Education

12 Days of Teaching

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Having finalized grades, and in keeping with The Holiday, I made up my own carol, to be sung with gusto to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Dedicated to all teachers everywhere.

On the first day of teaching my students sent to me

“I need an ‘A’ in this class”

On the second day of teaching my students sent to me,

Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the third day of teaching my students sent to me,

Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the fourth day of teaching my students sent to me,

Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the fifth day of teaching my students sent to me,

FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the sixth day of teaching my students sent to me,

Six papers posing, FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the seventh day of teaching my students sent to me,

Seven notions lacking, Six papers posing, FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the eighth day of teaching my students sent to me,

Eight needs repeating, Seven notions lacking, Six papers posing, FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the ninth day of teaching my students sent to me,

Nine quizzes failing, Eight needs repeating, Seven notions lacking, Six papers posing, FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the tenth day of teaching my students sent to me,

Ten projects missing, Nine quizzes failing, Eight needs repeating, Seven notions lacking, Six papers posing, FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the eleventh day of teaching my students sent to me,

Eleven excuses giving, Ten projects missing, Nine quizzes failing, Eight needs repeating, Seven notions lacking, Six papers posing, FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class

On the twelfth day of teaching my students sent to me,

Twelve grounds for-passing, Eleven excuses giving, Ten projects missing, Nine quizzes failing, Eight needs repeating, Seven notions lacking, Six papers posing, FIVE HUGE BEGS, Four absences, Three missed preps, Two poor plans and I need an ‘A’ in this class.

1 Essential Educational Practice: Reflection

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Rethink. Reconsider. Ponder.

True education begins when one takes personal responsibility for it.

Find out why by reflecting on our Truth in Two (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

 

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT

“You make my brain hurt!” I wish I had a dollar bill for every time a student has said this about my teaching. The point is not that my classes are hard, it is the hard thinking I make my students do. Often, I will give students questions to reflect on. “Reflection” is not a small matter. Taken seriously, reflection is very difficult to do because it requires a person to dig deep in their own thinking, to actively pursue a process of evaluating their own thought processes.

You can’t see an attitude. You can’t touch an emotion. You can’t taste a mindset. But I can certainly experience attitude, emotion, and mindset in a person’s body language, tone of voice, or facial expression. In education we call this kind of learning “affective.” Learning that reaches to one’s thought process, that works to transform someone’s spirit, is “affective learning.” You can’t see someone’s spirit, but you can see someone’s spirit. Confused? Maybe a quote will help. Denzel Washington is famous for saying,

“It is easy to spot a red car when you’re always thinking of a red car. It is easy to spot opportunity when you’re always thinking of opportunity. It is easy to spot reasons to be mad when you’re always thinking of being mad. You become what you constantly think about.”

Simply, if you’re only reading one way, if you only think one way, you will not consider other ways. I’m not suggesting you give up your baseline beliefs. I am suggesting your beliefs need to be carefully considered. Yes, I still make my student’s brains hurt. But it their reflection on ideas, answering questions for themselves, that will save them from a lifetime of real hurt.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

3 Lessons from Aristotle

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Clear thinking and communication

necessitates three important stages.

Find out what they are by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

 

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT

When I teach the college course “Argumentative Writing” I have students read Aristotle. The ancient philosopher outlines three key ingredients toward any discussion. “Pathos,” in the ancient sense, was about the emotion stirred in an audience by the speaker based on the argument made. “Ethos” is about the credibility or authority of the speaker. “Logos” maintains that arguments should be based on logic, an ordered approach to debate. If we jettison any of these components, or highlight one over the others, we cripple our discourse.

One of the reasons I love teaching on the public campus is the opportunity to be with others who may think differently than I do. I grow in my understanding of people who have varying points of view. Neither of us is necessarily giving up our beliefs; but because we are face-to-face, civility returns. We hear each other. Friendships are born. Camaraderie is built; even between people who disagree with each other’s point of view. Persuasion is based not on volume but on the value of an argument.

