LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION

Teaching Conscious Sensibilities

Enriching School Curriculum

Conscious Sensibilities are important for curriculum. Learning is a social and a cognitive process. Studies have shown that students learn more and faster when their intellectual pursuits are connected in some significant way to social context and experience. Students must be able to make relevant connections to their own social world in a real way to make the subject matter come alive for them and for them to remember it for the long term. This involves teaching in a way that enriches curriculum through social context and helping students learn instead of just cram for the next test.

Collaborative learning and interactive classes provide important vehicles for the social learning process and one of the greatest results of this enrichment of the curriculum is the learning of greater conscious sensibility by students for other people. With greater social interaction in class students become better critical thinkers with the conscious ability to listen to and appreciate other points of view and put themselves into the shoes of others if only for a minute to learn from other’s experiences. Also, as collaborative learners, students learn to respect each other as team members and to think of others first when they make decisions that affect the entire group. These conscious sensibilities are often lacking in students who graduate from schools with curriculum that is only focused on teaching to the test and competition for grades. And, many of these students lose their motivation to learn even though they become proficient in their ability to pass tests in order to move to the next level.

More and more teachers are revealing that all the work they do to motivate students to love learning is undermined by having to teach to the test and force students to learn primarily to pass a test. One such teacher recently stated that her students became so nervous about taking reading tests that they lost their love for reading after spending so much time preparing to take a national reading test. Students will learn at their own pace regardless of how much they are forced to perform for tests. And, if we are truly interested in developing life-long learners with a love for knowledge, tests are not the answer as they produce false results that undermine true motivation and hold back students for the long term.

The results of these one-dimensional educational programs have been catastrophic for society over the years. They have produced politicians who have no ability to collaborate and work through problems for the American people as well as financial engineers who have produced the CDS (Credit Default Swap) and shadow banking system without regard for the devastating impact it could have in destroying the economy and ruining the lives of millions of people. In business these programs have generated one-dimensional thinkers who only can focus on profits and cost cutting while outsourcing millions of jobs overseas. Such a lack of conscious sensibilities have produced an entire culture of self-serving thinkers and workers who have little concern for others and are unable to find creative solutions for the benefit of their businesses, organizations and the majority of people in a democratic society.

We can change this trend in society with the improvement and enrichment of curriculum of education in grades K-12 through Higher Education that includes greater collaborative learning with cases and examples for students to apply their understanding and sensibilities toward other people. In the process these students will begin to succeed where many before have failed and create a more compassionate society that values the well-being of others as much as they do their own. In history class they can learn about the differences between cultures who have made valuable contributions to society and those who only plundered and dominated for their own interests. And, in economics classes they can learn about how to apply financial engineering in ways that can benefit and lift the economy instead of just bleeding profits from it. And, in biology students will learn about how they can begin a search for real cures for disease instead of just profiting off the misery of others through expensive drugs that only treat symptoms with side effects that are often devastating.

Conscious Sensibilities encapsulate fundamental human values and social concerns that affect all people in a significant way. And, these values are essential to the survival of democratic societies throughout the world that are built upon the equal treatment, social enlightenment and greater appreciation of others.

Discussion Questions

What is Collaborative Learning and how does it help students to develop Conscious Sensibility? Why is Conscious Sensibility important for curriculum?
Discuss some examples of Conscious Sensibilities and how they enrich curriculum and contribute to a better world.
What have been some of the results of the failure to teach Conscious Sensibility as the context for learning in education?
How does the teaching of Conscious Sensibilities motivate students to learn and to remember for the long term?
Discuss ways that Conscious Sensibilities are connected to human values and how they can be included in various types of courses throughout curriculum.
Why are Conscious Sensibilities important for Democracy?
Discuss ways that Conscious Sensibilities make Democracy work for the people.