Who's your teacher?

This week's assigned reading from the mouth of a prophet:
Mosiah 23:13-14

13 And now as ye have been delivered by the power of God out of these bonds; yea, even out of the hands of king Noah and his people, and also from the bonds of iniquity, even so I desire that ye should stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free, and that ye trust no man to be a king over you.
14 And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments.
The phrase "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" comes to mind. In a more cynical, but perhaps not unwarrented, vein, I have heard my father adapt the phrase to leave the absolute off the beginning: "Power corrupts absolutely." This calls to mind a scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants -- Section 121:39:
We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
There are implications for both instructor and learner -- and even the instructional designer. The role of teacher must be undertaken with respect and uprightness. A teacher who leans to his or her own understanding and does not acknowledge God in all things only hits on truth accidentally. You can't trust them. They are blind guides.

A wise teacher acknowledges the limits of his or her understanding. The foolish guide scoffs at meekness and humility and will laugh until the sand washes out from underneath his or her feet.

But, that being said, I don't think it hurts to listen to new ideas or points of view from those who have not  been specifically inspired by deity. I just don't trust them. Not automatically. That must be earned.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The funnel of the introduction

The funnel shape of an introduction to a dissertation or research proposal represents a broad statement about a topic that then becomes increasingly focussed toward the final question of interest in the particular research proposal. Here is a possible funnel to my question of interest: Americans seem to have embedded in their collective conscience the image of the rugged individual rising to the top through sheer force of will and on their own merits or because of their lone genius. But current research suggests that lasting innovation and successful businesses result from effective collaboration of many people together rather than from solitary contributions of brilliant individuals. As a result, many organizations espouse a growing need for people in the modern workplace to be able to work in teams in order to innovate solutions to rapidly changing problems in myriad disciplines. Research from the last decade or so has shed new light on the attributes of group creativity an
Read more

Literature review

I met with Dr. Gibbons to talk about some approaches to my question. He suggested some readings for me to peruse. I narrowed down my question a bit after some of my reading. I need to finalize a question, but I'm feeling more confident in the direction.
Read more

Behaviorism and "Cool Hand Luke"

In the movie "Cool Hand Luke," Paul Newman, as the title character, has a tendency toward antisocial activities. At the beginning of the movie, he is arrested and put in jail for cutting off the tops of parking meters with a pipe cutter. (An act that had no discernible motive.) Throughout the movie we see him doing a variety of things that run counter to what might be accepted as normal or expected behavior, even for a miscreant. At one point, the warden (an apparent behaviorist who is pulling out his last card) puts Luke in solitary confinement. After his time in solitary, Luke becomes a poster-boy for obedient, reformed prisoners. The warden seems to relish having tamed Luke. But, the other prisoners seem to watch him with a sense of disappointment at his subservience and at his broken spirit. That is, until Luke absconds with the water truck and escapes from the warden while the prisoners are all performing some community service. I reflected on this movie as I read about
Read more