As a researcher and writer, I care deeply for factual transparency and honesty in reportage. I read across a wide spectrum of viewpoints. To obtain various points of view I read from The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, and The Wall Street Journal. But I have not found anyone who reports facts with such transparency and honesty as Bari Weiss. I spend money on subscriptions because I care to be widely read in culture, politics, ethics, economics, and religion. Bari Weiss is not conservative or progressive, Democrat or Republican. She is, in the truest sense, in the classic sense, a reporter. And I believe Aristotle would appreciate how Bari maintains pathos, ethos, and logos in her argumentative writing. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

 

5 Steps to Take for Bias-less Education

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If education involves curiosity

all inquiry is necessary.

Find out why answering ONE QUESTION makes all the difference (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

 

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT

In last week’s Truth in Two I suggested that I could summarize the two major takeaways from PhD study that apply to everyday life. Last week I identified the first major PhD lesson as this: As soon as you’ve asked a question, you’ve biased your research. What you care about will impact how you study about that thing. Every PhD researcher and frankly every person alive has to learn not to let your care of a subject bias or slant your viewpoints. The second major takeaway from PhD study that applies to everyone, in all of life, comes in the form of a question. When seeking information, ask, “What am I *not* hearing?” If all the news you ever hear, for instance, comes from one political point of view, you must ask, who disagrees and why?

In a recent class a student wanted to write about climate change. She observed, however, that she could not find any research from anyone who disagreed with the popular views on climate change. She asked me why. I walked to the white board and wrote two words:

“misinformation” and “disinformation.”

I began my explanation this way. “If those who control information do not allow other evidence to be presented with these two labels, your job is to ask, “What am I *not* hearing?”

When seeking information, pursue these five steps.

(1) Begin by asking questions.

(2) Compare and contrast the answers.

(3) See if there is room for common ground.

(4) Offer alternative solutions.

(5) Moderate your voice with words like “might,” “may,” or “perhaps.”

PhD study is rigorous. But the two major takeaways for me are simple. Remember what you care about will bias your thinking and always ask, “What am I *not* hearing? For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

5 Questions to Ask for Bias-less Communication

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Biased communication results from

Five unasked questions.

Watch our Truth in Two to find out why (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

 

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT

In 2009 I earned my PhD degree. Earning a doctoral degree is a very long, very difficult process – as it should be. But to be honest, I can summarize the two major takeaways from PhD study that can apply to everyday life. In this week’s Truth in Two, the first major PhD lesson is this:

As soon as you’ve asked a question, you’ve biased your research.

What you care about will bias how you study about what you care about. That you care is not the problem. The problem is that you might neglect other arguments or perspectives simply because they do not match your own. Your care for a subject should include viewpoints different from your own. Every romantic relationship, for instance, deals with bias all the time. We have a tendency to only hear what we want to hear from our partner. And those of you with a significant other already know how that’s going to turn out!

During one of my classes I list my biases, how my views of life are slanted, how my thoughts are impacted by things like ethnicity, nationality, or religion. In part I say, “I am a Euro-American man who is a Christian.” I have a European heritage, I come from the nation of the United States, my gender is male, and my religious views are that of a Christ-follower. My biases, your biases, are not the problem. *Not* admitting our biases? That’s a problem.

Here are five questions to ask that could begin to eliminate the problem of biased communication

(1) Could I be wrong?

(2) Have I looked at all sides?

(3) Am I broadminded?

(4) Do my biases mislead?

(5) Are my sources correct?

Admitting we are biased is the first step toward building good communication and community. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

 

 

The Bible on Wisdom: 169 Teaching Mantras

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COMMON SENSE. The phrase has come to mean the practice of right judgment in practical matters. But the phrase assumes two basic ideas. “Sense” is wisdom, a deep grounding in discernment; some might say a person is quite perceptive or understanding. The individual then applies the accumulated insights from life to particular concerns. “Common” takes for granted that there is an assumed thinking for all people, places, times, and cultures. A universal ideal exists which is then applied in some local reality.

