scholarly journals “Gratitude to Old Teachers”: Leaning into Learning Legacies

in education ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-107
Author(s):  
Maya Borhani

Amongst a group of poet-scholar friends, all of us students of the American poet Robert Bly, often speak of our “gratitude to old teachers,” the title from one of Bly’s (1999) poems. We cherish a meditative awareness of deeply rooted presences holding us up, buoying us as we stride across “Water that once could take no human weight” that now “holds up our feet / And goes on ahead of us ….” What is this mystery? Through the love and support of “old teachers,” we are held, led, and supported, into an unknown future that, without their guidance, we might never have reached. Many of Bly’s students (myself included) refer to how meeting him “changed” or even “saved” their lives. Similarly, I could say this of meeting and studying with Canadian curriculum scholar and poet Carl Leggo. Practicing gratitude to old teachers fosters vital pedagogic engagement and personal connection in a world often fraught with isolation and despair. Reflecting on how these poetic influences have inspired and guided my own personal and professional life, this essay ruminates on grateful legacies within literary and curriculum studies, and beyond. Keywords: gratitude, curriculum studies, mentorship, poetry, poetic inquiry

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1668-1675
Author(s):  
Fazel Asadi Amjad ◽  
Kamran Ahmadgoli ◽  
Qadir Haqiqatshenas

The American poet Robert Bly is among the most important literary figures in the second half of the 20th century. He worked in various capacities as a poet, translator, teacher and workshop organizer among other things, so much so that he is sometimes compared to Ezra Pound on account of the variety of his interests and the extent of his influence. Like Pound, Bly developed an interest in Asian poetic traditions, including that of Iran, and in doing so, he translated the poetry of Rumi (better known as Mowlana in Iran) and Hafez into English. The present study seeks to trace the paths through which Bly came to develop an interest in Persian mystical poetry and to demonstrate two concerns that guided and informed his interest in this tradition; that is, the socio-political vocation of the poet and the formal advantages of the poetic form known as Ghazal. Such concerns, it will be argued, are firmly rooted within the American literary tradition and therefore this study reveals the continuities that underlie Bly’s interest in Persian poetry, suggesting that he sometimes approached Persian poetry on his own terms, without paying proper attention to the context, a shortcoming that, as will be shown, is the result not of ignorance but what may be called methodological laxity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Mitchell A McLarnon ◽  
Pamela Richardson ◽  
Sean Wiebe ◽  
Veena Balsawar ◽  
Marni Binder ◽  
...  

With the intention of disrupting and re-imagining traditional conference spaces, this article is a poetic compilation developed from a Curriculum Studies conference symposium that took place on a school bus. During the School Bus Symposium, in situ poetry writing and reading, song and storytelling occurred in response to open ended prompts and facilitation of creative activities. After the symposium, a call was issued to invite participants to submit any poetry or stories produced during, or inspired by the session. Consisting of 18 submissions including poetry, story, photography and creative essays, infused by curriculum theory and poetic inquiry, this collection offers an inclusive, reflective, participatory, and experiential rendering where participants are living and journeying poetically. Emphasizing creative engagement with personal memories, the authors collectively aimed to promote art education through imaginative approaches to curriculum studies, poetic inquiry and academic conferences.


Author(s):  
James McElvenny

This book is a historical study of influential currents in the philosophy of language and linguistics of the first half of the twentieth century, explored from the perspective of the English scholar C. K. Ogden (1889–1957). Although no ‘Great Man’ in his own right, Ogden had a personal connection, reflected in his work, to several of the most significant figures of the age. The background to the ideas espoused in Ogden’s book The Meaning of Meaning, co-authored with I.A. Richards (1893–1979), is examined in detail, along with the application of these ideas in his international language project Basic English. A richly interlaced network of connections is revealed between early analytic philosophy, semiotics and linguistics, all inevitably shaped by the contemporary cultural and political environment. In particular, significant interaction is shown between Ogden’s ideas, the varying versions of ‘logical atomism’ of Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) and Ludwig Wittgensten (1889–1951), Victoria Lady Welby’s (1837–1912) ‘significs’, and the philosophy and political activism of Otto Neurath (1882–1945) and Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970) of the Vienna Circle. Amid these interactions emerges a previously little known mutual exchange between the academic philosophy and linguistics of the period and the practically oriented efforts of the international language movement.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-114
Author(s):  
Lal Mohan Baral ◽  
Ramzan Muhammad ◽  
Claudiu Vasile Kifor ◽  
Ioan Bondrea

AbstractProblem-based learning as a teaching tool is now used globally in many areas of higher education. It provides an opportunity for students to explore technical problems from a system-level perspective and to be self-directed life-long learner which is mandatory for equipping engineering students with the skill and knowledge. This paper presents a case study illustrating the effectiveness of implemented Problem-based learning (PBL) during five semesters in the undergraduate programs of Textile Engineering in Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST). An assessment has been done on the basis of feedback from the students as well as their employers by conducting an empirical survey for the evaluation of PBL impact to enhance the student's competencies. The Evaluations indicate that students have achieved remarkable competencies through PBL practices which helped them to be competent in their professional life.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Ignatowski

Abstract Confidence is one of the most essential elements which no social or professional group can exist without. As feature of character it is required in someone’s private, social and professional life. In all our relationships we lose it due to telling lies. Lies accompany our personal life on all its stages. Already three-year old children tell lies to satisfy their parents, check whether they are able to realize they are deceived or to demonstrate their dominance over them. Teachers and ethicists differentiate between useful didactic lies and ruthless and cynical comments harmful to others. Because of emotional ties and close relationships, a family is the best environment where a child should be taught to despise lies and respect trust


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