I’ve had a string of conversations recently with supervisors related to troubling staff. Few things seem as frustrating as working with underfunctioning or incompetent staff persons. Ironically, the overwhelming feeling by supervisors is one of powerlessness in the face of ineptitude. Other common dilemmas that get supervisors stuck are: the trap of needing to be liked, wanting to be seen as “fair” and “understanding,” and the fear of making a tough decision that will affect another’s life.

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Practices, programs, projects, and structures that lack rigorous attention to an informing philosophical foundation tend rarely to be effective over the long run. Lacking a philosophical base that informs practice assures that most educational enterprises will flutter from one technique, approach, or fad to another trying to find “what works.” That practice ensures a perpetual lack of direction, an inability to practice discernment, and a lack of guiding principles and values to inform and shape practice.

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It is always gratifying to see attention paid to the perennial ideas and ideals, the importance of understanding the events and lessons of history, and to the appreciation of the classics in any educational enterprise. Perhaps more so today, it is cause to celebrate when that attention happens in the context of theological education. An informal survey of courses of study in theological schools will reveal a diminishing opportunity for being introduced in any systematic way to the history and philosophy of educational thought and Christian education.

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The following is from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?

Fiction: In the beloved fairy tale, Cinderella wore glass slippers to the ball at the palace, which she loses at the stroke of midnight.

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The final entry for ”Brain Week” is a video of a 2007 roundtable discussion on the topic of “Mind, Brain, and Spirituality: Toward a Biology of the Soul” featuring Martin Bergmann, Siri Hustvedt, Jaak Panksepp, David Pincus, and theolgianThandeka.

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Today’s “Brain Week” feature is a link to the website of the PBS series, “The Secret Life of the Brain.” The series originally aired in 2002. The website includes a summary of the five episodes which take a developmental view: The Baby’s Brain, The Child’s Brain, The Teenage Brain, The Adult Brain, and The Aging Brain.

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Today’s “Brain Week” feature is from the New York Review of Books. The June 26, 2008 issue featured a review of seven current works on the brain. Click on the link to see the reviews by Israel Rosenfield and Edward Ziff, “How the Mind Works: Revelations.” Here is an excerpt:

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This is “Brain Week” on the GRACE writes blog. This week we’ll feature items related to the brain, the mind, and learning. Today’s entry features an article by Robert Stickgold and Jeffrey Elenbogen, “Sleep on It: Snoozing Makes Your Smarter” which appeared in Scientific American (August 7, 2008). Here’s an excerpt:

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