When we say a person has “common sense” we generally mean they are taking the best of what they have studied about humanity and human relations, then using it to make a decision. Hebraic-Christian thinking suggests that “common sense” is Wisdom embedded in  world for the benefit of all humanity (Proverbs 8:12-36). We make sense of what is common from One who has our best interests at heart.

Flipping an idea on its head or turning a concept upside down is often my approach to opposing claims. “What if?” is a fair question of any position. When the Jews approached Jesus about the murder of their countrymen by the Romans in Luke 13, Jesus did not take the bait, an opportunity to agree or disagree. He chose a third approach. His response shatters the original concern. Instead of being concerned about the sin of the Romans or the sin of those who were killed, Jesus shines a light on the sin of those who brought the charge. The Son of Man’s intention seems clear: each of us must consider our own eternal state.

Proverbial statements and questions in my classes over the years have followed Jesus’ process. Instead of pointing fingers at others I ask us all to look in the mirror. What is true of me? What should I change? How am I culpable for my actions?

Enigmatic, thoughtful statements leave space for people to ponder. Declarative, assertive statements suggest dogmatic positions. Far from a belief that “we can know nothing for sure” is the understanding that everything is known – just not by us.

“If I can’t show you how it applies, it won’t be on the test.” Over the decades of teaching, my intention is practicality. Teaching should be useful. I am a pragmatic person; I like to see how ideas work in real life. However, the origin of ideas – to me – makes the most sense being rooted in Eternal Truth.

Short and sweet. I am a big believer in Proverbial wisdom; crisp, condensed sayings that capture attention with straightforward instruction. Here are 169 mantras heard in my classrooms over four decades of teaching. I would never expect universal agreement; but I hope each gives you pause. They still do for me.

  1. My views of authority and humanity impact everything else
  2. There are no moral vacuums
  3. Every tick of the clock brings us one second closer to death

  4. Justice is impossible if it’s left up to just us

  5. Gratitude is the basis for ethics
  6. Complexity is a marker of design

  7. Everyone bows the knee to something

  8. The private affects the public
  9. Choice is consequence
  10. Ideas change people, people change a culture
  11. Just because the road is well traveled does not mean it’s the right path.
  12. Gratitude and discipline are the twin pillars of life.

  13. Everything is theological

  14. When evaluating another point of view, ask, “What am I *not* hearing?”
  15. Whoever controls the definition, controls the conversation.
  16. Every audience asks the same questions: “So What?” “Who cares?” “Why am I listening to you?”
  17. Communication of any subject should be what Emily Dickenson said: “Tell It Slant.”
  18. Narrative in this world comes from Another World.
  19. “Common sense” has an uncommon source.

  20. Everyone everywhere seeks answers to the same questions.

  21. If we don’t have a philosophy of life, one will be provided for us.
  22. Everyone has doctrine.
  23. Movies are beliefs wrapped in stories.
  24. Think, or thinking will be done for you.
  25. Just like nature, culture abhors a vacuum. Vacuums fill by those who fill them first.

  26. Our theology drives our sociology.

  27. The monster in the mirror is scarier than the monster under the bed.
  28. “Courage” is knowing what to fear.
  29. “Good” must exist for us to know what “evil” is.
  30. Saying something is “wrong” assumes you know the standard for “right.”
  31. Social conscience begins by looking in the mirror.

  32. Where we spend our time and money shows our commitments.

  33. Mystery cannot exist without certainty
  34. Life has limitations
  35. To make a difference, we have to be different
  36. Life is not made from straight lines
  37. “That’s boring!” says more about the speaker than the subject.

  38. “Who says?” is the first question to answer in life.

