(wherehewrote'ThereturnoftheNative')andWimborneMinster,whichhecalled
Warborneandwherehewrote'TwoOnaTower'.Theretownsalsoaretheancestral
homesofthousandsofNewfoundlanders.OntheirfirstnightinWimborneonJune25,
1881,HardyandhisfirstwifeEmmawatchedTebbut'sCometsailacrosstheskyand
HardylatermadeuseoftheincidentinTwoOnaTower.Thetowerisalsobasedonareal
towerwhichstillexistsonaprivateestatecalledCharboroughPark,afewmilesfrom
Wimborne.Hardy,whostartedhisworkinglifeasanarchitect,spentthesecondhalfof
hislifeinahousehedesignedhimself,maxgateatDorchester,thecountytownofDorset
onwhichhisCasterbridgeisbased.BothMaxGateandhisbirthplaceareownedbythe
NationalTrustandopentovisitorsatcertaintimes.
OnethingHardywrotesurprisinglylittleaboutisthesea,oratleastseavoyages.
Shipwrecksandvisitstocoastal(suchasWeymouthandBournemouth,whichhecalls
Sandbourne)featurefromtimetotimebutthereislittleaboutseavoyagesthemselves,
probablybecausetheywerebeyondhisexperience.TheBritishwriterandbroadcaster
DesmondHawkins,whohaswrittenseveralbooksonHardy,suggeststhatheused
Newfoundlandmoreorlessasaconveniencein'TheMayorofcasterbridge'."Hewanted
tohaveawanderingmanwhodisappearedandcamebackbuttheseawasnotalifethat
heknewwell,"Desmondtoldme.
ThestrongestlinkwithNewfoundlandinHardy'swritingsoccursinoneofhisshort
stories,'ToPleaseHisWife',whichappearedinacollectionofstoriescalled'Life'sLittle
Ironies'.ThisstoryiscentredonPoole(Havenpool)andincludesreferencestotheQuay,
fromwherethousandssailedforNewfoundlandeveryyear,andtotheChurchofSt.
James,Poole'smotherchurch,whoseroofissupportedbycolumnsofnewfoundlandpine
andwhichtodayfliesthenewfoundlandflagandhasmemorialstoNewfoundland
merchantsonitswalls.
Thestoryopenswithayoungsailorwalkingintoachurchtoofferupaprayerof
thanksgivingforhisdeliverancefromashipwreck.Hardygiveshimthenameof
ShadrachJoliffeaninterestingchoicesincetheJoliffeswereleadingPoole
newfoundlandmerchantsinthe18thand19thcenturieswithfishingstationsatFogoand
BaydeVerde.AdescendantoftherealJoliffes,RachelAllenby,stillfliesthe
Newfoundlandflagfromherhome,NewfoundlandHouse,onPooleQuay.
Minglingwiththecongregationaftertheservice,Shadrachmeetstwogirlsandeventually
marriesoneofthem,Joanna,whoschemesherwayintohisaffectionsaheadofherfriend
Emily.JoliffegivesuphislifeatseaandsettlesdownasashopkeeperinHavenpool.he
makesapoorbusinessmanhowever,andJoannebecomesincreasinglydissatisfiedattheir
poorcircumstances,especiallywhencomparedtothoseofEmily,whoisnowprosperous
aftermarryingasuccessfulmerchant.Topleasehiswife,Shadrachvowstogotosea
again,buysabrigwhichhenamesJoannaandjoinstheNewfoundlandtrade.Onhis
returnheproudlythrowsaheapofmoneyintohiswife'slapassumingshewillbe
satisfied.
Joanna,however,isnowconsumedbyjealousyofEmily,whosetwosonsareheadingfor
universitywhileherownboyshadleftschoolatanearlyagetoworkontheboatsatthe
Quay.Shadrachrespondsbygoingtoseaagainandthistimetakingtheirtwosonswith
him.Joannaistornbetweenherloveforhersonsandherdesireforriches,and,ofcourse,
it'sdesirethatwins.Shebeginstoregret,however,whenshewakesonemorningtofind
herfamilygoneandthewords"Goodbye,mother"scrawledinchalkonthebureau.She
turnsthebureautothewall,pledgingthatthemessagemustneverbeerased,andgoes
eachdaytothechurchtoprayforthesafereturnofherhusbandandsons.Buttheynever
doreturnandyearsgobywiththeincreasinglypoorandembitteredJoannastillclinging
tothehopethatonedaytheywill.LikethemajorityofHardy'stales,thereisnohappy
ending.Thestoryendswiththegriefstrickenwomanbeingwokenearlyonemorningby
thesoundofvoicesinthestreet.Believingherfamilyhavereturnedatlast,shestruggles
intothestreetandknocksonthedoorofthehousesheusedtoliveinonlytobetoldthat
noonehascalled.
FinalThoughtsonPraxisandNarrativeKnowledge
IntheprevioussectionIhaveaddressedpraxisandprovidedsomearticlesonthelearning
journalasameanstoengageinpraxis.Ihaveofferedexamplesofpraxisasrelevantto
usingtheselfandnarrativeknowledgeinqualitativeresearch.AnotherareaIhave
discussedistranspersonalpsychology,afieldwhichexploreshumanexperiencethat
existsbeyondtheego/self,asbroughtaboutbymeditation,mantras,personalreflection,
yogicpractice,andothermodelsproducingnonordinarystatesofawareness.Someideas
oftranspersonalpsychologytheoristKenWilberhavebeenusedasatheoreticallens,
whichpresentthenotionof"translation"and"transformation",andtheideaofexperience
being"operatedupon".InWilber'swritingtheactsoftranslatingandtransformingare
usuallycarriedoutbyamasterortherapist(dependinguponwhetherthepursuitis
therapeutictransformationaWesternnotion,ormystictransformationanEastern
notion).Wilberalsowritesoftheindividualoperatinguponexperienceorselfwith
prescribedpracticessuchasfastingormeditation.Chroniclesofsuchtransformationare
availableinthewritingsofBuddha,Krishna,andNanak,tonameafew.Suchpractices
couldbemeditation,ordancing,and/orfasting,asisalsocarriedoutincertainnative
Indiantraditions(ascitedinMails).Throughsuchprocessestheselfissaidtobecome
somewhattransformed.Alloftheabovepractices"perturb"thesystemofawarenessto
bringaboutanincreaseinawareness.Ialsonotedthatthisisakintothenotionofthe
therapist"perturbing"theindividualsawarenessinanefforttocatalyzeabreakthrough.
Examplesweregiveninthisregardbymajorfamilytherapytheorists.
Examinedfromthislenspraxisevolvesintoamethodbywhichone'sconsciousness(a
systeminitsownright)isperturbedbycertainpracticestoproducenonordinaryorpeak
andbeyondpeakstatesofawareness.Ihavementionedtherapyasperturbingthe
consciousnessoffamiliesandindividualsinordertobringaboutastateofawarenessthat
catalyzesfortheclientanincreaseinconceptualspacewhichthenresultsintheclient
beingabletotranslateandtransformmeaningforoneself(dependingonthe
circumstancesoftheexperiencedconstraints).Intheaboveexamplesthesubjectengages
in"operatingon"experienceandconsciousness.Suchdistinctionshavebeenelaborated
byJeromeBruneras"thelandscapeofconsciousnessandthelanscapeofaction".One
operatesontheonesexperiencethestorylineofnarrative,andconsciousnessthe
interpretation,constructionanddeconstructionofmeaning.Praxis,then,istobeengaged
inasamethodofoperatingonthenarrativestoryline(reflectingonaction)inorderto
producemeaningandbylogicalextensionfurtherknowledge.Ratherthanitbeing
broughtaboutwhollywithanother(e.g.,atherapist,master,orteacher)itisbrought
aboutindialoguewithoneself.Granted,amethodologyortechnologyfordoingthis
needstobeinplace.WhiletheZenkoan(ariddleforselfreflection)isprobablynotthe
bestmethodtoenableonetooperateuponnarrativeexperience,adirectionorsetof
exercisesprovidedbyaninstitutionorothermethodwouldprobablybeagoodstart.
Fortunatelytherearemethodsavailable.
Ialsofounditveryinterestingtocomeacrossthisparticulararticleonthewritingof
ThomasHardy.WhileIoriginatefromNewfoundland,andfoundthereferencesto
Newfoundlandpleasing,evenmoresatisfyingwerethereferencetothedegreethatHardy
dependedonhisownlifeexperienceasavehiclefromwhichtowrite.Ibelieve,though,
thatHardycouldhavemadewonderfuluseofconversationshemighthavehadwith
sailorswhoreturnedhomefromNewfoundlandandtheNewWorld.Whilesuchwouldn't
havebeenhisownpersonalsensorybasedknowledge,theycouldhaveprovided
wonderfuldescriptionsoftheseajourneysorsurroundingsinNewfoundland.Ialsofind
itinterestingthatHardyshiedawayfromwritingofcircumstancesofwhichhehadnoor
littledirectexperiencesuchasthesea.Nevertheless,Hardy'snovelsdemonstrateafine
exampleofhownarrativeknowledgecanbeemployedinliterature,andIamsurethat
localsinbothWessex,EnglandandNewfoundlandareproudtorealizehewaswriting
abouttheirtownsandvillagesallalong.
TraditionalHigherEducationasTransactionBetweenSeller/Universityand
Consumer/Learner
Whenexaminedviaalenseofmarkettransactions,highereducationbecomesa
marketplaceinwhichuniversities,likemarketstalls,areprovidersofcertainproductsto
consumers.Theproductiscommonlyandlooselyreferredtoas"knowledge".Knowledge
isalsocommonlyseenasapowerthatopensupnewopportunitiesandtheattainmentof
greaterstatusinsociety(ergotheexpression"KnowledgeIsPower").Yet,accordingto
thewritingsof20thcenturyphilosopherssuchasMicheleFoucault,suchknowledgeisa
discursiveactivitybywhichcertaingroupsareabletoattainandmaintainpowerand
influence,whileoppressingandmarginalizingthelocalizednonscientificknowledgeof
otherlesspowerfulgroups.FrenchpoststructuralphilosopherJeanFrancoisLyotard
recognizesthisrelationshipofimbalance,betweenknowledgeclaimedbyanassociation
withscience,anditspoorercousin,"narrative"knowledge.Lyotardpositsthat
scientificallyannointedknowledge(oratleasttheclaimtosuchknowledge)is
increasinglybeingconstructedasacommoditywhichisbecomingintricatelyintertwined
withgovernmentalpowersandpracticesandassociatedwithinternationaltradeand
competition.ThefollowingaresomecommentsfromLyotard:
Knowledgeisandwillbeproducedinordertobesold;itisandwillbe
consumedinordertobevalorizedinanewproduction:inbothcasesthe
goalisexchange.Knowledgeceasestobeanendinitself,itlosesits"user
value".
Knowledgeintheformofaninformationalcommodityindispensableto
productivepowerisalready,andwillcontinuetobe,amajorperhapsthe
majorstakeintheworldwidecompetitionforpower.
Itisnothardtovisualizelearningcirculatingalongthesamelinesas
money,insteadofforits"educational"valueorpolitical(administrative,
diplomatic,military)importance;thepertinentdistinctionwouldnolonger
bebetweenknowledgeandignorance,butrather,asinthecasewith
money,between"paymentknowledge"and"investment"knowledgein
otherwords,betweenunitsofknowledgeexchangedinadailymaintenance
framework(thereconstitutionoftheworkforce,"survival")versusfunds
ofknowledgededicatedtooptimizingtheperformanceofaproject.
Alongwiththehegemonyofcomputerscomesacertainlogic,and
thereforeacertainsetofprescriptionsdeterminingwhichstatementsare
acceptedas"knowledge"statements(Lyotard1984,pp.46).
Thenotionof"knowledgeascommodity"isnothardtounderstand.Universitygraduates
regularlytradeintheworkplace,onthebasisoftheirdegreesandknowledge
specializations.ButasbothLyotardandFoucaultobserve,thecreationofsuch
knowledgesthatcarryacertainperceivedlegitimacyor'truthvalue'alsorequiresa
systemasetofprescriptionsbywhichknowledgestatementscanbeaccepted(and
certified/accredited)aslegitimateor'true'knowledge.Thepracticedomainsofsucha
systemrunthegamutfromtheacceptanceofscientificstatementstothe
certification/accreditationofdegrees.Therationale,history,andmethodologyforsuch
prescriptionsaretobefoundviaanexaminationoftheknowledgediscourseofeach
particularfieldandtheknowledgediscourseandhistoryof"theuniversity",andhowand
fromwhomitgetsitsstatusoflegitimacy,anointmentofpowersandperceivedcredibility.
Knowledgediscourse,orthepracticeofthelegitimationofknowledgeas"true"
knowledgecomesunderattackbybothFoucaultandLyotard.Lyotardwritesthe
followingonthelegitimationofknowledge:
Takeanycivillawasanexample:itstatesthatagivencategoryofcitizensmustperform
aspecifickindofaction.Legitimationistheprocessbywhichalegislatorisauthorizedto
promulgatesuchalawasanorm.Nowtaketheexampleofascientificstatement;itis
subjecttotherulethatastatementmustfulfillagivensetofconditionsinordertobe
acceptedasscientific.Inthiscase,legitimationistheprocessbywhicha"legislator"
dealingwithascientificdiscourseisauthorizedtoprescribethestatedconditions(in
general,conditionsofinternalconsistencyandexperimentalverification)determining
whetherastatementistobeincludedinthatdiscourseforconsiderationbythescientific
community.
Theparallelmayappearforced.Butaswewillsee,itisnot.Thequestionofthe
legitimacyofsciencehasbeenindissociablylinkedtothatofthelegitimationofthe
legislatorsincethetimeofPlato.Fromthispointofvview,therighttodecidewhatistrue
isnotindependentoftherighttodecidewhatisjust,evenifthestatementsconsignedto
thesetwoauthoritiesdifferinnature.Thepointisthatthereisastrictinterlinkage
betweenthekindoflanguagecalledscienceandthekindcalledethicsandpolitics;they
bothstemfromthesameperspective,thesame"choice"ifyouwillthechoicecalledthe
Occident.
Whenweexaminethecurrentstatusofscientificknowledgeatatimewhenscience
seemscompletelysubordinatedtotheprevailingpowersthaneverbeforeand,alongwith
thenewtechnologies,isindangerofbecomingamajorstakeintheirconflictsthe
questionofdoublelegitimation,farfromrecedingintothebackground,necessarilycomes
tothefore.Foritappearsinitsmostcompleteform,thatofreversion,revealingthat
knowledgeandpoweraresimplytwosidesofthesamequestion:whodecideswhat
knowledgeis,andwhoknowswhatneedstobedecided?Inthecomputerage,the
questionofknowledgeisnowmorethaneveraquestionofgovernment(Lyotard1984,
pp.89).
AcquiringtheHigherEducation"Products"
Theknowledgeproductssoughtbyconsumersofhighereducationareusuallystructured
withinathreetieredpyramid.Atthebaseofthispyramidistheundergraduatedegree,at
thenextlevelaboveisthegraduatedegree,andatthepinnacleisthedoctorate.
Theconsumercomesintothemarketplacewantingtopurchaseoneofsuchproducts
someformofhigherlearningtomeetacertaincriterion.Thecriterionmightbethe
attainmentofanentrylevel"ticket"tobecomeamemberofaprofession.Orthecriterion
couldbeameansbywhichonecouldenhanceone'sexistingcareerbytradingonthe
sociallyconstructedpublicperceptionofthemeaningofahigherdegreethatthe
graduatehasknowledgeinapraticulardiscipline,andtheassociatedprestigeandits
attendantbenefits.Thereisalsothepossibilitythattheconsumerwishestoenhancehisor
hercareerbyfindingaspecialtyinterest,gainedthroughfurthereducationand/or
research.Someconsumerswanttochangetheircareers.Thentherearethosewhoare
enamoredwithsomefieldorsubjectofinterest,intheveinof"dowhatyouloveandthe
moneywillfollow"(alsothetitleofapopularcurrentbookonvocationsandmoney).
Whilesomeprofessionsrequireundergraduatedegreesasentrylevelqualifications,other
professionsrequiregraduatedegrees.Universitiesusuallydemandthattheconsumer
alreadypossess,orpurchase,theirentrylevelproductanundergraduatedegree,
designedasapreparatoryfoundationbeforepurchasingagraduatedegreeproductor
postgraduatedegreeproduct.Whilesomeundergraduatedegreeproductsaredesignedto
qualifytheconsumerforentryintospecificprofessions(e.g.,engineering,socialwork),
otherundergraduatedegreeproductsaredesignedtoprovideafoundationinavarietyof
subjects.Havingmasteredthosesubjectsandtheundergraduatedegreetheconsumercan
thenmoveontoaprofessionaldegreesuchaslaw,medicine,dentistry,counselling
psychology,etc.
Let'snowmoveontograduateandpostgraduatelevelsofeducation.Iftheseller(the
university)agreestoenterintothebusiness/learningtransactionwiththeconsumer,the
tuitionfeeispaidandthetransactionandtransferoftheproductisinitiated.Thetransfer
ofthehigherlearningproductisatemporalundertaking.Thetransferitself,likethe
producttobedispensed,isacomplexaffair.Itisnotasiftheconsumersimplydownloads
anumberofgigabytesofinformationandwalksaway.Theproductmustbedispensedbit
bybit,atarateinwhichtheconsumer(nowcalledthestudentorlearner)candigest,a
ratherlinearprocess.Whyisthereaneedtodigest?Becausetheconsumer/learnermust
demonstratetotheseller/universityoveratemporalperiodthathe/shehasnotonly
becomefamiliarwiththeproductitself,butknowshowtoapplytheproductinthe
contextsofitsintendedapplication.
Toaccomplishtheabovetheconsumer/learnermustlearnthetheoreticalmaterialofthe
specificprogram/field,howtodoresearchinthatparticularfield,andtheuseofstatistics.
Thetheoreticalaspectsofthematerialwillmostlikelybebasedonresearchoutcomes
anddiscoveriesoverthehistoryofthefield.Theremightalsobesomeparadigmshiftsor
majordevelopmentsofthefieldanditspractices,whichtheconsumer/learnerwillbe
exposedtoaspartofthetheoreticalmaterial.Theconsumer/learnermustalsobecome
familiarwithsomeoftheactualresearchinthatfield.Finally,theconsumer/learnermight
engageinsomepracticalexperienceintheformofaninternshiporpracticum,followed
byamajorresearchprojectorthesis.Iftheresearchisquantitative,theconsumer/learner
mustcomeupwithahypothesisabouttheresearchsubjectbeingundertaken.The
researchwillthenbedesignedsothatitprovesordisprovesthehypothesis.Iftheresearch
projectisqualitativetheconsumer/learnermaynotstartwithahypothesis.He/shemay
startwithaquestionsuchas"WhatcanIlearninthisparticularsituation?orWhatis
goingoninthisparticularsituation?Suchqualitativeresearchismoresuitedtowardthe
humansciences,andcanbequiteinvolvedbecauseitrelieson"richandthick
descriptions"(Lincoln&Guba,1985).Whatever,thelearner'sresearchwillresultin
someconclusions.Willtheconclusionsbereliable,valid,andwilltheybegeneralizable
tomajortheoriesinthefieldortosomepopulation?Fortheresearchtobeconsidered
legitimatewithinthediscourseofthefieldtheconsumer/learnermustaddresstheabove
concernsorelsedeviseasoundtheoreticalstancefornotdoingso,dependingonthekind
ofresearchandresearchsubjects.
Allpertinentaspectsoftheproductwillbedisseminatedovertimetothe
consumer/learnervialectures,discussionlabs,homeworkassignments,casual
discussions,andonetoonementoring.Theconsumer/learnermustprovethatheorshe
haslearnedtheproductviatests,homeworkassignments,writtenpapers,and
participationindiscussions.Anintegrationoftheproductmightbedemonstratedthrough
thepracticumresultsandpossiblythethesis.Onceallofthisiscomplete,andifthe
consumer/learnerisdeemedbytheseller/universityanditsagentstohavedemonstrateda
favorabledownloading/learningoftheproductalongwithsomebasicdisplayof
integration,adegreeisissued.Thisdegreewillusuallybereceivedbythegraduateata
laterdate,inaformalceremonycalledaconvocation.Duringthisceremonythe
graduate'sfriendsandfamilycanjointheaudience,aliveorchestramightperform,and
alltheconvocationparticipantsweararobeandmatchingfunnyhatwithfacultyand
Deansusuallywearingthemostelaborateandcolorfulregalia.
Theconsumer/learner,nowknownbytitlessuchas'graduate'and'alum',isnowdeemed
toknowthebasicsofthefieldofstudy,possessesbasicresearchskillsapplicabletothe
field,andmayhaveindeedmadeasignificantresearchcontributiontothefield.The
consumer/learningprocessassociatedwiththatparticularproductoftheseller/university
isnowcomplete,andtheconsumer/learnernowjoinstheranksofthealumniothers
whohavepurchasedtheseller/university'sproducts.Theconsumer/learnerisnow
possiblyamemberoftheparticularfieldhe/shehasstudiedandcanactuallypracticein
thatfieldandmakealivingatit(possiblyaftersomeadditionalhoopjumping).Once
acceptedasanackowledgedmemberofthefieldofstudy,thegraduatemaybeknownby
theofficialvocationaltitleof'socialworker','engineer','architect','psychologist',
'charteredaccountant'orsomeothertitle.Whetherornottheconsumer/learnerhas
chosenaspecificprofession,thereisthepossibilityhe/shecanpurchaseaproductfrom
thenexthigherlevelofthepyramidthedoctorate.He/shecanthenbepossibly
employed(inthefuture)asaprofessoraproductdisseminator/agentofthe
seller/university.This,ofcourse,wouldtakesomeyears,butthereisthechance,in
additiontotacklingthedoctoralstudies,thattheconsumer/learnercouldtakeontherole
ofapprenticedisseminator/agentfortheseller/universityalsoknownasateaching
assistant.Inthatcase,uponcompletionofthedoctoralstudies,whereamajorresearch
contributionisrequired,he/shecouldjoinothersinaprofessorialcapacity,allknown
collectivelyas"faculty",inadditiontocarryingoutfurtherresearchtoenhancethe
reputationoftheuniversity,thefield,andtheresearcher.Theresearcher/facultymember
mightevenattractlargesumsofmoneyintheformof"grants"fromcorporationsand/or
government.
TheTransaction:CashforAdmittancetoaProfessionalKnowledgediscourse
Sowhat'sreallygoingwiththeabovescenariosofacquiringhighereducation's
"products"(examinedfromalensofmarkettransactions)?Theconsumer/learneris
purchasingaproductfromtheseller/universityatanyoneofthethreelevelsofthe
pyramid.Theappearanceisthatinformationistheproduct,butthisappearanceis
misleading.Althoughtheactsandartifactsassociatedwithdisseminatingtheproduct
engagetheconsumer/learnerwithinformationusingthevisual,auditoryandkinesthetic
sensorymodalities,theproductitselfisanintangible.Howisthat?Theactualproduct,
ratherthaninformation,isanadmittancetoparticipationinaknowledgediscoursethatis
performedoveratemporalperiodineverincreasingcomplexity.Whileithasthe
appearanceofinformationandincludestheuseoftheartifactsofinformationbooks,
papers,conversation,lectures,computerstheproductisadmittancetotheknowledge
discourse.Howknowledgediscoursecontrastswithinformationisthat,whileinformation
isseenasatoolorartifacttobeusedbytheperson,signifyingthatthepersonisgreater
thantheinformation,knowledgediscourseshapesandinformstheidentity,beliefs,
feelings,attitudes,andbehaviorsofthepersonandisinthatsensegreaterthanthe
person.Indemonstrationofthispoint,itisnotuncommontoheargraduatesinto
professionsstatethingslike"Iamapsychologist","Iamauniversityprofessor",or"Iam
aphysician".Participationinthediscourseengendersforthosethegraduatefirstan
absorptionorintenalizationofthediscourse.Thediscoursethenbeginstopervadethe
person,andtheperson,nowamajorstakeholderintheknowledgediscourseworksto
perpetuatethediscourse.AsBurr(1996)writes:
Ifwetakeupthesuggestionthattheindividualandsociety,ratherthanexistingas
separatebutrelatedentities,arepartofasinglesystem,thentheproblemsofhuman
agencyandthestatusofdiscoursearesomewhatameliorated.Individuals,thesocial
practicesinwhichtheyengage,thesocialstructureswithinwhichtheyliveandthe
discourseswhichframetheirthoughtbecomeaspectsofasinglephenomenon.This
meansthatdiscoursesareneithersimplyaproductorsideeffectofsocialstructurenor
oneofindividuals.Theyareembeddedinthatstructureandarepartofit,andatthesame
timeservetostructureouridentityandpersonalexperience.Thusdiscoursescanbeseen
asavalidfocusforforcesofsocialandpersonalchange(Burr1996,pp.110111).
Theterm"discourse"canbeusedintwoways
1. torefertoasystematic,coherentsetofimages,metaphorsandsoonthat
constructanobjectinaparticularway,(e.g.,thespokenandwritten
assumptions,beliefs,andresearchthatmakesupaprofessionalparadigm
orworldview),and
2. torefertotheactualspokeninterchangesbetweenpeople(fromBurr,
1996).
Inthisdocument,regardingthefirstdefinition,Iwillsubstitutetheword"discourse"with
"knowldgediscourse".SuchdiscourseisdefinedfurtherbyBurras
...referringtoasetofmeanings,metaphors,representations,images,stories,statements
andsoonthatinsomewaytogetherproduceaparticularversionofevents.Itreferstoa
particularpicturethatispaintedofanevent(orpersonorclassofpersons),aparticular
wayofrepresentingitortheminacertainlight.Ifweaccepttheviewthatamultitudeof
alternativeversionsofeventsispotentiallyavailablethroughlanguage,thismeansthat,
surroundinganyoneobject,event,person,etc.,theremaybeavarietyofdifferent
discourses,eachwithadifferentstorytotellabouttheobjectinquestion,adifferentway
ofrepresentingittotheworld(p.46).
Kuhn(1970,p.175)referredtoprofessionalknowledgediscourseasrepresentingthe
entireconstellationofbeliefs,values,andpracticessharedbythemembersofascientific
community.Suchbeliefs,values,andpracticeswouldplayakeyroleinallowingthe
specificcommunitytoarriveatanunprecedentedachievementandcontinuetodevelop
newachievementsusingtheknowledgediscourse.Whileknowledgediscoursehasits
originsinscientificcommunities,andpriortothat,religiouscommunities,ithasbeen
adoptedbyotherprofessionalcommunitiesastheyhavereconfiguredandavailed
themselvesofthebenefitsofassociationwithscientificprinciplesandpractices.Such
benefitsincludeincreasedlegitimacyandrespectfromthepublicaswellasprivileged
statuswithgovernmentalbodiesandotherprofessions.Yet,totransferprinciplesof
naturalscienceinquirytothehumanscienceprofessionswithoutaddressingthevariables
ofdifferenceinhumansystemsisasomewhatnaiveandpossiblygrandioseundertaking,
withunfortunateimplicationsforthethosewhowouldbecomethesubjectsofsuch
relatedinquiry.
Eachandeveryprofessionhasitsownuniqueknowledgediscourse,whichincludesits
ethics,itsrulesforprofessionalconduct,itsideasastohowthesubjectsofitsresearch
behave,change,learn,anditsideasaboutwhatconstitutesacceptableor"valid"research.
Thosefolkswhoarethesubjectofaprofession'sresearcharedeemedtorepresentthose
whomtheprofessionstatesthatitserves.Akeyaspectofgainingentryintoaprofession
isthattheaspirantmustdemonstrateanacceptablefacilitywiththediscourseofthat
profession.Foraneducationalinstitutiontotrainaspirantstoqualifyforprofessionsthere
mustusuallybeanapprovalor"accreditation"fromtheprofessionitself.Ifthereisnot
suchanaccreditationinplace,theaspirantmustjumpthroughcertainotherhoops.Inthe
U.S.(withsomeexceptions)thisalsousuallymeansthatthetraininginstitutionmustbe
regionallyaccredited,theresultof35yearvoluntaryprocessofselfreflectionandself
organising,aprocessforwhichinstitutionspayenormouslyhighfinancialcosts.The
accreditationaspectofaprofession'sknowledgediscourseissaidtobedoneinthe
interestofguaranteeingqualityservicetothepublicandtoprotectthepublic.
Simultaneously,thisisdoneintheinterestofperpetuatingtheprofessionorinstitution,to
legitimatizeitsactivitiesandconsolidateitsstandingintheeyesofgoverningbodiesand
otherprofessionsandinstitutions.Usually,onceaninstitutiongainssuchaccreditations,
itstuitionfeesrisetobecomecomparablewithinstitutionsofthesamestanding.For
manyprofessionsthereisalsomarketplacebenefitsthatarederivedfromacquiring
specialmonopolylikestatusfromgovernmentalbodiesforrenderingofservicestothe
public,servicesthatonlymembersofthatprofessionareallowedtorender.Similarly,
whenanindividualgainsacertificationorregistrationasafullprofessionalmemberofa
profession,heorshecanstartchargingfeescommensuratewiththefeescaleforthat
profession.
Thewrittenandverballanguageusedbyabodyofprofessionalsdescribesthetheoretical
andpracticalaspectsoftheirfield,howtheyjustifytheexistenceandmethodsoftheir
field,andhowtheynametheproblemsthefieldseekstoaddress.Itisalsothewayin
whichprofessionalscommunicateaboutthechallengesoftheconsumersoftheirservices
(students,clients,patients,etc.)andissaidtobebasedonresearchthatisgroundedin
scientificmethod.Richards,Brown,Crawford,andNolan(1996)statethatthetechnical
andesotericvocabularyemployedbyprofessionals"servesnotonlytoconsolidatetheir
powerovertheirpatients[consumersclients,students,etc.],butalsoprovidesa
linguisticbondandprofessionalrecognitionamongcolleagues",and
Thecombinationofthesetrappingsandsymbolsbolstersscientificlegitimacyand
providesafoundationuponwhichthecurrentframesofreferenceareconstructedand
reconstructed.(1996,p.6).
Thepresenceofknowledgediscoursewithinthehumanscienceprofessionsalsobrings
withitlargedegreesofinfluenceandpowerthatfrequentlycometobearonthelivesof
individuals.Brown(1995,p.3)statesthat"manypeopleandinstitutionshavealotatstake
increatingandmanaging....'themindednessandagency'...ofothers"viaprofessional
oracademicdescriptions,andthatweneedtotakeveryseriouslyhowitisthatweare
describingothers.AsCrawford,Johnson,Nolan,andBrown(1998,p.3)observe,
Theimportanceofstudyingprofessionallanguageanditsacquisitionbecomesclearwhen
weconsiderwhatitmeanstobesocializedintoanoccupationalrole.Thereceivedview
ofoccupationalsocialization...stressestheadoptionofvalues,vocabulariesand
professionalidentities(e.g.,Beckeretal,1961)andtheformalcurriculumoftraining.In
theory,thequalifiedprofessionalisdistinctive,havingbeentransformedintoa
'participatingeffectivememberoftheorganization'(Nelson&Quick,1994,p.499).Thus
congruenceisachievedbetweenthenewcomerandtheprofession.Thisviewisalsofound
inthesocialpsychologyofgroupmembership.Forexample,Tajfel(1981)arguedthatwe
makefundamentaldistinctionbetweenmembersofourowningroupandoutsiders....
Power,valuesandideologyliebehindlanguageanditisoccupationalsocializationwhich
inculcatesthese.However,theiroperationisseenthroughlanguageasanorganizedsocial
practice.
DiscourseandtheOppressionofExistingNarrativeKnowledge
Theterm"knowledge"hasfrequentlybeenunderstoodashavingarelationshipwiththe
word"power",asevidencedbythepopularadage"KnowledgeIsPower".Inthatregard
one'sacquiredknowledge(sometimesreferredtobysocialscientistsas"local"
knowledge)engendersgreaterpowerabilities,possibilities,andopportunities.Yetthis
"personalpower",somethingwhichweallpossessindifferentdegrees,canbeusurpedby
theinternalizingofknowledgediscoursesthatareculturallydominantandgenerally
unrecognizedasshapingourlivesinwayswemightnotnecessarilyapproveof.
Sincetheclosingofthe19thcentury,manyofsuchknowledgediscourseshavebeen
advancedbyhumanscienceprofessionslayingclaimtoanassociationwithscientific
research.Employingthisshroudofscientificallyassociatedresearch,suchprofessions
claimtohavespecificknowledgeastothenatureofhumanbehavior,thought,change,
culture,language,relationships,andlearning.Research"findings"ofsuchprofessionsare
promulgatedinjournalsashavinglegitimacy,andtherebyattainingcredibilityaspartof
thatprofession'sknowledgediscourse.Somefindingsareperpetuatedviamedia,
particularlythoseresearchfindingsfromthefieldsofmedicine/healthandpsychology.
Thesefindingsthenbecomefurtherpropagatedbymembersoftheprofession,articles,
andincreasedmediaexposure,andareinternalizedbyindividualsashaving"truth"value.
Often,suchtruthsarebroadsidedwhennewerresearchfindingsareannounced;whatis
foundtobetrueinonedecadechangeswiththenewerfindingsofthenextdecade.
Inkeepingwiththenotionofknowledgediscourseshaving"power",Madigan(1992)
notesFoucault'sclaimthatpower,ratherthancomingfromabove,comesfrombelow,
fromthesubject,"whereculturalknowlegediscourseclaimsareinternalizedand
producedineverysocialinteraction"(p.270).Theinternalizationofsuchknowledge
discoursesasaredeliveredthroughcultural,professional,andacademicparadigms,
servestodistort,oppress,andsubjugateotherlocalandalternativenarrativeknowledge,
therebyusurpingthepersonalpowerofindividuals,cultures,andotherspecificgroups.
JeanFrancoisLyotardwritesthatoncewegetridofthemetanarratives,thoseall
encompassingstatementsthatareperpetuatedwithinknowledgediscoursesandrendered
asscientificallyderived"truths",legitimacyresideswhereithasalwaysbeen,inthefirst
ordernarrativesoflivedexperience.ScientificstatementsaredescribedbyLyotard(as
citedinRorty)ashavingtofulfillcertainrequirementstobeconsideredasscientifically
legitimateandthereforeacceptableformembershipinascientificdiscourse.Writes
Rorty:
He[Lyotard]contraststhiswith"narrativeknowledge"asthesort"whichdoesnotgive
prioritytothequestionofitsownlegitimation,and...certifiesitelfinthepragmaticsof
itsowntransmissionwithouthavingrecoursetoargumentationandproof".Hedescribes
"thescientist"asclassifyingnarrativeknowledgeasa"differentmentality:savage,
primitive,underdeveloped,backward,alienated,composedofopinion,customs,authority,
prejudice,ignorance,ideology".Lyotard,likeHesse,wantstosoftenthiscontrastandto
asserttherightsof"narrativeknowledge"(Rorty1985,p.164).
ReflectingupontheideasofthelateFrenchphilosopherMicheleFoucault,poststructural
familytherapytheoristMichaelWhite(1993)writesthat
Theprofessionaldisciplineshavebeensuccessfulinthedevelopmentoflanguage
practicesandtechniquesthatdeterminethatitisthosedisciplinesthathaveaccesstothe
"truth"oftheworld.Thosetechniquesencouragepersonsinthebeliefsthatthemembers
ofthosedisciplineshaveaccesstoanobjectiveandunbiasedaccountofrealityandof
humannature.
Whatthismeansisthatcertainspeakers,thosewithtrainingincertainspecialtechniques
supposedlytodowiththepowersofthemindtomakecontactwithrealityare
privilegedtospeakwithauthoritybeyondtherangeoftheirpersonalexperience(Parker
&Shotter,1990,p.7).
Theselanguagepracticesintroducewaysofspeakingandofwritingthatareconsideredto
berational,andrespectable,emphasizingnotionsoftheauthoritativeaccountofthe
impersonalexpertview.Thesepracticesdisembodytheperspectiveandtheopinionsof
thespeakerandthewriter.Thepresentationoftheknowledgeofthespeakerandthe
writerisdevoidofinformationthatmightgivetherespondentorthereaderinformation
abouttheconditionsoftheproductionoftheexpertview.
Thesepracticesofspeakingandwritingestablishaccountsofknowledgethatare
consideredtobe"globalandunitary"(Foucault,1980),accountsthatmaskthehistorical
strugglesassociatedwiththeirascendance,includingthemultiplicityofresistancesto
them.Itisdifficultforpersonstochallengetheseglobalandunitaryknowledgesbecause
thelanguagepracticesthatconstitutethemincludebuiltininjunctionsagainstquestions
thatmightberaisedabouttheirsociopolitical/historicalcontexts.
Indenyingrespondents/readersthiscriticalinformation,theyexperienceacertain
"suspension".Theydonothavetheinformationnecessarytodeterminehowtheymight
"take"theviewsthatareexpressed,andthisdramaticallyreducestherangesofpossible
responsesavailabletothem.Respondents/readerscaneithersubjectthemselvestothe
expertknowledge,ortheycanrailagainstit.Dialogueoverdifferentpointsofviewis
impossible.
Forthemembersoftheprofessionaldisciplineswhoareoperatingunderthe
apprehensionthattheyhaverecoursetoobjectiveknowledge,criticalreflectionontheir
positionsisnotanoption.Thustheyareabletoavoidfacingthemoralandethical
implicationsoftheirknowledgepractices.
Adescriptionwhichcontainsnocriticalreflectiononthepositionfromwhichitis
articulatedcanhavenootherprinciplethantheinterestsassociatedwiththeunanalyzed
relationthattheresearcherhaswiththisobject.(bourdieu,1988,p.15).
Theopen,vague,temporary,andchangingnatureoftheworldisrendered,bythesetruth
discourses,closed,certain,fixedandpermanent.Otherwaysofspeaking/writingare
renderedinvisibleor,astheyareconsideredtobeinferior,aremostlyexcluded.These
"inferior"waysofspeaking/writingareonlyacknowledgedifaccompaniedbythe
"appropriate"deferencetothewarrantedwaysofspeaking/writing(White,1993,pp.55
56).
White,aninfluentialpoststructuralcollaborativefamilytherapistandtheorist,recognizes
theinfluencesofdiscursiveknowledgepracticesuponsociety,individuals,andfamilies.
Whiteurgesothertherapiststoengageindeconstructingsuchknowledgepracticesalong
withthepracticesofpower.Hesuggeststhattherapistscancontributetosuch
deconstructionbyconsideringthemselves"tobe'coauthors'ofalternativeandpreferred
knowledgesandpractices(p.5657).White(1993)urgestherapiststodeconstructthese
familiarandtakenforgrantedpracticesofpowerbyengagingpersonsinexternalizing
conversationsaboutthesepractices.Whitestatesthatbyunmaskingsuchpractices,
peoplecanbeallowedto"takeapositiononthemandtocountertheinfluencesofthese
practicesintheirlivesandrelationships"(p.53).Oneofthemostimportantaspectsof
White'sworkistheaimtodeconstructnotonlythepowerwhichexistsinknowledge
practices,buttheintrinsicwebofpowerrelationsthatenablesandperpetuatessuch
