It never occurred to me that I was prejudiced. In fact, I was inspired to leave the life I knew as a young white man to be a Christian missionary in Africa. Yet, until that time at age 22 in my little town in Colorado, I don’t remember ever meeting a black person or knowing anything about black history. I just knew I wanted to know and serve God. As I prepared to depart my country for that foreign land, I felt an inward restraint so strong that I canceled my plans with Africa Inland Mission. In the coming years, several events and relationships impacted my decision and changed my life. My desire had been admirable, but difficult circumstances revealed that I was not like I had hoped that I was. It would take 49 years before I went on my first visit to Kenya.

Watts

Amid a complicated set of circumstances, I found myself in Los Angeles—alone, far from home, and having made decisions that canceled everything that I had accomplished in college and learned from my numerous, hopeful mentors. Suddenly I needed a job. Not knowing why, I was impressed to apply for a teaching position in Watts. This was soon after the riots and fires of the mid-sixties.

When I applied to L.A. City Schools, Superintendent Baer said that in all of Los Angeles only one teaching position was open. It was in Watts! I went to Charles Drew Jr. High for an interview with the principal, Mr. Henrikson. He told me I could have the job if I wanted it, but he wanted to assure me I would be a failure. I was white, and I would be a teacher. I would face nothing but rebellion among the 1800 black students and represent authority. Having a strong conviction, I surprised him. I said “Fine, I will take the job.”

Suddenly, I was a white teacher in a black school. I was to teach plastics and other industrial subjects, of which I knew absolutely nothing. I would have as many as 44 students in my shop classes. On my second day, a riot broke out. It was chaos. My students threw my two desks into the walls and tore down some of the plaster. They were all screaming “Get outta here Whitey and don’t ever come back!” I ran out of my shop door, across the teachers’ parking lot and across the campus to hide in the Counselor’s Office under Mr. Kerr’s desk. He was a black man, the former teacher of my shop classes. He knew if I were a failure he would have to return to that impossible job.

I cried on the way to school and quit every day for three months. In the agony of my situation, I learned things about myself. I discovered that my love for God was mostly doctrinal, and my love for people mostly theoretical. In the next four years, 700 students passed through my classes. I had as many as four death threats on my life in a single week. My students sometimes started fights in class, chased others with a hack saw and chisel, threw a hammer at others, threw orange juice at me during recess, and more. In my constant distress, one day I went into my supply room during class, slammed the door and just stood there, cursing them all. I was frustrated and angry that many saw my white skin and cursed me for the same reason. I didn’t see people. I didn’t see faces. I just saw black bodies in motion. And I suddenly saw the prejudice and hatred in my own heart.

Where had that little missionary in me gone? A light dawned inside of me—something was wrong in my own heart. The situation had not made me prejudiced. It only exposed what was deep inside of me already. Perhaps my students had the same problem. I cried out to the living God and realizations began.  My hatred began to turn to a genuine love that I previously only thought I had.

Soon, I was elected Department Chairman, and my students had responded to my changing view and feelings. I brought many of them home with me on weekends. I had no “teacher’s pet.” Rather, it was a rivalry, a great honor to be invited to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson’s apartment for the weekend. In my third year, students prepared a project display for the Los Angeles Industrial Crafts Fair. Of 34 Junior High Schools, my students took First Place, a phenomenal accomplishment.

By that time, I had begun to see them as people, individuals, creations of a loving God whom everyone can relate to. I wasn’t “color blind.” I saw color as a beautiful gift, the more diverse the better. To this day, Ricky, Michael, Louis and the others remain in my heart. If there were ever a need, I knew they and the others would defend me to the death, as I also would have for them. I failed a lot, but a lot was gained—in them and in me. Watts had become my Africa.

Transition

Between my entrance into the black community and the present time, I have had countless experiences of peoples with complexions, languages, and cultures different from mine. When I discovered the depths of my own prejudice and depravity while teaching in Watts, I opened my heart deeper than I could have ever known possible. Since that time, I have grown, filled with love of God and love of all people.

Expansion

Half-way through my doctoral program 42 years after teaching at Watts, I was required to present a Forum Essay to students, faculty, and the public. My essay was on Poetry. The essay’s impact was significant. The critiquing professors were all known to be incredibly sophisticated, daunting, and tough. No critiques being offered, the chairman concluded by saying that during his 14 years at Oxford Graduate School (OGS) there had never been a student’s presentation that was so outstanding that no one thought it could be improved. The discussion was then opened up to the audience for responses. One impactful, positive comment came from a highly esteemed, black professor. Another wonderful comment in the audience came from a successful black woman, my esteemed colleague. The President of OGS later asked if I would extend my Forum Essay to a doctoral dissertation. Eventually, she also arranged for me to meet the esteemed Dr. Maya Angelou.

Dr. Maya Angelou

Through amazing circumstances, among a luncheon of 500 black women and I in Charlotte, NC, I heard Dr. Angelou speak. Weeks later, my wife and other guests were sitting at her lunch table, an exquisite affair! I had read much of her stunning life story but physically being with her vastly enlarged my views of the black community, of their suffering, struggles, and successes. On one occasion in her home, we sat with Dr. Angelou and Oprah Winfrey for a casual discussion of more than one hour. The night she invited us to stay overnight in her home, she asked me to autograph one of my books for her and then ordered eight more copies for her friends. She included us in her Annual Five-Day-Celebration of Thanksgiving in Winston-Salem among her closest biological and social friends.

From my friend Dr. Maya Angelou, I learned of her great involvement with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Because of her, I became acquainted with the daughter of Malcolm X as we were seated in the VIP section at the U.S. Post Office inauguration of the “Maya Angelou Stamp.” Because of her, I have great friends among the black community in America and with Africans of many countries. I even got to go on a fantastic visit to see Mama Sarah, President Obama’s grandmother in Kenya. Five weeks before she passed away in 2014, Dr. Angelou designated me to help design, build, and launch a traveling, educational museum of her life and work. Her personal assistant of more than 15 years continues to call me and stay overnight with us in Nashville occasionally as he is crisscrossing our great nation. And so much more…

Summary

The experiences and perspectives that I have shared in this discussion were pivotal adventures of my life, but there are countless other stories of impact to my own life—of concept, of sub-culture, and appreciation of the black community. The relevant enlightenment and spiritual renewal of my heart has included people of every culture, religion, and complexion whom I know from all around the world. It is through experiencing persons in their context with mine, serving and participating in mutual events in my home and theirs, that my appreciation has grown, expanded, and been shared. It may be that others have found the need to discover their own inward condition and realize a journey such as mine. The joyful overflow of my life’s adventure thus far has led me to publish more than 25 books on family, spiritual guidance, and work, relevant to all. My contribution to celebrating Black History Month here may be small, but it is personal, it is real, and it is mine.

I experience these feelings all the time. That’s why I am a bad teacher, I suppose. I talk a lot about good things, and then I fail to practice these good things. It is embarrassing to be among people when you have so many flaws in your life, despite the many gazes focused on you. But this horrible state is exactly the same state that led to the discovery of my famous theory of education.

It all started on a sunny, July morning at school. I was lost in my own thoughts, and suddenly the director dropped in to instruct me on how to be a good teacher. For every single suggestion of his, I had my own objections, and in the end, I convinced him that I was doing the right thing but that the students had something wrong with them. Of course after he left, I mumbled to myself, “I know I am the one doing something wrong! But, do you have to teach me about my wrongs this way?”

This was the moment things started to precipitate in my mind.

The word “mindset” does not imply a static state. Rather, it refers to a set of behaviors with a certain goal. Therefore, it is like a steady motion. Changing a mindset means a change in behavior, hence the first law of education:

“A mind is set unless a teaching is exerted on it. This is called mental inertia.”

This law was first treated with a little bit of hostility, because it was counter-intuitive. Think about how children learn for a moment: you must tell them the same thing over and over, in the hopes that they will do it as instructed. If you don’t tell them every single time, they won’t do it, even if it is required – e.g. brushing their teeth, having a bath, turning off the lights, putting away their clothes, etc.

These examples imply that an action must be taught every time. But the first law I put forward says that if a person is doing something, they are going to keep doing it unless they are acted on by another person to teach them otherwise. In other words, if you tell your children to brush their teeth before going to bed, they should be doing it thereafter.

This was a major obstacle I had to overcome. If the children were not continuing the action they were once told to, they must have been acted upon by another teacher; one who was preaching they go in the opposite direction. And, if it is not the parents doing that teaching, then who is it?

After a long depressive and contemplative period, I was struck once again by the same notion. Just like a mindset is not a static concept, a mind is not static, either. It is dynamic, and it interacts with its surroundings. As a result, the mind forgets. Therefore, the more dynamic a mind is, the higher is its tendency to forget. This explained it all! In natural settings, a learned force is always opposed by a forgetting force. This is why the effect of the teaching fades away after a certain time.

From this, it follows that if you could isolate a mind and prevent its interaction with other things, it should exhibit the behavior outlined in the first law. In fact, it is exactly what has been observed in history among those who seclude themselves in a cave or monastery in the hopes of attaining certain spiritual aspects. It is also the same phenomenon observed at boarding schools.