  39. “The pursuit of happiness” can become the pursuit of emptiness.
  40. Is “choice” a servant or a master?
  41. Time plus chance cannot deliver purpose.
  42. The phrase “social justice” prompts two questions: “What is your social?” and “What is your basis for justice?”
  43. Doing good is the best response to what is bad.

  44. There can be no peace without justice and no justice without a righteousness

  45. “Materialism” is not what we have, but what has us.
  46. If human rights come from government, government can take human rights away
  47. Everyone is a leader somewhere, most importantly, in one’s own life.
  48. If all we see is “wrong,” we will never appreciate anything that is right.
  49. “Progressive” thinkers should acknowledge when progress has been made.
  50. “Conservative” thinkers should acknowledge progress must continue to be made.

  51. If you blame God for the “bad” do you thank Him for the “good”?

  52. Evolution by impersonal forces gives no basis for planetary responsibility
  53. God does not wear a watch

  54. “Legacy” is not so much what you leave behind but who you leave behind.

  55. The graveyard schools the schoolyard
  56. Just because someone knows more than you, doesn’t make them right.
  57. My environment may accentuate my behavior but is not the root cause of it.
  58. Life is not a crap shoot

  59. Where you’ve come from, and where you’re going to, helps you know how to live now.

  60. Every day everyone puts their trust in something or someone.
  61. Experience is a teacher but not necessarily the best one
  62. Trying to make sense of the world takes more than our senses
  63. If we come from the ground, up, we are nothing more than dirt.
  64. Permanent truth helps us make personal decisions

  65. The more difficult question to answer is not “Why do bad things happen to good people?” but “Why do bad people do good things?”

  66. With apologies to Billy Joel, we *did* start the fire
  67. Internal change depends on an external change agent.
  68. What we do now counts later
  69. Our reason for living is a question of how we got here.
  70. Unity is the basis for community.

  71. What do you want to be known for?

  72. What must I know, be, and do because of what I’ve learned?
  73. The finite cannot define the infinite
  74. “Ownership” is my one-word definition of student-centered education.

  75. You can’t have the Christian fruit without the Christian root.

  76. If we don’t remember who we are, it won’t matter what we do.
  77. We live in the tension between ideal and real
  78. “Tension” – not “balance” – best explains how we live in a world of contrasts

  79. Thinking begins with views of origins and ends

  80. History begins in Eternity
  81. Assertion is not argument
  82. God’s longsuffering and justice are the bookends of history

  83. The Creator created creatures who creatively create from creation.

  84. What is written on pen with paper was first written on the human heart
  85. Mathematical patterns are a result of design
  86. Humans do not create truth, they discover it
  87. Production from and protection of creation is human responsibility.

  88. The three rules of interpretation: 1. Context 2. Context 3. Context

  89. Speaking badly of others tells us most about the speaker
  90. Encourage in writing, criticize in person
  91. “What did it mean for them, then?” precedes “What does it mean for us, now?”

  92. Using the word “should” means you are dedicated to a system of ethics

  93. Inclusivity depends on exclusivity
  94. “Racism” is a matter of the human heart
  95. Don’t believe me. Go study for yourselves.
  96. Ethics never change; they only await our application
  97. Give people space and grace. We do not know what unseen horrors they may face

  98. My disagreement with you matters little if I don’t care for you

  99. The whole of Christian responsibility can be summarized in one word: Others.
  100. Begin sentences with “I need to” instead of “I wish they would”

  101. If you question a document’s historicity, then you begin to question its authenticity and ultimately, its authority

  102. Historical truth depends on documentation; scientific truth depends on experimentation.
  103. Revelation rules reason
  104. Reality is not what we make it but what is
  105. The natural world depends on the supernatural world
  106. The source of discord in all relationships comes from either refused or abused authority.
  107. All knowledge should be evaluated by the S. P. U. D. test: Is it sensible, practical, universal, and dependable?