practices.
Suchdiscursivepracticesasmentionedabovecanhavetheeffectofconstrainingthe
individual(orclassorgendergroup,minorityculture,orotherspecificgroup)from
greaterselfknowledgeusingone'sownsetofreferences,ordescribingtheirlived
experiencefromtheirownsetofreferences,orfromdevelopinggreaterdegreesof
personalagency.Forthatreasonsocialconstructionistsprefertoexamine(deconstruct)
prevailingdiscoursessuchasdiscoursesofgender,sexuality,education,anddisability
andtheiridentityandpowerimplicationsarethenbroughttotheforeground(Burr,1996,
p.166).
Oppressionisnotarecentphenomenon.Whilewearefamiliarwiththevisibleoppression
associatedwithcolonization,wearelessfamiliarwiththemoresubtlepracticesofthe
genocideofculturalnarrativeknowledge,languageandcustoms.Thereisacenturiesold
historyofEuropeansoppressingthecultureandlocalnarrativeknowledgeofnative
peoplesinNorthAmericaandaroundtheworld.EuropeannationsapproachedFirst
NationspeoplesoftheAmericasandthePacificwiththeviewthatsuchpeoplewere
simpleheathensuponwhichcivilizationhadtobeimposed.TherelationshipofEuropeto
theFirstNationspeopleswasnotbasedonanequalexchange,buthierarchicaland
oppressive.ThecivilizationandknowledgethatwasacquiredbytheseFirstNationsunder
theirownparadigmaticframeworkorworldviewwaslargelyignored,andthisplayeda
largeroleinthegenocidaloppressionofthesecultures.Yet,today,weseemanyEuropean
descendentstakeanactiveinterestinthetraditionalwaysandspiritualityofFirstNations
ashavingvalueinourconfusingpostindustrialsociety.ThisisbecausemanyEuropean
descendentsrecognizethatourculture'sdominantknowledgepracticesaregettingusinto
troubleinourrelationshipwiththeenvironmentandleavingussomewhatoffbalance,
withoutasenseofintegratedspirituality.Sosomeofusarereachingouttothosewhom
wehavepreviouslyoppressed,askingthattheysharetheirlocalknowledgewithusinthe
hopethatitwillengendernewpossibilities.Thefieldofinteractionbetweenthe
mainstreamsocietyandFirstNationsisstillfarfromlevel,butitisslowlyshiftinginthe
directionofbeinglevel.
Definingdiscourseasasystemofpossibilitiesforknowledge,Flax(1991,p.205)cites
howFrenchphilosopherMicheleFoucaultstressestheroleofconflictandviolence
withinthediscursiveknowledgepracticesofacademicsandotherswhoclaimarightto
specializedknowledge.Refrainingfromnotassociatinghimselfwiththepack,Foucault
statesthat"wemustconceivediscourseasaviolencethatwedotothings,oratallevents,
asapracticeweimposeuponthem".Thomas(1993,p.45)observeshowBourdieu(1997,
pp.170171)"contendsthatthepowertonamethingsisthepowertoorganizeandgive
meaningtoexperience".
Professionaldiscourses,then,canbequitepowerfulanddominantinourculture.Indeed,
Foucault(1972)hastermedthemasweaponsofattackanddefenseintherelationsof
powerandknowledge(Sarup,1989,p.73).Foucault(1972,p.22)statesthat
Wemustquestionthesereadymadesyntheses,thosegroupingsthatwenormallyaccept
beforeanyexamination,thoselinkswhosevalidityisrecognizedfromtheoutset;wemust
oustthoseformsandobscureforcesbywhichweusuallylinkthediscourseofoneman
withthatofanother;theymustbedrivenoutfromthedarknessinwhichtheyreign.And
insteadofaccordingthemunqualifiedspontaneousvalue,wemustaccept,inthenameof
methodologicalrigor,thatinthefirstinstance,theyconcernonlyapopulationof
dispersedevents(p.22).
Suchdominantknowledgediscoursepracticessetintorealitysociallyconstructedmis
perceptionsandadominantandoftenmarginalizingmodeofrelatingtothevictimsof
suchdiscourse.Asanexample,letusconsiderthosewhohaveadoptedthebeliefthatone
musthaveanMBAtounderstandbusiness,yetpossessapersonalmemorystorehouseof
richexperienceinenterpreneurship.Suchindividualsmayinterpretthemselvesas"less
than"withouttheattainmentoftheMBA.Anditisnotimpossiblethatsuchindividuals,
basedontheirexperience,couldactuallybeteachinginaMBAprogram.Intheselfother
relationshipbetweenlearnerandeducator,thelearner,likethephysician'spatient,is
framedastheonewhoisinneedofknowledgeandguidance,whichtheeducator,framed
asmorepowerful,canprovide.
StucturalistandPositivistDiscourseinTraditionalHigherEducation
TheexperienceoftheaverageNorthAmericanuniversitystudenthastraditionally
unfoldedasalinearjourneywhichstartsinthefreshmanyearandprogressesthrough
stages,culminatingintheattainmentofadegree.Duringeachofusuallyfourstagesthe
studenttakesanumberofcourseswhicharedesignedtoformforthestudentabaseupon
whichtobuildaspecialityinlateryearsofeducation.TheUniversityagent,thefaculty,
disseminatesinformationvialecturesandlabs,thestudenttakesdowntheinformation,
engagesinlabdiscussions,anddemonstratesthatheorshehaslearnedthematerialviaa
combinationoftestsandpapers.Thisrelationshipscenarioplacesthefacultyinaposition
ofgreaterpowerwhilethestudentisplacedinapositionofpassivedependence.Graduate
schoolisn'tthatmuchdifferent,andthepowerdifferentialremains.
Suchastructureimposescertainconstraintsfortheexperiencedadultintentonacquiring
auniversityeducation.Theseincludetheconstraintofunequalpower,giventhatthe
experiencedadultusuallyhascertainexperienceswhichmaybecreditworthy.Shouldthe
adult"assumetheposition",likethenaiveyoungfreshman,andleaveanyacquired
knowledgeatthedoorofthelecturehallorprofessor'soffice?Andwhatrole,ifany,
shouldtheacquirednarrativeknowledgeofexperiencedadultsplayintheUniversity
learningprocess?Shouldtheinstitutionandfacultyplacemoreemphasisonhelpingthe
experiencedadultapplycertainacquirednarrativeknowledgetoadegreeprogram?Ifso,
whatarethemethodsbywhichsuchintegrationcouldbefacilitated?Wouldthatalso
meanthatthefacultythenhavetocomedownfromthepodiumandshapeshiftintoa
collaborativeconsultant,interactingwiththeadultlearnertohelp"drawout"and
integraterelevantacquiredknowledgeintoaprogramofhighereducationinadditionto
facilitatingnewlearnings?Andwouldsuchashiftindeliveringauniversityeducation
produceinformedgraduates,equippedtodealwiththechallengesoftoday'sworld?
Traditionaleducationdeliversmostlythesubjectmatterofcurriculumthewhat,through
didacticinteraction,discussion,tests,papers,followedusually(atleastinprofessional
programs)withaddressingthehow,asevidencedinpracticainclasses,workshop,and/or
jobexperience.Nearingtheendofthislearningroadthestudentusuallyundertakesa
researchprojectsuchasamajorpaper,thesis,ordissertation.Thetraditionaleducational
paradigmcountsonlywhatis"taught"tothestudentintheuniversity.Whatthelearner
mayalreadyknowisunacknowledgedinthelearningprocessandseldomincorporated
intotheacademicprogram.Thetraditionalacademicprogramisstructuralinthatitisan
interactionofthelearnerwiththeobserved,theobservedbeingtheprofessor,andthe
contentorsubjectofinquiry.Itisalsostructuralinthatfromthefacultypositionthe
learneristhesubjectofinquiry,andthelearnerandhisorherprogressisconstantlyheld
underthegazeoftheuniversityanditsagent(s).Theaboveengendersadiscoursewhich
objectifiesthestudentasinneedandtheuniversityanditsagentsasthebenefactor
meetingtheneedhenceabuiltinpowerdifferential.Ihavepreviouslydiscussedsuch
distinctionsobservedbyRicoeur(1992)astheselfasspeaker/narrator/actor/moral
subjectofimputation.IhavealsonotedpreviouslyhowIhaveexpandedonRicoeur'sidea
andincludedcertain"others",asoutlinedbelow:
imputation,
2. theother(theconsumer/adultlearner)asspeaker/narrator/actor,
ofnarrativeknowledge)asspeaker/narrator/actor,
speaker/narrator/actor.
Inthetraditionaleducationtransactionanimportantdistinctionismissing:(3)thelived
experienceother(theadultlearneraspossessorofvastreservoirsofnarrativeknowledge)
asspeaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectofimputation.Thewholeundertakingisstructural
inthattheUniversityposesastheholder,guardian,anddisseminatorof"knowledge",
itselfatermthatisemergingasincreasinglymisleading.
Structuralismisthebeliefinandsearchforexplanatorystructureswhichareheldtogive
risetothe'surface'phenomenaof,forexample,societyorhumanthoughtandbehavior
(fromBurr,1996).Anytheorywhichclaimstheabilitytoclarifyhumanthoughtor
humanbehavior/interactionisessentiallystructuralist.Structuralismhasalong
associationwithlogicalpositivism.Positivismisthebeliefthatwecanonlyknowwhat
wecanimmediatelyapprehend.Thatwhichexistsiswhatweperceivetoexist(fromBurr,
1996).Inresearch,positivistscientificinvestigationusesthehypotheticodeductive
method;theresultsprovideeithersupportfororrefutationofthetheorybeingtested
(Guba,1990,ascitedinLinfield,1995).Linfieldwritesthat
Positivismassertsthatrealityisanindependententitythatoperatesthroughimmutable
causallaws(Guba,1990).Thenoninteractivepositionthatpositivistinquirersadoptis
consideredtoresultintheacquisitionofknowledgethatisobjectiveandvaluefree.
Positivism,then,attemptstotrackandmeasurethis(constructionof)independentreality
inanefforttofindscientificallyderivedgeneralizable"truths"or"knowledge"whichcan
beappliedtoavarietyofsituations,butasLyotard(1996,p.482)pointsoutobligesitto
legitimizetherulesofitsowngame.Lyotardgoesontonotethat"itthenproducesa
discourseoflegitimizationwithrespecttoitsownstatus,adiscoursecalledphilosophy".
LincolnandGuba(1985,p.2)statethatfromthepositivisticview"Manasscientistis
regardedasstandingapartfromtheworldandabletoexperimentandtheorizeaboutit
objectivelyanddispassionately".
TherootsofthispositivistframeworkwereembeddeddeepintheparadigmsofDecartes,
BaconandNewton,andtheirresultingknowledgediscourseswhichincludethebio
medicalmodel,psychoanalysis,psychiatry,andclinicalpsychology.Socialsciences
adoptedthepositivistapproachinanattempttoattainlegitimacybyanassociationwith
positivistresearchmethodology,alreadyemployedinthenaturalsciences.Cochrane&
Sashidaran(1995,p.3)notethatinthesocialsciences(alargecategoryofwhich
educationisamember)interpretativeframeworksbasedonpositivismareheavilyladen
withculturalvaluesandgrantedapowerfullegitimacy,andarethusabletodistortand
overrideindividuals'accountsoftheirownexperience.Foucault(1980)makesveryclear
whatRichards,Brown,Crawford&Nolan(undersubmission)calltheinseparablebond
betweenknowledgeandpower.Commentingontheeffectsofsuchpowertodefinethe
livesofothers,sociologistBrown(1995,p.1)posesthefollowingquestion:
"Isthereanyjustificationforproducingdescriptionsofpeoplewhodifferfromourselves
intermsoftheirexperienceofgender,disability,sexuality,madness,oranyother
distinctionwhichconfersprivilegeonusasdescribers?"
Thesamequestioncanbeappliedtothepowerthatisheldbythetraditionaleducational
paradigm,theUniversityanditsagents,andbyexample,itsreluctanceandrefusalto
recognizethelearningthatexperiencedadultsalreadypossess.
ResistancetotheStructuralandPositivistDiscourses
Withintherealmofscienceitselftherehavebeenchallengestotheassumptionsof
positivism'sclaimstoobjectiveknowledgeoftheuniverse.FritjofCapra(1983,pp.315
321),citingresearchinatomicphysics,statesthatresearchfindingsinatomicphysics
havelongdiscreditedtheideaofanobjectiveuniversewhichexists"outthere",andmade
upof"basicbuildingblocks"whichcanbemeasured.Capranotesthatthenotionof
fundamentallawsofnature,soembeddedwithinpositivism,wasderivedfromtheJudeo
Christiantraditioneventuallyfindingitswayintothewritingsofscholarssuchas
ThomasAquinas,Descartes,andNewton.Caprastatesfurther,thatinmodernphysics
...averydifferentattitudehasnowdeveloped.Physicistshavecometoseethatalltheir
theoriesofnaturalphenomena,includingthe'laws'theydescribe,arecreationsofthe
humanmind;propertiesofourconceptualmapofreality,ratherthanofrealityitself.This
conceptualschemeisnecessarilylimitedandapproximate,asareallthescientific
theoriesand'lawsofnature'itcontains(p.317).
Onthepositivistnotionoftheresearcherstandingapartfromtheuniverseoverwhichhe
observesanddiscoversanobjectiveview,Caprastatesthefollowingdiscoveriesfrom
atomicphysicsresearch:
Inatomicphysics,then,thescientistcannotplaytheroleofadetachedobjectiveobserver,
butbecomesinvolvedintheworldheobservestotheextentthatheinfluencesthe
propertiesoftheobservedobjects.JohnWheelerseesthisinvolvementoftheobserveras
themostimportantfeatureofquantumtheoryandhehasthereforesuggestedreplacing
theword'observer'bytheword'participator'.InWheeler'sownwords,
Nothingismoreimportantaboutthequantumprinciplethanthis,thatitdestroysthe
conceptoftheworldas'sittingoutthere,'withtheobserversafelyseparatedfromitbya
20centimeterslabofplateglass.Eventoobservesominusculeanobjectasanelectron,
hemustshattertheglass.Hemustreachin.Hemustinstallhischosenmeasuring
equipment.Itisuptohimtodecidewhetherheshallmeasurepositionormomentum.To
installtheequipmenttomeasuretheonepreventsandexcludeshisinstallingthe
equipmenttomeasuretheother.Moreover,themeasurechangesthestateoftheelectron.
Theuniversewillneverafterwardsbethesame.Todescribewhathashappened,onehas
tocrossoutthatoldword'observer'andputinitsplacethenewword'participator'.In
somestrangesensetheuniverseisaparticipatoryuniverse(Capra,1983,p.153).
Thelatesocialpsychologist,visionarythinker,andpriest,IgnacioMartinBaro(1994),
killedin1989byaSalvadorandeathsquad,writesthefollowingonpositivism:
Discardingeverythingthatcouldbecharacterizedasmetaphysical,positivismunderlines
thehowofphenomena,buttendstoputasidethewhat,thebecause,andthewhy.
Dividingthingsupinthisway,positivismbecomesblindtothemostimportantmeanings
ofhumanexistence.Notsurprisingly,positivismisverymuchathomeinthelaboratory,
whereitcan"control"allthevariables,andwhereitendsupreducedtotheexamination
oftruetrivialitiesthatsaylittleornothingabouteverydayproblems.
Themostseriousproblemofpositivismisrootedpreciselyinitsessence;thatis,inits
blindnesstowardthenegative.Recognizingnothingbeyondthegiven,itnecessarily
ignoreseverythingprohibitedbytheexistingreality;thatis,everythingthatdoesnot
exist,butwould,underotherconditions,behistoricallypossible(p.21).
MartinBarostatesthatLatinAmericapsychologycouldhavemadesignificant
contributionstothefieldofpsychologyhaditnotbeenfor,amongotherfactors,its
mimicryofscience,likeNorthAmerica,seekingthelegitimacythatwouldcomefromits
alliancewithbothpositivismandtheestablishedpowerstructures(p.20).
FrenchphilosopherJeanFrancisLyotard(1996)observesthatpoststructuralapproaches
toacademicinquirygiveonefreedomtoquestionanddeconstructallclaimsto
specializedknowledge,andthattheassumptionsbehindscientificallyderivedclaimsto
specializedknowledgeareembeddedinthegrandnarrativesofphilosophy.Buildingon
Lyotard'sideas,Cahoone(1996,p.481)declaresthat"themodernistnotionsof
justification,system,proof,andtheunityofsciencenolongerhold".Indeed,suchan
approachtoinquiryechoesGermanphilosopherJurgenHabermas'(1996,p.590)
commentsinwhichhecalledforareturntotheunmaskingofthehumansciencesthrough
thecritiqueofreason.
FoucaultandSubjegatedNarrativeKnowledges
IntraditionaleducationtheUniversity(ofwhichthefacultyistheagent)holdspowerover
thelearnerandisabletodecreewhetherornotthelearnerhasindeedlearnedthesubject
matter.Thishierarchicalrelationshipbetweenfacultyandstudentisanaturaloutgrowth
ofthepowerdifferentialwhichexists,theneedforthelearnertoattainknowledge,and
theinitialassumptionthatthelearnerdoesnot"know",otherwisewhybeinthelearning
environmentinthefirstplace?Willthepowerinherentinthisdifferentialbeenactedas
"powerover"thelearner,orwillitbeenactedasanextensionof"powerto"thelearner?
Howwill"powerto"beachievedinanenvironmentthathasabuiltinpowerdifferential
whichisheldinplacepartiallybyastaticknowledgediscourse?Howmightrelational
discoursetakeplace(agenerativedialogueinformingbothfacultyandlearner)againsta
backgroundofknowledgediscoursewhichcouldverywellbeinvestedinperpetuating
andbuildingonexisting"truths"?Howmightthecombinationofthepowerdifferential
andattendingknowledgediscoursesshapethelearnerintheinstitutionandinthepublic
arenaoncegraduationhasbeenachieved?Willthenewgraduatebecomeanagentofsuch
knowledgediscourseandpower,perpetuatingitsexistenceinbothpubliclifeandinthe
institutionifheorshechoosestoprofesstotheseekersofahighereducation?
Oneexampleofthepowerdifferentialintraditionalinstitutionsisasfollows:inthe
traditionalsettingtheadultlearnerisusuallynotgivenanyformalcreditforwhathe/she
alreadyknows.Suchaparadigmaticmantleiswovenwiththeknowledgediscoursesof
structuralism,positivism,andentrenchedpowerandprivilege.Despiteamajormovement
tochallengesameamongstsomeacademiccircles,theattitudesandpracticesassociated
withtraditionaleducationdeliverycontinuetodisplaywhatamountstoanemperor's
clothingwhichbutafewdaretoname.Cochrane&Sashidaran(1995,p.3)describesuch
paradigmaticdiscoursesandtheirpromulgationas"shotthroughwithEurocentricbias",
havingtheabilitytodistortandoverrideindividuals'accountsoftheirownexperience.
Simplyput,thetraditionaleducationsystemisitselfadominantknowledgediscourse
aboutknowledgeproduction,possessingaloudvoicewhichcanoverride,distort,and
discountwhatindividualsregardastheirownknowledge,attainedthroughnonformal
academicexperience.IntherealmofpsychologyeminentcognitivepsychologistJerome
Bruner(1990)hasacknowledgedtheimportanceofsubjegatedlocalknowledgesuchas
folkpsychologyas"acognitivesystembywhichpeopleorganizetheirexperiencein,
knowledgeabout,andtransactionswiththesocialworld";hewritesthefollowing
Letmereturn...totheadverserialstanceofpositivist"scientificpsychology"toward
"folkpsychology".Scientificpsychologyinsistsquiteproperlyuponitsrighttoattack,
debate,andevenreplacethetenetsoffolkpsychology.Itinsistsuponitsrighttodenythe
casualefficacyofmentalstatesandofcultureitself.Atitsfurthestreach,indeed,iteven
assignssuchconceptsas"freedom"and"dignity"totherealmofillusion,thoughtheyare
centraltothebeliefsystemofademocraticculture.Atthisfarreach,itissometimessaid
ofpsychologythatitisanticultural,antihistorical,andthatitsreductionismisanti
intellectual.Perhaps.Butitisalsotruethatthe"villageatheist"zealofmanyextreme
positivistshasenliveneddebatesaboutthenatureofman,andthattheirinsistenceon
"objective"or"operational"researchprocedureshashadahealthyastringenteffectonour
specialities.Yetthereremainsanigglingworry....
Intellectualsinademocraticsocietyconstituteacommunityofculturalcritics.
Psychologists,alas,haverarelyseenthemselvesthatway,largelybecusetheyarecaught
upintheselfimagegeneratedbypositivistscience.Psychology,onthisview,dealsonly
inobjectivetruthsandeschewsculturalcriticism.Butevenscientificpsychologywillfare
betterwhenitrecognizesthatitstruths,likealltruthsaboutthehumancondition,are
relativetothepointofviewthatittakestowardthatcondition.Anditwillachieveamore
effectivestancetowardthecultureatlargewhenitcomestorecognizethatthefolk
psychologyofordinarypeopleisnotjustasetofselfassuagingillusions,buttheculture's
beliefsandworkinghypothesesaboutwhatmakesitpossibleandfulfillingforpeopleto
livetogether,evenwithgreatpersonalsacrifice.Itiswherepsychologystartsandwherein
itisinseparablefromanthropologyandtheotherculturalsciences.Folkpsychology
needsexplaining,notexplainingaway(pp.3132).
Foucault(1980)hasalsoacknowledgedtheimportanceofknowledgeswhichare
narrative,localandsubjegated.Observingtheincrease,sincethe1960's,oftheacademic
andpopularcriticismof"things,institutions,practices,anddiscourses",henotesthe
following:
Acertainfragilityhasbeendiscoveredinthebedrockofexistenceeven,andperhaps
aboveall,inthoseaspectsofitthataremostfamiliar,mostsolidandmostintimately
relatedtoourbodiesandtooureverydaybehavior.Buttogetherwiththissenseof
instabilityandthisamazingefficacyofdiscontinuous,particularandlocalcriticism,one
infactalsodiscoverssomethingthatperhapswasnotinitiallyforeseen,somethingone
mightdescribeaspreciselytheinhibitingeffectofglobal,totalitariantheories....I
believethatwhatthisessentiallylocalcharacterofcriticismindicatesinrealityisan
autonomous,noncentralisedkindoftheoreticalproduction,onethatistosaywhose
validityisnotdependentontheapprovaloftheestablishedregimesofthought.
Itisherethatwetouchuponanotherfeatureoftheseeventsthathasbeenmanifestfor
sometimenow;itseemstomethatthislocalcriticismhasproceededbymeansofwhat
onemighttermas'areturnofknowledge'.WhatImeanbythatphraseisthis:itisafact
thatwehaverepeatedlyencountered,atleastatasuperficiallevel,inthecourseofmost
recenttimes,anentirethematictotheeffectthatitisnottheorybutlifethatmatters,not
knowledgebutreality,notbooksbutmoney,etc.;butitalsoseemstomethatoverand
above,andarisingoutofthisthematic,thereissomethingelsetowhichwearewitness,
andwhichwemightdescribeasaninsurrectionofsubjegatedknowledges.
BysubjegatedknowledgesImeantwothings:ontheonehand,Iamreferringtohistorical
contentsthathavebeenburiedanddisguisedinafunctionalistcoherenceorformal
systemisation.Concretely,itisnotasemiologyofthelifeoftheasylum,itisnotevena
sociologyofdelinquincy,thathasmadeitpossibletoproduceaneffectivecriticismofthe
asylumandlikewiseoftheprison,butrathertheimmediateemergenceofhistorical
contents.Andthisissimplybecauseonlythehistoricalcontentsallowustorediscoverthe
rupturaleffectsofconflictandstrugglethattheorderimposedbyfunctionalistor
systematisingthoughtisdesignedtomask.Subjegatedknowledgesarethusthoseblocks
ofhistoricalknowledgewhichwerepresentbutdisguisedwithinthebodyoffunctionalist
andsystematisingtheoryandwhichcriticismwhichobviouslydrawsuponscholarship
hasbeenabletoreveal.
Ontheotherhand,Ibelievethatbysubjegatedknowledgesoneshouldunderstand
somethingelse,somethingwhichinasenseisaltogetherdifferent,namely,awholesetof
knowledgesthathavebeendisqualifiedasinadequatetotheirtaskorinsufficiently
elaborated:naiveknowledgeslocatedlowdownonthehierarchy,beneaththerequired
levelofcognitionorscientificity.Ialsobelievethatitisthroughthereemergenceof
theselowrankingknowledges,theseunqualified,evendirectlydisqualifiedknowledges
(suchasthatofthepsychiatricpatient,oftheillperson,ofthenurse,ofthedoctor
parrallelandmarginalastheyaretotheknowledgeofmedicinethatofthedelinquent,
etc.),andwhichinvolvewhatIcallapopularknowledge(lesavoirdesgens)thoughitis
farfrombeingageneralcommonsenseknowledge,butisonthecontraryaparticular,
local,regionalknowledge,adifferentialknowledgeincapableofunanimityandwhich
owesitsforceonlytotheharshnesswithwhichitisopposedbyeverythingsurroundingit
thatitisthroughthereappearanceofthisknowledge,oftheselocalpopularknowledges,
thesedisqualifiedknowledges,thatcriticismperformsitswork.
However,thereisastrangekindofparadoxinthedesiretoassigntothissamecategoryof
subjegatedknowledgeswhatareontheonehandtheproductsofmeticulous,erudite,
exacthistoricalknowledge,andontheotherhandlocalandspecificknowledgeswhich
havenocommonmeaningandwhichareinsomefashionallowedtofallintodisuse
whenevertheyarenoteffectivelyandexplicitlymaintainedinthemselves.Well,itseems
tomethatourcriticaldiscoursesofthelastfifteenyearshaveineffectdiscoveredtheir
essentialforceinthisassociationbetweentheburiedknowledgesoferuditionandthose
disqualifiedfromthehierarchyofknowledgesandsciences(Foucault,1980,pp.8082).
ThePanopticonasApparatusforObjectificationandSocialControl:
IsTraditionalHigherEducationanInvisiblePanopticon?
Viewedfromapoststructural"collaborative"perspectiveaparadigmthatlends
institutionsandtheiragentsthepowertodefine,describe,classify,andrepresentthe
achievementsofothersisanoutgrowthoftheprocessandpracticeofwhatFoucault
termsasthe"objectification"ofpersons.AccordingtoFoucaultsuchobjectificationis
carriedoutviathreemodesofaction:"dividingpractices","scientificclassification",and
"subjectification"(Rabinow,1984,pp.711).RabinowreiteratesFoucault'sobservation
thatthesethreemodesofobjectificationhavetheirrootsintheEuropeanmiddleagesand
periodsfollowingfromtheearlyisolationoflepers,totheconfinementofthepoorand
theinsaneandthevagabondsinFranceduringthe1600's,totheriseofmodern
psychiatryinhospitals,prisons,andclinicsthroughoutthenineteenthandtwentieth
centuriesamidthequesttodesignarchitecturalstructuresforhomes,institutions,and
evencityplans,bywhichpoweroverotherscouldbeimplementedforthepurposeof
socialcontrolofsuchothers.Onthesemodesofobjectificationastheyexistinmodern
societyRabinowassertsfurtherthat
Indifferentfashions,usingdiverseprocedures,andwithahighlyvariableefficiencyin
eachcase,"thesubjectisobjectifiedbyaprocessofdivisioneitherwithinhimselfor
fromothers."Inthisprocessofsocialobjectificationandcategorization,humanbeings
aregivenbothasocialandapersonalidentity(pp.711).
JeremyBentham's18thcenturyarchitecturalwonderknownasthePanopticonwasseenat
thetimeasnotjustanapparatusofsocialcontrolbutasrepresentingadesiredsystemof
socialcontrol.ThePanopticonwasasystembywhichallthreemodesofobjectification
couldoccur.Foucault(1980)observesthatthePanopticonrepresentsaquesttoexert
controloverindividuals,groups,eventhemassesofsociety.ThePanopticonwasa
circular"architecturalform"developedasaveryeconomicalmethodbywhichto
implementpowerandcontroloverothersinsuchamannerastofacilitatepersons'
participationintheprocessandattainmentoftheirownobjectification.Thecircular
structuredPanopticonhadacourtyardinthemiddlewheretherewasanadministrative
towerwhichhousedguards.Thiscontroltowerwassurroundedbycellswhereinmates
werehousedinsolitaryconfinement,anddesignedsothateachoccupantwouldalwaysbe
visible.Guardscouldseeoutintothecells,butinmatescouldnotseeintothetower,and
wouldn'tknowwho(orifsomeone)waswatchingthem.
MichaelWhite&DavidEpston(1990,p.69)writethatthearrangementofinmatesin
cells,subjectedtothissupposedeternalgaze,allowedforeachandalltobeclassified,
qualified,measured,compared,differentiated,andjudgedaccordingtothenormsand
rulesofthecontrollingorganization.White&Epstonwritefurtherthat
...theeverpresentgazeexperiencedbythepersonsoccupyingtheindividualspaceswas
ineffecta"normalizinggaze".Thosepersonswouldexperiencethemselvesasbeing
constantlyevaluatedaccordingtotherulesandnormsspecifiedbytheorganization.This
normalizinggazewouldsubjectpersonstoa"wholemicropenaltyoftime,ofactivity,of
behavior,ofspeech,ofthebody,ofsexuality"(Foucault,1979,p.178;White&Epston,
1990,p.69).
ThePanopticondesignfunctionallysegregatedeachofitsinmatesintoseparatecells,
keptthemfromhavinganydirectcontactwithoneanother,andincitedthemtofeelasif
theywereunderconstantscrutiny.Thustheorganizationcoulddefinenormalityand
inciteitsinmatestoadoptthemselvestoit,recruitingpersonsintoanactiveroleintheir
ownsubjugationandtowardshapingtheirlivestothedesignoftheorganization.White
andEpstonwritethatundertheseeminglyconstantscrutinyinmates
...wouldbecomeevervigilantwithregardtotheirownbehavior,evaluatingallactions
andgesturesagainstthenormsspecifiedbytheparticularorganization.Andupon
identifyinganyanomaliesoraberrationsintheirownconduct,theywouldbeinducedto
relatetotheirownbodiesasobjects,thatis,toengageindisciplinaryandcorrective
operationstoforgetheirownbodiesasdocile.Thus,theybecametheirownguardians.
Theypolicedtheirowngestures.Andtheybecametheobjectsoftheirownscrutiny
(White&Epston,1990,p.71).
UnderthePanopticondesigntheguards,too,weresubjecttoaninvisiblepower.While
manyvisitorswouldcometothetower,thosesupervisorsthatweretheretoobservethe
guardsdidnotidentifythemselves.Theguards,liketheinmates,wereincitedbythisever
presentgazetosupervisethemselves,toactasiftheywereconstantlybeingwatchedby
supervisors.Theprocessofbothinmatesandguardsbecomingagentsoftheirown
externalcontrollayinthesubjectificationprocessofinternalizingtheircircumstances
intoapersonaldiscourseofpassivityandsurrendertotheircircumstances.
ButasIhavementionedpreviously,thePanopticonismuchmorethananapparatusfor
socialcontrol.Itrepresentsbothasystem,amodel,andthedesiretoexertsuchasystem
overothers.White&EpstonstatethatthePanopticonisamodelfora"mechanismof
powerthatisselfmaintainingandhighlyautonomousinitsoperation"(p.73).Allpersons
involvedwithitsexistence"aresimultaneouslyasubjectofandaninstrument,orvehicle,
ofpower"(p.74).Panopticoninmatesaredegraded,fixed,anddependent,underthegaze
ofthosewhoarehigherupthesocioeconomicandpowerhierarchy,whetherthosebe
guardsorothersinauthority.Panopticoninmatesareplacedsomewhatunderthegazeof
peoplewhohavemorepowerandstatusthanthey.Oncethisprocessisinternalized
inmatesfalladditionallyundertheirownselfcorrectingandnormalizinggaze.The
structureofthePanopticonkeptindividualinmatesfromhavingcontactwitheachother
andcertaingroupsfromhavingcontactwithothers,recruitingeachresidenttosuspecthe
wasunderperpetualobservation.Theintendedresultofthiswasthattheinmate(s)would
actaccordingtohisownobservationsofbeingscrutinized,fallingintolinewiththerules
andnormsoftheorganizationunderwhichhe/shewashoused.Theinherentefficiency
includedtheneedtohavefewguards.Theefficiencyalsoincludedtheintendedeffect,
whichwastoincitetheinmatetoactasifhe/shewasalwaysbeingobserved.Thisisquite
similarineffecttorecentpracticesincorporatesettingswherewellplacedvideocameras
allowsupervisorsandsecuritytowatchemployees,inadditiontohavingtheabilityto
scrutinizeemployees'electronicemail.Suchaprocessshapestheobservedasthe
observedbecomeshis/herownjailer,inthesamewaythataknowledgediscourseshapes
theseriousstudentofsuchdiscourseinpreparationforinclusioninaprofessional
occupation.
AtfirstglancethemainmethodofthePanopticonappearstobethatofsystematizing
dividingpractices.Butitistheinternalizingofspatialandsocialexclusion,usedin
conjunctionwiththeeverpresentgazeofauthority,andtheclassificationofdifference,
whichleadstotheselfsubjectification,bywhichtheobjectificationandcontrolis
achieved.UnderthegazewithinthePanopticonone'sidentityisreshaped,inaccordance
withtheoppressiveenvironment.AsRabinow(1984,p.8)states,essentially"dividing
practices"aremodesofmanipulationthatcombinethemediationofascience(orpseudo
science)andthepracticeofexclusionusuallyinaspatialsense,butalwaysinasocial
one.Madigan(1992)writesthatdividingpracticesareusedtospatiallydistancepeople
whoareperceivedto"exhibitdifference"fromtherestofthesocialgroup.Whiledividing
practiceshavebeenusedtosignifythosewhodonotfitinwithadominantgroup,the
samedividingpracticesareusedtobringdesiredothersintomembershipofdominant
groupssuchasoccupations,repletewiththeirownprofessionallanguages.
Institutionsmaintainandperpetuatespatialandsocialexclusionandclassification
practicesintheacceptanceofprospectivestudents.Thegazeofauthorityiseverpresent
inthelifeofthestudentasheorsheabsorbsandisabsorbedbythediscourseofthearea
ofstudy.Thestudents,public,corporations,andotherswhoareunfavorablyeffected,as
wellasthosewhobenefitbythesepracticesinternalizetheprocessandbecomepartin
perpetuatingsame(e.g.,distinguishingthegraduatesofaccreditedinstitutionsfrom
unaccreditedinstitutions,distinguishingaboveaverageperformancefromaverage
performance,distinguishingstandardgraduatesfromaffirmativeactiongraduates,
distinguishingtraditionalinstitutionsfromdistancelearninginstutions,etc.).Studentsare
constructedasidentitiesformedbytheirparticularassociationsornonassociationswith
highereducationandthishasfurtherramificationsinthepracticalworld.
Rabinownotesthatthroughthefirsttwomodes(dividingpractices;scientific
classification)andtheprocessofselfsurveillance/selfformationviasubjectification,a
person's"selfunderstanding...ismediatedbyanexternalauthorityfigure,behe
confessororpsychoanalyst".Theauthorityfigurecouldalsobeanyonewithauthorityand
powertodefineandcreatenarrativesaboutanother'sidentity,personhood,occupation,or
othermodeofrepresentingstatus.Madigan(1992)notesFoucault's(1980,1982)
assertionsthatthesubjectificationofpersonsentails"aprocessofselfunderstanding
throughinternalizeddialoguemediatedthroughexternalculturalnorms".Thedelivery
systemsforsuchnormscanalsobeone'sboss,thepolice,one'suniversityprofessorand
academicprgram,minister,therapist,financialaidworker,socialworker,oranyoneelse
thatanindividualexperiencesashavingbeenvestedwithsuchpowerandauthority.
Socialandoccupationalidentityisachievedfortheuniversitystudentbythedividing
practiceofsegregationandclassification.Subjectificationisachievedastheindividuals
internalizetheirsocialidentitiesandactinaccordancewithsame.Thoseoneachlevelof
thesocioeconomichierarchy(faculty,student,commonworkers)areabletoestablish
theirsocialidentitybytheirdifferencesfromtheotherlevels.Peoplepersuadedbythe
ideologiesofpoliticalcorrectnessplaceeachotherunder"thegaze".Peopleare
eventuallyafraidtostepoutofline,tosayorwritesomethingwhichmightrufflethe
feathersoftheotherindividualswhotakeituponthemselvestopolicetheinternalizing
andactingoutoftheparticularideology.Theseideologiesareseenascorrectanda
solutionwhichneedstobepromulgated,evenenforced.Unfortunately,eventheveryidea
ofthe'politicallycorrect'issubjecttotheconditions,trends,powerstructures,and
mindsetandbehaviorsofthepeople.Whatispoliticallycorrectinoneeraisseenas
dangerousforthesocietyofanotherera,andcertainlydangerousforthesubjectsofits
gaze.Foucaultwouldmostlikelyincludesuchideologiesasagenciesofsocialcontrol
(alongwithpolice,psychiatricservices,socialservices,andeducationalinstitutions).As
Crawford,Johnson,Nolan,andBrown(1998,p.3)observe,
Theimportanceofstudyingprofessionallanguageanditsacquisitionbecomesclearwhen
weconsiderwhatitmeanstobesocializedintoanoccupationalrole.Thereceivedview
ofoccupationalsocialization...stressestheadoptionofvalues,vocabulariesand
professionalidentities(e.g.,Beckeretal,1961)andtheformalcurriculumoftraining.In
theory,thequalifiedprofessionalisdistinctive,havingbeentransformedintoa
'participatingeffectivememberoftheorganization'(Nelson&Quick,1994,p.499).Thus
congruenceisachievedbetweenthenewcomerandtheprofession.Thisviewisalsofound
inthesocialpsychologyofgroupmembership.Forexample,Tajfel(1981)arguedthatwe
makefundamentaldistinctionbetweenmembersofourowningroupandoutsiders....
Power,valuesandideologyliebehindlanguageanditisoccupationalsocializationwhich
inculcatesthese.However,theiroperationisseenthroughlanguageasanorganizedsocial
practice(p.3).
Madiganwritesthat
Theactionsofdividingpracticesaretoleratedandjustifiedthroughthemediationof
science(orpseudoscience)andthepowerthesocialgroupgivestoscientificclaims.In
thisprocessofsocialobjectificationandcategorization,humanbeingsaregivenbotha
socialandpersonalidentity(pp.266267).
Rabinow(1994)statesFoucault'scontentionthatmethodshavedevelopedoverhistory
thatfacilitatethedistribution,supervision,anddisciplineofthepopulation.Suchcontrol
relieschieflyontheorganizationofindividualsinspecificspaces:"Inafactory,the
procedurefacilitatesproductivity;inaschool,itassuresorderlybehavior;inatown,it
reducestherisksofdangerouscrowds,wanderingvagabonds,orepidemicdiseases"
