{"id":14624,"date":"2017-10-19T04:38:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T11:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=14624"},"modified":"2017-10-19T04:43:36","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T11:43:36","slug":"captain-obvious-vs-clueless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/captain-obvious-vs-clueless\/","title":{"rendered":"Captain Obvious Vs. The Clueless Student"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 1.6 billion people in China, everyone needs a job. Every apartment complex has guards that sit in booths so they can \"\"<\/a>wave and comment on your life as you walk by. They are friendly, but we often call them \u201cCaptain Obvious\u201d. When leaving they say, \u201cOh your leaving.\u201d When you have groceries they say, \u201cYou’ve been to the store?\u201d When I take the dog out for a walk they say, \u201cIs this your dog?\u201d or \u201cYou’re taking her outside?\u201d Some of you know that humor doesn’t translate well and I fight even today to not give a sarcastic response. After reading Alder’s and Bayard’s book on how to study and reading techniques, I felt as though some aspects of this book were like the guards in my complex, and I was being visited by Captain Obvious. Endeavoring to find kernels of new knowledge or reminders of those things long since forgotten, I pressed on through the book.<\/p>\n

I try to be as Rowentree calls it, \u201cThe reflective student, Learning to study is essentially a do-it-yourself operation. Of course, you\u2019ll get ideas from this book.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a> So in discussion of chapter 3, about studying in the context where one lives, I have been reflecting on the environment of my studies; my classroom.<\/p>\n

Speaking at various functions, churches, universities or conferences, invariably someone will come up to me as ask one of several questions that I have fought to keep from answering sarcastically. A common one is, \u201cHow do you like living in China?\u201d Most of the time I answer politely, something about liking it and enjoying the opportunity to learn a new culture. Honestly after 12 years, I am not sure that I always recognize or can differentiate what is or is not Chinese culture. Some of you have even asked about my children and how they have enjoyed growing up in China. I usually respond that it is that same as someone that has grown up in Michigan, Seattle, Sacramento or even Montana. Growing up in any location is normal for the child that is growing up in that situation. I have no context for growing up in any place other than the places that I have lived. So my education has taken place in Samoa, Hawaii, Kansas City and Southern California. Those are the cultures that have shaped who I am and how I view the world.<\/p>\n

Rowentree says, \u201cBeing able to stand back and look at your situation, as if with the eyes of an anthropologist, is an ability well worth acquiring.\u201d 2<\/sup><\/a>. Even today, the country I live in influences the thoughts that I have and the conversations that I am privileged to be apart. As I am working on this essay, I had a casual conversation about 13-14 year old daughters. This Chinese lady, that I know well, was talking to me about a conversation she had with her daughter. Her daughter complained that her homework is so much that there are times that she feels like she should go to the roof of the school and jump off. If this happened in the States, I might have been tempted to call a school administrator or counselor to assist. Knowing my audience I simply said, \u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d She said that I told her that if she wanted to do that, that I would go to the roof with her and we could jump together.\u201d The daughter quickly said that she would never let her mom do that. Her mom went on to talk to her about God’s love and provision for our lives when we are stressed. China is a communal society and this daughter wanted to know that her mother understood that she was having a hard time, and that her mother loved her. The mother expressed her love in her willingness to sacrifice herself with her child. I realized that I was experiencing a moment of learning and understanding from this woman, her child, and the educational system of this country.<\/p>\n

If the world is our classroom, then the teachers that teach are more then those we employ. The guards\"\"<\/a> we talk to, the grocery store attendants, and the lady that randomly comes to your house to have a discussion about the grace of God and the struggles of raising a middle school girl, are not moments that can be reproduced, but are moments that teach far beyond a traditional classroom setting.<\/p>\n

Rowentree’s the awareness of cues3<\/sup><\/a> in this context had me also thinking of the cues we miss in culture and in life. Do we miss cues in our own marriages, or in our own relationships? The three types of cue personalities Rowentree mentions are cue-deaf, cue- conscious and cue -seekers4<\/sup><\/a>. Cue-Deaf are people that believe there are truly no cues, be it a class or in life. They see things through a limited perpective and don’t handle flexibility well. Cue-Conscious are those that know there are cues and expect a teacher or friend to point them out in order for things to be made clear. Cue-Seekers are those that are aware that cues need to be sought out to bring clarity to a situation. Education comes with seeking those hidden kernels be it cultural cues or scholarly opinions.<\/p>\n

My classroom is China, with horns honking, traffic road noise in abundance, dogs barking and the sounds of life happening. Can I study well here? There are moments that work happens and research progresses better than others. Do I miss cultural cues sometimes? I definitely do, but I see those times as learning moments as well. Whether it is organization of my place to study, learning how to read or take notes more efficiently, writing essays or preparing better for exams, Rowentree helps us understand the culture that shapes our learning experience. Even though this book seems to be designed for a traditional learning experience, and is beneficial in that context, how much more is it when we approach our day to day lives with the view of a life long learner. I have to remind myself as I am exiting my gate, that even Captain Obvious has something to teach me each time I see him.<\/p>\n

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1<\/a>Derek Rowntree. Learn How to Study: Developing the study skills and approaches to learning that will help you succeed in university: A virtual tutorial with Professor Derek Rowntree. Kindle ed. (Wappingers Falls, NY: Beekman Books, 1989). Location 130<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2<\/a>Ibid, 960-961<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3<\/a>Ibid, 1290<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4<\/a>Ibid, 1290-91<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With 1.6 billion people in China, everyone needs a job. Every apartment complex has guards that sit in booths so they can wave and comment on your life as you walk by. They are friendly, but we often call them \u201cCaptain Obvious\u201d. When leaving they say, \u201cOh your leaving.\u201d When you have groceries they say, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[913],"class_list":["post-14624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rowntree","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14624"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14632,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14624\/revisions\/14632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}