Courage to Change

I can't forget a big part of knowledge attainment is courage. I am beginning to learn that groundbreaking learning comes with an emotional price. Innovation and wisdom challenges people to step into unknown areas. I am finding out that this can be both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

I have a deeper appreciation for those ground breaking thinkers that had the audacity to believe that the non existent was possible. Learning and growing must eventually tread upon emotional terrain.

Our ideals, paradigms or views of the world reside at this deeper level. These constructs are the source from which behavior flows.

Change these and you change your world. When expanding ,growing and innovating I must expect and be prepared for the emotional rush. Learning is not a purely intellectual exercise.

I am interested to know:

-What experience have you had the challenged you both intellectually and emotionally?

-How did you handle it?

[regiadams.com]

Emotional resilience is a necessary component of success. Emotional resiliency allows one to learn from mistakes and adjust the approach. It is an overriding belief in success that turns obstructions in the road, into building blocks to future success. A true leader is well aware of the fact that the difficult in not synonymous with the impossible.

Excerpt from: Way of the E-lightened Mind

Catch a Fire

"Passion is not friendly. It is arrogant superbly contemptuous of all that is not itself, and , as the very definition of passion implies the impulse to freedom, it has a mighty intimidating power. It contains a challenge. It contains an unspeakable hope". -James Baldwin

Emotion, Learning and the Online Learning Environment

"In spite of evidence that more and more students are engaging in online learning experiences (Alan & Seaman, 2006), clarity about the transition to a new learning environment is still at arm’s length (Cleveland-Innes, Garrison & Kinsel, 2006). In addition, the impact of the emotion created by dealing with this new environment on learning is virtually (pun intended) undiscovered. In this session, Dr. Marti Cleveland-Innes and Zehra Akyol will review theory and data regarding emotion in online environments, with opportunity for discussion of the effect of emotion on teaching, learning and instructional design. In addition, this presentation corresponds with the launch of a web-site to support continued discussion and research on emotion and online learning. The web-site will be introduced at the end of the session"(Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research,2008)

View Session Here

Emotions, What Good Are They?.....

I sat in a dimly lit coffee shop sipping on a mixed green tea of my own creation. I came across an entry I had made in a research journal I use to document my thoughts and insights. The entry discussed the role of emotions in the learning process. This insight sparked my mind as I began to reflect upon this in greater depth. It occurred to me that as an educator I should not overlook the role of emotion within the realm of education. Emotions help us discern immediate pressing concerns from those that are not critical. In transforming one's life through learning, emotions help us to prioritize our selected tasks and objectives .

I wanted to investigate this concept further. Some questions came to mind. What role does emotion play in learner retention? What role does persistence play in the same equation? Retention is a passive action on the part of the student. Persistence is an active movement towards a goal. In the persistence paradigm the student is the active agent in his or her own transformation. The student acts and is not acted upon.