(p.17).
ClassificationandSubjectification:
Onsubjectification,Rabinow(1994)statesthatitconcernsthe"wayahumanbeingturns
himorherselfintoasubject",andfromthereentersintoaprocessofself
surveillance/selfformation.Theinterplayofthefirsttwomodes,isolationfromthe
greatercommunity(whetherthroughprison,psychiatrichospitalization,theracialghetto
orIndianreservation,thepovertyghetto,thevisibleclasssystem,academia,etc.)and
beingsubjectedtothedefinitionscontainedinanofficialdossier(e.g.,
psychiatric/psychologicalassessment,socialservicesreports,immigration/refugee
reports,policereports,academicreport,etc.)leaveapersoninapassiveandconstrained
position.
WhilethedistributiondesignofthePanopticonandothermethodsofsocialand
intellectualcontrolareimplementedbyinstitutionalauthorities,it'snotasifthese
subjectsareactuallyoppresseddirectlybythepoweroftheauthorities.Madigan(1992)
notesFoucault'sclaimthatpower,ratherthancomingfromabove,comesfrombelow,
fromthesubject,"whereculturalknowledgeclaimsareinternalizedandproducedin
everysocialinteraction"(p.270).Theinternalizationofsuchknowledgeasisdelivered
throughthediscoursesofthedominantcultureandknowledgediscoursesservesto
subjugateotherlocalandalternativenarrativeknowledge.Itispossiblethatawell
educatedindividualcanendupasaprisonerofknowledgediscourseorotherdominant
formsofdiscourse,whileculturalperceptionmaybethatonlytheuneducatedandpoorly
skilledendupconstrainedinsuchamanner.Thus,onecanplayaroleinthelabelingand
marginalisingofoneself,simplybasedonwhatdiscoureheorsheisshapedby.Ifone
internalizesthediscourse,itstandstoreasonthattheperson'ssenseofpersonalvaluein
societycanbecomeshapedbythatdiscourse,ifonedoesnotalreadypossessastrong
identityrootedinsrongalternativenarrativesaboutoneself.
ResistingtheInvisiblePanopticon
Asoursocietyexperiencesaparadigmshiftfromamodernindustrialsocietytoamore
diversepostindustrialinformationsociety(Naisbitt,1984,1990;Bell,1996,p.423),a
parallelparadigmshifthasbeenoccurringintheacademicworld.Frenchphilosopher
JeanFrancoisLyotard(1996,p.481)describesthisacademicparadigmshiftasthe
"postmoderncondition",anerawherethevalidityofanyandallclaimstospecialized
knowledgeparticularlyinthesocialsciencesisquestioned.Withinthisacademic
movement,somesociologists,socialpsychologists,feministwriters,educators,family
therapytheorists,andothershavebeenquestioningmanyoftheassumptionsonwhich
professionshavebeenbuilt.Intheirwritingstheycitesomeofthephilosophicalworksof
thetwentiethcenturythoseworkswhomMadanSarup(1989)termsas"post
structuralist",andincludeFoucault,Lyotard,Rorty,Ricouer,andHabermas.Feminist
authorsfrequentlypointoutthatmuchoftheknowledgeinthesocialsciencesisbased
primarilyonmaleperspectivesanddonotprivilegetheexperienceandperspectivesof
thefemaleexperience(Irigaray,1996;Harding1996;Flax,1990).Thisrevisioningof
bothacademicinquiryandtheresultingknowledgeincompanywithchangingtrendsin
oursocietyhaveresultedinnewapproachestohighereducationthatdescribe
themselvesasmoreconsumercentered.Suchnewapproachesattempttofirstaccomplish
asensitivitytowhatBritishsociologistBrianBrown(1995)describesasthe
"representation"oftheexperienceof"others".Poststructuralismreferstotherejectionof
structuralism'ssearchforexplanatorystructuresunderlyingsocialphenomena.In
linguistics,alsotheviewthatthemeaningsofsigns(e.g.,words)arenotfixed,but
shiftingandcontestable(fromBurr,1996).Poststructuralists,likeFoucault,wantto
deconstructtheconceptionsbymeansofwhichwehavesofarunderstoodthehuman
(fromSarup,1989).
Nowadays,traditionaleducationisincreasinglyinvolvingitselfwiththedeliveryof
professionaldegrees,thatisdegreeprogramswhichhaveforthelearneranoutcomeof
enteringaprofession.Inthetradessuchacredentialislooselyreferredtoasa"ticket"to
workinaparticularfield.Bloom(1989)haslamentedthistrend,inthateducationis
becominglessinterestedineducationforthesakeoflearningitself.Thereisbigmoneyto
bemadeinthisnewtrend,asevidencedbytheacceleratingcostsofadultoriented
educationprogramswhichnowincludesuch'products'as"theexecutiveMBA".New
trends,suchastheemergenceofprivateuniversitiesforprofit,ownedbycorporations,
capableofdeliveringcurriculuminanincreasinglyefficientmanner,andchargingsimilar
tuitionasthemoreestablishedinstitutions.
BacktoBatesonand"DoubleDescription":
PrivilegingAcquiredLocalKnowledgeAmidsttheDiscursivePracticesof
TradititonalHigherEducation
Thenontraditionalpoststructuralparadigmincludesthenormaldidacticdelivery(albeit
frequentlyviadistancelearningmodalities).Inadditiontoexposingthelearnertonew
knowledge,apoststructuraleducationprogramorientsthelearnertowardthe
categorizationandintegrationofalreadyattainedknowledgeinawholisticmannerand
showsthelearnerhowtocontinueasalifelonglearner.Inthisthirdsectionofthe
documentIwillfocusonmyexperienceofCPU'sapproach,usingCPUasanexampleof
poststructuralnontraditionaleducation.
InadditiontofacilitatingfortheadultlearneradialoguewithnewinformationCPU's
educationalapproachhelpsthelearnerincorporatealreadyattainedknowledgeintoone's
academicprogram.CPU'seducationparadigmseekstoembracealreadyacquired
knowledgeandseekstofacilitateexpandingandroundingoutsuchacquiredknowledge.
Thisparadigmexistsincontrasttothetraditionaleducationalparadigm,whichislinear,
structural,andchieflyorientedtowardyoungerandlessexperiencedindividuals.CPU's
paradigmis"poststructural"inorientation,andattemptstoworkcollaborativelywiththe
studenttohelpincorporateaspectsofwhatthestudent"alreadyknows"intothestudent's
program.ThisisreferredtoinCPU'sstatedmissionwhichistoprovideadulteducation,
distancelearningprogramsforaccomplishedindividualsseekingundergraduateor
graduatedegreesinArts&Sciences,Administration&Management,orHealth&
HumanServices.
Inhisexplorationofhumancyberneticsandepistemology,visionarythinkerand
anthropologistGregoryBateson(1972)discoveredtheabilityof"newinformation"to
extendpowertowardindividualsandhumansystemsinopeningnewpossibilitiesin
creativityandproblemsolving.Movingbeyondsuchessentialquestionsforadult
educationas'WhatdoIneedtoknow?'and'WhatisitthatIalreadyknow?'
epistemologistBradfordKeeney(1983),aformerstudentofBateson,posessuch
questionssuchas'HowisitthatIknowwhatIknow?',and'HowisitthatIknowthatI
know?'.Frommyperspective,informedbyexperience,otherquestionsofpertinenceare
'WhatdoIknowinvariouscontextsofmylifethatmaybetransferabletothesubjectarea
ofmyacademicprogram?'and'WhatistheprocessbywhichIcantransfersuchlearnings
intomyacademicprogramwhileaddressingthevariables?'Theanalyticaljuxtaposition
ofsuchquestionscanfacilitateforthelearnerwhatBateson(1979)describedasa"double
description",revealingnewinformationorasBatesondescribes,adifferencethatmakes
adifference.Suchadifferencespellsinterestingimplicationsforadultlearners.Lookedat
inthismannerwhatemergesisdescribedbyKeeneyasa"holisticsystem"ofsourcesof
information.Keeney(1983)describesBateson'snotionofdoubledescriptionasfollows:
Fundamentally,doubledescriptionisanepistemologicaltoolthatenablesonetogenerate
anddiscerndifferentordersofpattern.Althoughlanguage,throughthelimitsofits
particularterms,andstructure,constrainsourknowing,doubledescriptionprovidesa
wayofusinglanguagetodirectustowardhigherorderdescription.Bydoingthis,wecan
beginpullingourselvesupbyourbootstrapstogetoutoftheepistemologicalquagmire.
Astwoeyescanderivedepthtwodescriptionscanderivepatternandrelationship(p.83).
Inshort,therearedifferentlevelsofknowing,andeducationthatseekstoaddressthe
needsofadultsshouldaddressthesemultiplelevels,helpingthelearnergaintheskillsto
applyexistingknowledgeintothevariouscontextsofhis/erlife.Inrapidlychanging
socioeconomictimeswherecareersoutgrowpeopleandpeopleoutgrowcareersthisis
animportantskill.
Utilizingsuchmethodsofselfinquiryasoutlinedbrieflyabovetheadultlearnercan
discover,representandapplywhatisalreadyrelevantinhis/herstorehouseoflife
experienceand/orprofessionalexperience.Thisapproachmovesthelearnerfromtherole
ofpassiveobserver(interactingwiththewhatofcurriculumcontentasdecreedbythe
dominantandauthoritativevoiceoftheallknowingandpatronizinguniversity)tothe
roleofobserver/participator(interactinginaselfreferentialway,locatingoneselfasa
lifelonglearner,recognizingandbringinglifetowhatonehasalreadylearnedovertime,
andcreatingdialoguebetweenwhatonehasalreadylearnedinadditiontorelevantnew
curriculummaterial).Theaboveengendersadiscoursethatencompassescollaboration,
socialliberation,andisrelationallynonhierarchical.Suchadiscoursedeobjectifiesthe
studentastheonewhoisinneed(conversely,thenarrativeknowledgeofthelearneris
seenasaresource)anddeobjectifiestheuniversityanditsagentsfromtheroleof
benefactorwhomustmeettheneed(theuniversityroleshiftsforwardparadigmaticallyto
thatofconsultingmentorandcollaboratorwhoworksto"drawout"andintegrate
narrativeknowledgewithother,"new"informationincurriculum).Ihavepreviously
discussedsuchdistinctionsobservedbyRicoeur(1992)astheselfas
speaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectofimputation.IhavealsonotedpreviouslyhowI
haveexpandedonRicoeur'sideaandincludedcertain"others",asoutlinedbelow:
imputation,
2. theother(theconsumer/adultlearner)asspeaker/narrator/actor/moral
subjectofimputation
ofnarrativeknowledge)asspeaker/narrator/actor
speaker/narrator/actor/moralsubjectofimputation.
Inthenontraditionalpoststructuralapproachtohighereducationanimportant
distinctionisincluded:(3)thelivedexperienceother(theadultlearneraspossessorof
vastreservoirsofnarrativeknowledge)asspeaker/narrator/actor.Forthiscategegory(3)
Ihaveremovedthecharacteristicidentifiedas"moralsubjectofimputation".Ihavedone
sobecausethiscategoryof"other"hasbeenlargelydeniedandunprivilegedhistorically
andneedsafightingchancewithouttheimputationofothers.Thisapproachtohigher
educationforadultlearnersrelocatestheobserverinthatwhichisobserved,thus
enablingalldescriptionofthecontentorthewhatofcurriculumtobeselfreferential.
Thebeliefthatonecanholdanobjectiveviewofanysubjectwithoutreferencingoneself
asobserverhasbeendisprovedbyscientistssuchasJonvonNeumann,GotthardGunther,
LarsLofgrenandmanyothers.AsHeinzvonForster(1976c)asks"Howwoulditbe
possibletomakeadescriptioninthefirstplaceiftheobserverwerenottohaveproperties
thatallowhimtogeneratesuchdescriptions?"VonForsterwritesthatthisrendersthe
ideaof"objectivity"oftheobserveroverwhatisobservedaserroneous.Thereforeadult
educationwhichdoesnotincludetheperspectiveandexperienceofthelearnerasrelevant
tocurriculumisalsoquestionable.
Thenontraditionalapproachtohighereducationfitswiththepoststructuralapproachof
encouragingthesubjecttobecomeasacollaborator,torepresentoneselfratherthanbe
representedbyothers,andthepoststructuralnotionthatlocalknowledgeshouldnotbe
subjugatedbyother'dominant'knowledgethatattemptstovalidateitselfbyaclaimed
associationwithscientificmethod.
Iftheacquiredlocalknowledgeofadultsistobeincorporatedinhighereducation
curriculumsthepowerdifferentialoffacultyandstudentwouldbesomewhatflattened.
Currentpoststructuralthoughtaroundknowledgeandresearchrecognizesthispower
differentialintherelationshipbetweenvariousdisciplinesandthosewhomareservedby
suchdisciplines.Thesepoststructuralthinkersencouragethevariousdisciplinesto
flattensuchpowerdifferentialsaswellasencouragingdisciplinestoincreasetheir
awarenessoftheirinteractionswiththeirclientstodevelopselfreflexivity.Inhuman
scienceactivitytheessenceofselfreflexivityiscontingentondeobjectifyingthesubject
ofyourinquiry.Accomplishingthisrequiresthatthepersoninpositionof
researcher/consultant/therapist/educatorshiftfroman'observinganddescribingor
appraisingtheother'anobjectifyingmindsetto'observingoneselfobservingand
participatingwiththeother'adeobjectifyingmindsetwhichinpracticeisoneof
relationalcollaboration.Theshiftissubtlebuttheresultsaredifferent,astheshiftbrings
bothpartiesintheinteractionclosertowardalevelplayingfieldthatopensupconceptual
spaceforanexchangeofdiverseperspectivesdynamicinitspotentialformutualinquiry
andpossibilitiesforlearning.Onsuchafieldeachpartyintheexchangeisanexpert
perhapseachpartyhavingtheirownexpertiseindifferentthings.Suchexpertisecouldbe
attributedtoeitheracademicallyacquiredknowledge,and/orknowledgeacquiredbylocal
experience.Theparticipator/observerbecomespartoftheexpandedwhole,ratherthana
separateentityposingasanexpertwhocandecree"truths"abouttheother'sconditionor
abilitiesand/ormisrepresenttheotherviathediscursivepracticesofthediscipline.
Thinkingsimilarlyandusingawholisticperspective,one'slifeandprofessional
experiencesgiveyieldtocertainlocalknowledgeandperspectivesthatcanbean
enormouscontributiontobeintegratedintoanacademicprogram,onceitisrecognized
byhighereducationauthoritiesthatpeoplecanalready"know"certainthingsthatwould
benormallytaughtinaclassroom,discussionlabs,and/orexperiencepracticumsand
internships.Onequestionishowcansuchexperiencebe'drawnout"(theword"educate"
comesfromtheLatin"educo"whichmeans"todrawout").
Anattempttoaccomplishtheabovewiththelearnerisoneexampleofdeobjectifying
andgettingonalevelplayingfieldwiththelearner.Thisisasystemicapproachforthe
learner,whothenbecomesmuchmoreinvolvedinshapingthelearningprocess,oneof
selfeducationinrelationalcollaborationwithone'sUniversity,one'senvironments,one's
temporalpresentandpast,andindeedone'sself.PerhapstheUniversityanditsagents
willalsolearnsomethingintheprocessastheplayingfieldisleveled.Perhapsthefaculty
expertisebecomesmoreofhelpingto"drawout"theknowledge,asopposedtobeingthe
expertholderanddisseminatoroftheknowledge.Thisisneitheroneortheother,butabit
ofboth,andperhapsotherpossibilities.Itisasomewhatdifferentapproachtohigher
educationthanthelinearandlargelydidacticapproachassociatedwithtraditional
educationandpositivisticapproachestoresearchthatofsolelyaccumulatingobjective
knowledgefrom'outthere'(frequentlyequatedwith'truths'byaclaimedassociationwith
scientificorquasiscientificmethod).
TheStoryofMyOwnExperiencewithNontraditionalHigherEducation(with
CPU)
Ireceivedmyfirstexposuretonontraditionaleducationin1989,whenIcameacrossan
advertisementfromColumbiaPacificUniversity(CPU)inPsychologyToday.Iwasabout
toturn34,hadjustcompletedtwoyearsatacommunitycollege,whereIstudiedjazzand
classicalmusicontheviolinandguitar.Ihatedthefactthatfulltimestudiesgaveme
littleopportunitytoearnincomeandIhadchildsupportpaymentstomake.Ialso
dislikedfeelinglikeIwasonatreadmill,runningfromclasstoclass,andIfeltphysically
uncomfortablewiththeconcreteinstitutionalbuildingsofthecollegeandtheflourescent
lighting.Icaughtabushomeeveryday,tiredanddepressed,andrarelyfoundtheenergy
tostudyordoassignments.Asaresult,Ifinishedoutthetwoyearstintowingabout
$12,000instudentloans,andhavingearnedonly31ofapossible60credits.Onemight
berighttosurmisethatIwasafailureattheeducationendeavor.
CPU'sadsuggestedaselfpacednoresidencycurriculumthatincludedpotentialcredit
forlife/workexperience.Theprogramwasbasedaroundacoreofacademicsubjects
designedtointroducethelearnertoimportantconceptsandhelpintegratelifeandwork
experience.Theprogramalsousedlearningcontractstoattainknowledgerequirements
forcertainsubjectareasandwouldalsoallowthelearneravarietyofmeanstofulfill
creditrequirements.Themilieusforlearningincludedattendanceatworkshopsinone's
locality,workingwithlocalmentors,ordevelopingspecialreadingassignmentsfollowed
byanintegrativepaper.Thelearnerwasalsoencouragedtodrawfromone'sown
experienceandincludeone'sownperspectivesinwritingassignments.Realizingthe
potential,whichincludedtheabilitytoreturntoworkandgetoffthepovertyline,I
requestedacatalogueandenrolledatCPUforaB.S.inHumanServices.
Atthetimeofenrollmentmyinterestwasincounselingandtherapy.TheCanadian
provinceofBC,whereIlive,hadnolicensingfortherapistsatthetime,andarelated
degreewouldcertainlyhelpinultimatelyfindingworkinthefieldinahumanservice
agency.InadditiontoembarkingonCPU'scoreprogramIbegantotakepractitioner
orientedtrainingincounselingtheoriesandtheirapplications,aswellascoursesin
neurolinguisticprogramming(NLP),acommunicationstechnologywithapplicationsfor
areaswhichincludetherapy,organizationdevelopment,behavioralmodeling,andsales.
Thesetrainingprogramsweretocontinueintensivelyforabout5years.By1993,whenI
hadcompletedthevarioustrainingprograms,Iheldthefollowingcredentials:
CertifiedPractitionerofNeuroLinguisticProgramming(NLP)
CertifiedMasterPractitionerofNLP
CertifiedMasterPractitioneroftheCounselingApplicationsofNLP
CertificationinHypnotherapy
CertifiedMasterPractitionerinBehavioralModeling
CertifiedProvisionalTrainerofNLP
CertifiedTrainerofNLP
CertificationinCounseling
CertificationbytheNorthwestSatirInstituteinFamilyTherapyPractice
InternshipinOD/TeamBuilding
Inadditiontotheabove,Iwastakingotherworkshopbasedtraininginshamanism,
healingandritual,andotherareasofinterest.By1993Ihadalsocompleted,withthe
SterlingInstituteofRelationship,anintensive5yearsofexperiencebasedinvolvementin
anareanowclassifiedas"mens'studies".Thisfocusincludedrelationshipbuilding,peer
groupwork,teambuilding,communitybuildinganddevelopment,codesigning
leadershipweekendsformen,anddesigningandtestingaritualmodelforaccessinga
maleorientedspiritualityinlargegroups.DuringthisperiodIquietlypluggedalongwith
theCPUcorecurriculum,eachcoursemadeupofaseriesofdirectedreadings,
assignments,andwrittenpapers.
AnOverviewOfCPU
AchronicleofsomeofmyownexperiencewiththeCPUcurriculumwouldbe
incompletewithoutprivilegingCPU'sownvoice,soIwillbeincludingaspectsofCPU's
descriptionoftheirprogramsandphilosophythroughoutthissection.Ibelievedoingso
willprovidegreatercontext,orinkeepingwiththeprediscussedthinkingofBatesona
"doubledescription",orfromKeeney'sthinkinga"holisticdescription".Thefollowing
overviewofCPUanddescriptionsofthecurriculumarecombinedfromCPU'sown
literatureandincludecommentariesfrommyownperspectiveandexperienceatCPU.
ThedescriptionsarenotintendedtoserveinlieuofCPU'sprogramsyllabusandare
incomplete.AlthoughtheCPUsyllabuscontainsmanycourses,theCPUprogramis
differentforeachlearner,basedontheneedsofeachlearnerandpriorexperienceofthat
learner.
Foundedin1978,ColumbiaPacificUniversityprovidesadulteducation,distance
learningprogramsforaccomplishedindividualsseekingundergraduateorgraduate
degreesinArts&Sciences,Administration&Management,orHealth&Human
Services.Selfpacedschedulingandlifeachievementevaluationareincludedinthe
ColumbiaPacificUniversityprogram.Tobeadmitted,anapplicantmusthaveestablished
acareerfocusanddemonstratedacapacitytolearnfromhighereducation.CPU's
curriculumisdesignedforselfpacedlearningatadistancebasedontheimportanceof
Individuality,Integration,andIndependentStudy.Mostofourstudentsareworking
professionals.
Individuality
Eachpersonisunique;eachindividual'sbackgroundprovideshim/herwith
apersonalarrayofabilitiesandintereststhataredifferentfromanyother's.
Anindividual'slifeexperienceismostsatisfyingandproductiveifhe/she
canacknowledgeanddevelopthispersonalpatternofabilitiesand
interests.
Educationcanandshouldbebasedupon,drawforthandfacilitatethe
developmentofthatindividuality.
Itisaproperroleofhighereducationtoenhanceandrefinethisprocess
foraccomplishedindividuals(whohavepreviouslyobtainedmeaningful
levelsofproductivecreativity)...sothattheindividualcanexpand
professionalproductivityandacceptance,aswellasmakepersonally
meaningfulcareerdevelopments
.Integration
Therearemanyaspectstoanindividual'slifeexperience:one'sinterestand
activityattimesfocusonconsiderationofhealth,family,recreation,
spirituality,etc.
Allaspectsofanindividual'slifeexperiencecanbeintegratedtomutually
supportandfacilitatetheotheraspects.
Educationcanandshouldhelpanindividualdevelopthispersonal
integrationandsupport
Itisaproperroleofeducationtochallengetheaccomplishedindividualto
developmoreeffectiveandcomprehensiveintegrationofbody,mindand
spirit,whicharethesignificantdimensionsofpersonalexperience...so
thattheindividualcandevelopclearerandpersonallyrelevantgoals,as
wellasalifestylethatissatisfying,healthfulandeffectiveinsupportingthe
individual'sgoals.
IndependentStudy
Thepotentialsourcesofideasandinformationrelevanttoanindividual's
interestmaybemanyandvaried.
Anindividual'sactivitiescanbemostsatisfyingandproductiveifthat
personcaninvestigatethesesourceseffectively.
Educationcanandshouldprovideguidanceinmakingsuch
investigationsbroadinscopeandefficientinprocess.
Itisaproperroleofhighereducationtostimulate,guideandacknowledge
independentstudy,aswellasintellectualandexperientialinquirythatis
selfdesignedandselfmotivated...sothattheaccomplishedindividual
canengageinselfdesignedandselfmotivatedintellectualand
experientialinquirythatiscomprehensiveinitssources,efficientinits
methods,integratedinitspersonalinvolvementandeffectiveinits
outcome.
AlthoughtheAmericansystemofeducationisextensive,complex,andinmanyways
quiteflexible,itoftendoesnotprovidesubjectivecontentwhichisfocusedonan
individualstudent'sparticularinterestsandneeds,noreducationaldeliverysystemswhich
areaccessibletoanindividualwhoisactiveinachosenvocationperhapsalready
committedtoacareerpath.Pursuinghighereducationoftenrequiresanupheavalof
familyandcommunityrootsandcommitments,interruptionofprofessionalactivities,and
sacrificeoffinancialresources.ColumbiaPacificUniversityisdesignedsothatan
individualdoesnotneedtoleavehisorherhomeandcommunity,interruptacareer,or
abandonfamiliareducationresourcesinordertoearnanacademicdegree.
Amatureandselfdirectedindividualcanparticipateinplanningthecurriculumcontent,
thetypesofinstructionalresourcestobeused,andthescheduleforcompletionofan
individualizeddegreeprogram.Someonewhoisalreadyactiveinacareerfieldcan
obtaintheacademicperspectiveandroundingoutofanareaofknowledgeandthe
recognitionofaccomplishmentsthatanadvanceddegreeprogramprovides.
TheUniversityiscommittedtoprogramsofexcellenceinhighereducationprograms
whichproducedemonstrableimprovementsinlearnerknowledge,proficiencies,skills,
andattitudes.Theseimprovementsareconsistentwithestablished,clearlyexpressed
standardsofperformancecomparabletothoseofrecognizedaccreditedcollegesand
universities.(TheabovedescriptionisfromtheCPUWebsite,19982000)
TheGeneralCurriculumatCPU
Note:ThisdescriptionisfromtheCPUGeneralCatalogue(1995)
ThestructureoftheColumbiaPacificUniversitycurriculumismosteasilyunderstoodif
itisapproachedfromfourdirections.First,thereisageneraloverallstructurewith
commonelementsthatapplytoallthreeschoolsandtoallthreedegreelevels.Thusall
students,regardlessofschoolordegreelevel,mustcompletethefourprojectsofthecore
curriculumincluding,forexample,the"Wellness"course(ofProjectIII),andsubstantial
independentstudyproject(relatedtoProjectIV).Inaddition,allstudentssubmitand
completefivelearningcontracts(asdescribedinProjectI),andwritea"FinalSummary"
andhavea"FinalOralReview"shortlybeforegraduation.
Second,therearesomewaysinwhichallbachelor'sprogramsaresimilartooneanother
regardlessofschool,andtherearecommoncharacteristicsofmaster'sprogramsandof
doctoralprogramswhich,inthesimilaritieswithinthedegreelevel,cutacrossschool
lines.Forexample,allbachelor'sstudentsmusthavetheequivalentofapproximatelytwo
yearsofundergraduatework(includinggeneralstudies)tobeeligibleforadmission;in
otherwords,noneofthethreeschoolsofferslowerdivisioncourses.Similarly,the
requirementfor126semestercreditsforgraduationatthebachelor'slevelisthesamefor
allthreeschools.Atthemaster'slevel,foranotherexample,abachelor'sdegree(or
equivalent)isrequiredforadmission,andatleast42semestergraduatesemestercredits
mustbeearnedforgraduation.Similarly,amaster'sdegree(orequivalent)isrequiredfor
admissiontoanydoctoralprogram,andatotalof90graduatesemestercredits(48beyond
themaster'sdegree)isrequiredforgraduationregardlessofwhichofthethreeschoolsthe
doctoralstudentisattending.
Third,eachschoolhasspecificdistributionrequirementsforitsstudents.Theseare
encompassedbythefiveknowledgeareaswhicharedifferentforeachschool,butarethe
same(inbroadterms)forallstudentsatalldegreelevelswithinagivenschool.
Finally,fourth,everydegreeprogramisintenselyindividualizedaroundaparticular
student'sbackground,interests,andneeds.Thus,forexample,twodifferentstudents,
althoughtheyarebothenrolledinBachelorofSciencedegreeprogramsintheSchoolof
ArtsandSciences,wouldbelikelytohaveaverydifferentacademicprograms.
Thus,inunderstandingtheCPUcurriculum,itisimportanttokeepinmindfour
principles:
1. Everystudent(atalldegreelevels)completesthefourprojectsofthecore
curriculumplusfiveKnowledgeArealeaningcontracts.Thecore
curriculumincludesseveralrequiredcourses,asubstantialindependent
studyproject,and,inaddition,aFinalSummaryandaFinalOralReview.
2. Thesesimilaritiesnotwithstanding,academicprogramsaredifferentat
differentdegreelevels.Allbachelor'sstudentsmusthaveatleast63
semestercreditstoenroll,and126tograduate;allbachelor'sstudentstake
foundationalcoursesinwriting,statistics("orclearthinking"),and
computerliteracy;andallbachelor'sstudentscompleteanIndependent
StudyProject(ISP).Master'sstudentsmusthaveabachelor'sdegreeto
enroll,andmustearn42graduatesemestercreditstograduate;every
master'sstudentproducesamaster'sthesis.Andalldoctoralstudentsmust
haveamaster'sdegree(ortheequivalent)toenroll,andearn48additional
graduatesemestercredits(atotalof90)tograduate;everydoctoralstudent
producesadoctoraldissertation.
3. Academicprogramsarealsodifferentforeachschool.Eachofthethree
schoolsArtsandSciences,AdministrationandManagement,andHealth
andHumanServiceshasspecificdistributionrequirements(definedby
the"knowledgeareas"oftheschool)foritsstudents.
4. Finally,everydegreeprogramisindividualized;thecontentinevery
courseandineveryrequirementdependsontheparticularstudent's
background,interests,andneeds.
Assuredly,itisvaluabletobecomeanindependent,lifelonglearner,tobeabletorespond
flexiblyandeffectivelytoachangingworldand,despitethemanyfragmentingforces
encountered,beabletointerconnectallaspectsoflifeharmoniously.Thecorecurriculum
atCPUteachesthesefundamentalcompetencies.
Allstudentsinallthreeschools,atalldegreelevelsarerequiredtocompletecore
curriculumcourseswhichareorganizedintofourprojects.Thecoursestructureofthe
corecurriculumprojectsisalsodesignedtosatisfyCalifornia'sStateEducationCode
limitoncreditsastudentcanbeawardedbytransferfromanotherinstitutionandfor
extrainstitutionallearning.Atleast25%oftheminimumcreditsrequiredforadegree
mustbeearnedthroughinstructionprovidedbytheinstitutionawardingthedegree.
Completionofthecorecurriculummeetsthisrequirementbyproviding32ofthe126
creditsrequiredatthebachelor'slevel,12ofthe42creditsrequiredatthemaster'slevel,
or12ofthe48postmaster'screditsrequiredatthedoctorallevel.
Thecorecurriculumprovidesaseriesofusefulskillsandvaluableconcepts.Students
havefounditanintellectuallystimulating,challenging,andrewardingpersonal
educationalexperience.Itisdesignedtoteachstudentsindependentstudyskills,clearand
logicalthoughtorganizationandpresentation,andfamiliaritywiththeintegrating
conceptsofourwholisticphilosophy.Thematerialsaredesignedtointegratewholistic
perspectivesandindependentstudyskillswitheachstudent'sparticularareaofinterest.
Thecorecurriculumisdesignedsothatthecontentandexercises,evenforbasicresearch
andwritingcompetencies,areindividualizedinaccordancewitheachstudent's
background,skills,andinterests.Allrequirementsareselfpacedtoaccommodateawide
rangeofpersonallifecircumstancesandpreferences.Furthermore,allrequirementscan
becompletedatadistancefromtheuniversity.Ineveryregard,theinstitution'seducation
deliverysystemcanbeadjustedtoeachindividualstudent'shealth,careeractivities,
personallife,andstudypatterns.
Thecorecurriculumisorganizedintofourprojects.Tounderstandwhywecallthese
"projects",letuslookatthedefinitionof"project"fromADictionaryofEducationby
DerekRoundtree.
Project:Alearningtaskwithsomeorallofthefollowingfeatures:itarisesinthe
interestsofthelearners;itdemandsoriginalinvestigationorexperimentation;itismore
concernedwithdevelopingattitudesandintellectualskillsthanwithspecificknowledge;
itcanbetackledbyaspecificlearnerorbygroups;itcutsacrosssubjectbarriersinan
interdisciplinaryway;itusestheteacherasafacilitator,guide,andcounselorratherthan
asaconveyorofinformation;itmayresultinareportorinthedemonstrationand
discussionofwhathasbeenproducedordiscovered.
AllofthefeaturesinthisdefinitionarecharacteristicofCPU'scorecurriculumprojects.
The4ProjectsattheCoreoftheCPUProgram
Ateachdegreeleveltheprogramisdividedintofourcategoriesorprojects.Any
commentarieswhichImakeonanyaspectsoftheCPUprogramwillbebasedaroundthe
Master'sprogramunlessIspecificallyindicateotherwise.
ProjectI:(FoundationalConstructsandActivities)
Note:ThisdescriptionisfromCPU'sGeneralCatalogue(1995).
ProjectIistitled"MaterialsandMethods:ResearchingInformationResourcesand
DevelopingalearningPlan".ThisprojectconsistsofasinglecourseMM311.Itpresents
conceptsandtechniquesforusingawidediversityofsourcestopursueindependent
study.Thecoursematerialsdiscussvariouskindsofinformationresourcesandtheir
strengthsandlimitationshowtoassesstheireditorialbiasesandreliability,forexample.
Theproblemsofidentifyingkeytermsandconceptsanddefiningthemproperly
(intentionally,operationally,extensionally,etc.),dependingontheusestowhichthe
definitionsaretobeput,areconsidered.Thisincludesclarifyingkeywordsandconcepts
relatedtothestudent'sparticularareaofstudy.Thestudentbecomesfamiliarwitha
varietyofinformationresources,andusesthemtocompletewrittenexercises.
Inaddition,thestudentstudiestheprocessesfordecidingon,organizing,aninformation
researchproject.Theseprocessesfordesigningindependentstudyplansarediscussedin
generalandalsoembodiedinspecificinstructionsforpreparingfive"learningcontracts".
Preparationoflearningcontractsincludesoutliningprioreducationandcareer
experiences,definingspecificlearninggoals,determiningappropriateresources,and
establishingmethodsforassessingstagesofprogressandcompletionoftheindependent
studyprocess.Thelearningcontractprocessteachesstudentsageneralproblemsolving
approachforpursuingindependentstudyonanytopicandinanyfield.
ProjectIalsoincludesassessmentandspecializedinstructionsasnecessaryof
expositorywritingskills,allthewayfromtechnicalcompetenceinwordusageand
punctuation,throughthoughtfulorganizationofideas,toacceptedacademicformatsfor
footnotesandbibliographies.
Thelearningchallengesinthisprojectoccuratseveraldifferentlevels.Asingle
assessmentmaypresentchallengesin:
1. understandingnewtermsandconcepts,
2. findingnewsourcesofinformation,
3. interpretingthescopeandbiasoftheeditorsandauthorsofrelevant
material,
4. integratingtheinformationlearnedwithotherstudies,
5. organizingone'sideasaboutthematerial,
6. andcommunicatingclearlyone'sthoughtsaboutthematerialinresponse
tothespecifictopicorquestionoftheassignment.
MyCommentsonCPUProjectI
byEaronKavanagh
IfirstbeganstudieswithCPUinthefall1989andProjectIwaswhereIstarted.Project
Ibeginsbyprovidinganorientationtotherelationalworkingsbetweenthelearner,
facultyandstaffofCPUtheprocessesandprotocolsofsubmittingassignments,
requestinghelp,etc.Remember,though,thatIstartedmyprogramsometimebeforethe
popularityoftheInternet,email,andthemagicoffileattachments.Inthosedays
assignmentsandpapersweresubmittedbymail.Isupposethat'swheretheterm
"correspondenceuniversity"comesfrom.Asmoreschoolsaccreditedandqualitybut
unaccreditedcameintobeing,theterm"distanceeducation"oreducation"atadistance"
cameintobeing.Fewrealized,though,thatatadistanceeducationhadbeenaroundsince
the1800's(e.g.,theOpenUniversityinBritain),andmorerecentlyUNISAinSouth
Africa,whereRobertMugabe,presidentofZimbabwe,andNelsonMandela,the
PresidentofSouthAfrica,aresaidtohaveearnedtheirdegrees.
ProjectI,inmyopinion,isanorganizingframeworkfortheeverydaypragmaticsof
embarkingupontheCPUdegreeprogram.Itisalsoanorganizingframeworkforthe
mentalconstructsthestudentwillacquirethatwillbeneededtosuccessfullyembark
uponandcompletetheprogram.Theprogramisnotalinearprogramofbeingexposedto
aprofessionalknowledgediscourse,thekindwhereonegathersinformationpieceby
piece,semesterbysemester,untilonebeginstothinkofoneselfasajourneypersonand
eventualexpertinthechosenfield.Thisisindeedthesignthatthepersonhasbeen
authoredbytheknowledgediscoursethatonehasbeenimmersedinforsomanyyears.In
truth,CPUoffersanalternativediscourse,awholisticparadigmaticdiscourseforviewing
theworldandoneselfintheworld.Thisviewincludesandembracesthevarious
aspects/parts/traitsthatmakeuplivingthings/nonlivingthings/humansystemsand
communities,andevenconversationsbetweenpersonsandcommunities.Themost
importantthingabouttheCPUprogramisthisdistinction.
Moreimportantlythansubject/objectinformationwhichisthesupposedproductthatis
beingtransmittedandlearned,CPU'sprogramsfacilitateatransformationbywhichthe
learnerisabletoembraceandintegratelifeandworkexperiencethatpreciousjewel
whichRicoeurandotherpoststructuralphilospherscall"narrativeknowledge".Just
think,atthismomentthesocialsciencedepartmentsofmanymajoruniversitiesare
chasingtheworksofthesephilosophers,attemptingtodeconstructpracticesof
knowledgeanditsrelationshiptopower,andparrotingthepoststructuralphilosophers.
Yet,theverythingsthatthepoststructuralphilosophersrecommend,suchasthe
inclusionofnarrativeknowledge,theprivilegingofthevoicesofrealexperience,the
shapingofstudentsasproactivepoliticalpersons,isbeingquietlycarriedoutbyCPU's
programs.
HavingwaxedeloquentlyforlongenoughIwillnowreturntoProjectI.Theorganizing
conceptspresentedbyProjectIinclude,butarenotlimitedto,thefollowing:
theconceptof"information",itsmanyforms,itsmethodsoftransmission,
itsmanypurposes,
communication,cuesoncommunication,assumptions,interpretation,
meaning,rulesandsymbolsforcommunication,hiddenassumptions,
generalsemantics,
thenotionofthe"informationsociety",informationandhitech,
informationandhitouch,MarshallMcLuhanandsubtleadvertising
messages,McLuhanandthemediumasmessage,mediainfluenceand
society,
informationfromawholisticperspective,lifeexperienceasinformation,
integrationoflifeexperience,themesoffavoredandotheractivityoverthe
spanofone'slife,
goalschartinggoals,uncoveringvalues,deconstructinglifeexperience,
entertainmentasinformation,
therapyandeducationasinformation,
unseeninformationormetainformation,criticalmassandparadigmshifts,
socialconstructionanddefinitions,meaningandchangingmeaning,
