The Heart of Higher Education argues the need to refocus education on teaching to the student as a whole being. Over the years, higher education has become very specialized, and has lost the original goal of producing good citizens. Transformative learning through integrative education can help change the direction of higher education. This holistic approach can be seen as addressing the needs of the soul, and thus providing a spiritual element to education. In this paper, I will reflect upon how The Heart of Higher Education helped me understand the spiritual or holistic nature of leadership while also identifying strategies for nurturing this practice, expand my capacity for assisting others during challenging times, and increase my compassion …show more content…
Prior to reading The Heart of Higher Education, I focused that practice on achieving the assigned goal and failed to consider the individuals as whole beings. As a professor, I care deeply about my students and strive to support their learning. As a department head, I work diligently to serve the faculty and guide the way for the department. Previously these goals were the focus of my efforts. I now recognize that I need to think more deeply about who I am both supporting and serving, while also consider more than their immediate needs. I intend to think of the students and faculty members as whole beings connected to each other and the community.
The Heart of Higher Education helped me realize that there is more to consider as part of my teaching responsibilities than providing clear, understandable content to students.
Our view of the student is too often as a vessel to be filled or a person to be trained . . . . we need, therefore, to become more attentive to our students’ intellectual, emotional, and character development and learning to see them as richly endowed, malleable beings open to cognitive and affective changes through pedagogical interventions and social formation.