Being Genuine is GENIUS

 

Perhaps the majority of people reading this post have at some point been exposed to a form of education in which they found themselves dissatisfied. Or possibly felt stifled or angered by the entire experience. I believe the root of that dissatisfaction came from a lack of exposure to genuine encounters, seeing and receiving empathy, and being given unconditional positive regard (respectful love) while in school. These three core conditions are what Carl Rogers and researchers have found to be fundamental in becoming a fully functioning person. Carl Rogers, undoubtedly nailed the humanistic approach to therapy, but many believe his work can also be expanded to the social construct of education. I believe awareness and appreciation for these concepts would greatly impact the world of education. The Rogerian approach has the ability to unlock the barriers surrounding the fulfillment of an educational experience.More specifically, the core concept of genuineness impacts the teacher, the students, the curriculum and overall culture of a school in acute ways. The next few paragraphs will focus on the relationship of education and genuineness.

Cartoon BY JORDAN MOFFATT

   Carl Rogers wrote about the importance of a teacher's realness in a paper titled Scientific Learning: In Therapy and Education. In this paper  he describes the way a teacher expresses himself "because he accepts his feelings, as his feelings he has no need to impose them on his students, or insist they feel the same way. He is a person, not a faceless embodiment of a curricular requirement, or a sterile pipe through which knowledge is passed from one generation to the next." (p.237) It is evident Rogers was aware of the hinderances and distasteful feelings correlating with being fed bland unrealistic knowledge. His statement expresses the importance for teachers to be earnest about their feelings. Learning from someone requires a humanistic approach, frankly, it doesn't make sense to have an emotionless "agenda-pusher" as an educator.

     A teacher's genuineness is only one component to the whole idea of education. The integration of genuine filled experiences should be considered in the construction of classroom curriculum as well. Schools often lack lessons filled with these type of experiences. It is obvious for most of us when a lesson feels fake, or an experience lacks real purpose. It is frustrating to be injected with a lesson which lacks authenticity. In the same paper stated above Carl Rogers says "the student in the regular university course, in particular the required course, is apt to view the course as an experience in which he expects to remain passive, or resentful, or both, an experience in which he certainly does not often see as relevant to his own problems. Yet it has also been my experience when a regular university class does perceive the course as an experience they can use to resolve problems which are of concern to them the sense of release and thrust of forward movement is astonishing. And this is true of courses as diverse as mathematics and personality." (p.236) Students perform better while directly exposed to lessons involving personal improvement and life skill development. Excitement is born when a student is able to feel a connection to the curriculum being given. Any lesson lacking authenticity to some extent will undoubtedly squelch connection and growth for students.

      This genuine interest in a subject is written about in many places. One prime example comes from John Taylor Gatto, an educator who is admired by many. His viewpoints correlate with Roger's three core conditions of being human. Gatto wrote an intriguing acceptance speech after receiving the New York City Teacher of the year award in 1990. He says "It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to listen to a stranger reading poetry when you want to learn to construct buildings, or to sit with a stranger discussing the construction of buildings when you want to read poetry.It is absurd and anti-life to move from cell to cell at the sound of a gong for every day of your natural youth in an institution that allows you no privacy and even follows you into the sanctuary of your home demanding that you do its "homework". " This speech is moving in a great number of ways, but these particular lines directly touch on how a lack of genuineness subtracts from the ability of education to be empowering.
         Inevitably there are examples in which Carl Roger's philosophy has been applied to educational settings. A good example comes from a paper by Fred Zimring. It shows the application of core conditions to education, and was published by the International Bureau of Education in 1999. Studies report improved test scores, less absences from students, and reportedly fewer disciplinary problems. This study as well as others provide evidence the adoption of this approach can bring benefits. Sadly, the use of core conditions hasn't been valued widespread by teachers or institutions.
        As stated in the beginning of this blog, exposure to genuine encounters are rare in education. There are always barriers to the effectiveness and the application of any principle, and this idea is not immune. I can only speculate why genuine experiences aren't a norm in the educational setting.
One idea, is societies unrelenting need to "show results." I believe when we quantitatively try to "show results" for education, we loose a sense of genuine care for the individual.
Or another facet could be the difficulty of change, it seems impossible to reverse some of the engrained processes we find in these institutions. Schools have been educating the same way for years, and there are many bureaucratic and political mountains to climb before creating change.
Lastly, there are humanistic problems with the humanistic approach. Apparently, humans lack predictability and perfection. Indeed, there are more barriers, and I am sure most of them could be expanded upon, but such a subject shall be saved for another blog another day. For now we can applaud the institutes, programs, and educators exposing students to genuineness, and hope for more in the future.

The full article by Carl Rogers can be read here : Scientific Learning: In Therapy and Education)

The full article by Fred Zimring can be read here: International Beurue of Education

The full article by John Taylor Gatto can be read here: Why Schools Don't Educate (Thank you to the lovely Jill Heckathorn for introducing me to this article) 

John Dewey : educational theorist