referencinginformation,
deconstructionassessingbiasandprejuduceinacademia,news,andother
media,
statisticstheroleofstatistics,inferentialanddescriptivestatistics,
statisticalevaluation,
learningplans,learningcontracts,creditassessment,definingatopicof
interestforindependentstudy,schedulingindependentstudy,
thefive"knowledgeareas"ofeachschoolintroductiontoknowledge
areasforeachofthethreeschoolsatCPU,
life/workexperienceandcreditintroductiontomethodsofassessment.
ProjectI,forme,wasthemostdifficultofalltheCPUprogramsandrelatedcourses.
Lookingback,Ibelievethatitwasachallengeformetobeginaprogramwhichrequired
energy/effortfrommyself,whereIsetthepace,andreceivedtherewardsor
disappointments.Itwasalsochallengingtoadoptsomeoftheconceptsabout
information,tobegintoidentifyor"frame"muchofmyexperiencepast,present,and
future,asinformation,andtodeconstructinformationforthesubtlemessages,meta
messages,biasesandprejudices.AnotherchallengewastheideathatIalreadymighthave
experiencethatcouldbeorganizedintocreditworthyinformationtoidentify,extract,
organizethisexperienceanddevelopalearningplanaroundit.Anotherproblemwas
schedulingtimeforstudy.Somethingwhichcamemoreeasilywasthe"praxis"learning
approach,thestrongemphasisonintegratingpersonalandworkexperiencewiththehelp
oflifelonglearningconceptsandalotofpersonalreflection.TheCPUjourneyisnotan
easyone,butdefinitelyworthit,anddefinitelyinvolvinga"whole"lotofpersonal
growth.
ProjectII:(AnOrganizingFrameworkandMetaconcepts)
ProjectIIistitled"DirectedReferencesandReadings:ExpandingandIntegrating
Perspectives".Incompletingthisproject,thestudentrelatespersonalandprofessional
intereststootherfieldsofknowledgeandtobroadunifyingconcepts.Thesearethe
portionsofthecurriculumthatstimulateandguidethedevelopmentofcreativethinking;
theydevelopanawarenessoflevelsofabstractionandofconcepttransfer.
TherearenineProjectIIcourses,threeserieswiththreecoursesineachseries.Students
takedifferentcoursesdependingontheirinterestsandcreditneeds.
OnetriadofProjectIIcoursespresentsstudieson:
Origins:PerspectivesonthePast
MeasurementandUncertainty:PerspectivesonthePresent
ProbabilitiesandPossibilities:PerspectivesontheFuture
AnothersetofProjectIIcoursescovers:
Archetypes,Myths,andRituals:TheDeepestPatternsoftheMind
PsychologyandSemantics:TheCausesandMechanismsofMental
Functions
IndividualityinaCulturalContext:TheCulminationofMentalActivities
Thethirdserieshasthefollowingthreecourses:
Wholism,theConcept,ItsOriginsandImplications
Ecology:OurHomeandHeritageHeldinTrust
HealthandHealing:UltimatePerspectivesandPracticalities
ProjectIIisdesignedtoteachapowerfulkindofabstractthinkingcalled"concept
transfer".Theprocessfordoingthisinvolveslearningcertainstudyskillsandresearch
techniques.EachProjectIIcoursedirectsthestudentsattentiontoreferencesandreadings
thatshowhowakeyconceptcanbeappliedtoseveralfields.Inoneofthesecourses,for
example,theconceptiscalled"origins".Regardlessofwhetherastudent'sfieldofstudy
isphilosophy,computerprogramming,employeerelations,healthservices,oranyother,
oneusefulandinterestingwayoflookingatthatfieldandgaininginsightsaboutitisto
studyitsoriginsthepeople,events,andideasthathaveledtoitsdevelopment.
Theobjectofeachcourseisnotonlytograspsomefundamentalconcepts,itisalsoto
learntothinkinventively,imaginatively,creativelyinviewingdifferentpartsofour
intellectualactivitieswhethertheyaretheuseoflanguage,managementofmoney,
computerprogramming,interpretationofpsychologicalsymbolsandmechanisms,orany
otherthroughavarietyofradicallydifferentconceptualglasses.Studentsfindthebasic
conceptsofeachcourseillustratedbyexamplesfromseveralwidelydifferentfields,and
theyareaskedtoapplytheconceptsspecificallytotheirownfieldofinterest.
Tobesure,someofthekeyconceptsaremoreeasilyandobviouslyapplicabletocertain
fieldsthantoothers."Measurementanduncertainty",forexample,isclearlyrelevantto
physics,engineering,andanyspecificortechnologicalarea.Butitisalsoreadily
applicabletothestudyoflanguages,arts,socialsciences,professionalisminhuman
services,andotherfields.Everyfieldhas"things"or"ideas"itattemptstospecify,andit
struggleswiththequestionsofhowclearlyandhowclosely(thatis,withwhatlevelsand
kindsofuncertainty)thesecanbespecified.Similarly,"archetypes,myths,andrituals"
areclearlyrelevanttoliteratureandpsychologybutnot,atfirstglance,toscienceand
technologybutthisisonlytrueatfirstglance.Infact,thestudyofarchetypes,myths,
andritualsiseminently,applicabletoscienceandtechnologyandcanprovidedramatic
insightsfortheseostensibly"hard"and"logical"fieldsassuchauthorsasPopper,
Merton,Kuhn,Prigognine,RootBernstein,andothershavediscussed.
Itcanprovideavaluableexerciseincreativethinkingtoapplythekindsofbroadideas
presentedintheProjectIIcoursestofieldswheretheydonotimmediatelyandobviously
seemtofit.Fascinatinginsightsemergewhenthisprocessisdoneeffectively.Thisisthe
essenceof"concepttransfer"taughtinprojectII."Concepttransfer"isoneofthe
essential(andlearnable)ingredientsofcreativethinking.
MyCommentsonCPUProjectII
byEaronKavanagh
InadditiontoCPU'sowndescriptionofProjectII(above),IviewProjectIIasasetof
three"organizingframes"bywhichonecanfacilitatetheorganizationoflife/work
experienceaswellastheacademicprojectsthatmaymakeupafieldofstudy.Within
eachorganizingframearenestedthree"metaperspectives".Eachmetaperspectiveis
structuredasacourse.Withineachcoursearemanytopicswhichrelatetothatmeta
perspective,providingmacrolensesorexamplesofthemetaperspective.Asanexample,
letustaketheProjectIIcoursetitledPS425:PsychologyandSemantics:TheCauses
andMechanismsofMentalFunctions.Thecourseintroductionbeginswiththefollowing
paragraph
Wemovenowintoadelicateanddifficultrealmourmindsstrugglingtounderstandand
describethemselves;ourmentalprocessesandfunctionsusedtoclarifyandexplainour
mentalprocessesandfunctions.Thishasbeenoneofthetimehonouredconcernsof
philosophy,andoneofthemostelusivepursuitsofmodernscience.Itisanareaof
inquirywhichcrossesovertoourreligiousfaiths,toourhighestpridesanddeepest
shames,toourunspoken(andunspeakable)underlyingideasaboutreality.Asyouwill
see,thenatureofmentalprocessesistiedtoandtangledwithourlanguageandtheways
ourthoughtsuselanguage,ourphilosophiesandculture,ourreligiousandspiritual
beliefsinfact,toeveryfacetofourbeing,ourhistories,andourfutures(Crewsand
FacultyofCPU,1991).
Thecoursematerialoftheabovemetaperspectiveincludethefollowingmacrolenses
(topics):
aprimerofFreudiandepthpsychology,
anintroductiontothenonAristotelianlogicandGeneralSemanticsof
AlfredKorzybski,
aprimeronlinguistics,
aprimeronsuperlearning,acceleratedlearning,
transpersonaldimensionsinpsychology,
anoverviewofthebrain,
anintroductiontoDianetics(Hubbard)
anintroductiontoArtificialIntelligence
Theabovetopics,ormacrolenses,(andsomeothersnotincludedabove)aredifferent
subperspectivesmakinguptheProjectIIcoursetitledPsychologyandSemantics:The
CausesandMechanismsofMentalFunctions.Anyphenomenonorfieldofstudycanbe
examinedthroughanyoftheabovemacrolenses.Eachmacrolenswillproducean
analysisthatissomewhatunique,yetmayhavearelationshiptoananalysisdonethrough
adifferentmacrolense.Differentlensviewsofanyfieldofstudycanalsobecontrasted,
revealingbothdiversityandsimilarity.Thesamephenomenoncanalsobeviewedmore
generallythroughthemetaperspective.Inthiscase,themetaperspectiveisthe
perspectiveofpsychologicalpatterns,psychologicaldeterminants,andunderlying
patternsinusesofwordandsymbols.Theorganizingframefortheaboveis"Mentaland
socialaspectsofafieldofstudy"anyfieldofstudythatisviewedthroughthisgeneral
organizingframewillvarysomewhat,dependingonthetemporalpointfromwhereitis
viewed.
Asanexampleoftheabove,considertheroleof"love"inprimaryrelationships.
Chroniclesofprimaryrelationshipsinthelatenineteenthcenturyblossomedwithtalesof
intenseromanticlove,whereasmostofthetwentiethcentury'srelationshipswerewritten
ofasmorepragmatic.Andthelatetwentiethcenturygiveswitnesstonotonlybothkinds
oflove,butalsoastateofconfusionaroundtheroleof"love"intheprimaryrelationship
(inGergen&Gergen,1994).Thephenomenonofrelationshipandlovecanbeexaminied
throughtemporalperiods(priorpast,recentpast,present,andfuture),andalsoviathe
metaperspectiveofpsychologyandsemantics.Underthelatterlenswemaydiscover
whatkindsoflanguagemayhavebeenusedtoauthorthesubjectofloveand
relationships.Wemayalsodiscoverthelanguageoftheperiod(asusedbylovers).We
mightalsoacquireenoughinformationtohypothesizeonhowpeopleofthetime(lovers,
authors,andreaders)mighthavebeeninfluencedbysuchlanguage,howpeopleofthe
presentareinfluencedbysuchlanguage(suchasthewritingsofJaneAusten).Thesame
phenomenoncanbeexaminedevenfurtherviatheuseofanyofthemacrolensesfound
withinthecoursePsychologyandSemantics:TheCausesandMechanismsofMental
Functions.Wemayarriveatsomequitedifferentresultsifweexaminetheroleoflovein
relationshipsfromtheperspectiveofFreud;orforthatmattertranspersonalpsychology,
semantics,etc.
Simultaneously,eachcourserepresentssomeaspectofafieldofstudy:temporal
perspectives,measurementandthepresent,thefutureandimplications,theindividualin
thecommunityorculture,etc.Thenotionthatthereisnorealandfullpictureofthe
world"outthere"isamajorfacetofthetheoreticalmetafieldofinquiryknownassocial
constructionismandconstructivism.Suchfieldspositthatanyphemomenomstudiedwill
produceananalysisrelativetothetheoreticallensfrombehindwhichitisstudied.Project
IIcoursesteachusthattherearemanylensesfromwhichwecanviewthings,thereby
enrichingourperspectives,particularlyinthehumansciences.Theorganizingframes
teachusacriticalthinkingdisciplinewhichbeappliedtoanyacademicproject.Thereis
notnecessarilyany"truth"towhatIamstatingherebutwhatitisIamstatingismy
perspective,basedonmyownexperiencewiththecoursework,informedbymystrong
influencesfromsocialconstructionismandconstructivism,andmyexperiencewith
ProjectIIcourses.
FirstOrganizingFrame:Time,Space,&PhysicalRealityBasisofaFieldofStudy.
RelatedMetaPerspectiveCourses:
HU421(DR321/221)
Origins:PerspectivesonthePasthistoricalorigins,sources&developmentofkey
concepts,andcontributionstootherdevelopmentswithintheculture.
NS422&522(DR322/222)
Measurement&Uncertainty:PerspectivesonthePresentmeasurementofvarious
kinds,difficultiesinmakingmeasurements,intrinsicuncertainties,andwaysofdealing
withvariouskindsofuncertainties.
HU423(DR323/223)
Probabilities&Possibilities:PerspectivesontheFuturetheimplicationsofcurrent
trends,futurepossibilities,andfactorsthatmayhavesignificanteffectsinthefuture.
SecondOrganizingFrame:MentalandSocialAspectsofaFieldofStudy.
HU424(DR324/421)
Archetypes,Myths,&Rituals:DeepestPatternsoftheMindunderlyingideas&
psychologicalpatterns,particularlyillogical,automatic&stereotypedones.
PS425(DR325/422)
Psychology&Semantics:Causes&MechanismsofMentalFunctionspsychological
patterns,psychologicaldeterminants,andunderlyingpatternsinusesofwordsand
symbols.
PS426(DR326/423)
IndividualityinaCulturalContextpatternsofindividualityasaffectedbyother
people,initiative,andcreativity;interplaybetweenthepersonalandthesocialorpublic.
ThirdOrganizingFrame:Wholisticintegrationwithin&aroundafieldofstudy.
PH527(DR327/521)
Wholism,theConcept:ItsOrigins&Implicationsintegrationwithinafield,
overviewofafield,&interconnectionswithotherfields.
EG628(DR328/522)
Ecology:OurHome&HeritageHeldinTrustpreservingenvironmentandtraditions,
interactionswithsurroundings,systemsapproachestophysicalcontext,andmaintaining
theintegrityandeffectivenessofcomponents.
HE629(DR329/523)
Health&Healing:TheUltimatePracticalitieshealth("wellness"),effective
functioningofbiological,physical,&conceptualsystemsatalllevels(spiritual,mental,
emotional,physical,social).
InembarkingontheProjectIIcoursesthelearnerbecomesexposedto3majororganizing
frameworksforafieldofstudy.Theaveragecourserequiredanannotatedbibliographyof
primaryandsecondarysourcereadingmaterialsand10submittedpapers.Theaverage
paperwhichIturnedinwasbetween8and20pagesandincludedareferencesection.
Eachcourseinthecorecurriculumwasbasedonanorganizingmetaperspective,under
whichadiversehierarchyofstudieswaspresented.Ihavealreadypresentedthe
organizingframeworksforthesemetaperspectives.Thelearnerpicksanynumberof
thesemetaperspectivecoursesdependingonthenumberofcreditsneededand
applicabilitytothemajorareaofstudy.Inaddition,thelearnerisexposedtovarious
metaperspectivessuchaswholismandsystemstheory,psychologyandsemantics,
ecologyandtheenvironment,theselfinthecontextofculture,healthandwellness
spiritual,physical,mental,emotional,andsocial;historicalperspectivesondevelopments
withinourculture,measurementanduncertaintyinthepresent,perspectivesonthefuture
andimplicationsofcurrenttrends;andarchetypes,mythsandritualsthatformthebasis
ofculture.
Withineachmetaperspectivecoursetherearemanytopicstoberead,andcorereading
sources.Thelearneralsoseeksoutadditionalsourcematerialsrelatedtohis/herfieldof
study,andcreatesanannotatedbibliographyofalloftheabove.Thelearnerthen
proposesnineormoreessayquestionswhichformthebasisoftheacademicpaperstobe
written.Oncetheseessayquestionsareapprovedthelearnerthenbeginsthetaskof
writingupthepapers,abouttenforeachcourse.Boththeorganizingframeworksand
metaperspectivesofeachcourseinthecorecurriculumaremeanttobeappliedtothe
learner'sprincipleareaofinterest.Therefore,thepaperswhichIturnedinforeachcourse
werewrittentoaddressaspectsoftheareasofinquirywhichIwasalreadyinvolvedwith.
WhiledoingthecorecurriculumIwasalsotakingstockofmypastandpresentpractical
life/workexperiencesandwhatIhadbeenlearningwiththoseexperiences.Thesewere
enteredintoa"creditassessmentworksheet"andsubmittedtoCPUfaculty.Naturally,
manyoftheselearningsfoundtheirwayintopapersIwaswritingforthecorecurriculum,
whichalsoaddressedmymajorfieldofstudy.
ProjectIII:
(IntegratingaWholisticLifestyleandWellnesswithIndependentStudyandVocational
Activity)
ProjectIII,"LifestyleandEnvironment",hascoursestitled"PersonalChoicesandGoals"
(LE331)and"Wellness"(LE333)whichrelateconceptsofwholism,learning,growth,
andmaturitytopersonalhealth,education,andcareerinterests.Thematerialsprovide
severalapproachestoselfassessmentofpersonalgoalsandvaluesaswellasguidancein
otherdimensionsof"wellness"includingnutritionandexercisepatterns,waysofdealing
withemotionalstress,andtoxicityoftheworkandhomeenvironments.
OneofthemostimportantcompetenciesinprojectIIIisgoalsetting:thinkingthrough
andexpressingclearlyshortandlongtermpersonalgoalsinsuchareasashealth
maintenance,careerplanning,familyandcommunityrelationships,andspiritualbeliefs
andaspirations.Manystudentsatfirstapproachthe"goalsandvaluesclarification"
processeswithimpatienceandpessimism.Mostofthem,however,emergefromthetasks
andchallengesposedbyProjectIIIfeelingenthusiasticaboutwhattheyhavebeenasked
todowithaclearersenseofpersonalidentityandpurposefulnessinlife,andwith
renewedvigorandenthusiasmthatflowfromsuchclarityofpurpose.
WeconsiderProjectIIIaparticularlyimportantpartofourcorecurriculum.Toooften
studentsaretemptedtoignoretheirpersonalhealth,theirhomelife,theirspiritualgoals,
andotherdimensionswhichareessentialpartsofthefabricofafull,happy,and
productivehumanlife.Webelievethateducationshouldnotbesetapartfromtheseother
aspectsoflife;quitethecontrary,educationshouldbewholisticinrecognizing,
validating,andintegratingthesevariouspartsofthehumanexperience,andstrengthening
one'sclarityandcommitmenttobroadpersonalethical,spiritual,andcommunitygoals.
ProjectIIIhelpsservethispurposeforourstudents.
MyCommentsonCPUProjectIII
byEaronKavanagh
ProjectIIIwascertainlyawakeupcallformyself,asitwillbeformanylearners.Course
#LE333probesnutritionandhealthhabits.Peopleworkingfulltimeanddoing
independentstudyruntheriskofmuchhigherstresslevelsthantheaverageperson.Adult
learnershavelesstimeforfamily,lesstimeforcookingqualityfoods,andlesstimefor
exercise.Theyarealsospendingextra$$$(ontuitionandmaterials).Course#LE333
bringstherealityofthishometothelearnerbyaskingimportantquestionsandbringing
intoconsciousnesstheimportanceofhealth,exercise,acalmmind,andtheavoidanceof
stresssymptoms.Bothcourses(#LE333&#LE331)alsoprovideforthelearneragood
groundinginwhatconstituteswholistichealthandlifestyle.
Course#LE333
Thecourseexaminespersonalhealthandgoalsforsuch,andincludesthefollowing:
diet
weight
eating,chewing
mealplanning
foodsources
foodsensitivities,allergies
nutritionalfactors
fats,oils,fibre,salt,sugars,protein,water
alcohol,tobacco,caffeine,processedfoods
socialconditioning
goalsfornutritionanddiet,exercise,stressmanagement,spiritualgoals,
vocationalgoals,familygoals,communitygoals,environmentalgoals
thelearnerfillsoutanutritionalandhealthhabitsquestionairewhichis
analysedandproducesariskratingalongseveraldomainsofhealthand
nutrition.IdidonequestionaireinFeb/1991,andanotherinDec.1992.
Therewasanoverallimprovementinmyhealthandnutritiondomainsof
about20%inalmosttwoyears,evenwiththeaddedstressofan
independentstudyprogram.
Course#LE331
Examiningtheabovetopicsandmoreingreaterdepth,thiscourseincludesthefollowing
topics:
indepthworkongoalsettingalongdomainsofphysicalhealthand
exercise,mentalandemotionalhealthandincreasingknowledge/awareness
relatedtosame,managementofstress,homeandfamily,workandcareer,
finances,recreation,socialandcommunityactivities,spirituality/religion.
deconstructionofpersonalrelationaleventsexaminingsucheventsfor
assignedmeanings,exploringsuchmeanings,exploringpossiblenew
meanings,discoveringlearningsfromsuchevents.
wholisticexaminationoftraits,partsthatconstituteorganisms,human
systems,things,statesofbeing,conversations,values,activities,skills,
healthconsciousness,nutrition.
selfexaminationandscaleratingonpersonaltraitsandroles,values,
beliefs;modelingsameinadmiredothers,etc.
selfexaminationofcurrentpracticesinfamilylife,work/vocation/career,
exerciseandrecreationalactivities,socialandcommunityactivities.
selfexaminationbuildingawarenessonhowfamilylifeandworklife
affectoneanother,howfamilylifeandexerciseorrecreationalpractices
affectoneanother,howfamilylifeandsocialorcommunityactivities
affectoneanother,howwork/vocation/careerandexerciseorrecreational
activityaffectoneanother,howwork/vocation/careerandsocialor
communityactivityaffectoneanother,howexerciseorrecreational
activityandsocialorcommunityactivityaffectoneanotherhowdoallof
thesemutuallysupportoneanotherandcreateanoveralllifeexperience
whichhasdifferentaspectsandcharacteristicsfromanyofthe
components?
overviewsofthefollowingandtheirrelationshipstoeachother:
humanism,humanismandwholism,generalsystemstheory,general
systemstheoryandwholism,generalsemantics,generalsemanticsand
wholism.
identificationoffactorsthatcouldbesignsofphysicaldisease,
identificationofcorrespondingfactorstoassociatewithhighlevel
physicalwellness.Thefocusoftheaboveisinthecontextofone's
personalliferatherthanthelivesofothers.
identificationoffactorsthatcouldbesignsofmental/emotionaldisease,
identificationofcorrespondingfactorstoassociatewithhighlevel
mental/emotionalwellness.Thefocusoftheaboveisinthecontextof
one'spersonalliferatherthanthelivesofothers.
environmentalfactorsinfluencingphysicaldiseasestatesand
mental/emotionaldiseasestates.
environmentalfactorsinfluencingphysicalwellnessandmental/emotional
wellness.
theroleandimportanceofwaterinhealthspecificsofwaterintake.
personalchoicesandstrategiesfordecreasingstressusingone's
environment.
relationshipoffoodsandmoods.
completionofafoodsandmoodsdiarythisisaselfawarenessheuristic
process.
FeedbackandSummaryforProjectIIICourse#LE331(writtenin1995)
Pleasenote:whilethewholisticapproachtothiscourseunearthedmanyaspectsofwhat
constitutesa"wholisticwellness",whatstoodoutstronglyagainstthisbackgroundwas
thatI'dbeenavoidingtheimportanceofmyownphysicalhealth,particularlyas
contributedtobytheseotheraspectsasoutlinedabove.Thisprofoundrealization(inmy
case,anyway)iswhatisreflectedsostronglyinthecommentsinthe"feedbackand
summary"statement.
LE#331wasmostinformative,andprovidedoptionsinknowledgeformaintainingmy
personalhealthandwellbeing.IfirstbeganLE331inFebruaryof1993.Followingmy
beginningthecourse,Iwasinvolvedinamotorvehicleaccident.Theaccidentbegana
chainofeventsthatledmetoquestionmystateofhealth.ItbeganwhenIdiscoveredin
Juneofthatyearthatmybloodpressurewasmuchhigherthannormal.Iattemptedtoget
itbacktonormalusingmanymethods,mostlydiscoveredthroughthereadingscontained
inthiscourse.Themethodsincludedhighdosesofgarlic,herbs,practiceofTaiChiand
ChiKung,abstinencefromcoffee,ingestingcalciumandpotassiumcapsules,brisk
walking,andmanymore.Now,againthroughtheinformationinthecourse,Iamlooking
intothepossibilitythattheremaybeagreatdealofstressinmylife.WhileIfindithard
tomeasurestress,IamnowawarethatIruminateabouteverythingthathappenstome
onemightsaythatIhaveahabitofworrying.Ididn'tknowthatbefore,norwouldIever
admititifIknew.
Ihaverecentlycarriedoutsomeexperimentsusingvisualization,movement,and
thinking,whilemeasuringmybloodpressure.WhenIsitbackinmyofficechairmy
bloodpressuregoesdown.WhenIvisualizepleasantthingsitgoesdownevenfurther.
WhenIsitupstraightitgoesbackupagain.AndwhenIdrinkcoffeemybloodpressure
staysatanelevatedlevel.Forthepresentandnearfuture,Iamgoingtokeep
experimentingandgatheringinformationaboutmybloodpressureandmybody.Iknow
forexamplethattakingbetablockers(ahypertensionmedication)tolowermyblood
pressuremakesitdifficultformetothinkandspeakclearly.
IcurrentlybelievethatImaybe"wired"insuchawayastobepronetostressand
thereforetohigherbloodpressurethannormal.This"wiring"theoryprobablyreflectsthe
wayIhavebeencopingformanyyears.Imaybereactingtostressinastressfulmanner.
AsIbecomemoreinformedaboutthewholisticnatureofthebody,mind,emotions,and
spirit,Irealizethevalueofconsultingwithwholistichealthcareprovidersregarding
preventativemaintenanceofmyhealth.Iambeginningtoputthisideafurtherinto
practicebymeetingtomorrowwithahomeopathwhohappenstobeanM.D.,foran
initialconsultationregardingmybloodpressure.
IalwaysthoughtthatIwashealthyandIam;butIcanalwaysimprovemyhealth.I
knowthatoptimimhealthcanimprovemyexperienceoflife.Ihavedevotedyearsto
developingmymind,emotions,andmyspirit.Itisnowtimetoinvitemybodytothis
growthprocess.WhileIhadbeenexposedtomostofthereadingsinthecourseovera
periodofsixyears,itwasthemannerinwhichthereadingswerecombinedwiththe
exercisesthatmadethecourseapersonalexperienceformeinpersonallifestyleand
healthmanagement.Thematerialonhomeopathywasprobablymostenlightening,forit
allowedmetoexpandmythinkingonhealthbeyondtraditionalmedicalthinking.LE331
hascontributedsomuchtothisnewfoundawarenessandprocess.
EaronKavanagh,1995
ProjectIV:
(VersatilityandIndependentScholarshipIntegration,Synthesis,andAcademic
PresentationofISP,Thesis,orDissertation)
Note:ThisdescriptionisfromtheCPUGeneralCatalogue(1995)
ProjectIV,titledIndependentStudy:FoundationalCompetenceforLifelongLearning",
consistsofasinglecoursetitled"TheVersatileIndependentScholar"(IS341).Thiscourse
isdesignedtoequipthestudentasaselfteacheraswellasaselfdirectedlearner.It
presentsmaterial,forexample,onlearningstyles,onstudyhabits,andonunderstanding
personalidiosyncrasiesindoingresearchandpreparingideasforacademicpresentation.
Theprojectpresentsanintegratedandsystematicapproachtoselfdesigned,self
motivated,andselfdirectededucation.Itculminatesinthestudent'sundertakinga
substantialintellectualresearchproject.Atthebachelor'slevel,thisisbroughtto
academicpresentationasanIndependentStudyProject(ISP);atthemaster'slevel,asa
thesis;oratthedoctorallevel,asadissertation.
Shortlybeforegraduation,eachstudentwritesaFinalSummary,anoverviewofthe
individual'seducationalandpersonalgrowthexperiencesfromthefirstawarenessabout
ColumbiaPacificUniversityuptothepreparationtograduation.Thekeyquestionthe
studentisaskedtoconsideris,"Howhaveyoureducationalexperiencesmovedyou
towardyourbroaderpersonalandprofessionalgoals"?ThestudentalsohasaFinalOral
Review,aninterviewwiththeDean(usuallyconductedbytelephone)todiscussthe
student'soverallacademicexperience,independentstudyproject,andplansforfurther
intellectualandcareerdevelopmentaftergraduation.
MyCommentsonCPUProjectIV
byEaronKavanagh
Theinformationforthisproject,andparticularlyindepthinformationonCourse#IS341,
canbeexaminedattheCPUwebsite.TheCPUwebsiteaddressis
http://www.CPUniv.edu.ForthisprojectIsubmittedanumberofacademicpapers,a
writtensummaryofmyexperienceswithCPU,anda125pageBachelor'sIndependent
StudyProject(ISP).WhenIwasdoingmybachelor'sprogramIdecidedtofocusmy
bachelor'sISPtobesubjective,integratingmycareerwithmyexperiences,thepastand
present,withthefuture.ThereforeIusedtheISPtointegrateandbringtoacademic
presentation3extracurricularprojectsIhadcompletedjustpriortostartingtheISP.
SinceItookbothmyB.S.andM.S.withCPU,ItookProjectIVaspartofmybachelor's
curriculum.Later,whenItookmymasterscurriculum,Isubstitutedothercoursesand
focusedmymaster'sthesistobemoreobjective,ascholarlystudyofliteratureciting370
sourcesina386pagedocument.Whilemybachelor'sISPwasmainlyaboutmesituated
inmycareerandvocationalinterests,mymaster'sthesiswasabout"other",namelythe
familytherapyfield,consumersandpoststructuralism.Nevertheless,whiledoingmy
master'sthesis,Imanagedtofindawayto"situate"myselfinthestudy,thoughtoalesser
degreethaninmybachelor'sISP.Thesituationof"self"andtheintegrationofthethree
extracurricularprojectswiththeoreticalwritingswillbedemonstratedwhenthereader
notesthetitleoftheISPbelow,itsdescription,abstract,andtableofcontents.The
academicpapersforProjectIV(outsideoftheISPanditsextracurricularprojects)areas
follows:
AcademicPaper:CastingAsidetheOutgrownModelsofLearning
This17pagepaperfocusesontheindependentlearner,theconstraintstoindependent
study,andthenotionoftheindependentlearner"pickingoneselfupbythebootstraps".It
contraststraditionaleducationwithnontraditionaleducation.Thepaperalsoexamines
thepracticeofaccreditationintheU.S.andcontraststhiswiththeabsenceof
accreditation.Inaddition,thepapermakesrecommendationsforbothaccreditedand
unaccreditedinstitutionswhichwilladdresstheneedsofthelearnertobecomelearner
centred.Thepapercitesmajorcontributorstothefieldsofnontraditionalhigher
education,thefieldofadultorientededucation,andnumerousuniversitycataloguesfrom
bothaccreditedandunaccreditedinstitutions.Thepaperalsointegratessomeofmyown
earlyexperienceswitheducation.
AcademicPaper:ExpandingPersonalFramesofReference
This12pagepaperexploresthenotionthatpeopleoperateoutof"schemas"orframesof
reference,andinterprettheirlivesoutofsame.Thelimitationsofframesofreferenceare
explored,andtheimportanceofexpandingone's"schemas"isexplained.Withina
wholisticframeofreference,variousmodelsareexploredwhichcanfacilitatethe
expandingofschemas,orframesofreference.Themodelsareasfollows:
TheworkandwritingsofNapoleonHill
Theperspective,values,andpracticesofHawaiian"Huna"
Thevaluesandpracticesofmens'groups(encounters,support,training,
team)
Thevaluesinherentinthefieldof"OrganizationDevelopment"(OD)
Perspectivesfoundintheancient"soft"martialarts(e.g.,Akido,TaiChi)
Thesystemicperspectiveoffamilytherapypioneersandfamily
communication
AcademicPaper:EducationandKnowing
This7pagepaperexploresatabasiclevel,lessonswecanlearnfromthehistoricalGreat
BooksassociatedwithWesternphilosophicalthought.
AcademicPaper:TheResearchProcessandBasicStatistics
A7pagepaperontheresearchprocess,basicstatistics(descriptiveandinferential)and
variouskindsofsamplingrelevanttothehumansciences.
WorkbookExercises
Severaladditional"workbookexercises"whichdidnotrequireapaper.
Bachelor'sIndependentStudyProject(ISPapprox.120pages):
CareerConsciousnessintheNineties:PilotingaHumanServicesCareerThrough
EconomicUncertainty
FinalSummaryPaper
Bachelor'sISPOverview:
EconomicUncertainty
(IndependentStudyProjectBachelor'sprogramtheacademicpresentationand
integrationofthreeextracurricularprojectsanexampleoftheintegrationofnarrative
knowledge).
OnseveraloccasionsinsectionsIandIIofthisdocumentIhavealludedtothenotionof
"narrativeknowledge"basedonlifeandworkexperience.Mybachelor'sISPisagood
exampleofbringingnarrativeknowledgetoacademicpresentationandintegration.
HavinggrownupineconomicallyrepressedNewfoundlandIwasquitefamiliarwiththe
livedexperienceof"economicuncertainty".My15yearsasaprofessionalbuilderalso
morethanfamiliarizedmewiththerealityofavocationtiedtoseasons,weather,and
economictrends.PriortoundertakingthisprojectIwasconcentratedongainingentry
intotheprofessionofcounselling.IhadalmostcompletedmyB.S.incounselling,
training,andorganizationdevelopment,andIwas21/2yearsintomyM.S.infamily
therapy.Ihadbeengivenajobasafamilycounsellorafterasuccessfultwosemester
internship,partiallybasedonmyexperiencesandextracurriculartrainingandwiththe
provisothatIwouldsoonwindupmyacademicwork.
Iundertookthisparticularproject(about120pages)tointegrateandbringtoacademic
presentationthree(extracurricular)studieswhichIhadoriginallyundertakeninearly
1993.Allthreeextracurricularstudiesrequiredanindepthamountofcyclingthrough
praxis,action/reflectionintheirdevelopmentfromstarttofinish.Whenthetimecamein
1994tostarttheISPIthoughttomyself"Whynotintegratethesethreeextracurricular
studies?"Toaccomplishtheintegrationofthe3extracurricularstudiesIhadtoexamine
thestudiesandmovetoaninductivemodeofthinkingfromsmallpicturetobigpicture.
IthencreatedalargercontextforwhatIhaddone,throughembarkingonfurtherpraxis
learningexercises.AspartofthepraxislearningexercisesIbeganaskingmyself
questionssuchas"Withinawholisticframeofreference,whatarethreecontextsthat
these3studiesrepresent?"IbeganusingRussellandWhitehead'stheoryoflogicaltypes,
developedfurtherbyBateson(1972),andBandlerandGrinder(1975).Questionswere
formulated,suchas:"Whatarethese3extracurricularstudiesanexampleof"?,and
"Whatareother,lateral,examplesofthesemetaexamples"?Severalcontextsappeared;
theanswerswere"planningandmarketing","teaching","counselling","organization
development","personalstrategicplanning","personalselfinquiry".Otherquestions
whicharoseare,"Howarethesethreecontextsinterconnected?",and"Howdothese
contextsrelatetomypast,present,andfuture?"
Theanswertotheabovequestionswasthatallthreecontexts(likethethreeextra
curricularstudies)wereconnectedwithmycareer,itspast,present,andfuture;Ihad
studiedtraining,counselling,andorganizationdevelopment.Ihadgrownupinaregion
whereeconomicuncertaintywasthenorm,Ihadstartedandrunbusinesses,Ihadworked
inoffices,Ihadworkedinprofessionalsales,Ihadbeenaleaderofhumanpotential
communities,andIhadlearnedatradewhichwasconstrainedregularlybyeconomic
uncertainty.IhadalsorecentlystartedanewcareerandalreadyIwashearingthe
rumblingsofapoliticalshiftinmyhomeProvinceofBC,Canada.Ifanewgovernment
wasvotedinduringthecomingelectiontherewouldcertainlybeconsiderablecutbacksin
thepublicsectorjobswouldbedownsized.Ididn'twanttobeatthemercyofeconomic
uncertaintyagainIwantedafairfieldonwhichtodobattlewithit;hencethetitle:
EconomicUncertainty".SoIbegantoresearchhowIcouldtakemyexperience,training,
andeducation,andstrategicallymanoeveritintothefuture.WhentheISPwascomplete,
mymentor,whohadearnedseveralPh.D's,wasacertifiedmanagementconsultant
(CMC),andhadconsultedinternationallyandtaughtatseveraluniversitiesintheU.S.
andEurope,invitedmetojoinhisinternationalfirmasanassociate.Theabstractforthe
ISPisbelow,followedbytheTableofContents.
ISPABSTRACT
CAREERCONSCIOUSNESSINTHENINETIES:
PilotingAHumanServiceCareerThroughEconomicUncertainty.
byEaronT.E.Kavanagh
Incurrenttimes,oneofthemajorconstraintsatworkwithinourcultureis"economic
uncertainty."Thepresenceofthisconstraintbecomesdetectedthroughindustrialplant
closings,governmentprogramcutbacks,layoffs,andlessopportunityforworking
individuals.Theeffectsofsuchsymtomsonfamiliesandindividualsincludestress,
familybreakups,increaseddrugandalcoholuse,homelessness,andcriminality.That
economicuncertaintycanhaveadiscouragingeffectonone'scareerprovidesfurther
insightthathealthyfamilyrelationshipsandthefamilybreadwinner'sabilitytoproduce
consistentmonetaryincomeareinterdependent.
Standinguptoeconomicuncertaintyintheninetiesrequiresattentiontolifeplanning,
withaparticularemphasisonpersonalcareermanagement.Drawingoncurrentwritings
fromthefieldsoffamilytherapy,businessmanagement,traininganddevelopment,and
personalexperienceasamidlifecareerchangertheauthoroutlinesideasforawholistic
approachtopersonalcareermanagement,toassistconcernedindividualsinsuccessfully
navigatingtheircareersthroughcurrentandfutureperiodsofeconomicuncertainty.
Utilizingbusinessmanagementpracticessuchasstrategicplanning,actionresearch,
financialmanagement,andmarketing,thebasisofapersonalcareermanagementmodel
isconstructed.Theauthorbelievessuchamodelcanassistmidlifecareerchangerswho
wishtoenterthehumanservicesprofessionsindevelopingacareerdirectionwhich
encompassesboththeirlifeexperienceandawiderangeofmarketableskills.Inaddition
tocontrastingthevariousskillsfoundwithinthe"communitycounselling"and
"organizationdevelopment"approachestochangeworktheauthorprovidessamplesof
asixyearpersonalstrategicplan,aresume,andamarketingbrochure/packagefora
counsellingandtrainingpractice.Althoughtheresearchisgearedtowardmature
individualsplanningtoenterthecounsellingprofession,theprocessesthatmakeupthe
modelcanbeeffectivelyutilizedbyanyoneinterestedinpersonalcareermanagement.
ISPTABLEOFCONTENTS
Chapter
1. Introduction
StatementoftheProblem:
2. EconomicChangeandtheNewQuestforLearning
OntheEconomicImpactsoftheGlobalSocietyontheWest,and
OntheEffectsofEconomicChangeonIndividualsandFamilies
GeneralDiscussionofRelevantResearch,Theory,andAnecdotes:
3. IdeasandAnecdotesAroundCareerandLearning
OnDevelopingFlexibilitytoMeetChangingCareerDemands
4. "CommunityCounselling"asaModelforDevelopingFlexibility
Excerpt:OverviewoftheCommunityCounsellingApproach
CommentaryontheExcerpt
5. TrainingtheCommunityCounsellor
6. CommunityCounsellororODPractitioner?
OntheSimilaritiesBetweentheTwoCareerFields
7. RecommendedTrainingforODPractitioners
8. OverviewofthethreeIndependentStudyProjects
9. SummaryandConclusions
Appendices
1. IndependentStudyProject1:MarketingBrochurePackage
foraTrainingPractice
2. IndependentStudyProject2:DefinitionofMajorPurpose
andMajorGoalsOverSixYears
3. IndependentStudyProject3:Resume
Bibliography
RETURN TO TOP OF DOCUMENT
The 3 Extra-curricular Studies