With the first law firmly in place, I felt the need to express the thoughts I went through in a separate statement. Real life settings were all about the co-presence of various teachings, and a person would exhibit a mindset according to the net effect from all of them. But, what was strange was the fact that people who shared the same conditions – i.e. received the same teachings – were affected at varying levels. Some would both gain and lose a behavior very quickly, whereas others would gain the same behavior very slowly, but after learning, would not lose it very easily. This property was part of their character, and remained constant throughout their lives. I summarized these findings as the second law of education:

“A mind changes according to the sum of all teachings exerted on it. The ratio of the sum of the teachings to the net change is called the stiffness of that mind.”

Due to my success with the first law, the first half of the second law was accepted. But I cannot say the same for the second half. It implied that a person who exhibits less change after a lesson has a stiffer mind, whereas a person who exhibits more change after the same lesson has a less stiff mind. Of course, people did not welcome this thought – because it was true!

How do I know? Hah! I just read it. People’s minds were stiff towards my first law already; why should they not be stiff towards the second? After all, this is their inherent property. I told them this fact as bluntly as I am telling you. They did not accept it.

Later on, when assessing this situation on my own, I was once again faced with my “bad teacher” memories. Why was it that every time I tried to teach something, it was received with a negative reaction? And why, when I am talking about a fact of the mind, am I the first one to ignore it?

Once again, I found myself in that depressive-contemplative mode. As I educated people, I became ignorant of what I just taught! Wasn’t it supposed to be that knowledge increases as you share it? Perhaps yes, but there was a catch! More people knowing the same thing did not imply more acceptance and practice. In fact, as I was teaching something, I was consuming the will power that could otherwise be used to practice it; as I was sharing knowledge, my attachment to it decreased…

But why?

It was discomforting and ironic that, at the same time as I taught people wisdom, they secretly taught me ignorance towards that knowledge. Was this it? Was this mutual teaching what intrigued me all along? Wasn’t it that after sharing my ideas, I had to work on my own mind in order to recover from that reciprocal teaching? Maybe I was learning something from people as I taught them, and I had to un-learn it.

With these thoughts in mind, I formulated the third law of education:

“When a teaching is exerted on a mind, there is a reaction from the learner to the teacher. This is called the teaching-then-ignoring principle.”

When I shared my third law with others, it was simply ignored. And that convinced me of its correctness, because I started to ignore their ignorance. It didn’t matter whether others accepted my ideas or not. For me, witnessing their real life confirmation led to a total conviction (i.e., mental inertia), which brought an unparalleled power and comfort. I was like Galileo, who once uttered, “the Earth is orbiting the sun, whether you accept it or not.”

What are the basic traits that a teacher should have to be able to help students attain necessary language skills and cultural knowledge in an L2? As language educators, we receive this question all the time. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not an easy one because research involving curriculum analyses, both in the United States and in Europe, has revealed a significant amount of variation in the number of domains and competencies covered in L2 teacher education programs (Richards, 2008). While some programs have predominantly focused on language and L2 acquisition research and theory, others have taken a more linguistics and methods-orientated direction. In general, though, most experts in the field would agree on a number of fundamental competencies.

Competent L2 teachers know who their learners are (1), what language is (2), how it is learned (3), and how it should be taught (4). Furthermore, they have a solid background about the foundations of L2 curriculum (5), the selection and development of instructional materials (6), and the design of a learning environment (7) that is sensitive to socio-cultural differences (8). They also know how to use the L2 as a tool for L2 learners to gain access to academic content knowledge (9). While they are also able to situate the whole language learning and teaching experience within broader learning theories (10), and competently assess and evaluate L2 development and proficiency (11), they are well aware of their professional roles and responsibilities as advocates for successful L2 education in its entirety at all levels, including institutional, national, and international. Indeed, these competencies have been categorized under the five domains of (I) Language Learning, (II) Learners, (III) Instruction, (IV) Assessment and Evaluation, and (V) Professionalism and Advocacy. Before any further ado, let’s take a look at what each competency entails.

Domain I: Language learning

This domain includes background knowledge and skills in (1) linguistics, (2) general learning theories, and (3) first and second language acquisition theories. First, L2 teachers need to be highly proficient in the language that they teach. Competent L2 teachers understand the nature of language and basic concepts of language systems such as phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, semantics, discourse, and pragmatics. They are also familiar with socio-linguistic, psycho-linguistic, and neuro-linguistic factors in L2 learning. Furthermore, they know the functions and register of the L2, including the conventions of written and spoken language, and the pedagogical implications of differences between basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) (Cummins, 1984). In addition, they understand the interrelatedness of receptive (listening, reading), productive (speaking, writing), and complementary (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation) language skills.

Second, competent L2 teachers are familiar with the basic theories and concepts about first (L1) and L2 acquisition, including the language universals (Chomsky, 1965), and the role L1 plays in L2 development. While they understand differences between the processes of L1 and L2 acquisition, they have a solid background in second language acquisition (SLA) theories. For example, they know how to use different ways to maximize the comprehensible input (Krashen, 1987) opportunities for their students through authentic tasks and activities. More importantly, they know that the greatest bulk of an L2 is acquired through self-exposure and social interactions, not learned in strictly structured and inauthentic classroom settings. Finally, competent L2 teachers are able to situate SLA theories within the broader learning theories. For instance, they understand behaviorist (memorization) versus cognitivist (information processing) versus socio-constructivist (socio-cultural factors) views (Pavlenko – Lantolf, 2000) about L2 learning and development.

Domain II: Learners

Current SLA research has revealed that socio-psychological factors affect success in learning an L2. This domain covers teacher knowledge about (1) differences among language learners and (2) their levels of socio-cultural awareness. Individual differences, such as motivation, attitudes, anxiety, identity, learning styles, pedagogical beliefs, socialization patterns, and learning and communicative strategies affect success in learning an L2. For example, many scholars have found that high motivation has a positive effect on L2 learning (Dörnyei, 2005) while learners with high levels of anxiety do not seem be successful language learners (Horwitz, 2008). In fact, researchers have found that learners who strongly identify with the L2 community attain a more native-like accent than those who strongly identify with their native-speaking communities Dörnyei – Ushioda, 2009). Competent L2 teachers know about the role these factors might play in L2 attainment and plan the learning experience for their students accordingly.

Other learner-related factors concern the socio-cultural differences. L2 learners come from different families and geographical regions with different socio-economic and educational backgrounds, demonstrating a significant amount of cultural diversity. Culturally responsive L2 teachers understand the role of diversity – namely cultural products, perspectives, and practices – in L2 attainment. They know not only how to construct culturally-sensitive learning experiences to facilitate the most effective learning, but also what strategies to apply to create among students an awareness of and respect for cultural diversity. Indeed, culturally competent teachers effectively apply skills for communicating and collaborating effectively with the parents/guardians, the community members, and local resources to enhance their students’ learning. For example, such teachers not only genuinely value cultural diversity and incorporate it into the curriculum, but also organize extra-curricular activities in appreciation of diversity as an added value for advancement.

Domain III: Instruction

Under this domain, we have instructional competencies including (1) foundations of curriculum, (2) methods of language teaching, (3) learning environment, (4) instructional materials, and (5) language and content area integration. First, competent L2 teachers know the history and policy foundations of L2 education and use this knowledge to plan and implement effective L2 programs (Richards, 2001). They are able to select the most effective types of programs that are appropriate for the needs of a particular learner profile in a particular setting. For example, while most scholars agree that bilingual and immersion programs are the most effective, the most common English as a second language (ESL) programs in the U.S. are the pull-out ones, also known as the least effective programs that are primarily based on the development of BICS skills while neglecting the teaching of CALP via content-based curricula.

Second, competent L2 teachers are also able to choose and implement the most appropriate and current methods of language teaching. Such teachers know that we have come a long way since the grammar translation and audio-lingual method (Richards – Rodgers, 2001), however, we no longer adhere to one particular method because we live in the beyond-methods’ era (Kumaravadivelu, 2006). Nonetheless, this does not imply a senseless, eclectic approach; rather it entails being flexible within a consistent theoretical and pedagogical framework often referred to as “principled eclecticism” (Larsen-Freeman, 2003). Third, as the current ecological L2 learning theories would suggest (Brown, 2006), just as only a balanced amount of sun, water and care, in a nurturing environment, can lead to the healthy growth of a flower, instructional methods can lead to success in L2 learning only if the learning environment is meticulously designed.

Last but not least, an important part of what constitutes a nurturing environment is the availability of effective instructional resources. Competent L2 teachers are not only well-informed about the strengths and weakness of commercial and authentic materials but also possess the necessary skills to select, adapt, or develop their own materials based on the specific needs and goals of their students. Indeed, competent L2 teachers use the instructional materials that integrate the language and content area goals, supporting L2 learners’ BICS, CALP, and academic achievement (Cummins, 1984). For example, most English-medium universities overseas have English preparatory programs to prepare students to be able to receive, say, engineering or economics content in English; however, instead of conducting a needs analysis and basing their EFL instruction on the content of these majors, most of these programs select generic commercial materials that often times include linguistic input predominantly about shopping, holidays, food, and friendship.

