People are so much more than either academic or non-academic. Each of us has a distinctive profile of intellectual abilities with different strengths in visual intelligence, in sound, in movement, in mathematical thinking and the rest. [...] A gifted mathematician need not be a gifted painter: a gifted poet may have no gift for dance. Consequently, we should hesitate to label someone with high academic ability as more intelligent than a person with equally high abilities in music or dance.
I somewhat suffer from these simple labels. My family, friends, and acquaintances often label me as highly intelligent so they assume that I am very strong academic as I graduated from UCLA and seem to make smart commentary here and there. The truth is that I am a terrible student. I have always struggled when it comes to traditional schoolwork or getting anything done properly in the time frame assigned to me. Intelligence is a great asset to have as a student, but more than ever I also believe that strong work ethics and being able to conform to set expectations and schedules is even more important. I have always struggled to fit into the mold education has cast for me. I believe this struggle has also allowed me special insight and empathy into the daily struggle faced by my students. And because I am such a poor student, not despite of, I believe in my ability to be a successful educator. I have found great success within my clinical practice with class averages over 90% across all periods.
Being sensitive to oneself and to others is a vital element in the development of the personal qualities that are now urgently needed, in business, and in the community and in personal life. It is through feelings as well as through reason that we find our real creative power.
I am still very much working on being "sensitive" to myself and to others. I spent a good portion of my younger life being very oblivious to the feelings of others and to my own internal dialogue. I had to learn to cultivate and develop this skill as intrapersonal and interpersonal skills were not a huge part of the culture of growing up in my household. My parents are very blunt and independent people who minded their own business and that's mindset pervaded my own approach to things even when it is not always appropriate. As I got older and exposed to other forms of thinking and cultures, I started to cultivate a different way understanding the world and interacting with it. I attribute a huge part of this shift to participating in therapy and through my relationship with my wife. I've become much better at listening to myself and being more mindful of how my feelings can impact my actions which can impact those around me.
Cultures are essentially systems of permission. All cultures have their own codes of conduct. Being in a culture depends on understanding these codes and knowing what counts as acceptable and unacceptable in the forms of language, dress, behavior, and observance.
I really like this evaluation of culture. I often have a hard time defining what culture is in terms of how it impact people's choices and behavior, but this really helps put into words that are easy to communicate to others. But is culture just a systematic set of rules? I don't think so. I believe that culture is much more than that. For many people, culture also provides a sense of belonging and identity to a greater whole which is more than just a set of rules of how to behave and what to believe. This sense of community and belonging is a huge part of a school's culture of learning. So far at my different school sites, I can see a huge difference in the cultures and values that the students bring to the learning table. These differences do not make one school better than the other, but definitely make an impact on the teaching choices I made in those different classrooms.
Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford: Capstone.
Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford: Capstone.