The three extra-curricular studies were as follows:
Extra-curricular Study 1: Marketing Brochure for a Training

Practice in Neuro Lingistic Programming (NLP) and its
Applications to Therapy and Self-development, Organization
Development, and Sales.
Extra-curricular Study 2: Definition of Major Purpose and Major
Goals over Six Years.
Extra-curricular Study 3: Resume
A description of each project follows. Each description provides an overview of

the project, it purpose(s), use of time, materials used, and references.
Description of Extra-curricular Study 1:

Marketing Brochure for a Training Practice in Neuro Lingistic Programming
(NLP) and its Applications to Therapy and Self-development, Organization
Development, and Sales.
The brochure presents six courses: a basic course on NLP, an advanced course on
NLP, a basic course for trainers, a course on leadership, a course on sales, and a
course on creativity. All courses were in workshop format and included theory
presentation, exercises, group interaction, and assignments in the real world to
accomplish training transference.
Purpose(s) for the Study:
1. To acquire fluent working skills in computer desktop publishing.
2. To acquire the ability to create or project-manage creation of
attractive marketing brochures - an important element in
promoting educational and training services.
3. To acquire skill in communicating the training content of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP).
4. To relate NLP to ordinary life processes such as learning, and
adjusting to changes in modern society.
5. To learn to relate the value of NLP within a wholistic context.
6. To acquire skill and practice in modeling and reflecting current
business and (adult) education values.
7. To take stock of, and reflect the author's own learnings and
understanding gained from the study of human processes and
interaction as viewed through the lens of NLP.
Use of Time:
300 Hours: Graphic design, learning, and experimentation on computer.
80 Hours: Review of source literature, text design, experimentation, and writing.
Materials:
Atari STE 1040 Computer System/ using Atari SLM 804 Laser Printer
Calamus Desktop Publishing Software (Ditek Int'l 1989)
Letraset Paperazzi "Twilight" Laser Paper
Reference Sources for Study #1
Bermont, Hubert. How To Become a Successful Consultant in Your

Own Field. Rocklin, Ca.: Prima Publishing and Communications,
1989.
Bolles, Richard. What Color Is Your Parachute?: A Practical Manual
for Job Hunters and Career Changers. Berkeley, Ca.: Ten Speed
Press, 1986.
Capra, Fritjof. The Turning Point: Science, Society, and The Rising
Culture. New York: Bantam, 1988.
Cohen, Allan R. The Portable MBA in Management. New York:
John Wiley and Sons, 1993.
Cohen, William A. Ph.D. The Art of The Leader. Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.:Prentice Hall, 1990.
Covey, Steven R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful
Lessons in Personal Change. New York: Fireside/ Simon and
Schuster, 1990.
Dahl, Dan; and Randolph Sykes. Charting Your Goals. New York:
Harper and Row, 1987.
Dilts, Robert et al. Neuro-linguistic Programming Volume 1: The
Study of The Structure of Subjective Experience. Cupertino, Ca.:
Meta Publications, 1980.
Dilts, Robert. Changing Belief Systems With NLP. Cupertino, Ca.
Meta Publications, 1990.
Dilts, Robert B. et al. Tools for Dreamers: Strategies for Creativity
and the Structure of Innovation. Cupertino, Ca.: Meta Publications,
1991.
Egan, Gerard. Change-Agent Skills A: Assessing and Designing
Excellence. San Diego: University Associates, 1988.
Egan, Gerard. Change-Agent Skills B: Managing Innovation and
Change. San Diego: University Associates, 1988.
Eitington, Julius. The Winning Trainer. 2nd. ed. Houston, Texas:
Gulf Publishing Co., 1989.
Gergen, Kenneth J. The Saturated Self: Dilemnas of Identity in
Contemporary Life. New York: Basic Books, 1991.
Gross, Ronald. Peak Learning. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.,
1991.
James, Tad Ph.D. Creating Your Future. Honolulu, Hawaii:
Profitability, Inc. 1989.
Laborde, Genie Z. Influencing With Integrity: Management Skills
for Communication and Negotiation. Pala Alto, Ca.: Syntony
Publishing, 1987.
Lynch, Dudley; and Paul L. Kordis. Strategy of The Dolphin:

Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World. New York: Fawcett Columbine,
1988.
Materka, Pat Roessle. Workshops and Seminars: Planning,
Producing, and Profiting. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1986.
Musashi, Miyamoto. The Book of Five Rings: The Real Art of
Japanese Management. New York: Bantam, 1982.
Naisbitt, John. Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our
Lives. New York: Warner Books, 1982.
Naisbitt, John; and Patricia Aburdeen. Megatrends 2000: Ten New
Directions for The 1990's. New York: Avon Books, 1990.
Naranjo, Claudio B. M.D. "Educating the Whole Person for the
Whole World." Journal of Holistic Health, Volume VII.
O' Connor, Joseph; and John Seymour. Introducing Neurolinguistic Programming: The New Psychology of Personal
Excellence. Bodmon, Cornwall: Crucible, 1990.
Porter, Lawrence Ed.D.; and Bernard Mohr M.Ed., editors. Reading
Book for Human Relations Training. 7th. ed. Alexandria, Va.: NTL
Institute, 1982.
Raynolds, John F. III. Beyond Success: How Volunteer Service Can
Help You Begin Making a Life Instead of Just a Living. New York:
Master Media, Ltd. 1988.
Ries, Al; and Jack Trout. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind/
How To Be Seen and Heard in The Overcrowded Marketplace.
New York: Warner Books, 1986.
Robinson, Bonnie. The Guide To Calamus Desktop Publishing.
Toronto: Ditek International, 1990.
Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The
Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday/ Currency, 1990.
Shaffer, Carolyn R.; and Kristin Anundsen. Creating Community
Anywhere: Finding
Support and Connection in a Fragmented World. New York:
Jeremy P. Tarcher/ Perigee, 1993.
Shenson, Howard L. How To Develop and Promote Successful
Seminars and Workshops. New York: John Wiley And Sons, 1990.
Shenson, Howard L., and Ted Nichols. The Complete Guide to
Consulting Success. U.S.A.: Dearborn Publishing Group, 1993.
Turner, Ralph. The Atari ST Book. Fairfield, IA.: Index Legalis
Publishing Co., Inc., 1988.
Turner, Ralph. Intermediate and Advanced Atari St Subjects.
Fairfield, IA.: Legalis Publishing Co., Inc. 1989.
Weisbord, Marvin R. Organizational Diagnosis: A Workbook of

Theory and Practice. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing
Company, 1978.
Weisbord, Marvin R. Productive Workplaces: Organizing and
Managing for Dignity, Meaning, and Community. San Francisco,
Ca. 1991.
Wing, R.L. The Tao of Power. New York: Doubleday/ Dolphin,
1986.
Yeager, Joseph Ph.D. Thinking About Thinking With NLP.
Cupertino, Ca.: Meta Publications, 1985.
Study #1: Catalogues and Brochures Studied for Graphic and Text /Style; and
Presentation.
Advanced Neuro Dynamics Catalogue and Resource Guide. 19901991 ed., Honolulu: Advanced Neuro Dynamics, 1990.
Collaborative Organization Design Brochure. Oakland, Ca. Gelinas
- James, Inc. 1993.
Columbia Pacific University General Catalogue. 1994 ed., San
Rafael, Ca.: Columbia Pacific University Press, January 1994.
Columbia Pacific University Admissions Catalogue. 1989 ed., San
Rafael, Ca.: Columbia Pacific University Press, February 1989.
Fielding Institute Catalogue. 1991-1992 ed., Santa Barbara, Ca.:
Fielding Institute, 1991.
Leadership Institute of Seattle Catalogue. 1993-1994 ed., Seattle,
Wa.; LIOS, 1993.
NLP 24 -Day Practitioner Certification Trainer's Manual. Boulder,
CO: NLP of Colorado, 1986.
NLP University: 1993 Summer Course Catalogue. Ben Lomond,
Ca.: Dynamic Learning Center, 1993.
NTL Institute Special Certificate Program in Organization
Development. Alexandria, Va.: NTL Institute, "n.d."
NTL Institute 1994 Programs Catalogue. Alexandria, Va.: NTL
Institute, 1994.
Portfolio Assessment Handbook. 1992-1994 ed. Trenton, NJ:
Thomas Edison State College, 1992.
Saybrook Institute Catalogue. 1992-1993 ed., San Francisco, Ca.:
Saybrook Institute, 1992.
Self-Assessment and Planning Manual. Albany, NY: Regents
College/ The University of the State of New York, 1987.
Summer of Transformation 1993: Residential Trainings. Boulder,
CO: NLP Comprehensive
Description of Extra-curricular Study 2:

Definition of Major Purpose and Major Goals over Six Years.
This project was a personal strategic planning and visioning undertaking which
came out of some work I had been doing with the Napoleon Hill Institute; with
Robert Dilts, one of the founding pioneers of NLP, and with internationally
known marketing consultant Sandy Levey. This project involved doing a lot of
soul-searching, over-viewing much of my life experience, defining my core
values, and coming up with a purpose statement which reflects the major theme
that seems to be directing my life. The outcome is that one then "owns" the
process of arriving at this realization, and endeavors to live out of the new
discovery. Author Stephen R. Covey takes a similar approach in his book Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People (1990). Covey helps the reader to uncover a
mission statement to operate from, whereas Hill's approach (which came long
before Covey) has the individual examine just what would be the benefits of
knowing and living out of one's Definite Major Purpose in Life and operating in
the world from a Major Purpose Statement. Hill then instructs the individual to
construct a major life Goal (or set of goals), which is grounded in one's Definite
Major Purpose in Life.
1. To define for oneself the major purpose in life which one aspires to.
2. To define the benefits in carrying out one's major purpose in life.
3. To define a major goal in life which stems from one's major
purpose in life.
4. To define a schedule for carrying out the aspects of one's major
goal.
5. To outline a contract with oneself which delineates the methods
that one will employ in carrying out one's major goal.
Use of Time:
70 Hours: Reading the prescribed literature and carrying out the project.
Materials:

Letraset Paperazzi "Twilight" Laser Paper.
Hill, Napoleon. Think and Grow Rich. New York: Ballantine Books,
1990.
Hill, Napoleon. Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind. New York:
Ballantine Books, 1991.
Hill Napoleon. PMA Science of Success Course, Volumes 1 & 2.
Northbrook, IL: Napoleon Hill Foundation, 1983.
Toronto: Ditek International,
1990.
Description of Extra-curricular Study 3: Resume

The last extra-curricular independent study project speaks for itself. I constructed
this resume as a result of studying a variety of current books (circa 1995) on the
subject of resumes and personal marketing. The work of self-reflection in
construcing the resume included recognizing that I had much life experience that
was related to personal growth, counselling, and therapy (in addition to my
training), but was gounded in the human potential movement of the sixties and
seventies and considered alternative. Such experiences had to be re-languaged to
fit within a more structuralist view of what are the skills-set for the counselling
field. Thus, workshop experiences such as "the Forum" (which eventually
developed out of est), became Constructivist Conversations for Change. The
rationale used for this reframing of meaning was based on the fact that the Forum
was designed in collaboration with Humberto Maturana, a world-renowned
constructivist and structural-determinist, and these facts were cited in articles
present in an edition of Family Therapy Networker on constructivist approaches
to therapy. An analysis of the structure and concepts of the Forum and language
expressions by Forum leaders also reflected this relationship to constructivism,
as well as social constructionism.
1. To acquire the skill of creating an attractive and eye-catching

resume.
2. To take stock of various learning experiences that are applicable to
the position of family therapist (or other chosen profession).
3. To present oneself as a qualified candidate for the position of
family therapist (or other chosen profession).
Use of Time:
20 Hours: Reviewing literature.
40 Hours: Experimenting with text and layout styles.
10 Hours: Experimenting with coloured laser papers.
Materials:
Letraset Paperazzi "Twilight" Laser Paper
Jackson, Tom. Guerrilla Tactics In The Job Market. New York:

Bantam, 1989.
Marino, Kim. Just Resumes. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
1991.
Minninger, Joan Ph.D. The Perfect Letter. New York: Doubleday,
1991.
Parker, Yana. The Resume Catalogue: 200 Damn Good Examples.
Berkeley, Ca.: Ten Speed Press, 1988.
Toronto: Ditek International, 1990.
Master's Thesis Overview:

A Social Psychology Of Collaboration, Social Liberation And Relational
Discourse: Reconciling Family Therapy Consultation With Our Diverse PostIndustrial Society
MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT
General Notes:
Time Span of Project: 3.5 years
Length of document: 386 pages
# of References: 370 reference sources cited
Faculty Advisor: Shawn Haley, Ph.D. (cultural anthropologist - alumnus/Simon Fraser
U.)
Department Dean: Walter Rollin Ph.D. (R. Psych., MFCC)
In recent years the forces of the information/ technology explosion,
globalization, and economic uncertainty have contributed to rapidly changing
trends in our society. The interaction of these forces with our society have led to
profound changes in marriage, the family, and other primary relationships, and
the expression of sexuality and gender, thereby perturbing and disturbing what
we thought to be our social fabric.
Such trends signal a major shift from the modern industrial society to a more
dynamic and uncertain post-industrial global society. Since the mid-1980's the
field of family therapy has undergone a significant paradigm shift in its ways of
thinking about its work and the consumers whom it serves, paralleling the
changing trends in our society. Academia has also been swept up by this shifting
wave of thought, with many intellectuals questioning (deconstructing) the
inherent assumptions found in social science and psychological research.
Examining literature of both social sciences and popular culture the author
develops an overview of the historical trends of the past four decades which
have contributed to what social psychologist Kenneth Gergen has termed the
"postmodern condition" in our society. Examining further literature from the
fields of family therapy, the author traces the field's epistemological
development over the same period, chronicling three major paradigm shifts. The
author discovers a trend in how the postmodern condition is responded to, based
on a new relational discourse between professionals, consumers and current
trends, and post-structural academic writings. This new discourse challenges the
notion of the adherence to scientific truths in the social sciences, implying a new
paradigm for family therapy practice which includes such practices as the
application of social justice principles in a collaborative framework of therapist/
client consultation.

Addendum Note to Abstract - on the Integration of "Narrative Knowledge".
The reader has probably read enough of this site to realize that a core value present in the
commentary on CPU programs is the integration of narrative knowledge within
academic curriculums. While, in working on this thesis I have chosen to take a much
more scholarly approach, I have also managed to stay true to my interest in integration of
narrative knowledge through praxis: action and reflection. To accomplish this and have it
fit within a scholarly "objective" endeavor I have incorporated into the project a major
theoretical research stance - that of critical ethnography. I use this lens in addition to
approaching the research from a lens of conventional ethnography. And in addition to
inquiring into the written knowledge-discourse of therapists I weave my own case
experience and life experience into the fabric of the whole project. These case experiences,
and life experiences, are held up as examples that generate what Lincoln and Guba
(1985) term as "rich and thick descriptions", offering opportunities for both
deconstruction of modern/postmodern theory and the "lived" experience of postmodern
society. The following paragraphs are found in the 'research methods' section of the
thesis and address the related balancing of the lenses of conventional and critical
ethnography:
In this project I am adopting the roles of both conventional ethnographer and critical
ethnographer. In the role of conventional ethnographer I am attempting to convey an
accurate exposition from a native point of view of major developments which the culture
of family therapists (the "subject" of my inquiry) has moved through in its theory and
practices, and the current post-structural collaborative practices that are the progeny of
such developments.
As a critical ethnographer I have attempted to gaze beyond the descriptions of the
professional literature in an effort to understand the plight or journey of the therapy
client as s/he has been subjected to the theories and practices of therapists developing
through various paradigm-shifts. The reader will notice that throughout the manuscript
there exists a concern on my part for the client in the face of therapist power/ hierarchy.
It is this same concern that is prevalent in the thinking of those therapists who have
played center-stage roles in developing post-structural approaches to theory and practice.
Also influencing the critical vigilance I have employed in this investigation are my
training and experience as a family therapist, and some of my early life experience and
related observations. These influences are expanded upon in the section "Situating My
Practice of Therapy in the Research", the "introduction", the section on the "widows'
homes ghetto", and occasionally in other sections.
The inclusion of multiple experiences engenders in the project what Schon (1983) calls
praxis, a cycle of action and reflection on the multiple aspects of the inquiry. This further
engenders "relational discourse", an academic and spoken dialogue between multiple
perspectives, brought about by such distinctions observed by Ricoeur (1992) as the self as
speaker/narrator/actor/moral subject of imputation. I have expanded on Ricoeur's idea
and included certain "others" as found below.
1. the self (the therapist/writer) as speaker/narrator/actor/moral subject of

imputation,
2. the other (the consumer) as speaker/narrator/actor/moral subject of
imputation,
3. therapist knowledge-discourse as speaker/narrator/actor/moral subject of
imputation,
4. post-structural discourse (about knowledge-discourse) as
speaker/narrator/actor/moral subject of imputation
Relational discourse, when brought to bear on the subject of therapeutic services to the
consumer, writing 'about' the consumer as subject, or engaging with the consumer in
the therapeutic dialogue, engenders a combined spirit of collaboration and social
liberation for the consumer position, rather than a stance of pathologizing or objectifying.

MASTER'S THESIS TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introduction
11
1-A: Background: Reconciling Therapy with the New Diverse Society
11
-----Scenarios of the New Diversity and Its Challenges in Family Therapy
13
-----Post-Structural Ideas and Therapy
19
1-B: Statement of the Problem
21
1-C: The Research Question
24
1-D: Definitions of Key Terms
24
Chapter 2: Michele Foucault and the Objectification of Persons
35
2-A: The Widow's Ghetto: Objectification, Poverty & Mental Illness
37
-----Social & Professional Classification/ Diagnosis as Objectification
45
-----The Widow's-Homes Ghetto and the Panopticon: Similarities
47
-----Disempowerment and Professional Classification/ Diagnosis
51
2-B: Alternative Professional Story: De-objectified Consumer Assists Therapists
Chapter 3: Research Purpose, History, and Method
63
3-A: How this Study Originated
64
3-B: Method and Goal of Research
68
-----Historical Analysis of Narratives of Therapy and Pop-culture
68
-----Influences of Conventional and Critical Ethnography
71
-----Addressing Trustworthiness in the Study
76
-----The Peer Reviewing and Random Reviewing Process
82
-----Situating My Practice of Family Therapy in the Research
83
55
Chapter 4: Modernism and Postmodernism in Society: Social Trends Inviting the

Shift Toward Post-structuralism and Collaboration in Family Therapy
87
4-A: Locating Postmodernism Within a Historical Context
88
4-B: Self: Romantic/Modern/Postmodern Concepts of Self & Ethics of Social
Being
92
4-C: Relationships: Challenges to Tradition in Marriage and the Family
109
-----Dysfunction, Male Violence, Power, and Control
109
-----The Shifting Status of Women
113
-----The Shift from Primary to Secondary and Tertiary Relationships
118
-----Gender, Sexuality, Marriage, and Family
123
4-D: Conclusion to Chapter 4
136
Chapter 5: Shifts from Structuralism to Post-Structuralism in Family
Therapy
139
A Note on "Solution Focused Therapy"
141
5-A: Structuralism in Family Therapy: The Metaphor of First Order Cybernetics
142
5-B: Toward Post-structuralism: Metaphor of Second Order Cybernetics
151
5-C: Feminism: Catalyst to Post-structuralism in Family Therapy
163
5-E: The Role of "Narrative" in Post-structural Family Therapy
167
5-F: Two Post-structural Approaches to Therapy Based on the Narrative
172
-----Deconstruction/Externalizing Therapy: An Adherence to Social Justice
173
-----Foucault's Influence on Michael White and D/E Therapy
178
-----Collaborative Language Systems (CLS) Therapy
182
-----Perspective on the CLS "Reflecting Team"
189
-----Similarities of the Two Narrative Approaches
192
5-G: Conclusion: Oddities in Paradigm Development
193
Chapter 6: Applications of Post-structural Theory to Family Therapy
Theory
197
6-A: Foucault on Power and Knowledge Practices
197
6-B: Challenging Positivism in Therapy Theory and Practice
198
6-C: Embracing Naturalism in Family Therapy Theory and Practice
205
6-D: Embracing Constructivist Ideas in Family Therapy Theory and Practice
207
-----Confusion Around Constructivism and Social Constructionism
212
6-E: Embracing Social Constructionism in Family Therapy Theory and Practice
213
-----Discourse and the Social Construction of Everyday Realities
216
-----Discourse and Power in the Professions
219
-----The Application of Social Constructionism to Practice
225
Chapter 7: Summary of Perspectives Informing Theoretical Positions for Poststructural Approaches to Family Therapy
229
7-A: Influence of Post-structural Philosophers on the Notion of Claimed
Knowledge
231
7-B: A Shift from Positivistic Discourse to a Naturalistic Discourse
232
7-C: The Constructivist View of "Knowing"
233
7-D: The Social Constructionist View of Social Reality:
234
7-E: Key Approaches and Influences of Second-order Cybernetics

234
7-F: Some Key Influences from Feminism
237
7-G: Key Theoretical Perspectives of Narrative
238
7-H: Synopsis of Key Post-structural Collaborative Approaches Toward Therapy
240
Chapter 8: Implications for Clinical Practice and Supervision

246
8-A: Managed Care Challenge: Fitting Post-structural Therapy with Corporate
Postmodernism
248
8-B: Gender Role Stereotypes and Screening for Family Violence
254
8-C: Supervision of Trainees Amidst Clashing Paradigms of Delivery
258
8-D: Attunement to Power, Social Justice, Poverty, and Culture
270
-----Paulo Freire and Hierarchy and Power in the Therapist/Client Relationship
-----The Continuum of Conquest, Colonization, and Objectification
278
-----Therapy, Social Justice, and the Clashing of Class Paradigms
284
-----Class and Power Hierarchy in Therapy
287
-----In Quest of a Socially Just Therapy
294
-----Implications for the Writing of Case-Notes
298
8-E: Recommendations for Future Research
305
271
Chapter 9: Conclusion: Collaboration, Relational Discourse, and Social

Liberation
307
The New Paradigm
309
Relational Discourse
312
Appendices Section
316
Appendix I: Correspondence with SHARE Personnel Regarding Manuscripts
Appendix II: Bio's of the Peer Reviewers and Consumer Advocate Reviewer
Appendix III: Comments on the Manuscript from Reviewers
333
Review by Lynda Edmonds, M.S.W., AAMFT Approved Supervisor
333
Review by Mark Goheen, M.A.
334
Review by Adam Schneid, M.A.
336
Review by Garth Thomson, M.S.W.
339
Review by Frances MacQueen, Consumer Advocate Reviewer
343
Afterword - Response to Peer and Consumer Advocate Reviews
References
316
330
348
353

The 5 Required Knowledge Areas and Learning Contracts
Commentary by Earon Kavanagh on CPU Required Knowledge Areas and learning
Contracts
Another area of the CPU curriculum, made up of five required "knowledge areas" which
were to be fulfilled by learning contracts, was particularly challenging. Each of the three
schools of CPU had its own requirements for its five required knowledge areas. For the
School of Health and Human Services the five knowledge areas would represent crucial
contexts of theory/skills that were commonly found within a human services curriculum,
but were generalized in such a manner that each area could be flexibly shaped to the
specific needs of the learner and his/her area of interest. The learning contract courses
helped avail me of superb local supervision of well-respected psychologists, family
therapists, and consultants, as well as embarking on other academic endeavors - one
paper I wrote for a 3-credit learning contract course on human development was 53
pages. Another learning contract project was carried out over six months as an internship,
and prepared and certified me as a trainer in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The
five knowledge areas are outlined below.
Knowledge Areas: Learning Contract Courses and Related Course Descriptions:
Research
HS501 (formerly HHS, grad. KA#1)
Research: Design, Implementation, and Analysis
(A Learning Contract course)
This course is concerned with advanced methodology and measurement as they relate to
inferential statistics, and application to health and human services: research designs using
multivariate or univariate models including multiple regression/correlation methods,
parametric and non-parametric methods. Students should be familiar with such
procedures as the test for chi square, ANOVA, ANCOVA, and MANOVAO. Students
should be able to discriminate among the various statistical tools and to determine the
most appropriate model for data gathered in laboratory and field research, clinical cases,
community programs, or in medical and educational facilities.
(Instructor: Rollin & faculty as assigned)
(3 grad. sem. cred.)
Human Development
Human Development: Responses to Challenge
This course involves knowledge of theories of human development as they relate to the
various stages of the life cycle including the birth process, infancy, childhood,
adolescence, adulthood, middle age, old age, and death. Students should be familiar with
three or more of the above and be able to identify the factors which may interfere with
the maturation process. Assessment is based on an understanding of related physical,
psychological, and social factors, and sources of personality and behavior patterns and
disorders.
Note: To meet the requirements of this Knowledge Area I embarked upon an independent
study project and wrote a 53 page paper. Here is the title: Loss Of Youthful Essence in the
Male Species From Birth to Adolescence: A Transpersonal Approach to Personality
Development. I wrote this from a perspective of transpersonal psychology. It contrasted
the theories of many developmental theorists with the theories of transpersonal
psychology theorists Ken Wilber and Michael Washburn.
Human Experience and Behavior
Human Experience and Behavior: Responses to Challenge
This graduate course is concerned with individuals who are in crisis due to biological,
psychological, physiological, medical, and environmental factors, and the systems or
methods used to alleviate or change behaviors of those affected individuals. Students will
become familiar with the interactions of mind, body, spirit, and environment in health and
disease. Assessment is based on one or more of such topics as perception, cognition,
education, motivation, psychotherapy, stress management, ecology, and epidemiology.
Attention may also be given to lifestyle, environmental, and occupational health factors.
Note: To meet the requirements of this Knowledge Area I contracted a 60 Hour training
in Family Therapy with the Northwest Satir Institute (Pacific Northwest of U.S. and
Canada). Training consisted of theory and practicum.
Health and Human Services
Health and Human Services Delivery to the Community
This course is concerned with patterns, methods, and systems for delivery of health and
human services. Students will become familiar with social structures, and behavior within
small groups and larger organizations. They should also be knowledgeable about
sociocultural, psychological, political, or financial issues related to health and human
services delivery systems. Assessment is based on such topics as group dynamics, attitude
and motivation development, cross-cultural and gender issues, professional regulations,
strategies for change, problem solving, power and leadership, and organizational
dynamics.
Note: For this Knowledge Area I contracted with a local consultant specializing in team
building. See sample learning contract below.
Professionalism
Professionalism in Health and Human Services: Philosophy, Law, and Ethics
This course involves concepts and practices of professional standards and role modeling
in health and human services. Students will learn about performance expectations and
current performance and role issues in their respective fields. They will be responsible for
understanding the historical and current basis for professional judgment, deportment,
range of responsibility, and relationship to others.
Note: To fulfill requirements for this Knowledge Area I contracted with the supervisors of
my two-semester family therapy internship. 60 hours of class modules were used
specifically for the Knowledge area. The modules included Narrative methods in therapy,
Family violence training, Alcohol and drug intervention, and Multi-generational family
therapy. At the same time I was getting practical supervision providing counseling to a
variety of families.
I later contracted clinical supervision and evaluation on a total of 1200 clinical hours of
therapeutic work with clients, but under the following Course, which exists outside of the
core curriculum and knowledge areas, and which holds the distinct purpose of
incorporating prior learning for credit.
HS598
Special Topics & Prior Experiential Learning at the Master's Level for
students of health & human services
(A learning contract course)
Of the first 30 semester units awarded a student in a graduate (e.g.,
masters) program, no more than 5 semester units may be awarded for
prior experiential learning.
(up to 5 grad. sem cred.)
Note: The above course allows one to propose life/work experience, prior credits,
etc. for credit.

My Comments and Sample Learning Contract from My Personalized Masters Program
(Condensed headings; for a full example go to the CPU website - http://www.CPUniv.edu
- and follow links to Learning Contracts). Please Note: This learning contract was
entered into with CPU and a supervising mentor to satisfy requirements for the
Knowledge Area titled Health and Human Services. The description of the knowledge
area is reprinted below for the ease of the reader, with the scope of learning to be
acquired.
Health and Human Services
Health and Human Services Delivery to the Community
This course is concerned with patterns, methods, and systems for delivery of health and
human services. Students will become familiar with social structures, and behavior within
small groups and larger organizations. They should also be knowledgeable about
sociocultural, psychological, political, or financial issues related to health and human
services delivery systems. Assessment is based on such topics as group dynamics, attitude
and motivation development, cross-cultural and gender issues, professional regulations,
strategies for change, problem solving, power and leadership, and organizational
dynamics.
For this learning contract I arranged a 5 month internship with a local consultant who
specialized in team-building. Here's the breakdown of the goals section of the contract:
Goals to be met: (skills, knowledge and experience):
Demonstrated ability to:
Perform accurate needs assessments

Utilize group, training, and OD theory in designing and implementing
team building workshops
Demonstrate competence in leading "outward-bound" type team building
trainings (using archery, canoeing, and martial arts exercises)
Foster cohesiveness leading to increased performance in teams
Demonstrate competency in facilitating strategic planning sessions for
non-profit human-service based organizations
Design a multi-module generic team building workshop which can be
customized tp meet specific organizational needs - from one to three day
time spans.
Methods and Sources of Learning:
Supervised independent research design - 96 hours

Supervised group design meetings - 45 hours
Supervised implementation of trainings - 70 hours
Methods of Assessment On Completion: Letter of Evaluation from Supervisor

The desired outcome of the above methods and sources of learning is the successful
execution of the following supervised training task:
Design of two one-day (10 module) generic team building workshops

Criteria: Product must be able to be customized to meet individual group
needs
Design three-day team building workshop using pre-designed content to
meet the needs of the Ashcroft (BC) School Principals Association
Successfully implement a trial one-day workshop (for fine tuning)
Successfully implement the three-day workshop.

Evaluation for the Above Learning Contract:
This letter was written by my internship supervisor, consultant Jay Lundy, principal of
the Horizon Group, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I am entering it to demonstrate what a
letter of evaluation can look like.
Horizon Group - 1103-100W. Pender Street, Vancouver, B.C. Canada, V6B 1R8
Columbia Pacific University February 15, 1993
1415 Third Street
San Rafael, Ca
94901
Attn: M. Johnson - Learning Contract Supervisor
Dear Ms. Johnson;
Between May and September Earon T. Kavanagh entered into a supervised learning
practicum with my firm the Horizon Group.
His task was to assist me in developing a generic "outward bound" type team building
workshop, designed in such a manner as to be easily customized to meet specific needs.
His work on the project is broken down into the following categories, all under my
guidance and supervision.
1. Introductory Research and Design - 96 hours
2 Group Design Modules - 45 hours
3. Implementation and Co-leading of Workshops - 70 hours
Evaluation/Comments:
Design:
Creative thinker - excellent at deferred judgement before final training

approach is selected
Works well with other designers to create a well-rounded program
Diligent and thorough independent researcher
Facilitation:
Direct and open discussion leader

Manages the questioning process well with groups
Good listener
I enjoyed working with Earon and would not hesitate to include him in other similar
projects.
Yours Truly,
Jay Lundy
Principal, Horizon Group

Courses Which are Foundation Courses and Support the CPU Core Curriculum
Projects, Knowledge Areas, Learning Contracts, and Development of ISP's, Theses,
and Dissertations
As the title above indicates, there are other courses outside of the CPU core curriculum
that support the learner's success with core curriculum projects, knowledge areas,
learning contracts, and development of ISP's, theses and dissertations. Here are three of
those courses, all of which I have taken and found to be of great value. The following
descriptions are from the CPU Web-site (1998-2000). Following each description I make
a comment on the course:
A Course on Writing
This course is designed to provide concepts and workbook exercises for developing or
enhancing the ability to write in a well-conceived, well-organized, clear, and accurate
manner.
(Instructor: Baker, Crews, and faculty as assigned)
(3 up-div. sem. cred.)
Note: The above is a basic writing course. The faculty propose a model for
minimalist writing which gets to the heart of the matter, covers the important issues,
summarizes succinctly, and gets the job done. There are a lot of writing assignments
in this course. I definitely enjoyed the course, but haven't used the model too much
as I like to write in a long, meandering and deconstructing style.

Clear Thinking
The purpose of this course is to provide students who are not working primarily in the
fields of science, mathematics, or philosophy with a means for expanding their mental
domains of informed judgments-for learning what might be called logical reasoning,
general problem solving, the scientific method, or simply clear thinking.
(Instructor: Baker, Walker)
Note: The above is a valuable course on critical thinking and analysis; highly
recommended for life in our postmodern society.
Cogitat Ergo Est: Computer Literacy
This course is designed to provide students with a non-technical understanding of
computers and how they work, and of the roles they play in modern society. Although it
does not require any prior knowledge of computers, it may also be useful to those who
have some prior familiarity which is informal or limited in scope.
(Instructor: Baker, Crews)
Note: One would think that "everybody" is computer literate these days. I took the
above course in 1991 and found it very valuable, as I was fairly new to the computer.
Essential Statistics
This course provides an introduction to the ideas and techniques of the field of statistics.
It begins with an Overview of Basic Concepts and Terms and then covers a series of
topics in more detail, keying them to two workbooks.
(Instructor: Ketsela)
Note: I haven't done the above course, since I covered statistics in independent study
workshops and wrote a basic paper on the subject for a core curriculum course. My
own research (ISP and Master's Thesis) was carried out in a naturalistic antipositivist format using conventional and critical ethnography. I took a scholarly
post-structural stance that generalizing to populations (a pet habit of statistics) is
largely irrelevant in the social sciences. Of course to defend this stance I had to do a
large amount of extra research and writing so I could refute the value of statistics.
Having said that, I believe that statistics is valuable in grounded theory and related
research endeavors, in attempting to generalize results to or to create new theory,
rather than populations. So I know I'll be taking statistics soon - yeeccccch!
PH502 (formerly PH402)
Ethics, Individuality & Leadership in the Humanities and Health & Human Services
Designed for graduate students in the humanities or in health and human services, this
course provides a historical and problem-solving foundation in ethics so that students can
learn to apply ethical principles and processes in the humanities and health and human
services fields and also be challenged by an exploration of provocative contemporary
ethical issues in a variety of fields.
(Instructor: Crews and faculty as assigned)
Note: The above is a long and complex course on the important issues and questions
around ethics in modern life. I wrote close to 20 papers for this one, and although I
found it to be an experience of personal growth, I was very glad when I was finished.
PS501
Psychology as a Professional Career or Active Avocation
This survey and review of the considerations and concerns involved in a professional
career or pursuit of a vocational activity in the various subfields of psychology discusses
roles, professionalism, ethics, licensure, continuing education, etc.
(Instructor: Crews and faculty as assigned)
Note: The above course I found very valuable. The topics which were proposed
allowed me to reflect and take action in writing on a variety of issues which I
encounter in my worklife. Extremely valuable for human service practitioners.
HS598
Special Topics & Prior Experiential Learning at the Masters Level for students of health
& human services
(A learning contractcourse)
Of the first 30 semester units awarded a student in a graduate (e.g., masters) program, no
more than 5 semester units may be awarded for prior experiential learning.
(up to 5 grad. sem cred.)
Note: The above course allows one to propose life/work experience, prior credits,
etc. for credit. Or, one can undertake a special independent study by learning
contract, or simply do something else from the curriculum.
HS543 (formerly IS341A)
Final Summary and Oral Review for students in the Master of Science in Health and
Human Services degree program.
Each student produces a Final Summary paper and has an interview with the Dean
(usually by telephone) that summarizes and brings to completion the degree program.
(Instructor: Rollin)
Note: The above course is actually part of core curriculum and required.
Elective Courses:
Note: There are also various elective courses which can be used to round out a
degree program within a specific concentration. Two examples of such courses are
as follows (and already commented on above):
PS501 : Psychology as a Professional Career or Active Avocation

PH502 (formerly PH402): Ethics, Individuality & Leadership in the
Humanities and Health & Human Services
Guided independent studies in specific areas are also available within the CPU
program, via learning contracts.
1993-2000: Continuing the Story of My Own Experience with Non-traditional
Higher Education (at CPU)
By 1992 I had become more interested in family therapy and organization development.
There was something interesting about the interplay of complexity in relationships which
was pulling me, whether those be families or larger groups in the workplace. I then
decided to take CPU's "submatriculation" option, which would allow me to complete a
masters degree even before completing my Bachelor's program, which was actually near
completion. Once I started the Masters I focused my areas of interest on family therapy
and organizational thinking. In 1992 I arranged, with a local consultant, for a practicum
in team-building. In 1991 I had completed a six-month internship by learning contract
with an international NLP trainer and expert in behavioral modeling. This is where I
received my first exposure to organization development, and I liked what I saw. I had
already had years of experience in training groups so some of the OD model and values
came naturally.
In 1993 I contracted another internship (in family therapy practice). This was scheduled
over an eight-month period. In 1994, after 7 months into the family therapy internship, I
was invited to apply for a full-time position. One of the reasons stated was that my
abilities and theoretical grounding were seen as more advanced than my peers from major
local universities and some regionally accredited schools in the U.S. pacific northwest.
This was partially so because I had already been taking courses and supervision with
AAMFT (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy) approved supervisors
prior to beginning the family therapy internship. It also helped that the agency was
looking for a male to fill the position. Even prior to completing my M.S. I served for two
years as an supervisor of graduate family therapy interns from two regionally accredited
institutions (Pacifica, and LIOS) - this was done under the supervision of my agency's
clinical supervisor. In some ways I have been really lucky on this non-traditional path of
education. I currently work with the same agency I started with in 1993, and am looking
for the right opportunity to do a Ph.D. I have already written close to 300 pages of a
Ph.D. project from independent research I have been doing.

