strengthen their tolerance of and ability to endure the pain necessary. knows that “Anyone getting an education is painful,” said Mortimer J. Adler (1968), professor of Law at the University of Chicago. who try to make it painless obviously completely remove its bite. “Those An Education without any bite doesn’t sink in.” And Adler wasn’t talking only about learning in school. Like water, many students seek the path of least resistance: tell me what it takes to “Just get an A or a B or even a C.” They want to know only what is as if space to store “necessary” knowledge in their brains is at a premium. They desire to learn only what they perceive they will at their future jobs. In short, they want to be taught how to their shoes.” They wear “need” “tie shoes. They know they will have to tie them. When they step out of the classroom, shoe tying will be a skill, and so they want teachers to teach them how to do it and not waste their “useful” time with other less knowledge. Such a student is not on track to be a “useful” “life-long learner” any more than the boy who figures out the minimum amount of work and time required to earn his Eagle rank and get his parents off his back could be considered on track to becoming a scouter.” “life-long learning,” Clark (2013) has said, not cramming facts and figures into your “Deep “is short term memory so you can pass a test, or doing the minimum amount of work required to get a good grade.” And, I suggest, Clark would agree that learning” must also include “life-long dedication to attaining knowledge and wisdom that reaches beyond tying shoes all day and then going home to watch TV or play games all evening. As faculty, we must not shelter our students from the difficult, painful, experiences that help shape them into educated, wise, cultured citizens and thinkers. believe,” Clark “We (2006) again has said, university should be a living model of the high standards we want to “the
strengthen their tolerance of and ability to endure the pain necessary. “Anyone knows that getting an education is painful,” said Mortimer J. Adler (1968), professor of Law at the University of Chicago. “Those who try to make it painless obviously completely remove its bite. An Education without any bite doesn’t sink in.” And Adler wasn’t talking only about learning in school. Like water, many students seek the path of least resistance: “Just tell me what it takes to get an A or a B or even a C.” They want to know only what is “necessary” as if space to store knowledge in their brains is at a premium. They desire to learn only what they perceive they will “need” at their future jobs. In short, they want to be taught how to “tie their shoes.” They wear shoes. They know they will have to tie them. When they step out of the classroom, shoe tying will be a “useful” skill, and so they want teachers to teach them how to do it and not waste their time with other less “useful” knowledge. Such a student is not on track to be a “life-long learner” any more than the boy who figures out the minimum amount of work and time required to earn his Eagle rank and get his parents off his back could be considered on track to becoming a “life-long scouter.” “Deep learning,” Clark (2013) has said, “is not cramming facts and figures into your short term memory so you can pass a test, or doing the minimum amount of work required to get a good grade.” And, I suggest, Clark would agree that “life-long learning” must also include dedication to attaining knowledge and wisdom that reaches beyond tying shoes all day and then going home to watch TV or play games all evening. As faculty, we must not shelter our students from the difficult, painful, experiences that help shape them into educated, wise, cultured citizens and thinkers. “We believe,” Clark (2006) again has said, “the university should be a living model of the high standards we want to