  108. All truth originates from, is united by, and is, God’s Truth

  109. Instruction is for transformation, not information
  110. Christianity’s view of salvation is the difference between two five-letter words: based on GRACE, all other religions & worldviews depend on WORKS.
  1. Teaching of any kind depends on both content and communication. The first without the second is lifeless. The second without the first is foundationless.
  2. There is a God-shaped-hole in each person
  3. Something is not true because it works, it works because it’s true.

  4. There is no defense against love

  5. Love is the best apologetic
  6. Expectations: we tend to lower them for ourselves but want everyone else to meet ours.
  7. The difference between “fascism” and “communism” is spelling.
  8. If we speak about what is good, the bad will be harder to hear.

  9. Jesus removed social boundaries simply by being with all social classes.

  10. If you only learn to follow an authority’s words without thought, you will allow anyone with the loudest voice or the most letters behind her name to sway your thinking.

  11. The greatest theological phrase: “But God.”

  12. When citizens reject God, the state becomes God.
  13. No one ever teaches because they think they’re wrong.
  14. Jesus does not see human status; He sees human need.
  15. The teacher who teaches best, teaches least
  16. If we never think we could be wrong, we already are.

  17. Autonomy is its own tyranny.

  18. “Labels” maintain manufactured design; helpful in finding ketchup, death to inquiry.
  19. Beware the echo chamber: hearing only those with whom we agree.
  20. Truth exists because Truth is the Source of all that exists
  21. What does life look like if everything runs the way you think it should be run? Can everyone else, live with your “should”?

  22. If we think a “perfect world” is possible, then we must ask, “What does your ‘perfect world’ look like?” and “How will you get there?”

  23. If we think human knowledge will be our salvation, then we must ask, “Which human?” and “Whose knowledge?”
  24. “Humanly, speaking” suggests, from our earthly vantage point, we can only know so much.

  25. In sociology we call it “the human condition.” In theology we just call it “sin.”

  26. Persuasion begins with attraction. Inviting others to a viewpoint is an allure, not a lure.
  27. Biblical revelation explains creational revelation. Our job is to look and listen.
  28. When people question my beliefs about eternal judgment, I tell them, “Take it up with Jesus. He said it first.”

  29. If God exists, everything is Sacred, nothing is “secular.”

  30. I do not tell others my belief is “better” than theirs; I do point out, however, that my Hebraic-Christian belief is distinctive from theirs.
  31. You can’t have the sociology of Jesus without the theology of Jesus. The first depends on the second.

142. Study The Book, know The Book, memorize The Book.

143.We see best by what we hear first.

144. Everyone is biased. We all begin with assumptions

145. The importance of watching movies is the importance of being human.

146. The story we live comes from stories we read, becoming the story we tell.

147. Attack ideas, not people. [Antonin Scalia]

148. As soon as you ask a question you have biased your research.

149. Rather than saying “There’s a problem” say, “I’m going to find a solution.”

150. A person can live 40 days without food, 3 days without water, 5 minutes without air, but not one second without hope.

151. The most important “T” word is not “truth,” it is “transcendence.”

152. “Providential good fortune” is a Christian way to say, “I hope the best for you.”

153. Christianity is not for wimps.

154. The Bible is studied in this order: observation, interpretation, correlation, application.

155. Interpretation – “What did it mean for them, then?” – must precede application – “What does it mean for us, now?”

156. Equality” means everyone should have the same outcomes; “equity” means everyone should have the same opportunities.

157. All other religions say, “This is what you must do.” Christ says, “This is what has been done for you.”

158. A culture which creates its own definitions acknowledges no authority but itself.

159. If you disrespect authorities, don’t be upset when others disrespect your authority.

160. There are two rules of life: #1 There is a God. #2 You are not Him.

161. Education can be reduced to one simple rule: put the cookies on the bottom shelf.

162. Doubt is its own certainty.

163. Encouragement costs nothing.

164. My unseen job in teaching is to inspire my students

165. Vocation IS ministry

166. Lament does not seek to explain pain but gives voice to human anguish, rage and despair.

167. “All” means all and that’s all “all” means.