Things to be Aware of If You are Thinking of Enrolling in a CPU Program
The following comments are wholly my own opinion unless otherwise stated. A person
considering enrolling in a CPU program should first consider his/her own purpose for
enrolling. What need is this person seeking to satisfy? Or what does this person wish to
achieve in embarking on a degree program in the first place? If one wishes to obtain a
"career ticket", that being a licence to practice a certain profession, then I don't think
CPU is the place to achieve such a goal, as it definitely falls outside CPU's mandate.
CPU's written mandate is to "provide adult-education, distance-learning programs for
accomplished individuals" seeking undergraduate or graduate degrees in Arts & Sciences,
Administration & Management, or Health & Human Services. The key word here is
accomplished - that usually means that one already has a career track. If one is a member
of that group of individuals who have "already demonstrated some success in their fields"
(CPU, 1996), desires to develop oneself further professionally and personally, wants to
"round out" their experience with relevant new knowledge in a personalized program,
desires to make a contribution to one's field based on an integration of experience with
new concepts, and if reasonably priced "non-residential degree programs in a wholistic
frame of reference" appear interesting, then the CPU approach might be a good fit. More
on CPU's programs and educational philosophy can be found at the CPU Web-site.
In addition to other learning endeavors the CPU curriculum includes an excellent
structure for 'taking stock' of one's already accomplished learning and abilities. One
frequently finds that certain already accomplished skills are applicable to many contexts
of personal and professional life and can be brought to bear in an academic presentation
or analysis. For example, in naturalistic research approaches such as "participant
observation", the researcher's experiences, observations, and impressions count in
arriving at the final conclusions (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Spradley, 1979, 1980). Such
researchers are encouraged to be self-reflexive (see definitions) in their relational
collaboration with who/what is being learned or researched (Moustakas, 1990; Anderson,
1997). In the CPU approach it is you, the learner, who counts as most important; what
you bring to the learning environment and what you already know is important, and the
CPU curriculum reflects that.
A Proceed-with-Caution Caveat:
CPU is not yet regionally accredited in the U.S., so if you live in the U.S. and there are
third parties in your life that require you to hold a regionally accredited degree, then the
answer is obvious. If however, you are not constrained by this class-oriented "inside the
box" thinking, the CPU option could be a possibility as its programs are excellent in
developing life-long learners and facilitating personal and professional development. The
programs are also very reasonably priced and the quality of service delivery is excellent.
On the negative side CPU is also currently involved in a litigation process with the
private postsecondary education authority in California (formerly called the CPPVE, now
called the BPPVE). This dispute seems to have stemmed from a situation in late 1995,
when CPU's state licence was not re-approved by the state after having held the highest
state education licence - known as "full institutional approval" - for approximately 10
years; prior to that two of CPU's degree programs had state approval - since 1983. Prior
to that CPU held what was known as initial "authorization" since 1978, one year after the
school's founding.
There are a lot of questions regarding this dispute which remain unanswered. We do
know that the State was rapidly changing its education regulations for private
postsecondary institutions and CPU was trying to keep up with those changing
regulations. Under "Standards of Approval" in a state document (CPEC, 1995) the
following demonstrates the changing regulations:
An important change from previous law is the requirement that the institution actually be
an educational enterprise that provides instruction to students rather than merely an
assessment or credentialling enterprise that merely grants credit for previous student
learning or for student writing assignments (p. 62).
While I can't actually speak for CPU on this matter it is plausible that one area where
CPU could have some difficulties meeting such new regulations would be its use of
"learning contracts". Under learning contracts the institution provides specific guidelines
for the criteria to be met, and the student (with faculty supervision) designs a learning
contract and learning ativities to meet these criteria, complete with methods for
evaluation. (Click on the hyper-link for a full introduction to the concepts involved in the
CPU Learning Contract). We also know (from the media and from government
documents) that the Governor of California announced allegations that bureaucrats within
the former version of the BPPVE (the CPPVE) were openly persecuting private
postsecondary institutions with what appeared to be a vendetta. Out of reaction to these
activities the governor ordered the closing down of that bureaucracy (the CPPVE) by a
veto of Senate Bill 2960, which would have extended the life of the CPPVE until 2002.
CPU was attempting to appeal the CPPVE's decision to withold re-approval, but the
decision against re-approval was upheld. Interestingly, Bill 2960 had passed the Senate
with a vote of 77 (for) to 1 (against). Just days before the CPPVE was forced to close by
the Governor of California, the CPPVE held a final meeting to issue the paperwork to
close down CPU (source, John Bear). The focus then shifted to the civil justice system
and CPU lost another appeal in administrative court in 1997, but has kept fighting the
closure with appeals in the higher courts.
CPU was ordered by a court to close last year (Feb/ 1999), and ordered by another court
to close permanently in Jan/2000. I understand that there is one appeal left (with the
Superior Court in Almeida County, CA) which should be coming up before summer.
Recently, John Bear, eminently known specialist on non-traditional and distance
education, reported that he had a meeting with the vice-present of CPU. Bear announced
on the internet that during the meeting (also stating that both had not had contact with
each other for about 13 years) that the CPU official produced documentation that led
Bear to believe that three former employees of the CPPVE had signed affadavits that they
had been instructed by their boss that they were not to re-approve CPU during or after the
re-approval inspection visit. Bear also noted recently on his web-site that from the CPU
perspective the CPPVE (now BPPVE) had failed to prove or show that CPU had not met
criteria for re-approval, while the state maintains that the onus is not on the state to prove
that an institution no longer is meeting the criteria that the state is now bringing into
regulation. This is a blatant lack of public accountability on the part of the state, one that
gives off the strong stench of an absolute abuse of power by bureaucrats at the top level
of this agency. Here are John Bear's comments on the matter (from his web-site
http://www.degree.net):
Columbia Pacific University Ordered to Close
In January 2000, after three years of legal backing and forthing, the State of California's
Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education ordered Columbia Pacific
University to close down immediately and make refunds to all students who enrolled
after June 25, 1997. Columbia Pacific is asking the Court of Appeal of the State of
California (First Appellate District, Division one) to overturn the original order to close
(dated June 25, 1997) and apparently intends to stay open until the Appeals Court issues a
ruling later this year.
The Nature of Columbia Pacific's appeal
The essence of Columbia Pacific's appeal relates to the issue of Burden of Proof. They
point out that the California Supreme Court ruled, in an unrelated case, that "When an
administrative agency initiates an action to suspend or revoke a license, the burden of
proving the facts necessary to support the action rests with the agency making the
allegation..." The state agency's initial closure order states that "CPU has the burden of
proof to show that its application for re-approval should be granted by this council....
CPU has failed to meet its burden of proof in this matter." The state seems to
acknowledge that the burden of proof lies with the state, but it claims that "Columbia
Pacific University had ample opportunity to raise the burden of proof issue at the
administrative hearing but failed to do so. It is now barred from raising the issue in this
forum." Columbia Pacific maintains that "this statement is wholly without basis." It
seems that it is this "burden of proof" issue on which the appeal hinges. (Bear, 2000)
Abuses of Power and Bureaucracy Mandarins: Items that Cast Suspicion on the
CPPVE's Refusal to Reapprove CPU's Programs in 1996, and CPU's Court Battle
with the State
The following are some posts from nontraditional and distance education expert John
Bear, and information from the web-sites of the BPPVE and the various agencies of the
State of California . Bear's comments have been posted to Internet Usenet group
alt.education.distance, between 1996 and 2000. At the end of the various posts I write my
conclusion.
January 13th/ 2000:
The BPPVE wrote on its web-site that, among other things, CPU
* awarded excessive credit for prior experiential learning to many students;
* failed to employ duly qualified faculty; and
* failed to meet various requirements for issuing Ph.D. degrees.
January 7th/ 1999:
John Bear wrote the following on alt.education.distance, regarding another BPPVE
allegation about CPU. :
According to the state's law suit, CPPVE was also concerned when they discovered a
dissertation entirely in Spanish, and determined that none that student's committee
members could speak or read Spanish.
Apparently, none of these allegations have been proven by the state in a court of law.
January 26th/ 1996
John Bear wrote the following, in part, on alt.education.distance, regarding the appeals
process CPU would have to go through regarding denial of approval by the CPPVE:
There has been discussion here regarding the status of Columbia Pacific University in
California. It has been suggested that CPU "lost its license" or "lost its approval." It is
important to be very clear that this is not so. In California, the process works like this
when a state-approved school such as Columbia Pacific comes up for reapproval: 1. A
Visiting Committee makes a report to the Executive Director of the Council for Private,
Postsecondary and Vocational Education. 2. The Executive Director of the Council makes
a recommendation on whether or not to reapprove. 3. If the school is not satisfied with
the recommendation, they can appeal, and there is a hearing before an administrative law
judge, who makes his or her recommendations. 4. The full council then either accepts,
modifies, or rejects this recommendation. 5. If the school disagrees with the action of the
full council, they can take legal action. While this process is ongoing, the school is, for all
intents and purposes, approved: it can enroll students award degrees. Following a
negative recommendation (step 2), a matter often not made public (but someone, not me,
did post the information in an education news group), Columbia Pacific will enter the
appeal process, which can take six months or more. They remain open, in business, able
to enroll students and to award the degrees of a state-approved university.
Note that on the above that Bear states: (1) A Visiting Committee makes a report to the
Executive Director of the Council for Private, Postsecondary and Vocational Education
after making an inspection visit at the institution. (2) The Executive Director of the
Council makes a recommendation on whether or not to reapprove the institution based on
the report of the visiting committee who have actually made an onsite inspection at the
institution. According to Bear, the executive director is supposed to make a
recommendation after the visiting committee makes its report.. It appears from certain
evidence that has been referred to by Bear, that the executive director of the CPPVE
tampered with the whole process; (see next paragraph and block quotation of John Bear).
January 15th/ 2000

John Bear posted the following message, in part. The message indicates that there is
evidence to believe that the executive director of the CPPVE jumped the gun and told the
visiting committee prior to the inspection visit not to reapprove Columbia Pacific
University, rather than waiting for the visiting committee to carry out its inspection and
then turn in its recommendations:
Lunch yesterday with Les Carr, Ph.D. (Vanderbilt), principle owner (for 23 years) of
Columbia Pacific, following his terms as president of two regionally accredited
universities. First communication of any kind in 14 years. Carr, who apparently monitors
this newsgroup, wanted me to have certain information.
The documents he shared with me persuade me of the following:
1. There are affadavits from three former staff at the school approval agency
[the CPPVE] in Sacramento attesting that they had been told by their boss
that CPU would lose its approval before the visiting team made its
inspection.
2. These would be part of CPU's appeal of its closure order, which will take
place in Superior Court in March or April.
August 13th/ 1996
In the following posting to alt.distance.education the informant quotes a personal reply
from CPU president Dr. Richard Crews on the matter of CPU not being reapproved by
the CPPVE.
Deja.com: Re: CPU
Subject:Re: CPU
Date:08/13/1996
Author:K. Winston Caine <positivechurch@enter.net>
<< previous next >>
I inquired about the current status of Columbia Pacific's approval
and here is what Richard Crews had to say:
"Columbia Pacific University's approval is in full force. We were astonished in January to
receive a notice of denial, but have been reassured that CPU's approval is intact pending
"appeal." The "denial" was illegal; it was not issued by the Council (as mandated by
statute and regulation) nor with due process, but peremptorily, and from the Executive
Director alone. It was also based on a very superficial and flawed "evaluation" with 80some errors which we pointed out, but our response was ignored. We called in an
independent review team and were highly praised by them. We are embarrassed at the
Council's (or rather the Executive Director's) abuse of due process but most of all by the
failure to understand the merits of CPU's educational system. We are holding firm,
appealing, and have every confidence we shall prevail.
"You may quote me on any of this, but please do so with the full statement so that readers
get a full, fair picture. The Executive Director of the Council has perpetrated a very
frustrating bit of prejudicial misadministration. CPU is an institution of high academic
standards; apparently because it is not cut from some standard mold, some education
authorities do not considered it worth the trouble of understanding.
"Thanks for your concern,
"Richard Crews, M.D. "President"
----------------------------------------------------------Interactive inspiration;
visit Positive Church Online
http://www.enter.net/~positivechurch
<< previous next >>
January 17th/ 2000
John Bear posted the following message, in part, on alt.education.distance, regarding the
CPU appeal:
Part of CPU's brief to the Court of Appeal, First Appelate District, Division One, refers to
400 alumni who are full-time faculty at traditionally accredited colleges and universities.
It is safe to predict that some, perhaps many, of those receive a salary differential, and
will supply affadavits.
The appeal is apparently to be heard in March or April, Almeda Superior Court Case No.
786530-7, The Hon. Henry Needham, Superior Court Judge.
February 19th/ 1997
John Bear wrote the following, in part, on alt.education.distance re: CPU:
The co-founders are a former president of a major regionally accredited university (Carr;
Lewis, in Illinois); and a Harvard-MD psychiatrist (Crews; who has been full-time
president for 15 years). The academic VP (Blum) is a former president of the regionally
accredited Point Park College, and has also been there 15 years. These are three
academics, who generally know what they are doing. During the 4 or 5 years I consulted
with CPU, late 1970s, I reviewed quite a lot of the doctoral work done in my field. I was
generally impressed with the quality of the work, and with the credentials of the adjunct
faculty who supervised it.
CPU's licensing situation is still murky, I believe. As far as I know, there is no word on
what will happen to state licensing in California when the California Commission on
Private, Post-secondary and Vocational Education goes out of business in less than 18
more weeks.
Not on the above how Bear refers to two important facts: (1) that the leaders of CPU are
experienced academics, two of which have also served as presidents of U.S. regionally
accredited universities; and, (2) that Bear himself "reviewed quite a lot of the doctoral
work done in my field"; and "I was generally impressed with the quality of the work, and
with the credentials of the adjunct faculty who supervised it".
May 9th/ 1997
John Bear wrote the following, in part, on alt.education.distance, on the impending

demise of the CPPVE:
The "reauthorization" bill is AB71. This is what it says at the top: "INTRODUCED BY
Assembly Member Wright (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Aroner,
Baca, Bowen, Knox, Kuehl, Ortiz, Vincent, and Wayne) (Principal coauthors: Senators
Alpert, Solis, and Vasconcellos)."
As of May 7, it had been returned to committee for a third reading. Still no indication
(that I know of) whether the governor supports it (or even knows about it) -- or what will
happen at midnight on June 30 if it doesn't pass.
The reauthorization bill (AB71) that Bear writes of was introduced after the governor
vetoed Bill 2960, which would have extended the life of the CPPVE (and the Private
Postsecondary Education Reform Act of 1989) until 2002. The Senate passed Bill 2960
with an overwhemning majority, with a total of 77 "yes" votes and 1 "no" vote. The
governor then vetoed Bill 2960.
1996
The California web-site titled 1996 Education Legislation as Acted on by the Governor Final Report (http://www.assembly.ca.gov/edu/1996bils.htm) posts the following on the
bill to continue the existence of the CPPVE:
AB 2960 (Firestone) - Private Postsecondary Education
Extends the June 30, 1997 sunset of the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education
Reform (PPVER) Act of 1989 by five years; requires an evaluation of the program by the
California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) every five years, beginning on
January 1, 2000; and requires the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational
Education (CPPVE) to annually report on its activities to the Legislature and the CPEC.
STATUS: Vetoed by the Governor.
Note above that after passing the Senate, Bill 2960 was vetoed by the Governor. The
reasons given for the Governor's veto of the bill are found by clicking on the link dated
"Amended 06/04/1997", at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgibin/postquery?bill_number=ab_71&sess=PREV&house=B. In that document the
following is written with respect to the veto of Bill 2960:
At the end of the 1996 Legislative Session the Governor vetoed AB 2960 (Firestone and
Campbell), which would have extended the sunset date for the Act from June 30, 1997 to
June 30, 2002. In the Governor's veto message the following concerns were raised:
The level of fees required for compliance and the ability of small schools
to stay in business. Larger, more capitalized schools do not have the same
problem as the smaller schools that operate on a much smaller margin.
The manner in which the staff of the Council carry out their
responsibilities.
There are reports from some schools of alleged reprisals and
vindictiveness by Council staff. It was recommended that the Council
provide an administrative appeal process short of litigation.
Bill AB 71 then replaced the vetoed Bill 2960. Bill AB 71 was introduced in 12/12/96
and was amended 8 times before being enrolled. On the amended rendition presented to
Assemble on 6/16/97, the following appears on the transition from the now defunct
CPPVE to the proposed BPPVE (the portions struck out appear as such in the document):
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 71, as amended, R. Wright. Private postsecondary education.
(1) The existing Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989,
until June 30, 1997, establishes various requirements and standards for the approval of
private postsecondary educational institutions to operate in California and to award
degrees and diplomas.
This bill would repeal and reenact those provisions and in doing so would make
numerous substantive changes.
(2) The
The existing act establishes the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational
Education with specified duties and responsibilities.
This bill would repeal and reenact those provisions, and in doing so would make
numerous substantive changes. The bill would create a Bureau for Private Postsecondary
and Vocational Education in the Department of Consumer Affairs, operative January 1,
1998.
Further information on the history of Bill 2960 and Bill AB 71 is contained below. It was
located at (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/95-96/bill/asm/ab_29513000/ab_2960_bill_history.html), and (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/9596/bill/asm/ab_0051-0100/ab_71_bill_history.html).
COMPLETE BILL HISTORY
BILL NUMBER : A.B. No. 2960
AUTHOR
: Firestone
TOPIC
: Postsecondary Education: Private Postsecondary and Vocational
Education Reform Act of 1989.
TYPE OF BILL :
Inactive
Non-Urgency
Appropriations
2/3 Vote Required
State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
BILL HISTORY
1996
Sept. 30 Vetoed by Governor.
Sept. 10 Enrolled and to the Governor at 4 p.m.
Aug. 30
Senate amendments concurred in. To enrollment. (Ayes 77. Noes 1.
Page 8841.)
Aug. 15
In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be
considered on
Aug. 14
Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 23. Noes 1. Page
5564.)
Aug. 8
Read second time, amended, and to third reading.
Aug. 7
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 9. Noes
2.).
Aug. 5
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer
to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com.
on APPR.
June 27
From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with
recommendation: To Consent Calendar. Re-referred. (Ayes 9. Noes
0.).
June 18
on ED.
May 31
Referred to Com. on ED.
May 30
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
May 29
Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 70. Noes 2. Page
6927.)
May 24
Read second time. To third reading.
May 23
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 1.) (May 22).
May 16
Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
May 15
to Com. on APPR. Read second time and amended.
Apr. 24
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request
of author.
Apr. 10
From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR.
Re-referred. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (April 9).
Mar. 7
Referred to Com. on HIGHER ED.
Feb. 26
Read first time.
Feb. 24
From printer. May be heard in committee March 25.
Feb. 23
Introduced. To print.
COMPLETE BILL HISTORY
BILL NUMBER : A.B. No. 71
AUTHOR
: Wright
TOPIC
: Private postsecondary education.
TYPE OF BILL :
Inactive
Non-Urgency
Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
State-Mandated Local Program

Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
BILL HISTORY
1997
July 18
Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter
78, Statutes of 1997.
July 18
Approved by the Governor.
July 18
Enrolled and to the Governor at 2:15 p.m.
July 18
(Corrected July 17. ) Senate amendments concurred in. To
enrollment. (Ayes 71. Noes 2. Page 3275.)
July 17
In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. Re-referred
to Com. on HIGHER ED. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2 From committee:
With recommendation: that Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes
11. Noes 0.) (July 17). (Corrected July 16)
July 17
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes
1.). Read second time, amended, and to third reading. Read third
time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 29. Noes 4. Page 2266.)
July 16
on APPR.
July 14
Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR.
July 11
From committee: Amend, do pass as amended, and re-refer to Com. on
APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.).
July 3
Withdrawn from committee. Re-referred to Com. on B. & P.
June 23
Withdrawn from committee. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
June 19
Withdrawn from committee. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
June 18
From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on RLS. Re-referred.
(Ayes 8. Noes 1.).
June 16
on ED.
June 12
In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
June 4
on ED.
June 3
Referred to Coms. on ED. and JUD.
May 23
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
May 22
Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 41. Noes 34. Page
1866.)
May 15
Read third time. Urgency clause refused adoption. (Ayes 43. Noes 31.
Page 1624.) Read third time and amended pursuant to J.R. 23.5.
Ordered returned to third reading.
Apr. 28
Read second time. To third reading.
Apr. 24
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 5.) (April 23).
Apr. 21
Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Apr. 17
to Com. on APPR. Read second time and amended.
Apr. 2
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request
of author.
Mar. 19
From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR.
Re-referred. (Ayes 8. Noes 5.) (March 18).
Mar. 17
Re-referred to Com. on HIGHER ED.
Mar. 12
to Com. on HIGHER ED. Read second time and amended.
Feb. 7
Referred to Com. on HIGHER ED.
Jan. 6
Read first time.
1996
Dec. 16
From printer. May be heard in committee January 15.
Dec. 12
Introduced. To print.
May 13/ 2000

John Bear posts an encouraging piece of news on www. degree.net, under the title
"Columbia Pacific University Saved by the Bell, At Least for a While"
In January 2000, after three years of legal backing and forthing, the State of California's
Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education ordered Columbia Pacific
University to close down immediately and make refunds to all students who enrolled
after June 25, 1997. Following various legal maneuvers, things came down to May 8th,
2000, the day CPU was to post a $2 million bond and send a mailing to all students and
alumni offering them a refund. Literally hours before the deadline, the Appellate Court
agreed with CPU's brief (and, in effect, overruled the state's brief) and stayed the bond
and refund order until the full appeal of the closure order is heard, probably in July, 2000.
- John Bear
Conclusion and Thoughts Toward the Future of CPU

I can only imagine what all of the above might mean when one includes the earlier
allegations of the CPPVE's leaders tampering with and attempting to influence a reapproval certification panel. The story points to probable manipulations involving
practices of power and control by certain bureaucracy mandarins, by tampering with due
process. It is hoped that this will all come out in the court case, and CPU will be
reinstated with its approval. One can also imagine the damages brought about by such
manipulations - to the reputation of CPU, to the students, and to the alumni - when such a
practice is carried out by those in positions of power. Some alumni who hold
professorships with various universities have reported difficulties obtaining tenure, or
obtaining well-paying teaching positions that they were able to acquire previous to the
past five years. Some alumni have expressed that if the BPPVE has a case against CPU
then CPU should be punished but not shut down. Shutting down CPU would clearly
demonstrate that the BPPVE (formerly CPPVE) does not act in support of consumers,
several thousand of which hold degrees from CPU. These alumni and students will suffer
damages despite refunds that would occur for students.
Whether CPU wins its court battle and is reapproved, or loses its court battle, there are
plans of a merger with another university, which appears to involve legitimate
accreditation in the short term. I have confirmed with the accrediting agency that the
institution in question has indeed made an application to that agency. Nothing other than
that could be revealed at this time by the executive director of that agency. (I will not
reveal the name of the institution or accrediting agency until a legal merger has occurred
and at least candidacy has been achieved by that institution - the best way for a consumer
to view this is as an intent, and the consumer should only believe and act on what is
verifiable). In a recent exchange of communication with CPU's vice-president, he
revealed to me that, should CPU win its court battle with BPPVE, CPU will be in a very
good position to begin a class-action lawsuit against the CPPVE. Such a class-action
lawsuit, if successful, would help recover damages to CPU and its alumni. Meanwhile, I
and many other alumni (and students) watch with wonder, apprehension, and bated
breath.
In all honesty, enrolling with CPU at the moment for any reason other than personal
growth and satisfaction (and the program delivers highly in those areas) may be
equivalent to buying stock in a high-tech company or mining company with little track
record in earnings, so the price/earnings ratio is enormous and such stock would only be
purchased on speculation and promise of future performance. I am not implying that CPU
has not performed well. By most accounts CPU appears to have performed very well in
both curriculum and administration. What I am addressing is "public perception as
performance". If the public perception is very favorable and supported by state licensing
and legitimate accreditation the prestige barometer climbs high. After all, educational
institutions have always been associated with the consiousness, hopes, and dreams of the
public. And one of the selling points in attaining a degree, from individual and public
perception, is the prestige associated with completion of such a large undertaking. There
may be little or no prestige associated with CPU at this time - in fact, on the prestige
scale, the indicator may be far down into the negative - possibly seen by many in the
public domain with doubt. In other words, CPU's stock value (public favor and associated
prestige) is currently low. But I think (and hope) that it will spring back, like many stocks
spring back into action and pay off for their investors.
In August/1999 I received a letter from CPU's vice-president, addressed to students. The
letter announced with excitement that CPU would be merging shortly with another
university, a move which would open up new academic possibilities for both students and
alumni. None of this has come to pass as of yet, and appearances are that this merger will
not come to pass until CPU has had it's final day in court on this matter and knows for
sure what its options are. CPU's vice-president is adamant that the merger will take place
whether or not the university wins its court battle. Yet, the president of the particular
institution with which CPU will merge tells me that this particular school will not assume
any debtload incurred by CPU. The recent January/2000 judgement ordering CPU to
close also ordered CPU to refund any tuition to current students, with particular emphasis
on those students who reside in California. So while I have received great value from the
CPU curriculum, the fact is that there is no guarantee that CPU will continue to be around
in the future as a legally recognized institution, only promises and hopes. And as every
person that's lived a little knows - promises by themselves aren't enough; and CPU has
had 5 years of great difficulty with these legal matters. That, my friends, is the negative
side of the matter. To their credit, though, CPU's leaders are fighting hard to put these
unfortunate matters to rest once and for all. Hopefully, they can get on with rebuilding
their institution to its prior condition, before the offensive assault by the Executive
Director of the CPPVE started taking its toll back in 1995. From there CPU can be built
further, to a well-received and well-respected status. Hopefully, a form of legitimate
accreditation will be an integral component of that rebuilding.
The fact is, that although an institution may have great programs, it must also maintain a
high degree of image management for the public consumption. What this means,
particularly in the new era of accelerated communications technology (the NOW), is that
a school must have some form of legitimate accreditation in addition to a legal status as
an institution. CPU has spent years 'caught between a rock and a hard place' on this
matter of accreditation. The policy of WASC, the regional accreditation body for
California, Hawaii, Guam, and other U.S. Western states, required that an institution in
California must hold state approval prior to qualifying as being accreditable
(accreditation being a complex and expensive 3-7 year process). Although CPU held such
"full approval" for 10 or more years, its president wrote to alumni in 1992/1993 that
WASC did not wish to accredit institutions that were fully non-residential. This letter to
alumni from the president of CPU stated a desire to attain legitimate accreditation and
implied a restructuring plan that the school would embark upon over a ten year period.
While the letter acknowledged the difficulties in attaining accreditation through WASC, it
also expressed hope that some new possibilites were opening up for accreditation because
of some potential changes in federal regulations. These changes never came to pass in a
way that would allow for such hoped for accreditation. Two other letters written by CPU's
leaders in 1995 (in the alumni newsletter - summer edition) expressed excitement and
hope that CPU would soon be re-approved, despite some difficult "negotiations" which
were going on with the CPPVE. These letters also announced an impending move toward
the beginnings of an application process for regional accreditation with WASC, provided
the school was re-approved. CPU's leaders also asked for alumni help, which would be
required in raising funds and other matters as part of the forward march toward
accreditation. Unfortunately, an announcement was made (by John Bear, on Internet
Newsgroup alt.education.distance) in late 1995 that the CPPVE was denying re-approval
to CPU. Hopes for accreditation were quickly diminished, as CPU's status as a stateapproved institution entered a state of limbo. That limbo has lasted the past five and onehalf years. Hopefully, CPU will come out of this limbo much stronger than ever. And I
hope that in the near future I can eliminate this proceed-with-caution caveat from this
document.
So why do I stick with the CPU program? Well, first of all I've finished my M.S. - I have
only an oral review/ thesis examination left. I like the program and believe it has been
ahead of its time. I believe the program fulfills a unique need for a distinct group of adult
learners with a lot of life experience. I also like the people at CPU and have always found
them to be of the highest professional calibre as well as being quite warm and friendly. I
think this school deserves to continue. As I have written previously, I have studied a lot of
post-structural writings in the past years. What the post-structural philosophers call for in
education, equality, deconstruction, and integration of narrative knowledge - CPU is
doing rather than simply parroting.