Domain IV: Assessment and evaluation

This domain covers knowledge and skills about the assessment and evaluation of L2 learners’ language development. It includes background in L2 testing skills related to the placement, diagnostic, achievement, and proficiency of L2 learners. Competent L2 teachers know the commonly used national and international standard assessment tools, such as TOEFL. Such teachers also know the basic concepts and practices related to test design, development, and interpretation. In addition to understanding the validity and reliability of testing methods and tools, they understand potential relationships among the national standards, instruction, and L2 testing. More importantly, in their classrooms, they effectively apply knowledge of formal/informal, direct/indirect, and dynamic and authentic assessment. Most importantly, however, competent teachers are familiar with the construct of the “backwash effect” – the effect testing might have on student learning (Hughes, 2003). Successful learning will not take place if teaching and testing goals and/or methods are incongruent. For example, if writing skills are tested by multiple choice tests, students will invest their time and effort in developing their skills to respond to such questions, not in working on actual writing skills that they will need in real-life tasks.

Domain V: Professionalism and Advocacy

As part of the last domain, L2 teachers are required to possess certain professional qualifications and individual characteristics to be able to support L2 learners’ linguistic, cultural, and academic development. This domain lies at the heart of the profession. Competent L2 teachers demonstrate knowledge of the history of L2 teaching, keep up-to-date with new trends and current educational research, and follow domestic and international issues related to language planning and policy, as well as other advances in L2 education. Moreover, considering language learners spend only a limited amount of time with language teachers, it is very important that L2 teachers collaborate with the mainstream teachers and build partnerships with outside resources and parents to support the linguistic, cultural, and content areas of development. Also noteworthy is that such teachers claim responsibility for L2 learners and are able to apply effective strategies to advocate educational and social equity for their students, both at the institutional and broader community levels (Crawford, 2004). For instance, such teachers serve as a resource to promote a school environment that values cultural and linguistic diversity, and they advocate for equitable access to resources for language learners by becoming members of organizations (e. g.: TESOL) that support L2 learning and teaching.

Furthermore, in order for teachers to apply these professional competencies in actual classroom practices, they need to posses certain individual characteristics and dispositions that complement their professional qualifications. Unlike learning other subjects, language learning requires a great deal of patience and perseverance. Hence, L2 teachers need to be caring, compassionate, understanding, self-sacrificing, and patient. They need to establish a good rapport and empathy with their students, offering them timely motivational support. Only by doing so can they understand their students’ socio-psychological well-being and invest additional personal time and effort in students’ learning.

Last but not least, L2 teachers need to remain positive and enthusiastic about their students’ progress, because the process of L2 development is a bumpy road with lots of ups and downs. To help their students, teachers need to be able to identify their students’ struggles correctly and provide them with developmentally appropriate support. In addition, they need to be fair and treat all of their students equally. In doing so, they need to know their students very well and think outside the box, supplying innovative in-class and self-study strategies. Finally, in order for L2 teachers to be able to competently demonstrate these personal traits, they need to have effective communication skills. While such teachers are very good and empathetic listeners, they also need to be able to communicate their thoughts and feelings effectively, and with mutual respect and appreciation, to support their students’ learning.

Saban Cepik is Assistant Professor/Department Chair, ELT, Zirve University.

References

• Brown, D. H. (2006). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (5th Edition). New York: Pearson ESL.
• Chomsky, N. (1965), Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press
• Cummins, J. (1984) Bilingualism and special education: Issues in assessment and pedagogy. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
• Crawford, J. (2004). Educating English Learners: Language Diversity in the Classroom. (5th ed). Los Angeles, CA: Bilingual Education Services.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Dörnyei, Z. – Ushioda, E. (Eds.). (2009). Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
• Horwitz, E.K. (2008). Becoming a language teacher: A practical guide to second language learning and teaching. Boston, MA: Allyn – Bacon, Inc.
• Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Krashen, S.D. (1987). Principles and practices in second language acquisition. New York: Prentice-Hall.
• Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). TESOL methods: Changing tracks, challenging trends. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 59-81.
• Larsen-Freeman, D. (2003). Teaching language: From grammar to grammaring. Boston: Thompson-Heinle.
• Pavlenko, A., – Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves. In J. Lantolf (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning: Recent advances (pp. 1545-177). New York: Oxford University Press.
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• Richards, J., – Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and methods in language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Likewise, Aristotle considered metaphors a sign of language mastery and genius, but he also deemed them ornamental, appropriate for poetry but too enigmatic for philosophical or scientific discourse. On the contrary, Max Black articulated an influential alternative to traditional views of understanding metaphors. Having rejected Aristotle’s comparison as too simplistic, Black argued that metaphor is a communicative phenomenon operating not at the level of mere word meaning, but at the (ostensibly) deeper level of conceptual structure. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) put forward that metaphors establish the modal method through which the mind represents concepts that are not sensorial or perceptual in nature. Their conclusion is:

“Metaphor pervades our normal conceptual system. Because so many of the concepts that are important to us are either abstract or not clearly delineated in our experience (the emotions, ideas, time) we need to get a grasp on them by means of other concepts that we understand in clearer terms (spatial orientation, objects). This need leads to metaphorical definition in our conceptual system” (1980, 115).

Conceptual Metaphor has been the prime concern for translation scholars, academicians, and students. Scholars have tried to map and analyze conceptual metaphorical aspects in poetry and novels for a long time. But somehow, they face a series of confusions regarding the meanings of some conceptual metaphorical phrases. As Newmark (1988) holds, whilst the central problem of translation is the overall choice of a translation method for a text, the most important particular problem is the translation of metaphor. Conceptual Metaphor is often fully employed in literary texts and it is regarded as a challenge to ESL students and academicians.

According to Tone Aksberg Bjerkmo Johansen (2007), the process that constitutes a conceptual metaphor is when the knowledge of one field is epitomized onto another field. Conceptual Metaphors are normally used when expressions that represent our thoughts in a conventional way are being systematically used in everyday language. An example of conceptual metaphor is a metaphoric concept such as “Theories are buildings,” where we can partially conceptualize “Theories” in terms of “Buildings.” According to Lakoff and Johnson, metaphor has the tendency to highlight and hide certain aspects of the target concept. Another example is “A relationship is a journey,” which ascertains that the metaphor is measuring the progress in a relationship, but it does not give any idea of how this progress can be achieved. Metaphor is only a partial mapping as “not all the features of the source have analogs in the target,”

According to Apps (1995), metaphors have proven useful after examining different approaches to learning in adult education. Young (1996) states that, “Metaphors form visual constructs through which we associate, interpret and organize thought. They dominate and delimit our consideration of experience and phenomena. Because one’s metaphor of teaching and learning interacts with fundamental issues such as the nature of knowledge and the nature of persons, it impinges directly on the way pedagogical decisions are made” (p. 79).

Postman and Weingartner (1969) suggested that many adult educators conceptualize teaching and learning through the use of metaphors. Winner and Engel (1980) used a matching task where the classification of one item in terms of recurring similarity to another item was scored as metaphorical. Furthermore, Vosniadou and Ortony (1983) asked their participants to complete similarity statements, including similes. The expressions tested “were often constructed idiosyncratic metaphorical expressions instead of actual natural language expressions.”

Waggoner, Messe, and Palermo (1985) found out that the recollection and the construction of meaning for both literal and metaphorical expressions depends on the supporting contexts, such as extended and appropriately structured stories. Stones (1989) used short stories with familiar concrete nominal metaphors as targets and he found out that participants perform better when they are asked to paraphrase rather than explain the meaning of the metaphor. However, this has one drawback for children, as the meta-cognitive abilities that paraphrasing required usually develop late in childhood. Thus, such reasons could prevent participants from scoring well in the task.

For students who do not have a cultural orientation of the western background, metaphors from English Linguistics or English Literature textbooks might create confusion. According to Brown, “cultural knowledge” is too vast to teach in the context of English Literature, thus, ESL students should be taught “explicit strategies for making inferences from language” (1990, 11-17). Furthermore, Murray (1985, 7) states that without the inculcation of such strategies, students will interpret the texts according to their own background. Murray’s recommendations are based on the “Schema Theory” (Adams Collins 1979), which is the body of research into reading comprehension. According to Adams and Collins (1979), a schema can be characterized as an “abstract knowledge structure” in the memory and it functions by interpreting, storing, and retrieving new information. This theory concludes that texts on their own do not provide meanings, but rather they direct to readers the construct meaning based on what they have acquired previously.

References

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• Van, Engen Robert B. 2008. Metaphor: A Multifaceted Literary Device used by Morgan and Weick to Describe Organizations. (Vol. 1). Regent University.
• Winberg, Christine. 1994. The comprehension of figurative language in English literary texts. Rhodes University.

