A PROPOSAL FOR WEAVING 'BAILEY'S LARGER PURPOSE' INTO THE BAILEY CORE COURSES
After three years of experience, more and more Bailey faculty members and student scholars are becoming more and more adept at convening Bailey core courses. We've discovered that convening and stimulating classroom-based collaborative learning represents a tremendous (often awesome) challenge.
Prior to experiencing Bailey, few of us had experience engaging in this type of learning. Consequently, it has been a stretch learning experience for virtually all of us.
Now that we have designed and offered all of the core courses at least once--ANR 410 was offered for the first time during Spring Semester 2000--a natural question is, "What have we learned from these experiences?" One answer to this question is that we need to better connect the core courses to Bailey's 'larger purpose.' This issue was expressed initially during Summer Semester 1999 when a number of faculty gathered to discuss the possibility of expanding the Bailey '5 questions.' The outcome of that conversation--we need to expand the focus of these questions from 'self' (e.g., What are my values?) to 'other' (How do I serve society?) During Spring Semester 2000, ANR 410 learners posed the question, "Is it time to recreate the Declaration of Bailey?"
As we often do in Bailey, we let these conservations 'sit and settle' without rushing to 'do something.' This gives steeping time to the intellectual process--desirable when you are engaging in work that is clearly 'outside of the box.' During the past two months, another
conversation has emerged, largely involving persons who were neither part of last Summer's discussion or participated in ANR 410 The conversation was stimulated by dialogue that took place during the Summer 2000 retreats, most notably the July retreat in Williamston. Through a series of conversations--face-to-face and virtual--a number of ideas, suggestions, and perspectives have emerged. It's fair to say that there is a convergence of thinking and that it is now possible to share this thinking, in proposal form, with others in Bailey. The purpose here is to share, for discussion, the essential ideas.
PROPOSITIONS
1. Words that capture the essence of Bailey are 'discovering
(re-discovering) our passion(s),' 'seeking identity with integrity,' 'living a meaningful life,' 'bringing that which is deep inside us to the surface,' 'struggle,' and 'sharing of struggles.'
2. The Declaration of Bailey and the Bailey '5 questions' are meant to convey fundamental features of Bailey--it is about learning and growing throughout a lifetime, it is about proclaiming the centrality of individuality within the context of learning together, and it is about the importance of being self-critical--asking and answering pivotal questions that sustain a lifetime of learning AND growing.
3. The concept of 'the learning journey' connects diverse Bailey learners. Each of us--irrespective of age, experience, professional interests, and professional aspirations--is on a journey. It is this 'sameness' that binds us.
4. Bailey learning experiences--curricular and co-curricular—are expressions of our shared learning interests. There is something about
'where each learner is' in her or his journey that brings that learner to the learning table with others. By the same token, we know that different learners come to the table for different reasons. We assume that each learning experience has some type of effect (impact) on each learner. One of the impacts may be where each of us 'goes next' in our lifelong quest for 'wholeness.'
IMPLICATIONS
1. At the beginning of all Bailey core courses--ANR 210, 310, and
311--those assembled around the table (students AND faculty) should have the opportunity to share what they feel is meaningful about their respective journey--sharing, such as, their core values, recent experiences, issues with which they are struggling--as a means to connect with others. The guiding question might be, 'Where am I in my lifelong quest for personal-professional meaning and purpose?"
2. Toward the end of each Bailey core course, students and faculty will share with others in the course how the class experience is influencing them in terms of their journey in Bailey and beyond. Some possible questions include: What ways of thinking have been reinforced? What new ways of thinking have emerged? What issues are now prominent? What was murky before that now seems clear? What was clear before that now seems murky? What comes next for me?
3. ANR 410 enrollees--students who will be graduating and exiting
Bailey--will frame these questions in terms of the overall Bailey experience. They will share their thoughts in a public session, their valedictory, to which all in Bailey will be invited.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The Declaration of Bailey and The 5 Questions (Who am I? What do I value? What is my world view? How do I learn? How do these connect in my personal and professional life?) serve a fundamental, enduring purpose--to convey the essence of Bailey. Each of us is invited to interpret, re-interpret, and explore the Declaration and The 5 Questions, and to do engage in that meaning-making process constantly. Rather than to seek to expand the scope of the 5 Questions for all in Bailey, we invite each person in Bailey to advance and answer those questions that are personally meaningful.
2. Beginning and ending Bailey core courses as proposed here comes outside of the boundaries of course assessment and grading. It is inconsistent with the Bailey ethos to render judgment on another's learning journey. We assume that beginning each course with sharing will influence course decisions (what the group may decide to learn) and that ending each course will have an influence on learning next steps for each learner. What 'comes in between' these sharings will be that which is assessed and graded.
3. Bailey has developed intellectually over time, but without proceeding in the typical linear fashion with pre-determined outcomes in mind. Because of that, it is not always apparent when you should retain or 'let go of' ideas that emerged earlier in the development process. With this proposal, we are affirming the centrality of The Declaration of Bailey and the Bailey 5 Questions--each of which was developed during the early stages of program development. At the same time, we suggest dropping the 'Bailey threads' (e.g., critical thinking, effective communication) that were developed at the same time as The 5 Questions. We do not believe that the threads are at the equivalent level of the Declaration or The Questions--serving to express the essence of Bailey. However, we suggest REestablishing the centrality of a set of Bailey student outcomes, outcomes that were declared at the very beginning of the program development process (in writing during Spring 1997). Bailey learners continue to make reference to the student outcomes (e.g., in the ANR 410 syllabus, Spring 2000). Those outcomes are as follows:
The ultimate value of the program rests in what bailey scholars do with their lives following graduation. It is expected that Bailey alumni will be competent professionals, civic-minded persons, and responsible leaders who..
- Possess well-defined and ennobling world views, articulate their world views succinctly, and put their world views into action skillfully,
- Make significant contributions in an increasingly sophisticated world because they understand and can analyze complex situations and can propose ethical, workable, and sustainable solutions,
- Are accomplished at working effectively in the 21st century by being adept in team settings and challenging current assumptions and approaches constructively,
- Are champions of human development by promoting diversity and encouraging the expression of pluralistic perspectives, and
- Have the capacity to grow personally and professionally over a lifetime in light of their capacity to draw on experiences--good and bad--as a means for self-improvement.
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