<>
About the CPU Mission and Philosophy
Note: This is from the CPU web-site (1998-2000), and the CPU General Catalogue
(1989). Some of this has already appeared earlier.
Founded in 1978, Columbia Pacific University provides adult-education, distancelearning programs for accomplished individuals seeking undergraduate or graduate
degrees in Arts & Sciences, Administration & Management, or Health & Human
Services. Self-paced scheduling and life-achievement evaluation are included in the
Columbia Pacific University program. To be admitted, an applicant must have established
a career focus and demonstrated a capacity to learn from higher education. CPU's
curriculum is designed for self-paced learning at a distance based on the importance of
Individuality, Integration, and Independent Study. Most of our students are working
professionals.
Individuality
Each person is unique; each individual's background provides him/her

with a personal array of abilities and interests that are different from any
other's.
An individual's life experience is most satisfying and productive if he/she
can acknowledge and develop this personal pattern of abilities and
interests.
Education can - and should - be based upon, draw forth and facilitate the
development of that individuality.
It is a proper role of higher education to enhance and refine this process
for accomplished individuals (who have previously obtained meaningful
levels of productive creativity) . . . so that the individual can expand
professional productivity and acceptance, as well as make personally

meaningful career developments.
Integration
Therearemanyaspectstoanindividual'slifeexperience:one'sinterestand
activityattimesfocusonconsiderationofhealth,family,recreation,
spirituality,etc.
Allaspectsofanindividual'slifeexperiencecanbeintegratedtomutually
supportandfacilitatetheotheraspects.
Educationcanandshouldhelpanindividualdevelopthispersonal
integrationandsupport
Itisaproperroleofeducationtochallengetheaccomplishedindividualto
developmoreeffectiveandcomprehensiveintegrationofbody,mindand
spirit,whicharethesignificantdimensionsofpersonalexperience...so
thattheindividualcandevelopclearerandpersonallyrelevantgoals,as
wellasalifestylethatissatisfying,healthfulandeffectiveinsupportingthe
individual'sgoals.
IndependentStudy
Thepotentialsourcesofideasandinformationrelevanttoanindividual's
interestmaybemanyandvaried.
Anindividual'sactivitiescanbemostsatisfyingandproductifthatperson
caninvestigatethesesourceseffectively.
Educationcanandshouldprovideguidanceinmakingsuch
investigationsbroadinscopeandefficientinprocess.
Itisaproperroleofhighereducationtostimulate,guideandacknowledge
dependentstudy,aswellasintellectualandexperientialinquirythatisself
designedandselfmotivated...sothattheaccomplishedindividualcan
engageinselfdesignedandselfmotivatedintellectualandexperiential
inquirythatiscomprehensiveinitssources,efficientinitsmethods,
integratedinitspersonalinvolvementandeffectiveinitoutcome.
AlthoughtheAmericansystemofeducationisextensive,complex,andinmanyways
quiteflexible,itoftendoesnotprovidesubjectivecontentwhichisfocusedonan
individualstudent'sparticularinterestsandneeds,noreducationaldeliverysystemswhich
areaccessibletoanindividualwhoisactiveinachosenvocationperhapsalready
committedtoacareerpath.Pursuinghighereducationoftenrequiresanupheavalof
familyandcommunityrootsandcommitments,interruptionofprofessionalactivities,and
sacrificeoffinancialresources.ColumbiaPacificUniversityisdesignedsothatan
individualdoesnotneedtoleavehisorherhomeandcommunity,interruptacareer,or
abandonfamiliareducationresourcesinordertoearnanacademicdegree.
Amatureanselfdirectedindividualcanparticipateinplanningthecurriculumcontent,
thetypesofinstructionalresourcestobeused,andthescheduleforcompletionofan
individualizeddegreeprogram.Someonewhoisalreadyactiveinacareerfieldcan
obtaintheacademicperspectiveandroundingoutofanareaofknowledgeandthe
recognitionofaccomplishmentsthatanadvanceddegreeprogramprovides.
TheUniversityiscommittedtoprogramsofexcellenceinhighereducationprograms
whichproducedemonstrableimprovementsinlearnerknowledge,proficiencies,skills,
andattitudes.Theseimprovementsareconsistentwithestablished,clearlyexpressed
standardsofperformancecomparabletothoseofrecognizedaccreditedcollegesand
universities.
AbouttheCPUApproach
FromtheCPUGeneralCatalogue(1989)
Anontraditionalindividualizedandselfdirectedcurriculumrequiresnotonly
involvementbutactiveparticipationofthestudentsindesigningandcarryingforward
theirprogramsofstudy.Personalinitiativeandselfrelianceareessentialforsuccessful
participationandprogressioninsuchprograms.TheUniversitydoesnottakeontherole
ofaprotectingordiscipliningparent,oranallwiseandallpowerfulsourceofauthority
andwisdom.Suchroleswouldbeinappropriateandwould,infact,tendtostiflerather
thanadvancetheindependentinitiativeandeducationalmaturationofthestudentswe
seektoserve.WhattheUniversitydoesprovideisanorganizationandsystemfor
enablinganindependentandselfreliantindividualtoplanandcarryoutaneducational;
program:toreceive
1.Accomplishmentsguidanceinorganizingandimplementingindependentstudyplans
2.Assuranceofthethoroughnessandappropriatenessofsubjectcontent
3.Facilitationoflinkageswithsuitableeducationalresources
4.Responsibleassessmentoftheresultingstudies
5.Awardofrecognitionfortheeducational
Webelieveitisofutmostimportancethatstudentslearnnotonlytheknowledge,skills,
andattitudesofaparticularacademicandprofessionalfield,butalsothattheylearnhow
tolearn.Specifically,webelieveitisofparamountimportanceinthemodernworldfor
studentstobeknowledgeableanduptodateintheirchosenfields,andequippedto
engageinselfdirected,lifelongindependentstudy.
MalcolmKnowles,ProfessorofEducationatNorthCarolinaStateUniversityandBoston
University,andtheExecutiveDirectoroftheAdultEducationAssociation,has
emphasizedthisperspectiveinaslightlydifferentway.
Wenowknowthatintheworldofthefuturewemustdefinethemissionofeducationas
toprovidecompetentpeoplepeoplewhoareabletoapplytheirknowledgeunder
changingconditions;andweknowthatthefoundationalcompetenceallpeoplemusthave
isthecompetencetoengageinlifelonglearning.Wenowknow,also,thatthewayto
producecompetentpeopleistohavethemacquiretheirknowledge(andskills,
understandings,attitudes,values,andinterests)inthecontextofitsapplication....
Educationisnolongerseenasthemonopolyofeducationalinstitutionsandtheir
teachers.Wenowperceivethatresourcesforlearningareeverywhereinourenvironment
andthatpeoplecangethelpintheirlearningfromavarietyofotherpeople.Themodern
taskoftheeducation,thereforebecomesoneoffindingnewwaystolinklearnerswith
learningresources.
Toaccomplishthesegoals,theUniversityhascurriculumrequirementsoftwotypes:
First,studentsintheSchoolsofArtsandSciences,AdministrationandManagement,and
HealthandHumanServicesarerequiredtoundertakeanddemonstratesuccessful
completionoffourprojectswhichformthebasisforaccomplishingindividualized
independentstudyinanintegratedwholisticperspective.
Gainingconceptsandabilitiesinaccessingavariedarrayofinformation
resourcesapplicabletoawiderangeoftopicsandfields
Connectingpersonalresearchintereststhroughotherfieldsthrougha
broad,wholistic,andfuturisticperspective
Developingapersonallifestylewhichsupportsandencourages
individualizedindependentstudy
Demonstratingthemasteryoftheseconceptsandskillsbytheproduction
ofamajorindependentstudyproject
Second,eachoftheschoolshascorerequirementscoveringthesubjectareaoftheschool.
ThesearebasedonspecificKnowledgeAreasdefinedbytheDeanandFacultyofthe
school.Eachstudentisrequiredtoearnacertainnumberofacademiccreditsineachof
severalKnowledgeAreasofthestudent'sschoolinordertodemonstratebreadthand
depthoffamiliaritywiththeconceptualandfactualcontentofthespecificdegreefield.
<>
Re:MinimumRequiredLengthforISPs,Theses,andDissertationsatCPU
Thelengthofstudentworksalsovarygreatlydependingonsubjectmatter,typeofwork
done,styleofpresentation,andmanyotherfactors.Althoughthereisnosetanswer,
becausethequestionof"required"(or,atleast,"recommended")minimumlengthis
askedsooften,asgeneralguidelines,theAcademicCouncilhasrecommendedtofaculty
thatabachelor'sISP[Independentstudyproject]shouldbeaminimum[sic]of50pages
(typed,doublespaced),amaster'sthesisaminimum[sic]of100pages,andadoctoral
dissertationaminimum[sic]of150pagesinlength.
ColumbiaPacificUniversity(1991)."GuidelinesforFormandOrganizationof
IndependentStudyProjects(ISPs,Theses,andDissertations)",inGuidelinesforCourse
IS441541:TheVersatileIndependentScholar.pp.243244.
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Re:CriteriaforContentAnalysisofBachelor'sISP'satCPU
From:ColumbiaPacificUniversity(1996)."GradingandScholasticStandards",inCPU
GeneralCatalogue,pp.5960.
TheDeansCouncilhasestablishedthefollowingformalcriteriaforcontentanalysisof
bachelor'slevelwork.ThesecriteriaareprimarilyforthefinalIndependentStudy
project,butmaybeusedwhereverelsetheyareapplicableinothercurriculum
submissions.
KNOWLEDGE
Reviewoftheliteratureissufficient.
Presentationoffacts,definitions,andideasissufficientintheoretical
breadth.
INTELLECTUALABILITIESANDSKILLS
Theproblemisformulatedclearly.
Formulationsofhypothesestobetesteduselogicalthinking.
Themethodologyisappropriatetotheproblemandappliedsatisfactorily.
Theconclusioncoversallpointsoftheintroduction.
APPLICATION(PROBLEMSOLVING)
Methodologyisappliedeffectively.
Thereisalogicalprogressionofthoughtinproblemsolvingandanalysis
ofdata.
Limitationsofthedataarerecognized.
Conflictingviewpointsareenumerated.
Practicalapplicationsareenumerated.
ANALYSIS
Theconceptsandrelationshipsdemonstratedareidentifiedclearly.
Inference,implications,andinductionsaredrawnfromthedataclearlyand
thoughtfully.
SYNTHESIS
Conceptsandrelationshipsareexplainedclearly.
Implicationsforfurtherstudiesaredescribedclearly.
EVALUATION
Therearesoundlyreasonedperspectivestowardthedataandconclusions.
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Re:CriteriaforContentAnalysisofMastersThesesatCPU
master'slevelwork.Thesecriteriaareprimarilyforthefinalthesis,butmaybeused
whereverelsetheyareapplicableinothercurriculumsubmissions.
KNOWLEDGE
Reviewoftheliteratureisextensivewithstudiesonstudiesrelatedto
applicationinthefield.
Presentationoffacts,definitions,andideasisextensiveintheoretical
breadthwithemphasisonhowthecurrentstudyhasapplicationinthe
field.
Theproblemisformulatedclearlyusingtermsandconceptsappropriateto
theareaofstudyandtheircommonusageandapplicationinthefield.
Formulationsofhypothesestobetesteduselogicalthinkingwith
appropriatedeductiveorinductivesteps.
Themethodologyisappropriatetotheproblemandappliedexpertly.
ofdata.
Limitationsofthedataarerecognizedandrelativetoalternativemethods.
Conflictingviewpointsaredescribedwithemphasisonapplicationversus
theory.
Practicalapplicationsaredescribed.
ANALYSIS
Theconceptsandrelationshipsdemonstratedareidentifiedclearlyinterms
appropriatetoapplicationinthefield.
thoughtfullywithappropriateinductivelogic.
SYNTHESIS
Conceptsandrelationshipsareexplainedclearlyandintegratedwith
emphasisonapplicationtothefield.
Implicationsforfurtherstudiesaredescribedclearlyandrelatedto
applicationinthefield.
EVALUATION
Therearesoundlyreasonedperspectivestowardthedataandconclusions
presentedinanintellectuallysophisticatedway.Thestudyandrelated
conclusionshavesignificantimplicationsforapplicationinthefield(i.e.,
fieldwork)andusebyfellowpractitioners,academics,orresearchers
workinginthisareaofstudy.
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Re:CriteriaforContentAnalysisofDoctoralDissertationsatCPU
doctorallevelwork.Thesecriteriaareprimarilyforthefinaldissertation,butmaybe
usedwhereverelsetheyareapplicableinothercurriculumsubmissions.
KNOWLEDGE
Reviewoftheliteratureiscomprehensive.
Presentationoffacts,definitions,andideasiscomprehensiveintheoretical
breadth.
Theproblemisformulatedclearlyusingtermsandconceptsappropriateto
thefield.
Formulationsofhypothesestobetesteduselogicalthinkingwith
appropriatedeductiveorinductivesteps.
Themethodologyisappropriatetotheproblemandappliedexpertly.
ofdata.
Limitationsofthedataarerecognizedandrelativetoalternativemethods.
Conflictingviewpointsaredescribed.
Practicalapplicationsaredescribed.
ANALYSIS
Theconceptsandrelationshipsdemonstratedareidentifiedclearlyinterms
appropriatetothefield.
thoughtfullywithappropriateinductivelogic.
SYNTHESIS
Conceptsandrelationshipsareexplainedclearlyandintegratedwiththe
fieldandwithalternativeorconflictingviewpoints.
Implicationsforfurtherstudiesaredescribedclearlyandrelatedtothe
broaderfield,andshowphilosophicalbreadthofthinkingandimaginative
originality.
EVALUATION
Thereisasoundlyreasonedperspectivetowardthedataandconclusions.
DefinitionsPage
CAUSALITY:(CIRCULARCAUSALITY):
Referstotheideathateventsarerelatedthroughaseriesofinteractingloopsorrepeating
cycles(fromNichols&Schwartz,1991).Theoristsobservethatbehaviorsthatrepresent
patternsofcommunicationthatarelinkedtogetherinadditivechainsofstimulusand
response.Thismodelofsequentialcausalityenablestherapiststotreatbehavioralchains
asfeedbackloops.Whentheresponsetoonefamilymember'sproblematicbehavior
exacerbatestheproblem,thatchainisseenasapositivefeedbackloop.Theadvantageof
thisformulationisthatitfocusesoninteractionsthatperpetuateproblems,whichcanbe
changed,insteadofinferringunderlyingcauses,whicharen'tobservableandoftennot
subjecttochange(NicholsandSchwartz,1991,p.195).
CAUSALITY(LINEARCAUSALITY):
Referstotheideathatoneeventisthecauseandanotheristheeffect;inbehavior,the
ideathatonebehaviorisastimulus,theotheraresponse(fromNichols&Schwartz,
1991).
COMMUNITYOFCONCERN:
Alsoknownasa"league",thetermhasemergedinthenarrativetherapymovementand
referstoagatheringofpersonswhohaveadesiretoprotesttheeffectsofaparticular
problemonpeople'slives.Themembershipconstituencyusuallyinvolvesamajorityof
clients,mixedwithanassortmentoftherapists,familymembers,friends,teachers,
journalists,andcommunityactivists.Suchcommunitiesarestructuredinsimilarwaysto
manyothergrassrootspoliticalorganizations,suchasYouthagainstViolenceCommittee,
oraDoctorsforPeaceGroup.ALeague'spurposeisdirectedtowardcombatinga
particularidentifiedproblem(e.g.anxietyanddepression)andthestructuresthatsupport
theproblem.Leaguesallowforthedistributionofclientknowledgeandexperiencefrom
oneclienttoanother.Inaddition,theyoftenvoicestrongoppositiontothoseculturaland
professionalinstitutionsthatareproblemsupporting.ALeague'smandateactstoundo
theknotteddichotomyofdifference,distance,andstatuspresentlywedgedbetween
therapistsandclients.Leaguescanbeseenasanotherstepinstretchingtheideasof
transparencyandreflectingteamsintothecommunity(fromMadigan&Epston,1995).
CONSTRUCTIVISM:
Referstoaperceptualtheorywhichstatesthatthestructureofournervoussystems
dictatesthatwecanneverknowaccuratelywhatis'really'outthereinoursensory
perceptionsoftheworld.Therefore,wehavetochangefroman'observedsystemreality'
(thenotionthatwecanknowtheobjectivetruthaboutothersandtheworld)toan
'observingsystem'reality(thenotionthatwecanonlyknowourownperceptionand
thereforeconstructionofothersandtheworld).Thisviewhasalongandnoblelineage,
fromVicoandKanttoWittgensteinandPiaget(fromHoffman,1988).Gergen(1985)
callsfortheterm'constructivism'anditsmeaningtobeincorporatedintothephrase
'socialconstructionism'.
CYBERNETICS(FIRSTORDER):
Thestudyofcontrolprocessesinsystems,especiallyanalysisoftheflowofinformation
inclosedsystems(Nichols&Schwartz,1991).Closedsystemssuchastheinteractionof
pistonandvalveandthethermostaticheatingsystemwereinitiallyusedasmetaphorsby
whichtounderstandfamilyfunctioning.Inthefamilytherapyfieldthecybernetics
paradigmenabledthetherapistwithaframeworkfordiagnosinghumaninteractive
processeswithinfamilies(communication),andascertainwhatmightbefunctionalvs.
dysfunctional.Withinthisframeworkthetherapistwasplacedonanelevatedexpert
platform,havingtheknowledgeandabilitytodiagnoseandintervenewith(fix)afamily's
problems.Thiswasnotunlikeamechanic'sabilitytofixsomeone'scar,becausethe
familywasseentobelikeamachine.Familieswerenotseenaspossessingself
knowledgebywhichchangescouldoccurintheirprocess.
CYBERNETICS(SECONDORDER):
Ashiftintheoryfromenvisioningthefamilyasaclosedsystemthatwasmachinelike
andcouldbemanipulated(fixedortunedup)byanexperttherapist,toanenhancedview
ofthefamilyasanaturalopensystem.Similarto(butnotexactlyto)abiologicalsystem,
suchasystemisselforganizingandmaintainsitselfthroughcontinuousinputandoutput
fromtheenvironment.Beinganopensystemwouldbeadditionallyexpandedinthatthe
consultingtherapistwouldbecomepartofitthroughthetherapeuticdialogue.Underthis
circumstance,thetherapistwouldhavetosurrendertheviewthathe/shecouldhave
objectiveknowledgeofstructuresorsequencesinthefamilythathadtochangeinorder
forthefamilytoachieveahealthyfunctionality.Infact,theideaofafamilybeing
functionalordysfunctionalwouldbebasedonafirstordercyberneticsperspectiveand
wouldhavenoplacewithinthesecondorderview.Engaginginanongoingprocessof
selfreflexivity(seedefinitionof'reflexivity'),thetherapistwouldconsiderhis/her
interactionwiththefamily,andrelatedideas,beliefs,hypotheses,etc.;andwould
generallybewillingtodiscusssuchmattersaspartoftheinteraction.Forexample,ifthe
therapistfeltconfusedorstuck,he/shewouldsaysotothefamily.Thetherapistwould
alsobewillingtodiscardanyhypothesesaboutthefamily,inadditiontobeingwillingto
inviteandworkwiththefamily'sownhypothesesaboutitself.Withinthisapproach,the
familyandtherapiststogetherbecomeasaproblemdissolvingsystem(fromAnderson&
Goolishian,1988;Hoffman,1988;Anderson,1997).Thisrepresentsasmallbutmajor
(paradoxical,eh?)shiftinenvisioningfamilies,functioning,andchange,aswellasthe
therapist'sroleininterveningwithfamilies.Familiesweresuddenlydeobjectifiedfrom
occupyingtheassignedroleofbeingtheobserved"other".Therapistsstartingobserving
theirowninteractionswithfamiliesinwhatbecamealargerproblemdissolvingsystem
whichnowincludedthetherapistandfamily.Familyhypothesesabouttheproblemand
familylocalknowledgestartedbeinghonored.
DECONSTRUCTION:
Theanalysisofapieceoftexttorevealthediscoursesandsystemsofoppositions
operatingwithinit(fromBurr,1996).Innarrativetherapy:deconstructionhastodowith
proceduresthatsubverttakenforgrantedrealitiesandpractices:thosesocalled"truths"
thataresplitofffromtheconditionsandthecontextoftheirproduction;those
disembodiedwaysofspeakingthathidetheirbiasesandprejudices;andthosefamiliar
practicesofselfandofrelationshipthataresubjugatingofpersons'lives(fromWhite,
1993).
DISCOURSE:
Thewordcanbeusedintwoways(1)torefertoasystematic,coherentsetofimages,
metaphorsandsoonthatconstructanobjectinaparticularway,(e.g.,thespokenand
writtenassumptions,beliefs,andresearchthatmakesupaprofessionalparadigmor
worldview,and(2)torefertotheactualspoken
EPISTEMOLOGY:
Thewordisusuallyusedintwoways.(1)Thephilosophyofknowledge;thestudyofthe
natureofknowledgeandthemethodsofobtainingit(fromBurr,1996).(2)Usedby
anthropologist/familytherapypioneerGregoryBatesontomeanworldvieworbelief
system(fromNichols&Schwartz,1991).
ETHNOGRAPHER:
Aresearcherwhoengagesinethnography,anaturalisticformofresearchhistorically
associatedwithanthropology.EthnographyseekstoattainagoalwhichSpradley(1979,
p.3)describesas"describinganotherwayoflifefromthenativepointofview".Thisis
muchdifferentthangoingintoanothercultureasanexpertwhogathersinformation,and
interpretsandwritesuptheinformationfromone'sownculturalperspective.Sucha
mannerwouldnormallydoaninjusticetotheculturebeingresearched.Theethnographer
usesanaturalisticapproachtoresearchandimposesnopreknowledgeupontheculture
beingresearched.Allhypothesesarrivedatduringtheresearchareusuallynegotiated
withthesubject,asareallinterpretations.Theideaistorepresenttheotherfromthe
other'spointofview.Theword"culture"canbeconsideredtomeananyhumangrouping
beingresearched,foreignorlocal.Moreimportantlyistherelationalaspectbetweenthe
researcherandthesubject,the"self"and"other".Spradley(1980,p.3)statesthat
naturalisticinquiryshouldbecarriedoutinanaturalsettingthatiscomfortableforthe
personbeingstudied.Spradleygoesfurtherandstatesthatratherthanstudyingpeople,
ethnographymeanslearningfrompeople(1980,p.3).Thisisalsoobservedbyfamily
therapypioneerHarleneAnderson(1997,p.63),whenshedescribesherwayofallowing
theclient'sexpertisetocomeforward.Innaturalisticresearchtheresearcherusesoneself
asaninstrumentandregularlychecksbackwithparticipants(sometimescalled
"informants")toverifyanyhunchesorhypothesesastheycomeup.Boscolo,Cecchin,
Hoffman,andPenn(1985)havediscussedhowtheybegantoworkcollaborativelywith
clientsbyregularlyaskingtheirclientsfortheirownhypothesesabouttheirfamily
situationsthetherapistsreporthowtheytookgreatpleasureinlettinggooftheirown
hypothesesinthisprocess.Theyreportthatthisallowedforagreaterworkingrelationship
withtheclientfamily.Ineducationasimilarcollaborativestancecanbetakenforadults;
theeducatorcanserveasaconsultantwho"drawsout"thelocalknowledgeoflearners
andhelpsthemintegratesuchknowledgeintoanoverallacademicprogram.
GENERALSYSTEMSTHEORY:
Atheorybasedonabiologicalmodeloflivingsystemsaswholeentitieswhichmaintain
themselvesthroughcontinuousinputandoutputfromtheenvironment;developedby
LudwigvonBertalanffy(fromNichols&Schwartz,1991).Underthisperspective,the
humanpersonisalivingsystem,asisanycouple,family,orcommunity.
HYPERREALITY:
StemmingfromphilosopherJeanBaudrillard,thistheoryofrealityisanattempttocome
togripswiththefactthatweliveinanimagesaturatedculture.Hyperrealityisa
postmodernsenseoftherealthataccountsforourlossofcertaintyinbeingableto
distinguishclearlyandhierarchicallybetweenrealityanditsrepresentation,andinbeing
abletodistinguishclearlyandhierarchicallybetweenthemodesofitsrepresentation
(fromFiske,1996).
MODERNISM:
Althoughtheword"modern"haschieflybeenusedtomean"now"or'currentperiod'
(fromCahoone1996)'modernism'beviewedastheprincipleintellectualandscientific
movementwhichsprangoutofTheEnlightenment.Burgmann(1992)statesthatwecan
thinkofmodernismastheconjunctionofBacon's,Descartes's,andLocke'sprojects,as
thefusionofthedominationofnaturewiththeprimacyofmethodandthesovereigntyof
theindividual.Modernismeventuallygaverisetopositivism,amovementwhichbeganin
theearlynineteenthcentury,anddefinedbyLincoln&Guba(1985)as"afamilyof
philosophiescharacterizedbyanextremelypositiveevaluationofscienceandscientific
method",andwhichbecamethechiefmodalityuponwhich19thand20thcentury
scientificinquiryhasbeenbased.
MULTIPHRENICCONDITION:
Referstoasenseofselfassociatedwiththecurrent'postmodern'era;andbroughtonas
thetechnologiesofsocialsaturation(e.g.,communicationtechnologies,television,etc.)
exposeustoanenormousrangeofpersons,newformsofrelationship,unique
circumstancesandopportunities,andspecialintensitiesoffeeling.Relatedtothe
ingestionofenormousamountsofinformation,themultiphrenicconditionreferstoa
divisionoftheselfintoachaoticmultiplicityofoftencompetingconcerns,opportunities,
andruminations;amultiplicityofselfinvestments(fromGergen,1991).Related
somewhattohyperreality(seedefinitionof'hyperreality').
NATURALISM:
Analternativeparadigm(topositivism,inresearchinquiry),whichisnowtravelingunder
thename"naturalistic".Ithasotheraliasesaswell,forexample:postpositivistic,
ethnographic,phenomenological,subjective,casestudy,qualitative,hermeneutic,
humanistic.Whatissalientisthat,first,nomanipulationonthepartoftheinquireris
implied,and,second,theinquirerimposesnoaprioriunitsontheoutcome;meanings/
conclusionsofanykindarearrivedatbetweentheresearcherandtheresearchedthrough
aprocessofcollaborativedialogue(fromLincoln&Guba,1985).
PARADIGM:
Aparadigmisaworldview,ageneralperspective,awayofbreakingdownthe
complexityoftherealworld.Assuch,paradigmsaredeeplyembeddedinthe
socializationofadherentsandpractitioners:paradigmstellthemwhatisimportant,
legitimate,andreasonable.Paradigmsarealsonormative,tellingthepractitionerwhatto
dowithoutthenecessityoflongexistentialorepistemologicalconsideration.Butitisthis
aspectofparadigmsthatconstitutesboththeirstrengthandtheirweaknesstheirstrength
inthatitmakesactionpossible,theirweaknessinthattheveryreasonforactionishidden
intheunquestionedassumptionsoftheparadigm(fromPatton,1978,p.203,ascitedin
Lincoln&Guba,1985).
Inreferencetotheindividual,aparadigmisseenasanunderlyingphilosophyor
frameworkbywhichwemakesenseoftheworld(fromStevenR.Covey,1990)
Thisunderlyingframeworkisusuallyinfluencedbyourexperienceswithfamilyand
othersoverthecourseofourlifespan(Shotter,1993),andincludesourbeliefsandvalues.
Shotterexpandsfurtheronthisbystatingthattheframesofreferencemakingupthis
frameworkaredrawnfroma"multiplicityofinterconnectingsocialandcultural
narratives".
POSITIVISM:
Thebeliefthatwecanonlyknowwhatwecanimmediatelyapprehend.Thatwhichexists
iswhatweperceivetoexist(fromBurr,1996).Inresearch,positivistscientific
investigationusesthehypotheticodeductivemethod;theresultsprovideeithersupportfor
orrefutationofthetheorybeingtested(Guba,1990,ascitedinLinfield,1995).
POSTINDUSTRIALSOCIETY:
AphraseappliedtoEuropeandtheU.S.inthelastthirdofthetwentiethcentury,in
whichtheproblemsofproductionhavebeensolved.Byimplicationitisasocietynow
confrontedwithquestionsofpriority,ecologicalbalance,andjustice(fromWeisbord,
1978,p.76).
POSTMODERNISM:
Referstotwodistinctsetsofphenomena:thoseoccurringinsocialandculturaltheory,
andthoseactuallytakingplaceinsociety(fromS.Lash,1990).Insocialandcultural
theory:referstotherejectionof'grandnarratives'intheoryandthereplacementofa
searchfortruthwithacelebrationofthemultiplicityof(equallyvalid)perspectives(from
Burr,1996);inpart,anewtermforpoststructuralisminthearts(fromSarup,1989).
Insociety:postmodernismreferstoadescriptionofanewtypeofsociety(fromSarup,
1989);acontemporaryexperience(typicallydescribedintermsoffragmentation,self
consciousironyandpastiche)(fromLowe,1992);currentconditionsinsociety,largelya
byproductofthetechnologiesofsocialsaturation(fromGergen,1991).
POSTSTRUCTURALISM:
Referstotherejectionofstructuralism'ssearchforexplanatorystructuresunderlying
socialphenomena.Inlinguistics,alsotheviewthatthemeaningsofsigns(e.g.,words)
arenotfixed,butshiftingandcontestable(fromBurr,1996).Poststructuralists,like
Foucault,wanttodeconstructtheconceptionsbymeansofwhichwehavesofar
understoodthehuman(fromSarup,1989).
REFLEXIVITY:
Referstoatermusedbysocialconstructioniststorefertotheapplicationofatheoryback
ontoitselfanditspractices(fromBurr,1996).Forexample,therapistsutilizingasecond
ordercybernetics/postmodernperspectiveengageinaselfreflexivityaspartoftheway
inwhichtheyinteractwiththeirclients(see'cybernetics:secondorder').Whatthis
means,inessence,isthattheresearchershiftsfroman"observingother";andgathering
informationtoanobserving/participatingwithotherwhilealsoobservingoneself's
observationalandparticipatorypractices.IntheCPUmodelthelearnerisengagedin
observingoneself(localexperienceandknowledge)forthepurposeofintegratingitinto
anacademicprogram.TheUniversityagentsarealsoengagedinasimilarpractice,inthat
theyareobservinghowtheyparticipatewiththelearnerinhelpingto"drawout"the
learner'salreadyexistingknowledge.Thereisanefforttoflattenthetraditional
learner/educatorhierarchybydeobjectifyingthelearner.Thefacultyrecognizesthatthe
learneralreadypossessescertainknowledgethatisequivalenttocreditworthyendeavors
theattemptistocreatealevelplayingfieldwherebothselfandotherintheequationare
equalswithdifferentrangesofexpertise,acollaborativeprocess.
SOCIALCONSTRUCTIONISM:
Atheoreticalorientationwhichunderpinsthenewerapproachescurrentlyofferingradical
andcriticalalternativesinpsychology,socialpsychology,andotherdisciplinesinthe
socialsciencesandhumanities;thesenewerapproachesincludesuchtermsas'critical
psychology','discourseanalysis','deconstruction',and'poststructuralism'(fromBurr,
1996).Socialconstructionismisalsoknownasrelationaltheory.Socialconstructionist
inquiryis"principallyconcernedwithexplicatingtheprocessesbywhichpeoplecometo
describe,explain,orotherwiseaccountfortheworld(includingthemselves)inwhichthey
live"(fromGergen,1985).Socialconstructionismholdstheviewthatpeoplecreate
reality(orculture)throughdiscursiveinteraction(talking,communicatingdirectlyor
throughliterature,printandothermedia).Coupledwiththisisthenotionthatculture
createsmind,thusindicatingthatsuchprocessesarerelationallyrecursive;thatis,the
individualindiscursiveinteractionhastheabilitytoinfluenceothers,andbeinfluenced
bythegreatercommunityand/orthroughitsagents(media,etc.)(Bruner,1996,ascited
inShotter,1996).Thesocialconstructionistapproachplacesalargeemphasisonthe
identificationofdiscourseswithindisciplines.Suchdiscourses,usuallyspokenand
written,containandreinforcetheparadigmthatthedisciplineadheresto.Realitiesare
shapedtoalargedegreebysuchdiscourse.Oneaspectofsuchdiscourseisthenotionthat
knowledgemustbetaughtviaaneducator/learnerinteraction.Thisaspectofthehigher
educationdiscourseoppresses,marginalizes,andsubjugateslocalknowledge,thereby
keepingitfrombeingprivilegedinanacademicenvironmentwithoutbeingtaughtina
traditionalinteractiveformat.
STRUCTURALISM:
Thebeliefinandsearchforexplanatorystructureswhichareheldtogiverisetothe
'surface'phenomenaof,forexample,societyorhumanthoughtandbehavior(fromBurr,
1996).Anytheory(e.g.,psychoanalyticaltheory,orafirstordercyberneticssystems
theory)whichclaimstheabilitytoclarifyhumanthoughtorhumanbehavior/interaction
isessentiallystructuralist.
SYSTEMSTHEORY:
Agenerictermforstudyingagroupofrelatedelementsthatinteractasawholeentity;
encompassesgeneralsystemstheoryandcybernetics(fromNichols&Schwartz,1991).
Toenvisionafamilyasasystemwouldimplythatoneisutilizingsystemstheoryasalens
withwhichtounderstandthefamily.Adistinctracialculturecanbevisualizedasa
system,ascanacouplewhoarehavingarelationship.Evenaworkplacecanbe
visualizedasasystem,andisdonesofrequentlyinotthertounderstandthedynamicsof
organizationalbehavior.
TEXT:
Anythingwhichcanbe"read"formeaning.Aswellaswrittenmaterial,thispotentially
includespictorialimages,clothes,buildings,food,consumergoodsandsoon(fromBurr,
1996).
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Expressing Emotions Through Body Language

Date: Monday, November 18 @ 14:15:39 PST

perfomance in the classroom.

Teaching Self Science: The Role of the Facilitator

Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 13:30:38 PST

I introduced children to the concept of non-verbal communication through art. We

Working on Trust with the Nickname Experiment

What is a feeling? No one could answer.

upward not much emphasis on nose or hair.

myself. I didnt mind it.

International Education Conference

Date and Place

Overall Program Format

SESSION #1 - Saturday, July 27, 1996 - AM

8:30 am - 9:30 am - Welcome and Opening Address (Moyers/ Winfrey)

12:00 - 1:30 pm - LUNCH

SESSION #2 - Saturday, July 27, 1996 - PM

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm - Development of Personality Type According to Jungian

SESSION #3 - Sunday, July 28, 1996 - AM

8:30 am - 9:30 am - Welcome and Key-note Address (Ted Turner)

12:00 - 1:30 pm - LUNCH

SESSION #4 - Sunday, July 28, 1996 - PM

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm - Perceptive Modalities What exactly is going on with the

SESSION #5 - Monday, July 29, 1996 - AM

8:30 - 9:30 am - Welcome and Key-note Address (Sogyal Rinpoche)

Where to get further information

an Introduction to your Mind ...

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What happened, in sequence? How

Name persons,; describe them

Increased observation skills,

What you felt/feel. How your body

Increased awareness of the

lows, the neutral or quiet times?

Write out the complete thought. If

Increased awareness of your

Ideas may come from yourself,

Increased awareness of the

Paintings, plays, water, novels,

Write out the dream completely

Knowledge about your own

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The 3 Extra-curricular Studies

Extra-curricular Study 1: Marketing Brochure for a Training

A description of each project follows. Each description provides an overview of

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Description of Extra-curricular Study 1:

Reference Sources for Study #1

Bermont, Hubert. How To Become a Successful Consultant in Your

Lynch, Dudley; and Paul L. Kordis. Strategy of The Dolphin:

Weisbord, Marvin R. Organizational Diagnosis: A Workbook of

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Description of Extra-curricular Study 2:

Calamus Desktop Publishing Software (Ditek Int'l 1989)

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Description of Extra-curricular Study 3: Resume

1. To acquire the skill of creating an attractive and eye-catching

Jackson, Tom. Guerrilla Tactics In The Job Market. New York:

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Master's Thesis Overview:

MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

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