A question can be defined as any sentence that has an interrogative form or function (Cotton 1988). Asking and answering questions are among the most common human behaviors we experience in many different areas of our lives (Samson, Syrowsky, Weinstein, & Walberg 1987). For instance, as mentioned in Sahin and Kulm (2008)’s study, questions have been used for many purposes such as provoking students and making them listen carefully, analyzing their thoughts and thinking critically. Moreover, the questioning method serves to initiate discussion and review material. Unsurprisingly, research has found that classroom talks are dominated by teachers’ questions (Redfield & Rousseau 1981). Indeed, teachers use anywhere from 35 to 50 percent of their instructional time posing questions (Cotton 1998). Thus questioning is a common and pivotal teaching skill which needs special attention for maximum benefit. Additionally, the type of questions teachers ask and how often these questions are posed to students also needs examining.

Question types

The questioning method has been a well-studied topic in education for centuries because it has been thought to be a good measure of a teacher’s quality (Stevens 1912). Therefore, a number of studies have taken place to examine the types of questions asked by teachers. Even though different categorizations have been set out in various researches, it is possible to see that there are several types of questions studied most and these include: higher-order, open-ended, divergent, evaluative, lower-order, factual, convergent, closed, and procedural questions. But when looked at these questions closely, it is possible to group them under two categories, probing and factual, based on the answers you expect from your students. The first group of categorization might include higher-order, open-ended, divergent, and evaluative question types under probing since all those question types require students to think deeply, provide wider responses, and justify answers. Indeed, Sahin and Kulm (2008) found that probing question was like the first group of question types requiring the following:

• Asking students to explain or elaborate on their thoughts
• Asking students to use prior knowledge and apply it to the current problem or idea
• Asking students to justify or prove their ideas (p. 3).

Examples of probing questions include:

1. How do you know that these fractions, 3/7 and 9/21, are equivalent?
2. Why do you agree with your friend?
3. How do you know that your answer is right?
4. What if you were in his shoes, what would you do to stop him from stealing?
5. If you were the President of the United States, would you liberate Libya? Why or why not?

The second group consists of lower-order, convergent, closed, and procedural questions that require students to recall specific facts and provide short answers. Sahin and Kulm’s (2008) study described indicators of factual questions which was very similar to the second group of questions:

• Asking students for a specific fact or definition (Vacc 1993)
• Asking students for an answer to an exercise
• Asking students to provide the next step in a procedure.

Examples of factual questions include:

1. What is the definition of a ratio?
2. When is the Independence Day of America?
3. What do you get when you divide 16 by 4?
4. Do you agree with him?
5. How many blue chocolate candies do you have in your M&M bag?

In practice, 60 to 80 percent of teachers’ questions are factual and around 20 percent of them are probing questions according to Cotton (1998). So it is important for teachers to be knowledgeable about those questions types.

How to develop questioning skills

Cotton (1998) found that teachers’ questioning method was the second most used teaching skill after lecturing in K-12 education. This is an interesting finding because even though it is used widely in teaching, research shows that teachers receive little training on how to ask, what to ask, and when to ask questions and how much time they need to wait after they pose a question. For instance, Sahin (2011) found that training or workshops on questioning was not a common practice in Texas. Four teachers said that they never took a course or a workshop specifically focusing on questioning and wait time. Interestingly, they said that they still used different questions to teach what they teach. When they were asked how they developed their questioning skills, they attributed it to watching and observing a good teacher as the number one technique to learn how to ask questions.

Another common method to learn how to pose questions is going out in the field and working in a classroom with real teachers and students as described by a middle grades mathematics teacher:

When I was an undergraduate, the time in the classroom, the classroom experience, going out in the field, being in the classroom with actual teachers and helping them out, seeing how they are doing it. You pick up things and you get exposed to different strategies in the classroom. So, I think, having the exposure in the classrooms is very beneficial because you are taught a lot with a lecture at A&M or at any college but real life exposure out in the classrooms with real kids, what kind of questions kids are asking and how they are responding to the questions, I think, is very helpful (Sahin 2011, 39).

Also the importance of workshops on questioning techniques and wait time cannot be ignored since teachers tend to and are encouraged to attend workshops regularly to grow and become better teachers. But Sahin’s findings illustrate that teachers cannot locate a specific workshop on questioning. There was only one teacher who said that she attended a workshop on teachers’ questioning method in her fifteen years of teaching. So, trainings or workshops on different teaching skills should be organized and teachers should be highly encouraged to attend a certain number of professional development workshops each school year.

Wait time

Questions and wait time are two sides of the same coin. As a coin cannot be valid without one of the sides, questioning techniques will not be successful without sufficient wait time. More precisely, you may ask quality and timely questions to your students but it will not extract learning unless you provide them with enough time to absorb and process the question and produce an answer. Cotton (1998), in her review on questioning and wait time, defined wait time as “the amount of time the teacher allows to elapse after he/she has posed a question and before a student begins to speak” (p. 5). Interestingly, research shows that the average wait time teachers allow students to generate response is one second or less (Rowe 1974). Naturally, no one can expect students to understand a question, process it, and formulate a response in such a short period of time.

Increasing a wait time of three or more seconds is an immense improvement for better responses and eventually for more effective student learning. Studies such as Cazden (2001) have revealed that three or more seconds of wait time help students give longer responses, provide better responses with more evidence of learning, further elaboration, encourage more questioning, and added engagement with increased student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions. This is why it is crucial for teachers to go through trainings to develop proper wait time habits encouraging further student learning.

The use of questioning skills in daily life

Scholars, religious leaders, and/or prophets can be categorized as teachers as well since they are in a position to communicate to people certain things by lecturing, preaching, or posing questions. In that sense, Socrates was not alone in his use of questioning techniques to teach something or convince someone about a misunderstood value. The following story presents an excellent example of a well-constructed questioning method with enough wait time. In the story, Turkish scholar Said Nursi talks about how wrong or exaggerated fear can make one’s life unbearable:

An important man (may God’s mercy be upon him) was afraid to travel by boat. One evening, we went to Galata bridge to take the ferry to Eyup. He did not want to get on, saying that he feared he would drown. When I asked him how many boats were in the Golden Horn, he replied that there might be as many as one thousand. When I asked him how many boats sank each year, he replied usually one or two, and sometimes none. I made this analogy: “Since a year has 365 days, your chance of drowning is 1:365,000. Why does such a small chance scare you?” I asked: “How much longer do you expect to live?” He answered: “Maybe 10 years; I am old already.” I continued: “As there are 3,650 days in 10 years, your chance of dying today is 1:3,650. But since we do not know when we will die, you could die at any time. So repent and weep! Write your last will and testament!” Seeing the truth in my words, he got on the boat even though trembling. (Nursi 2007, 401-2)

In the example, Nursi uses a series of questions to help a person overcome his fear of boarding a boat. In this example, Nursi achieved a couple of things through questioning: first, he asked a series of (factual) questions to help the person determine his underlying beliefs about death. Nursi formulated this information in such a way to show the man how small the possibility of a boat sinking was through a set of factual questions. He posed each question cleverly and effectively to help the person realize how his feelings of death were exaggerated. Also, Nursi gave his addressee enough time to think about the questions, use prior knowledge and apply it to a current problem or situation. He did not rush him to give answers. Moreover, the information Nursi obtained was not something that his addressee did not know, rather it was a tool to help the person overcome his fear of death when boarding a boat. In a short period of time, Nursi persuaded the person that his fear was needless through the use of a questioning technique combined with adequate wait time. As Myhill and Dunkin (2002) stated, “Just like a good barrister, a good teacher knows how to use questions for maximum impact” (p. 8).

In conclusion, teachers’ questioning skills are one of the primary and most influential set of pedagogical skills in use in classrooms. Therefore, teachers should be trained in order for them to become knowledgeable about what to ask and how to ask. Additionally, teachers should know that they should wait at least three seconds after posing a question for more effective student responses and understanding. Teachers’ questioning skills and wait time should complement each other for better outcome. Colleges, districts, and schools should seek ways to improve both prospective and in-service teachers’ questioning skills.

References

• Cazden, C. B. 2001. Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Cotton, K. 1998. Classroom questioning. North West Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session6/6.ClassroomQuestioning.pdf
• Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said. 2007. The Letters. NJ: Tughra Books.
• Myhill, D., & Dunkin, F. 2002. What is a good question? Literacy, 8.
• Redfield, D. L., & Rousseau, E. W. 1981. A meta-analysis of experimental research on teacher questioning behavior. Review of Educational Research 51, 237–245.
• Sahin, A. 2011. Teachers’ awareness and acquisition of questioning. (Manuscript submitted for publication).
• Sahin, A., & Kulm, G. 2008. Sixth grade mathematics teachers. Intentions and use of probing, guiding, and factual questions. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 11(3), 221-241
• Samson, G. E., Strykowski, B., Weinstein, T., & Walberg, H. J. 1987. The effects of teacher questioning levels on student achievement. Journal of Educational Research 80, 290–295.
• Socrates.(n.d.).Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
• Stevens, R. 1912. The questions as a measure of efficiency in instruction: A critical study of classroom practice, Teachers College Contributions to Education, 48, 95. New York: Columbia University, Teachers College Press.
• Vacc, N. N. 1993. Implementing the professional standards for teaching mathematics: Questioning in the mathematics classroom. Arithmetic Teacher, 41(2), 88–91.