168. For the Christian, “good works” are possible because of the “good news.”

169. Do good, do good, do good (Titus 3:1, 8, 14)

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, SnappyGoat

Giving Students a Chance

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He gave me a chance.

I’ve been giving students a chance, ever since.

Find out why knowing a student’s abilities matters so much: watch our Truth in Two (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, SnappyGoat

FULL TEXT

I scored 126th out of 126 students.  When I was a junior in high school our class took a test for possible college level English curriculum in our senior year. Having been told the results, I sat sobbing on my bedroom floor. For some reason, grammatical prowess in my mother tongue eluded me.  Syntax seemed like “sin tax” to me.

And grammar was the first of three levels in the senior curriculum. I had to pass out of one level to get to the next two: essay writing then free writing. I had been behind the door when grammar was taught in middle school. Somewhere, somehow, I missed lessons on prepositional phrases, split infinitives, and hanging gerunds. I tried and tried to pass through to the next level. No amount of tutelage helped. I languished in the wasteland of grammatical incoherence.

But the thing was, I could write. I knew instinctively what sounded right. I heard the words even if I didn’t understand how they fit together. And Roy Honeywell knew it.

Roy Honeywell had been my junior English teacher. He knew what I could do. “I would like to read a paper from someone in the class whose writing could be an example to others. He shall remain nameless,” Mr. Honeywell intoned as he read my papers during eleventh grade not once, not twice, but three times.

Now Roy Honeywell was the dual-credit, college-prep teacher in my senior year. He agonized with me as he tried to fill my grammatical knowledge gaps. I took and failed test after test. We were a month into the senior year. Everyone else had matriculated to levels two and three. I was the only one who could not pass the grammar section of the program.

The overwhelming feelings of failure touch me even today. I can feel now, what I felt then. The emotional slough I wallowed in then is the swamp I see before me every day.

But the feeling of clandestine secrecy from what happened next lies just beyond the swamp. Roy Honeywell knew what I could do. He knew I could write. So, one day he came to my desk and told me that I did not have to pass the grammar exam. I could proceed to level two.

“This is just between me and you,” he stated in firm, hushed tones. “You show me that you can write like I know you can, and the grammatical understanding will follow. I have faith in you.” And he walked away.

I did not know what would happen next, but he did. After scoring 126 out of 126, it was not long before my writing scores ranked at the top of the class. I knew I was doing well when Mr. Honeywell began to anonymously read my papers before the class again. I will never forget when he cast a quick, smiling glance in my direction before he began to read my writing.

“I have faith in you.” The words still inspire me today. Roy Honeywell gave me a chance. I have been giving students, like you, a chance, ever since. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally grateful for second chances.

 

10 Questions to Ask Another Point of View

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Do you get mad and yell?

Or do you ask questions?

Watch our Truth in Two, finding out how to counter another point of view (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, SnappyGoat

FULL TEXT

From time to time, I want to teach in these videos what I teach in classes. I believe it’s important for people to hear how universal truth applies in the public square. The ten principles I recite here are taught at a public university. But the principles can and could be applied in any communication. Here are my ten principles to consider when rejecting an argument or another point of view.

(1) Have you acknowledged your own assumptions, preconceptions, starting points, sources of and claims for truth?

(2) Have you recognized your own reasoning is susceptible to error, falsehood, bias, and that you, and those who agree with you, are not the final arbiters of truth?

(3) Have you heard, read, and watched the best sources of the other point of view, honestly listening to understand?

(4) Have you interpreted what you hear *not* through spokespersons sympathetic to your own point of view?

(5) Have you appreciated the best arguments from the other person’s perspective, unfiltered by your own prejudice or prior commitments?

(6) Have you compared and contrasted the best arguments from the other point of view with your best arguments?

(7) Have you asked questions which may illuminate truth or error?

