Copyright © Louis Schmier and Atwood Publishing.
Date: Mon 7/19/2004 4:43 AM
Random Thought: Hobby: Another Word for my Dictionay of Good Teaching.
I am soaring. Beautiful Jacqueline Danielle Schmier arrived on
the morning of Friday, July 16, at 10:16 am: 7 lbs. 12 oz., 20 3/4", ten
fingers and ten toes. In some ways and for very personal reasons that
reach deep into my soul, she's a very special arrival. I'll just say that
she has transform a curse I shouted out at the top of my lungs in anger
years ago into a tearful, whispered, and humble "thank you."
Not even a message from a professor at an oversea university could
bring me down from my high however he tried.
"You're soupy. You talk of teaching as if it's little for than
fun hobby to you," he accused me.
"You bet it is," I answered with a nolo contendere plea as we
engaged in a running conversation that spanned a continent and an ocean.
"And, best of all, I get paid for it. Aren't I lucky."
"Then," thinking he caught me, "you admit that you are an
unprofessional dabbler."
"A dabbler? Unprofessional? Me? Hell, no! I answered. "I admit
that I am an 'enthusiast!' Do I have to go into a garage or a basement or
a workshop or a garden or onto a golf course or tennis court to discover
life's little pleasures when they're there in front of me in a classroom?
Why can't teaching be both serious and fun? Why can't it be both
professional and hobby? Is there something unprofessional about having
fun"
That started a series of staccato, one sentence messages
bouncing back and forth.
"You can't be serious."
"Sure I am."
"You're dealing with the cold facts of your discipline."
"Can't I warm up them, me, and each student?"
"Nonsense. A hobby is a retreat from the drudgery of work."
"That doesn't make sense. Why Why can't our teaching be a
retreat? Why can't a hobby be a part of your work rather than always
apart from it? Why can't our teaching be work and hobby? Then, teaching
is never boring. It's always interesting. It always gives you a sense
of being productive."
"That's silly."
"Thank you."
"Thank you?"
"Yes, I'm grateful."
"Why?"
"Because the word "silly" derives from the Greek "selig"
meaning "blessed, happy, fun." So, I guess there's something sacred in
being able to be silly."
"It's ridiculous to behave as if something so serious and so
professional is so recreational."
"Al Unser, Jr., one of the most successful drivers in that highly
professional and dangerous sport of car racing, announced his retirement
by saying that the passion for driving has gone and that he was no longer
having fun on the race track. You know, I've been teaching for nearly
forty years. People ask me when am I going to retire. My answer is
always like Al Unser's, 'When it stops being fun and I've lost the passion
for each student." Passion! Fun! You're building backwards. What if we
reversed it?
"Reverse what?"
"Maybe there something innately "unprofessional" about NOT having
fun and being passionate about teaching? Maybe there is something
innately superfluous about NOT feeling good when you go into and come out
from a classroom. Maybe there is something wrong if you aren't enveloped
by an authentic happiness."
And on we went.
What did I mean? Well, a hobby to most people like this
professor, is something that we don't take as serious as our work. Yet, so
many of us get greater joy, fulfillment, accomplishment, and satisfaction
from our hobby than our work. That's crazy. That's sad. So, why is it
silly or superfluous if I say I am getting the same feelings working in
the classroom as I have working in my garden or having the same feeling
being with students as I have with dancing among the flowers? Why is it
unprofessional to glow in a classroom as I do in my garden? Why is it
silly for the classroom to be no less a spiritual spa where I get my soul
massaged as is my garden? Why can't I take my "hobby-ing" to and from
campus, to and from home, to and from the garden? Why can't I have my
rewarding "aaaahs" in both places?
You know, in my youth I was an avid HO model railroader. Now, I
am an equally if not more avid gardener. Have you ever met a hobbyist who
uses the word "dull," "drudgery," "burnt out," "rut" when referring to
his/her hobby? I haven't. Have you ever seen a true hobbyist who doesn't
smile and laugh, who doesn't have happy written all over his or her face?
I haven't. Have you ever seen or heard a sincere hobbyist who doesn't
light up when he or she talks about his or her hobby? I haven't.
Instead, you'll hear from his or her lips and read in his or her body
language: "fun," "fulfilling," "passion," "satisfying," "enjoyable,"
"relaxing," "love to do," "interesting." How many of us can say the same
things about what we do in the classroom? What if we worked our teaching
with the attitude of a hobby? That's what I do. My most avid hobby is my
teaching. Why are teaching and pleasure antonyms? For me, teaching is
not a "get away from life;" it's a getting into life; it's a way of life.
No, it's a love of life. For me hobby and teaching, then, are synonyms.
That was brought home Friday night. At VSU, we have been invaded
by a horde of Governor Honors Program students, what we call "GHPers."
In our University statement we say that this creme-de-la-creme of high
school students, the "intellectually gifted" and "artistically talented"
will spend six weeks engaged in what we describe as "challenging and
enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the
regular school year." About twenty or thirty of them, mostly non-Jewish,
have been attending Friday night services at the synagogue to learn
something about Judaism. Not being on campus this summer, it's the only
time I have to chat with them. This past Friday, after services, I was
asking them, as the program was about to come to an end, how they felt
about it. One student's comment floored me.
"We're doing serious stuff, but it's interesting and exciting.
It's not like that feeling of being hobbled and stressed out that we have
in regular school," she said with an insight I'm not sure she was aware
of. "It's more like fun and having a hobby of learning! It's got me
thinking why regular school can't be like this."
Wow! Double wow!! Out from the mouths of babes. She just summed
up what education should be for each and every student and teacher:
"Hobble-ing" of learning transformed into a "hobby-ing" of learning.
So, what do I mean about a need to unhobble education by
"hobby-ing" it? I certainly don't mean to make it a mere passing pastime.
I am not talking about "dumbing down" or "watering down" or making things
easier. I don't mean relaxing, leisurely, amateurish. And I don't mean
empty pleasure. What I am talking about is something more complex than it
sounds. I'm talking about a truly powerful and positive force. I'm
talking about work that is not work. When I say we need to "hobby"
education, I mean transforming education into a favorite pursuit,
something done with fun and joy. I mean converting slaving away into a
labor of love. I mean well-being. I mean being loose rather than
tighter. I mean being up rather than down. I mean being in the mood
rather than moody. I mean being inspired rather than expired. I mean
transforming from a tense, tied down "hobble-ing" "fear of learning" and
"fear of teaching" into an enjoyable, tension free, unstressed "hobby-ing"
"love of learning" and "love of teaching."
Too many of us academic don't understand that people--and that
includes each of us--are not motivated unless they are interested in what
they are doing, enjoy what they are doing, have fun at what they are
doing, see a purpose in what they're doing, have a sense of adventure,
have a sense of exploring new ideas and new approaches, are respected, are
off autopilot, are fascinated, are not on the treadmill, when they feel
free, are initiators, are encouraged to be original, feel what they're
doing is meaningful, and have time to do what they're doing.
These attitudes, I assure you from experience, are vital. Being
"hobby-ed" instead of "hobbled" is the ultimate fuel for informing,
performing, and especially transforming.
I've got to write Kenny about this new word in our dictionary.
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