This particular kind of freedom is presented as one of the causes of war in the book Muhammad: The Messenger of God by Fethullah Gülen. If one approaches the problem from a partial analysis, rather than a holistic one, then one can easily come to the conclusion that “war can be waged to ensure spiritual guidance and communication.” In the aforementioned book, Gülen basically says that force is allowed if there is a resistance against the preaching of Islam and others are prevented from listening to its message.

Viewing the issue from this aspect, it is not correct to reach a conclusion that Gülen, thus Islam, does not recognize freedom of religion and conscience. Those who reach such a conclusion means, they are disregarding Islamic verses and the literature on the traditions of the Prophet that pertain to the freedom of religion and conscience, as well as the important interpretations made by Gülen in this issue. There are also some circles who never tire of spouting their biased discourse, manifested by slogans such as, “Islam is the religion of the sword,” “Islam is an oppressive and coercive religion,” or “either Islam or death.”

In contrast, it is very clear in Gülen’s message that no war can be fought in order to communicate one’s faith. A war can be fought when faith, Islam in this case, is prevented from teaching its message “in peaceful ways.”

In my opinion, restriction of the communication of any religion is a violation of a birthright and rights agreed upon in international human rights declarations. In other words, the prohibition in question, if one indeed exists, is a sheer atrocity that has been imposed on people living in a particular social system. Living in the West, where such debates have occurred, I have two alternatives: either to investigate the written and oral literature of Fethullah Gülen in order to examine the accuracy of this approach, or to ask him directly. I preferred to take the easier way and directly asked him my question: Here I give you his reply:

“It is possible to categorize all the battles the Prophet fought, when analyzed thoroughly with their basic characteristics, within the concept of defense. If there is an attack by an enemy, or if there is evidence acquired by a very reliable intelligence that there is going to be an attack, then war will be necessary. The Qur’anic evidence that supports this is Baqara 2:191: “fight against them, if they fight you.'”

Another remark by Gülen, made at another time, confirms this:

“Take a close look at his battles at Badr, Uhud, and the Trench. All of them took place in the vicinity of Medina, while the enemy, the polytheists of Mecca, were living 500 kilometers away. What could the Muslims do? Should they welcome the enemy forces, who had come to the front line and inside the town, trying to kill them? The Battle of Haybar, on the other hand, was fought because previously signed treaties were violated, and these treaties stipulated violation as a cause for war. While emphasizing the fact that the Prophet only fought defensive battles, there is no need to claim “there is no war in Islam by any means,” evoking some kind of an inferiority complex. On the other hand, Islam does not give the right to any nation to clamp on another nation for no reason, or just for the sake of her national sovereignty. This critical balance was maintained in the eras of the Prophet and the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. But it is not possible to state that the same sensitivity has been preserved by some Islamic states after the Abbasids until today-the Ottomans included. Several wars were waged for the sake of gains, or to extend territory. They treated their enemies with justice during and after the war; but this is a different issue.”

The issue is crystal clear: war is the very last thing to do, when other solutions are exhausted, in order to eliminate an injustice that restricts the freedom of communication and guidance for teaching one’s religion. Thus, from where does this confusion stem? There are two reasons for this. The first is the inability to delineate the Prophet’s actions as the Messenger of God-which bind all Muslims until the Day of Judgment-from some of his actions as a statesman, which were basically formed in keeping with the policies of the day according to the prevalent context.

The second reason is that some concepts that pertain to war are predicated in their religious rather than political connotations, arising from the fact that war is a sphere where religion and politics intermingle; in other words, the “literalist” approach is adopted.

These two reasons, in the final analysis, give rise to misinterpretation of some of the concepts in a far distant meaning than what they were originally constructed for. Take the concept of “fi sabilillah,” as an example. This concept, which is repeated many times in the Holy Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet, literally means “in the way of God.” However, the role that this concept plays in the field of religion differs from that which it plays in politics in the Arabic language. “Fi sabilillah” in the field of religion covers all the good deeds aiming to acquire merit, whereas it signifies to ensure the rule of law in the field of politics.

In conclusion, fundamental rights and freedoms are not issues that are open to question. All people are free to choose their religion. No state should be able to revoke this right from her citizens. The ordinances of the Qur’an and the Sunnah which pertain to this issue are clear enough. Regulations and applications that inhibit these freedoms should not be allowed. Restrictions may be exercised by the authority of a legitimate state only if an encroachment of the rights of other people is in question, particularly in the fields of public security, common order, public decency, and health. As regards the case of war, a war can only be declared in keeping with the will of the legitimate political authority. The fact that people prefer to believe in a religion other than Islam is not considered to be a cause of war. On the other hand, if a state does not allow its citizens the freedom to choose their religion, whichever religion that may be, this is oppression. To prevent this kind of atrocity is a legitimate cause of war if all possible means of peaceful settlement have been tried and failed.

First, we should emphasize that Prof. Zewail’s statements resonate very well with what famous scholar Ibn-al Haytham said 10 centuries ago:

“The seeker after truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and deficiency. Thus the job of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency.”

Every human being is given the ability to think. That is what makes all the progress of humanity possible. When we think we process the information we receive based on what we already know and we usually make judgments. Nobody can deny that all humans go through this process many times every day. But we can question the outcome of our thinking process, that is, our judgments. Many times, we can be wrong in our judgments, and this is where “critical” thinking might help.

Today, most people learn how to think systematically at schools, particularly during university education. In fact, according to Derek Bok, the former president of Harvard University, faculty members in the US almost unanimously agree that “teaching critical thinking” is the principal aim for undergraduate education. Although many have great conviction that critical thinking is very important, there is no universal definition for it. The American Philosophical Association gives the following definition:

“Purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual and methodological considerations on which a judgment is based.”

Based on this definition and what we quoted from Ibn-al Haytham, we can identify the following points about critical thinking:

1) When you read or hear a statement, do not accept it without question.

2) Try to find other information that can support or disprove the statement, try to come up with ways to demonstrate validity or falsehood of the statement, and test the statement.

3) As you perform your critical examination, be aware of your own deficiencies as a human. Consider your own biases, numerous possibilities of making mistakes in your judgments, or prejudices you can assume without knowing.

4) Be aware of the method you use for evaluating a claim, and think about both its strengths and weaknesses.

Critical thinking, if we develop the habit of performing it, can help us every day. Consider how you receive information in the twenty-first century. Typically, you read a newspaper or watch news on TV. If you just accept what you hear and see, then you can sometimes be manipulated or fooled. In an ideal world we can assume that objective presentation of news is possible. In the real world, however, those who transfer news bits to the population are also humans who are prone to similar biases. Many times a newspaper or a TV station represents certain values, ideologies, or supports some political positions. Besides, news reporting is so much commercialized that news editors and reporters also think about how to attract readers, and might use catchy words deliberately. Therefore, everyone should ask questions, clarify certain interpretations, and need to fight their own biases before reaching conclusions whenever they encounter a media report. An increased number of critical thinkers will help create a healthy debate about controversial issues.

We can expand this critical approach with respect to news media to our formal education experiences. At schools, our teachers deliver new information every day. We also read our textbooks. Typical student tendency might be to just accept what they hear and what they read, though this may depend on the student’s intellectual development and the culture of the society. If we perform critical thinking in the classroom and while reading textbooks, we can grow intellectually much more than otherwise. We can retain what we learn more easily. In addition, the purpose of schools and universities is to prepare us for life. We all know that in real life problems are never well defined, and most of the time you cannot readily find an authoritative figure or a manual to consult. Therefore, it is imperative that we teach students to question what they hear and what they read. In order to encourage students to perform more critical thinking in the classroom, however, we might need to find alternative modes of teaching and move away from conventional method of active teacher – passive students.

Although we must strive to teach critical thinking, we should also recognize the fact that there are roughly three distinct phases in our lives with respect to thinking, and not everyone is in the same phase at a given time. When we are young we usually think that every question has a certain answer, and it is just a matter of finding the authority who can give that answer. As we grow up, however, we realize that sometimes many authoritative figures may disagree. This observation may make one a relativist; that is, we might start thinking that depending on who you ask the answer varies, and it is all relative. As we further grow in our intellectual development, we usually notice that although people disagree on certain topics, we should always make some decisions, and some points of view have more support than others. By performing critical thinking we can filter out less reliable information, and come to better conclusions. In some complex cases, however, we might realize that there is no single correct judgment, and circumstances might lead us down different paths.

In the context of these three different phases, we can safely claim that on the average you expect the ability to think critically improve, as we get older. Elementary school children are most likely to think that there is a correct answer to every question. In middle and high school, many students will realize that there may be different answers to the same question depending on whom you ask. By the time of their graduation we expect university students to learn how to critically evaluate information. This final outcome, though very significant for a healthy society, highly depends on our teaching strategies. That is, if rote memorization is more valued than critical evaluation, then university graduates might stay as naive relativists or even worse.