(8) Have you tested the credibility and verifiability of your own point of view with the same vigor with which you have tested other perspectives?

(9) Have you rejected intellectual discrimination by those parties who ignore evidence, exclude by silence, or rely on unverified sources of information?

(10) Have you sought a simple, understandable explanation of your point of view which could be made clear to anyone?

You could be communicating with your spouse, boss, friend, or an online questioner. These ten questions could be a real help toward hearing another point of view. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

Suicide Prevention

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I told her, “Get out of bed every morning

and put one foot in front of the other.”

Find out how words saved a life; watch our Truth in Two (full text below).

 

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

 

FULL TEXT

A student emailed me asking if we could meet via Zoom. I vividly remember that night and conversation. Our online chat was unlike any other virtual meeting I have ever had. The young woman was visibly shaken. She recounted any number of negative experiences, including the loss of her job because she stood up against discrimination in the workplace.

She was so distraught about her life that she considered ending it.

I had listened to her for the first half hour and saw the darkness that enveloped her. In the second half of our hour meeting, I began to speak of hope. I explained that my Christian faith gave me hope. I told her stories about my family and workplace injustices done to me. But I pleaded with her not to give up. I said,

“Get out of bed every morning, thinking, ‘I just need to put one foot in front of the other.”

She spent the last 30 minutes of our conversation in tears.

Honestly, I did not know what would happen. I prayed for my student over the coming weeks. We kept in contact and she finished the semester. But I wondered about her future.

Fast forward two years. This spring I received an email out of the blue from that student. In part, this is what she said,

I’m reaching out to you because I wanted to thank you. I graduated this past December. I owe a great deal of that to you. You inspired me in such a way that no one else has. Your stories pushed me to finish and not give up. I came very close to giving up. Your words inspired me. I am applying to graduate school next year and I owe that to you.

A teacher does not always know what impact his words will have on a student. Sometimes, those words may just save a life. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of The Comenius Institute, personally thankful for the life-giving hope of Jesus.

Things I Have Seen in Public University

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Max (not his real name) was worried. “I just don’t know if I’m a good enough writer. I don’t have any confidence that what I have to say makes sense.” It was a private conversation between a student and a professor. I pointed at the projection screen. “Whose paper did I just show to the class?” A few moments earlier, with his permission, I had shown his written work as an example to everyone. My voice conveyed serious generosity. I did not give him opportunity to respond. I clapped him on the shoulder and announced, “You got chops, man! Hear me when I say, ‘You’re a good writer!’” A sheepish smile spread across his face. Max just needed encouragement. No matter what a student writes about, my job is to come alongside to inspire.

One undergraduate wrote about race cars, another about near-death experiences. Someone else regaled the benefits of “man’s best friend,” still a different student reported being a victim of a DUI. A critique of Barbie dolls was the premise that questioned artificial beauty standards imposed on young women. Defending and uplifting the art world was accomplished by a masterful dialogue paper where promotions and objections were all considered. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” was well presented. Getting children outside to play, removing the constant use of “screens” by primary ages, warned against electronic stimulation on a child’s brain. BDSM used as a therapeutic tool was the resource promoted by a person who seemed to speak out of personal experience. Social stigmas related to masculinity, specifically, how men could dress in dresses, was a paper that spoke to the subject carefully while giving examples from his own personal life. Should “one nation under God” be in the Pledge of Allegiance? Should church leaders be celebrated? Interests span a wide range in a public university freshman class.

The subjects are as varied as my students. One young man, a Chinese American, recounted the diligence of his parents to work 14-hour days so that he might have a better life growing up in America. One young woman, a Mexican American, berated her parents, loathing her life, for the expectations placed on her from a couple who worked long hours so that she could go to college. Another woman, struggled with the negative, repressive teaching she received from her church about sex and her slide into sexual freedom that caused her great pain. One more teenager spoke out about the imposition employers laid on young workers, requiring additional hours of labor for substandard pay. A young man gave acclaim to his father who had taught him the wonder of caring for wildlife. Another man questioned the overriding, negative impact that virtual reality could have on perceptions of the real world. And a young woman, obviously hurt by flippant words, reprimanded her own generation’s use of “texting” as a communication tool.

