Day 5 - 96 -- Participant in Learning

Bright sun today replaced the grayness of yesterday. It also removed the white ground cover that arrived overnight. We held a potluck for the senior research students at lunch. It was a wonderful celebration of their accomplishments. Comments stressed the 'family' feeling among the group and within the department as well as the learning of students and faculty. It is a gift to be part of their learning and growth. I've found that research students bring such joy, help me to see the world in different ways and allow me to witness the personal growth that goes far beyond factual knowledge acquisition.

Reciprocity in the learning process can often be overlooked. I've tried to explain this learning in classrooms, where learning is not a simple hypodermic effect -- from instructor to student -- but is more of a flow of learning between and among everyone in the room regardless if seated or standing at the front of the room. <smile> I admit that this philosophy of teaching comes from my basic epistemological stance -- postmodernism. It is one that supports the term 'learnings' as a descriptor of the plurality of learning.

The concept of reciprocity seemed to fit the lyrics of a song I hadn't heard for years -- "sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow"  Enjoy!

Life's a Dance -- John Michael Montgomery