Critical thinking is extremely crucial to separate the truth from myth. A well known example is about our brains. In many societies, it is said that people typically use about 10% of their brain, and geniuses like Einstein are able to use more of their brains. Some questions to ask are as follows:

1) What does it mean to use 10% of the brain?

2) Who provides this information? Is s/he a neuroscientist?

3) How do people measure brain usage?

4) Einstein lived long time ago. Did they measure his brain activity the same way as the control group to conclude that he used more of his brain?

When we search for answers to these questions, we typically find that there is no basis for this claim. It does not mean much. Maybe the statement originally meant that many do not use their brain’s full potential, which might be true. But, when the statement is compared to what we know about brain science, then it becomes a myth.

While everyone and every profession benefits from critical thinking, some jobs require critical thinking more than others. Scientists, for example, have an obligation to be extremely critical of others’ work. Let us remember that Ahmad Zewail and Ibn-al Haytham are both scientists. In science, there is a process called “peer review,” which is extremely useful. Any research carried out becomes scientific knowledge after it is submitted to the critical reviews of other scientists in the field. Any contribution submitted to a scientific journal is tested for correctness and originality. At the end of the critical review, the reviewers submit a report to the editors of the journal, who then make a decision. Many times the authors of the article are asked questions or are asked to make modifications, to which they may respond. In short, we can safely state that a scientist must be a critical thinker, or otherwise s/he cannot perform his or her research duties, and s/he is prone to become a repeater of someone else’s ideas, and may go awry at times.

From what we explained so far, it is probably obvious that we need some background knowledge about a subject in order to become a real critical thinker. It is clear that if someone knows nothing about urban planning, for example, it is very hard for him to critically examine any work on urban planning. This straightforward observation suggests that most people cannot be critical thinkers even if they want to be. Fortunately, this conclusion is only partially true because critical thinking is not a single discrete outcome but rather a continuum. Although knowledge of a topic makes us better thinkers in a field, there are always some minimal questions one can ask. For example, there is a controversial topic and someone makes some crucial statements about it. Even if you don’t know about the topic, you can ask whether the speaker is an expert on the topic or not. Or you can ask about what kind of evidence he is using. Does the evidence presented come from a reliable source? Why may this person take this side of the argument, but not other alternatives? Are there any other alternative approaches to the same issue? That is, at minimum, the answers to these questions can help us develop sound judgment.

A great case in which many feel lost is the global warming debate. By doing a simple web search on global warming you can find articles both supporting and denying human-caused global warming. But which point of view should you believe? Although there is consensus that global warming is happening, there is disagreement about whether it is caused by our technological conveniences, or whether it is just a result of natural temperature fluctuations in geological time scales (hundreds of thousands of years).

Indeed, the question “which point of view should you believe?” may not be the correct question. Instead, perhaps we should ask why people feverishly debate about this issue. Why do people care a lot about various aspects of global warming and atmospheric science research? A little investigation shows that there is a lot at stake. Accepting that excessive use of energy by humans, which leads to increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, causes global warming has many economic, political, and social consequences. If you agree that man-made global warming can trigger many other events which can eventually make the climate on the Earth fall off-balance, then it follows that many people in the world must change their lifestyles, and this may also mean that some big companies must make changes which may hurt their profits, or that some governments might not use certain political leverage in international relations.

Obviously, it will not be easy to accept such findings, even if they come from some prominent scientists. There are, in fact, scientists on both sides of the aisle. This is because atmospheric science is extremely complex, and even with our best computers modeling the changes in the atmosphere it remains a very hard task. Further investigation also shows that there are different types of evidence people use. Some point to reports prepared with sponsorship from some governments or companies. Some expand on disagreements among scientists, and conclude that no action is needed until all the claims are proven. As we mention above, there are also scientific articles published in “peer-reviewed” journals. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts out consensus statements. In short, it is a complex issue, and the credibility of evidence varies. We leave further investigation on climate change to practice critical thinking to the interested reader.

Critical thinking requires effort, sometimes a lot of effort. Lazy personalities and those who do not like to engage their mental abilities are less likely to perform critical thinking. In this regard, critical thinking is also very different from rote criticism. Rote criticism does not require much effort; typically the statements of the person performing the critique do not have a sound basis. While critical thinking is necessary for a healthy society to clarify especially certain controversial topics, mere criticism of one another can be a means to create unnecessary enmity among individuals.

Critical thinking does not mean that we need to become a skeptic and reject everything. In fact, descriptions of critical thinking involve paying special attention to certain criteria and standards. In practice, if one does not have any reference it becomes very hard to move forward in thought. What needs to be emphasized is that the world is not black and white. It displays a vast variety of colors. We can give more weight to certain colors than to others. What we cannot claim is that there is a single color, and all others are false. We can certainly have certain beliefs, paradigms, and values. These may become the basis for some of the criteria and standards against which we evaluate new information. At times, great events and findings might force us to evaluate certain paradigms we take for granted, too. However, such sharp turns do not happen frequently in the life of an individual or society.

In conclusion, critical thinking skills are essential for everybody. We should be aware of our own shortcomings, biases, prejudgments, as well as the sources, agendas, worldviews, paradigms and the information channels we use when we process new information. Critical thinking cannot be done instantly; it requires effort and courage to come face-to-face with one’s own errors. Teaching critical thinking is not instant, either. Formal and informal education institutions must strive to develop critical thinking skills in students, and such an endeavor might require modification of our approach to teaching. In the final evaluation, it is extremely crucial that we take the necessary steps to increase the number of critical thinkers in the world for the benefit of all humankind.

Dr. Ertan Salik is an Assistant Prof. of Physics at California State Polytechnic Univ, Pomona. As well as teaching and conducting physics research Dr. Salik is currently involved in many education programs.

Notes

1. The Fountain magazine, interview with Ahmad Zewail by Nuh Gedik, Jan-Feb 2009, issue 67.
2. Steffens, Bradley. Ibn-al Haytham: First Scientist, Morgan Reynolds Publishing. Also see Book Review in The Fountain Magazine, issue 63, May-June 2008.
3. Bok, Derek. Our Underachieving Colleges, Princeton Univ Press, 2006.
4. Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction, American Philosophical Association Report, 1990.
5. IPCC consensus statements can be downloaded from http://www.ipcc.ch/.

The teacher-student relationship, or rapport, is the most important factor contributing to effective teaching. How a teacher portrays him/herself or is perceived by the students, the label he/she is given (bad or good teacher) determine the quality of the teaching-learning process.

Numerous studies, a great deal of research, books, and articles all shed light on this topic. Teachers are presented with many suggestions and ideas on how to become a good teacher. On the other hand, it seems that teachers are so bombarded with ideas that they can hardly digest and utilize them in their daily lives.

I would like to take a different approach and highlight an often overlooked corner of this field: How to become a bad teacher.

The principles of teacher-student relationships

Establish friendships with your students, but do not stop there: act like a child. Worry about what to teach rather than how to facilitate the learning process. Assisting one student at a time is good enough. Others can wait. Don’t worry about trying to assist more than one student with group activities. Be presumptuous towards your students. You have years of experience, you can decipher a student in a few minutes.

It is none of your business if the students develop good relations with each other. Do not bother to adopt a leadership role for this purpose. Some teachers try to get the popular students and the not so popular ones together, helping them to respect one another. These are efforts in vain. With your strong presence everybody will behave and that’s good enough.

Students are too young to develop a sense of responsibility anyway. They cannot be taught how to resolve their own problems, make their own decisions and self-criticisms. You must be there to enforce discipline.

Expected teacher behavior

Assign homework as a way of punishment and threaten your students with grades. Adopt one teaching method, preferably one in which you talk and they listen. If it has worked for so many generations, it ought to work for you.

Do not use encouragement or praise. Do not make any jokes. Do not check the student’s work or monitor progress. Let only the high achievers talk in class discussions. You do not have time to waste listening to poor achievers. They probably have nothing to contribute to the discussion anyway.

Do not tell the students what the expected behavior is. Do not provide a suitable environment in which expected behavior can flourish. Let your own behavior be inconsistent with that of your colleagues. When responding to unacceptable behavior or mistakes use negative criticism. Criticize your students instead of their actions. Be easily affected and distracted by negative comments. Discipline your students using only reprimands and punishment. Do not give time for your students to correct themselves.

Do not have a good lesson plan and let the kids be without a task from time to time. Include topics which you have not previously covered in your assignments. Be a book-oriented teacher. Go into your classroom, deliver your lesson, and leave. Remain distant from students. Do not position yourself in such a way that all the students in the room can see you. Turn your back to your class frequently. That way they will learn to value their time with you.

Do not take into consideration physiological and social development phases or the academic levels of your students. Do not cater for the needs of students with different learning paces. Do not let the students enjoy their achievements.

