{"id":19033,"date":"2018-09-20T15:38:46","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T22:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=19033"},"modified":"2018-09-21T04:39:51","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T11:39:51","slug":"from-student-to-explorer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/from-student-to-explorer\/","title":{"rendered":"From Student to Explorer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I have always valued reading and have approached each book with curiosity, wonder, and a thirst for knowledge. I have taken the posture that the author is the expert and I am the student so I have struggled with the idea of not reading every word, not just for gaining information but for understanding. What if I miss something important? I reflected for some time on the section, \u201cReading as Learning: The Difference Between Learning by Instruction and Learning by Discovery.\u201d[1]<\/a> This is an important paradigm shift for me as I enter this program as it moves me, the student, from passive receiver to active explorer. Becoming a \u201cdemanding reader\u201d is a much different posture with different expectations than I have approached reading in the past.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Through Adler\u2019s concepts, another value of mine was highlighted, the need to know \u201cwhy.\u201d I am one who most often wants to know the purpose of things in order to be fully present, engaged and committed. How to Read a Book<\/u>, especially section four, broadened my perspective regarding the purpose <\/em>of reading. I must start with answering the \u201cwhy\u201d question when approaching a book which will help me know the place it has in my library and will focus my \u201cthirst.\u201d One way this is accomplished is by inspecting the books in the bibliography in total before doing any analytical reading. I am then able to weed out those works that may address my subject, but are irrelevant to the specific focus I have.<\/p>\n

In essence, I gleaned that each genre and title will have a different purpose for my consideration. Some will not be needed at all, even though they interest me, and would simply require time that I do not have. Others are a valuable resource from which I can pull out the nugget that adds value to my work and leave the rest. Adler describes it like this, \u201cIn syntopical reading, it is you and your concerns that are primarily to be served, not the books that you read\u2026Your aim is to find the passages in the books that are most germane to your needs.\u201d[3]<\/a> By taking the approach that the \u201cwhy\u201d behind a book is to serve my specific need at the time, releases me to read analytically and to \u201ceat the meat and throw the bones away\u201d rather than feel the need to consume it entirely.<\/p>\n

It was helpful to consider the various types of materials and the best approach to gain the most from them. I was specifically drawn into the section about philosophy and the natural wonder in the often unanswerable \u201cwhy\u201d questions of a child, how they grow out of those types of curiosities, and the role of the parents in the process. \u00a0They are naturally young explorers! Because I understand the limit of time and the consumption of materials needed, it makes the shift in me necessary, but I never want to lose the wonder that keeps me open. I grew up in an environment that required adulthood before childhood had passed. It shaped me in a way that I must fight the drift from critical thinker to critic and cynic. I have been learning childlikeness again in the past twenty years and now find myself in a healthy tension between critical thinking and childlike awe and openness to new ways of seeing the world.<\/p>\n

I highly value life-long learning. I believe Solomon gives us insight into the value of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, discernment and discretion when he describes them as adornment to be worn or as silver to be searched for. He too understood that we must be explorers as well as students.[4]<\/a> Adler\u2019s conclusion brought everything back to the \u201cwhy,\u201d the growth of the mind. His remarks regarding the deterioration of the body compared to there being \u201cno limit to the amount of growth and development that the mind can sustain\u201d[5]<\/a> reminded me of Paul\u2019s words, \u201cThough our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to exploring new worlds!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [1] Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book<\/em> (New York: Touchstone, 1972), <\/em>10.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [2] Adler, 11.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [3] Adler, 308.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [4] Proverbs 2:3-5 NIV<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [5] Adler, 336.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [6] 2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have always valued reading and have approached each book with curiosity, wonder, and a thirst for knowledge. I have taken the posture that the author is the expert and I am the student so I have struggled with the idea of not reading every word, not just for gaining information but for understanding. What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"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":[660],"class_list":["post-19033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adler","cohort-lgp9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19033","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\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19033"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19099,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19033\/revisions\/19099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}