One person wrote, “I want you [the general public] to know how it feels to grow up as a Hispanic in America.” Hers was a recounting of grievances, slights, and discriminations, that she had witnessed in her life. I write quite a bit on each submission. Here was how I responded, in part, to her paper:

______, thank you for your passionate consideration of what it means to be bilingual. I have always considered people who speak multiple languages some of the most intelligent people I know; they can cross not only linguistic boundaries but cultural communities. I view your situation in a positive light. You have something those who are monolingual do not – an appreciation for nuance and cultural consideration. I have a very good friend who immigrated from Guatemala. He tells me of his struggles to learn another language and another culture. We just spoke the other day. He recounted how thankful he was for living in this country with its multiplicity of benefits for so many people. He recounted for me the many, many times I helped him with his English so he could write his papers for a master’s program. He is now considering a PhD program. I wish all of this for you. Each one of us must conform to whatever “system” we are in; you do as a student of IUPUI, I do as an adjunct professor. We all navigate ideals, even “languages” that are not our own. We will do so the rest of our lives. If everyone “spoke anything they wanted,” as you have suggested, imagine the difficulty of communication. I hope that you will find the benefit of being “multi-” over “mono-” as a profitable step for your future. I have no idea about what you went through coming to the U.S. I hope that your experience of connecting to another culture will prove a boon to you. You have something few have in this culture, and I wish you well in your exercise of it. Your insights are not lost on me.

Anyone reading my above comment can see that I want my student to consider alternatives. I want my students to learn universal truths; in this case, responding to difficulties in life now, will be how you respond to difficulties in life later. Teaching for me is not relegated to departments, classes, lessons, or instructions. Sure, I teach English. But I am first and foremost a teacher. So, I teach. No matter the situation, I teach. A “professor” is a person who “professes.” I profess – not proselytize – what I believe. Every professor, professes. If I were to simply read a paper and comment on grammar, I would display disinterest in my students; to me, an educational slap in the face. Student subjects of interest become my subject of interest. Why? Because I care about students.

One paper raised the question about “near death experiences” (NDE). Because death is something everyone encounters and should prepare for, I introduced the writer to a Liberty University professor who has extensively researched the NDE phenomenon. “What it Means to be Human” is the title of an essay expressing a desire to help people by creating a relaxing place to congregate for conversation. It was heartening to see the others-centered response from a young woman who had been assaulted the semester before. “Rape” was the subject of another paper of a student who advocated abortion in situations of sexual trauma, assuming “choice is everything.” In contrast, there was a young woman who was celebrating her big family, a decidedly “pro-life” perspective. My comments on every paper pressed students to consider other points of view.

If there was one paper that left me slack jawed, it was the writing of a young Christian man. In choosing a topic, he had hit on the idea of explaining why he goes to church. As we discussed his work one day, I asked what had driven his interest to write about the reason for his faith. His face brightened; a big smile replaced the serious expression of writing revision. “My *peer reviewer is Max” (the man above, who has “chops”). “Max is not a believer,” my Christian student continued, “I’m writing the paper as a witness to him.” I have many stories to tell about my teaching in public university. But a student who is intentionally explaining his belief for the benefit of his peer, well, that story is in a category all its own. My philosophy of teaching is about “owning” what you believe. If you own what and why you believe, your communication of ideas will change people and by so doing, change the culture.

*[Our process in English is to have partners or peers share their work with each other to give encouragement as well as constructive criticism.]

These thoughts are from the Spring 2022 semester of my teaching at IUPUI. If there is one truth that summarizes all my comments above, it is, that I love my students. To support the writing and videos at MarkEckel.com, you can donate here.