Monthly Archives: December 2013

Teachings as Catalyst

Posted on December 23, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This is a powerful post. It speak to what learning and education should be about. Alfred North Whitehead suggested that education was always a religious experience as it taught duty and reverence which involve freedom and independence.

Mystic Muse

Teachings are not the truth, but a catalyst to aid in approach to the truth. There are limitations to be found in every verbal formulation and in those who give them. Good teachings have merit as general guidelines and as stimulus to thinking and reflection. Also, even in a great teaching, the specifics and their application to any time and space involve much ambiguity and vagueness. So, in this sense, we are always on our own, in other words a good teaching or teacher stimulates independent thought.

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Children

Posted on December 22, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This is my first Christmas not teaching, but I think of what it means to be in the classroom frequently and the impact adults have on children. Children are nature’s gift. They are the future and need to be nurtured and cherished in that respect. Christmas is a time we can remember the gifts we sometimes take for granted for the rest of the year. It is a time to pause and recall the reason for the season. It was a particularly important gift brought to us in the form of a child that we can see and understand in the form of our children.

Children–

Nature’s gift;

Craft and hone–

Appreciate their future;

Nurture and cherish–

Under watchful gaze mature,

Cradled in loving community.

Elders shepherd;

Care and tend–

A most precious flock

Share wise words

Open hearts

Act prudently

Generous, ceaseless, joyful work

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Posted in Education, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged children, Christmas, community, creativity, education, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Tim Conway: The Elephant Story

Posted on December 21, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

We used this video in one of our classes this fall to help better understand the writing of Alfred North Whitehead. Improvisation is the world we live in. The best laid plans of mice and men fall to the wayside each moment.

Live & Learn

This is an unedited version of The Elephant Story from The Carol Burnett Show. The original air date was November 5, 1977. Tim Conway refuses to let the scene continue until he can finish a story about a circus elephant. Not sure what is funnier, Conway’s jokes or the inability of the cast to keep a straight face…

Thank you SoulProprietor

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The Contract: A Word From the Led

Posted on December 21, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

We often think of leadership from the perspective of the person in charge. What about those who follow? What does it mean to be led by a particular person? I find, at times, that I get in a hurry to lead and forget to listen which is such an important part of leadership.

William Ayot provided this insightful poem which offers advice for the leader through the eyes of the follower. Leadership is about serving and mindfulness which intersect with integrity.

And in the end we follow them –

not because we are paid,

not because we might see some advantage,

not because of the things they have accomplished,

not even because of the dreams they dream

but simply because of who they are:

the man, the woman, the leader, the boss,

standing up there when the wave hits the rock,

passing out faith and confidence like life jackets,

knowing the currents, holding the doubts,

imagining the delights and terrors of every landfall;

captain, pirate, and parent by turns,

the bearer of our countless hopes and expectations,

We give them our trust. We give them our effort.

What we ask in return is that they stay true.

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Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged community, creativity, leadership, Mindful Practice, poetry, servant-leadership, teacher as transformer, The Contract: A Word from the Led, William Ayot. Bookmark the permalink.

CONSIDER

Posted on December 20, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This is one of the most beautiful poems I have read and appreciated Simon’s link to Advent. When we pause and listen, it is incredible and blessed what we hear in the silence.

Wonderment

Posted on December 19, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

For the last 6 or 7 years I taught, Einstein was referred to as my dad by my students. It was result of a quick answer I gave to a student when he asked about an Einstein poster in the classroom. I commented it was my dad and justified it by saying he had wild hair, facial foliage, and eccentric behaviour. I have always been drawn to Einstein’s view of the world blending spirituality with science. They are totally compatibly.

Dr Bill Wooten

“The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties – this knowledge, this feeling that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men.” ~ Albert Einstein

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Self Discovery

Posted on December 18, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

As I wander through life, I realize it is always a process of self discovery and accepting imperfection that is perfect in itself. It is all there and is real. It is not about finding something that is ideal,but accepting that which is. That makes life worth whiling over.

Discover self–

Imperfect, unrefined;

Genuine, real–

Not hidden;

Unvarnished, vulnerable.

Happiness appears;

Refuge

Falsehoods recede–

Ever so slowly,

Spirit wakens–

Revitalized and awake.

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Sounds of the Season (bytes)

Posted on December 18, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

The first stanza suggested I re-blog and I felt compelled to. It is a funny, tongue-in-cheek post. Or is it?

The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra

Posted on December 17, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I had this sitting in my re-blog folder for some time. It is a testament to what humans can do when the odds seem stacked against them. It is a tribute to human innovation.

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The Old Poets of China

Posted on December 17, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I am back including my posts. Mary Oliver wrote this beautiful and short poem which points out the need for quiet time. I accomplished a lot during my break. I flew home twice and am back in Edmonton for Christmas. I spent the time away from the blog completing the course work and getting ready for the next part of the journey: my dissertation writing.

Wherever I am, the world comes after me.

It offers me its busyness. It does not believe

that I do not want it. Now I understand

why the old poets of China went so far and high

into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.