Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Themes, Terminology, and Reader Engagement
1 Teaching, Learning, and Storytelling
2 Life Beyond the Fishbowl: The Grand Narrative, Academic
Disciplines, and Deep Learning
3 Everybody Learns, Some Teach
4 Entr'acte: Is "Teach" a Transitive Verb?
5 Self-Authorship: A New Narrative of Learning
6 Professional Boundaries and Skills: Searching for Meaning Is Not
Counseling
7 Curriculum, General Education, and the Grand Narrative
8 Assessment: Documenting Learning From Alternate
Perspectives--Peter Trioano
Conclusion . . . Well, Maybe Not
Appendix A: Working in Groups and Facilitating Discussions
Appendix B: Contemplative Methods for Classroom Use
References
About the Authors
Index
Jane Fried is a professor in the Department of Counselor Education and Family Therapy at Central Connecticut State University, USA. She is the author of Transformative Learning Through Engagement: Student Affairs Practice as Experiential Pedagogy and Shifting Paradigms in Student Affairs, as well as co-author of Understanding Diversity. She was also one of the primary authors in Learning Reconsidered 1 and 2 and has written several monographs on ethics in student affairs and student development education.
"If somebody teaches and nobody learns, what do you call that?"
The inquisitive student who asked that question also answered it:
"A lot of hot air" (xv). This anecdote sets the tone for Jane
Fried's short but provocative book Of Education, Fishbowls and
Rabbit Holes: Rethinking Teaching and Liberal Education for an
Interconnected World, which maps out a passionate and
thoughtful argument regarding the need for educators--especially
those who teach liberal arts--to reexamine what we do, how we do
it, and why it matters. Fried's career in academia--as a professor
and a student affairs administrator--affords her a unique position
from which to make her case, bridging the often untraversed gap
between those of us who teach students, and those who help to
manage all other aspects of students's lives on campus. Fried's
book would be an excellent choice for a faculty reading group or
discussion, especially as she includes questions and activities to
assist readers in thinking about their experiences as teachers and
learners. As a bonus, Fried includes information on the dynamics of
classroom group work, and on contemplative practices for the
classroom. If you are a regular reader of books on higher education
and pedagogy, this is a good book to put on your list. If you are
not, read it anyway.--American Academy of Religion
Jane Fried's book OfEducation, Fishbowls, and Rabbit Holes: Rethinking Teaching and LiberalEducation for an Interconnected World is an exposition on how to change theway we think about teaching. It provides both a brief history lesson on theacademy--an acknowledgement of where higher education has been and a call towhere we might go. The reflective questions and exercises provided help readersredefine and revision their teaching. As the book implies, it employs the kindof circular thinking that will take the reader down a rabbit hole and on a mindadventure.I also liked that Fried tiedrecent research on learning into the content of the book.Fried's early training in aliberal arts college is apparent as her prose effortlessly moves between manydisciplines and perspectives, explaining each succinctly and well. Readersshould be prepared to embark on a winding journey through these disciplines andperspectives. It is difficult to summarize the content of this book or how thereader may feel after reading it. Recently, I used the book in a class forMaster's level students in a student affairs program. The course was focused onhow to use pedagogy to design programs, trainings, and workshops. Student inthe class said that they enjoyed the book and it really made them think. Iwholeheartedly agree. I suspect that the ideas contained in this book will bemore difficult for academics that align with positivists and post-positivistspoints of view. This short book is packed with ideas and information, whichlead me to put it down often--to think. If you give Jane Fried a chance, shewill take you down the rabbit hole of her mind (a place I very much enjoyedinhabiting through her writing), provide you with much to think about in termsof your teaching, and place you squarely back where you started, but changed.
--The Review of Higher Education "."The true strengths of the bookreside in its concise approach to
presenting a holistic perspective of facultydevelopment in the here
and now. Faculty development discussions too oftenoccur within the
context of other topics and areas of higher education in
theliterature (or even as a mere footnote), so it is refreshing and
quite usefulhaving a study of faculty development writ large and by
itself in focus. [It] is a concise historicalsummary of where
faculty development within American higher education has gonesince
2006, and where it is likely heading the next ten years. There is
bothqualitative and quantitative data support, as well as
meticulous discussion ofthe data collection processes and analysis
for educational researchers andsocial scientists to follow both now
and into the future.Beach, Sorcinelli, Austin, andRivard present a
much-needed faculty developer voice and perspective within
thelarger American higher education leadership and management
discourse. Theydeveloped an interesting picture of what faculty
development will face over thenext ten years, both for those in
faculty development work (or desiring to gointo that career), as
well as those within larger higher
educationmanagement/administration positions at present.--The
Review of Higher Education "."
Jane Fried's latest book provides a lens for looking at integrated
learning and practical suggestions for rethinking our assumptions
about learning and teaching. A long-time scholar-practitioner in
the field of higher education, in this book Dr. Fried models the
cross disciplinary thinking that she advocates.
Einstein said "our problems cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them", Of Education, Fishbowls, and Rabbit Holes offers an in-depth examination of what it would mean to focus differently on learning.--Susan Borrego, PhD., Chancellor "University of Michigan - Flint"
I just read her book titled Of Education, Fishbowls, and Rabbit Holes: Rethinking Teaching and Liberal Education for an Interconnected World. Don't let the long title deter you from this compact gem at just 100 pages. I am thankful for Jane Fried because she has discovered what my personal experience and the science of learning indicate is the truth about how real and deep learning occurs and, most importantly, she is determined to help the rest of us understand it. [This] book speaks to faculty directly about their assumptions based on how they were taught and learned and how their world view influences how they see students and how they teach. By another name, Jane Fried is still working to help educators understand that there has to be a paradigm shift. She makes concrete recommendations about how faculty who teach undergraduates can do so more effectively. True to how we learn, throughout the book, she asks the reader to stop reading to do some exercises and reflections in order to move beyond learning "about" teaching effectively and to begin to understand how learning occurs through their own experience and reflection. I will continue to read whatever Fried writes because it takes a while to unlearn what and how we have been taught and to shift our perspective in how we see the world. Thank you, Jane, for continuing to move classroom faculty and student affairs professionals toward understanding how students learn in order to be more effective educators."--Gwen Dungy in her "About Students..." blog
Fried makes a critical point pertaining to how students learn and make meaning. She contends that human beings are self-organizing organisms who construct their knowledge in a particular and personal way. Hence, she calls for a redefinition of the concepts of learning and teaching based on the latest neuroscientific findings about how humans learn. Aligning these two fundamental processes in the classroom would, she argues, solve the current problem in higher education wherein 'somebody teaches but nobody learns'. This inclusive approach to education validates diverse ways of knowing and activates, awakens, and cultivates a sense of agency within all children. Active, engaged students who own their learning ask questions, seek answers, and develop intellectually to see the interrelation and interdependence between themselves and the world. This is the type of teaching Fried is calling for at the university level. Fried's book is a quick and easy read. Throughout the text, the reader is asked to stop and reflect on a variety of issues. Her ultimate challenge to educators is to reexamine teaching methods, broaden overall perceptions of education, and realize that learning is grounded in autobiographical issues. Approaching the concept of schooling from this perspective is vital in the 21st century."--Teachers College Record
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