Focus on undesirable behavior rather than desirable behavior. Address some of your students with their first names while calling others “boy” or “girl.” Do not worry about fairness in awarding or punishing your students. Do not speak clearly. Use slang words.

Handle aggressively even minor discipline problems. Do not ignore anything however small it might be. Never laugh with your students and always keep in mind that you may lose control of the class if you do so. The students are expected to be obedient at all times without questioning anything. Tell students off in front of others if you need to. Never forget that discipline is a major problem; this has been suggested by so many other teachers. Ignore the fact that sometimes students may violate the rules because of your attitude. Do not let the students know that bad behavior is actually showing disrespect to themselves.

Teachers must be mean in order to discipline the students. Punish the whole class if you are not able to find the student who caused the discipline problem. Keep in mind that punishment is easier than prevention. Do not inform the administration, even if the students make it impossible for you to conduct the class. Keep it to yourself as this will protect your reputation.

Conclusion

Resist the temptation to listen to the suggestions of educators from around the world, take the easier path and become a bad teacher. Believe me it is very easy.

Service-learning is a program that seeks to promote student learning through experience associated with service in the community. Service-learn-ing gives students the opportunity to help others and reflect on how they have benefited from so doing (Bringle and Hatcher 1996). A well-known Chinese proverb explains this idea as follows: “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I act and I understand.” Service-learning, like an internship, provides students with a concrete, specific task that permits them to apply what is learned in class, to learn what competencies the student has yet to acquire, to explore career interests, and to develop competencies by applying and testing them. Service-learning differs from an ordinary internship, however, because the context and task of the experience is service to a person or group in need, e.g. tutoring inner-city or immigrant students, visiting the incarcerated or hospitalized. As defined by the Commission on National and Community Service, service learning is “a method under which students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experiences that meet actual community needs and that are coordinated in collaboration with the school and the community.”

Service-Learning

Service-learning is a method of teaching by which people learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experiences that: meet community needs, are coordinated in collaboration with college and community, are integrated into each person’s academic curriculum, provide structured time for a person to think, talk, and write about what they did and saw during the actual service activity, provide people with opportunities to use newly acquired academic skills and knowledge in real life situations in their own communities, enhance what is taught in the classroom by extending student learning beyond the classroom, and help to foster the development of a sense of caring about others (adapted from the Alliance for Service-Learning in Education Reform 1993).

Service-learning is an experiential teaching approach that uses community service as a vehicle for teaching specific course-based skills and strategies. Service-learning combines community service and academic learning with “real-world” action that has been subjected to critical reflection. Service-learning can take place in a number of settings: nonprofit agencies, public schools, government agencies, campus organizations, businesses with philanthropic commitments, and many more.

Service-learning emphasizes problem-solving and critical thinking. Service-learning places “curricular concepts in the context of real-life situations” and “empowers students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize these concepts through practical problem-solving” (Alliance 1993, p. 71). Students inevitably encounter issues that must be addressed or obstacles that must be surmounted in order to complete their service-learn-ing projects which generally occur over a single semester, but multi-semester projects can occur as well.

Teachers who incorporate service-learning into their class curriculum act as facilitators in an alternative learning process. How can one know if the students are learning and if the project is successful? Basing final grades on student reflections can be a measure for student learn-ing. Learning may be also assessed through thoughtful class participation, professionalism at the service agency, insightful presentations, or final papers that integrate the service-learn-ing project with the discipline.

What Are the Benefits of Service-Learning?

Service-learning has a profound effect on both teachers and students. Teachers view it as a new or alternative pedagogical approach because it deviates from traditional teaching methods and encourages learning through experience with community agencies. By incorporating service-learn-ing into their curriculum, teachers are able to offer students the opportunity to apply classroom theory to real-life situations. Students view service-learning as a way to integrate what they have learned in the classroom with a real-world environment. By assisting in community organizations, students are giving back to their surround-ing community, while also learning several attributes which will be beneficial in the future. Service-learning provides students a real-world experience and opportunity to field-test knowledge in a supervised context. It also provides community connections for students and encourages civic commitments. Service-learning creates a positive image for the teaching institution (high school, college, or university) and the community.

Service-learning enhances active learning. Service-learning promotes engagement with the community, class colleagues, and the instructor as well as the course content, connects theory to practice through their experiences; students are able to see theory through reality and to test firsthand what they have read in their textbooks and have heard in lectures. Service-learning improves student satisfaction with the school and builds stronger relationships with the teachers, helps the students to explore majors and careers, and fosters civic responsibility as well as a sense of making a difference through service-learning experiences. In this way, students begin to prepare for their role as responsible citizens, who are empowered to bring about positive changes in society, and are encouraged toward a life-long commitment to service. Service-learning brings together academic and community service goals and enables schools to move to a new and more powerful level of fulfillment of their institutional missions; it creates true partnerships, producing higher quality graduates, increasing community support, fostering public relations/publicity and improving student learning. Service-learning provides an infusion of people power to the community, helps fulfill the client/agency needs, accesses school resources, produces a more informed/involved citizenry, and explores new ideas and generates energy (Jacoby 2003, Eyler and Giles 1999, Driscoll and Holland 1996, Markus et al. 1993).

Conclusion

Service-learning requires the cooperation of both the school and the community. Hanifan (1916) stated that the entire community benefits from the cooperation of all its parts. The student benefits from the advantages of the social support of others in the community. Service-learning also has a positive impact on the entire community as a result of these newly formed relationships. Civic agencies are an integral part of any service-learning program and the education of the students. Without the involvement and support of community partners, service-learning programs would not exist. Indeed, community service sites provide many resources to enrich both the school and the students’ education. The agency’s commitment of time and effort to supervise and provide students with meaningful service opportunities is deeply appreciated.

References

• Alliance for Service-Learning in Education Reform (1993). “Standards of quality for School-Based Service-Learning.” Equity & Excellence in Education. 26(2), pp. 71-73.
• Bringle, R. G., Hatcher, J. A., “Implementing service learning in higher education,” Journal of Higher Education, March-April 1996, 67:2, pp. 221-240.
• Coleman, J. (1990). Foundations of Social Theory, Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 1990.
• Driscoll, A., Holland, B., “An Assessment Model for Service-Learning: Comprehensive case studies of Impact on Faculty, Students, Community, and Institutions.” Michigan Journal of Community Service-learning, 1996, 3, 66-71.
• Eyler, J., Giles, D. E. Jr., Where’s the Learning in Service-Learning? Jossey-Bass, San Francisco: 1999.
• Hanifan, L.J., “The rural school community,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1916, 67, 130-138.
• Jacoby, B., Building partnerships for service-learning, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco: 2003.
• Markus, G. B., Howard, J. P. F., King, D. C., “Integrating Community Service and Classroom Instruction Enhances Learning: Results from an Experiment.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 1993, 15, 410-419.
• The National Commission on Service-Learning (2004). Retrieved online from http://servicelearningcommission.org/slcommission/
• Putnam, R.D., Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, New York: 2000. 

When reviewing their lives and educational methods, we must keep their era and mission in mind. For example, global dissemination of God’s message became possible only after the time of Prophet Muhammad. Thus, all previous Revelations were restricted to a specific people and period, and so stressed certain principles. Also, God bestowed special time-dependent favors upon each Prophet and community. For example, Noah was endowed with steadfastness and perseverance; Abraham was honored with intimate friendship with God and being the father of numerous Prophets; Moses was given the ability to administer and was exalted through being God’s direct addressee; and Jesus was distinguished with patience, tolerance, and compassion.(1)

Their miracles reflected that which their societies valued the most at that particular time. For instance, medicine was highly valued by Jesus’ society. Thus, his miracles of raising the dead and curing the blind had the greatest possible impact upon his people. During the Prophet’s time, poetry and eloquence were highly valued, and famous poets were celebrities. The Qur’an, his most significant miracle, was a literary miracle. In the words of a non-Muslim translator of the Qur’an: ‘The Koran is the earliest and by far the finest work of Classical Arabic prose’. It is acknowledged that the Koran is not only one of the most influential books of prophetic literature but also a literary masterpiece in its own right.'(2)

While all Prophets share some of the praiseworthy qualities, each of them surpasses the others in one or more of them because of his mission.(3)

Moses as a Teacher

The Israelites lived a wretched life in Egypt before Moses was sent to them. Due to the Pharaohs’ despotic rule and oppression, slavery had become part of the Israelites’ character. To purge this trait, Moses was sent with stern and rigid rules: the Torah (Law). Thus, he was a somewhat stern and unyielding reformer and educator. The story of the golden calf indicates an important social lesson: Yielding on essential principles of faith is detrimental to a faith-based society. In Egypt, the cow was the main ‘tool’ used to cultivate the land that made Egypt rich. Eventually, its importance caused it to be raised to a divine status.

