Teaching

MON., MAR. 29, 1982, 5:50 AM
FARM, FRONT OF FIRE

Teaching is your vocation and profession… and also your art form. It is a means of passing on or generating knowledge to or in others and gaining knowledge in self. It is a unique sort of human/spiritual interactions. Teaching is that which stimulates learning, o son, and I can broaden your view of this that you do as you meditate with Me this morning.

In a limited view teaching is not necessary to learning. Only some things are taught. Others are just learned… from experience, from insight, or from revelation. If We take a broader view, however, all learning is stimulated by teaching; sometimes, obviously, the teacher is another human, designated or not, but other times “nature” is the teacher, or self is the teacher, or I am the Teacher. You have heard it said, “Experience is the best teacher.” Well, this is an expression of the theme I am developing.

Health, or the quality of functioning and adapting (quite an acceptable definition) can be perceived in singular terms (usually physical)… on up to very complete and holistic. Teaching, also, can be viewed, and practiced, as very simple and singular (mental, physical)… on up to very holistic. When teaching is holistic it is a stimulus to the intellect, it touches the emotions, it involves interaction with other people, it takes into account the physical bodies and physical needs of the learners, it takes into account the physical environment in which it occurs, and it truly is a meeting and meshing of spirits in the process, even including Me.

Now, practically, it may seem burdensome to be concerned with all of these factors in every learning encounter. This may seem true, but also know that all of the dimensions are involved, and failure to consider them may reduce the effectiveness of the teaching/learning situation. Consider this for your class tonight, for which, you now realize, you are relatively unprepared. You shall deal with some of the intellectual ideas – male/female relations, death, education – but also inquire as to how they, your learners, feel about some of these matters, both as they role play and as they express their own feelings and reactions. Your plan is to involve them as groups, so the process causes them to interrelate.

You can’t do much about the environment, other than position the chairs in some unique way to symbolize a new experience in learning. In terms of physical needs you can consider some refreshment, though this may be low priority to the other things that this day requires. Finally, ask each to write their perception of the spiritual climate of each of the two futuristic cultures, offering examples of what incidents or descriptions were responsible for the judgments. This is your challenge for the day. Apply it to the interview with Judy and with your teaching tonight. Then encounter Me again after the class and see what more I have to say about teaching.
See you later. 6:44 AM
10:10 PM

You heard Me well this morning, o son, but you did not remember to take this or review it well. What you did at the end was acceptable, but the written response would have had some advantages. You were concerned about the learning of those who obviously had not read the books. That factor is a vexing one, but do not neglect the opposite… those who have read, do participate well, and do share their interpretations. They are, in effect, the teachers of others.