Although the Israelites were monotheists, this belief, symbolizing wealth, became ingrained in their subconscious. When they settled in the Sinai peninsula, God called Moses to Mount Sinai to talk to him. Moses left his brother Aaron in charge. During his absence, a Sumerian fellow (al-Samiri in the Qur’an) among the Israelites made a golden calf and declared it to be a god that Moses had forgotten. Fearing division, Aaron was lenient. Upon his return, warned the Sumerian and was angry with Aaron, as he had expected Aaron to prevent the reappearance of pagan beliefs. In other words, Moses was sensitive to matters that were critical to the community’s preservation. As monotheism was the main bond of communal identity, Moses worked to prevent future deviations.

Jesus as a Teacher

Jesus was sent to the Israelites at a time when the clergy had been corrupted by their unlimited power and materialism was prevalent. He invited his people to leave conventional wisdom behind in order to live by an alternative wisdom. His wisdom teachings consisted of short memorable sayings and parables that included ‘crystallizations of insight that provoked and invited further insight,'(4) such as: ‘If a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch’ and ‘Leave the dead to bury the dead.’

His parables included short stories and invitations to see the world differently, such as in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Both concise sayings (aphorisms) and parables are evocative and provocative forms of speech. But more importantly, they are invitations to see something previously unseen or to see things differently. We observe an important principle of education in this style: repetition. ‘No great speaker of one-liners tells a great one-liner only once, no great teller of great stories tells a great story only once.'(5)

How we see things and events makes all the difference in our thinking, attitude, and behavior. Jesus pointed to the world of conventional wisdom as a world of blindness, and invited his audience to see differently. Comparing Jesus’ alternative wisdom with that of the Prophet reveals many parallels:

Jesus Trained His Apostles

Let’s examine how Jesus trained his apostles by means of a program based upon a detailed pedagogical program6 that provided a comprehensive education.7 According to Schirrmacher, the main tenets were the following:

1. Jesus limited his group, for just as a parent can properly care for only a few children, he could train properly only a few followers at a time.

2. The goal of this intensive fellow-ship and dependence was mission preparation.

3. The training program followed a clear plan. The apostles were to be trained by living and working for several years with Jesus, who served as a prototype. He followed a clear order: He first preached alone, then preached while the apostles watched, then let them preach while He watched, and then sent them out in groups of two and afterwards discussed the results with them. This first, short-term assignment is described in Matthew 10:1-11, Mark 6:7-13, and Luke 9:1-6. Finally, he sent them out alone as described in Matthew 28:18-20. The Apostles trained other Christians in the same way.

4. His training program included all aspects of instruction and life, theory and practice, individual and group counseling, personal and public activity, activity and rest, professional and private life. Teaching and counseling formed a single unit.

Jesus’ miracles also played an important role here. Just like the miracles of other prophets, they removed the doubt in some believers’ hearts, challenged the unbelievers’ view, and further strengthened his followers’ bonds.

Analyzing how the Prophet interacted with his Companions reveals that he employed various educational methods. He emerges as a resourceful educator who sometimes asked, and at other times answered, questions. Sometimes he limited his answer to the question; other times he went beyond the question. Sometimes he illustrated a concept through parables, diverted a question to a different path, or told his Companions to write down his words. He drew figures and used body language, repeated a statement three times when it contained a critical lesson, and used symbolic language with implications or else clear and unambiguous words. He also used humor, puzzles, comparisons, and asking seemingly obvious questions to raise curiosity. The most important educational principle was using himself as a living example.

Teaching by Character. One of the first lessons of public speaking is that one’s character speaks louder than one’s words. The Prophet, whose words and actions were in perfect agreement, was a perfect leader and educator. For example, he often advised his Companions to pray during the night, for such a time provided an ideal, uninterrupted environment for reflection, thanksgiving, and prayer. His wife ‘A’isha related that he would wake up in the middle of the night and ask her for permission to pray. He prayed so much that one time she asked him if doing so was really necessary. He replied: ‘Shall I not be a thankful servant to my Lord, Who has bestowed upon me so many bounties?’

Gradual teaching of principles. Ibn Mas’ud, a Companion, relates: ‘We would learn 10 verses from the Prophet, and would not continue with new verses until we internalized and practiced those 10 verses.’

Be moderate and prefer ease over difficulty. The most authentic books of the Prophetic Traditions, Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim relate the following saying: ‘Make it easier and not difficult. Give good news (endear) and do not alienate and repel.’8 ‘A’isha related: ‘When the messenger of God was left with a choice, he would always prefer the easier option, other things being equal.’

Observing the learner’s circumstances. Bukhari 7:140 relates: ‘A man asked the Prophet for permission to fight in God’s cause. The Prophet asked him: ‘Are your parents alive?’ The man said: ‘Yes.’ The prophet told him: ‘Go and serve them as best as you can.” Many Companions asked him what was the best deed in God’s sight. The Prophet answered according to the situation. When Abu Dharr asked: ‘O messenger of God, advise me (a good deed).’ He replied: ‘Be God-conscious wherever you are, clean your sins by immediately following them with a good deed, and treat the people around you in the best manner possible.’ Another Companion asked: ‘O messenger of God, advise me (a good deed), but keep it short so that I can remember.’ He replied ‘Don’t get angry.’ The man repeated his question two more times, and the Prophet gave the same reply.

Teaching by dialog or asking questions. Questions demand attention. Starting a dialog with a question prepares one for the message. The Prophet made great use of this technique. Bukhari (2:9) relates that the Messenger of God asked: ‘If a river ran by your door and you bathed in it five times a day, would any dirt remain on your body?’ The Companions answered that no dirt would remain. He continued: ‘The daily prayer is such a river. God cleanses you of sins with these prayers.’ We also see this technique in Bukhari (32:1:6251), where Abu Hurayra narrates that the Messenger asked: ‘Do you know who is the real bankrupt among my people?’ The Companions answered: ‘The one without money or property.’ He said: ‘The real bankrupt is the one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with prayers, fast, and charity but nevertheless finds himself bankrupt on that day. He will have exhausted his good deeds because he reviled others, brought calumny against them, devoured their wealth unlawfully, shed their blood, and beat them. So his good deeds will be credited to the account of those (who suffered at his hand). If his good deeds do not clear the account, their sins will be added to his account and he will be thrown in the (Hell) Fire.’

Teaching by comparison and parable. Comparisons and parables help people understand a new concept. Bringing a similar concept as an example makes the new aspects of the concept in question easier to digest. Comparisons and parables that refer to common and strong experiences improve the memory of the new concept that is learned. Muslim (6:83) relates that the Prophet told his Companions: ‘A good friend is like a person who carries amber (which has a fragrant pleasant smell). If nothing else, his pleasant smell will get on you. A bad friend, on the other hand, is like a blacksmith. Even if the dust of his work does not touch you, its fumes do.’

Using body language. Our visual memory far surpasses our audio memory. We remember images and scenes with great ease and speed. With body language, a good educator can make a lasting impression. Bukhari (9:389) relates that the Messenger of God said: ‘One who cares for an orphan and I will be this close in Paradise,’ and he pointed to his index and middle fingers.

Taking advantage of the occasion. Bukhari (8:458) relates that the Companion Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali relates that: ‘One night we were watching full moon with the Prophet. He looked at it and said: ‘All of you will see your Lord on the Day of Judgment just like you see this full moon. None of you will be denied the opportunity to see your Lord.’

Using humor. In Abu Dawud,9 it is related that a man asked the Prophet for a riding animal. The Prophet asked: ‘Would it be alright if I put you on the calf of a female camel?’ The man said: ‘O Messenger of God, what good will that do me?’ and received the following reply: ‘Isn’t every camel the calf of a female camel?’

These are just a few of the many methods the Prophet used to educate his people. Other methods include, but are not limited to, the following: teaching by drawing, diverting the answer toward a different path, asking for the question to be repeated, letting the audience answer, teaching by approval, repeating to emphasize and establish, hiding the culprit or target or subject, describing a concept briefly and then in detail, leaving something ambiguous for the audience to discover, listing and then describing, combining encouragement and discouragement, teaching by stories and stories of past people.

Conclusion

Prophets were sent to the humanity to deliver God’s message in the most effective manner. Every Prophet strove to accomplish his mission by using those educational methods that were best suited to their mission. Today’s educators and parents can learn many lessons from their lives.

Footnotes

1. M. F. Gulen. Online at: www.pearls.org/prophets
2. N. J. Dawood, The Koran (Penguin Classics: 1997).
3. Gulen, www.pearls.org.
4. M. Borg, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith (Harper San Fransisco: 1994). Online at: www.united.edu/portrait/wisdom2.shtml.
5. Ibid.
6. T. Schirrmacher, Jesus as Master Educator (1999). Online at: www.visi.com/~contra_m/ab/schirrmacher/educator.html.
7. A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve (Kregel Publications: 2000 [1894]).
8. M. Khan (trans.), Sahih al-Bukhari: The Translation of the Meanings (Darussalam Publishers: 1997), 1:163 and A. H. Siddiqi (trans.), Sahih Muslim (Kitab Bhavan: 2000), 12:42. All subsequent Tradition citations are taken from these two sources.
9. Harf Information Technology, Hadith Encyclopedia (Egypt: 1996).