Module Eight Contemplative Reflection

Right at the beginning of the quarter, in Module 1, you chose a non-human teacher. Many weeks have passed since you completed that exercise and you should have become more acquainted with your non-human teacher.  Your lives, and the world in general, have undergone many changes in the intervening weeks.  The only assignment you have for this module is to reflect upon some of these changes and write a posting about them.  Specifically, I invite you to think about your interaction with and attitudes towards your non-human teacher and any changes in it(if any) as a result of your studies in this class. How did this reflect the change of development of your ideas? What factors nurtured your learning? What challenged it or threatened to endanger it? What are the ‘fruits’ of your learning? What, if anything, has your non-human teacher taught you? You don’t need to be too analytical in this process – remember to adopt the contemplative, ‘deep listening’ approach, and feel free to just write without too much analytical censoring. We have undertaken this class during the winter time. Your non-human teacher may or may not have sprouted and blossomed in that time. In this respect, you could see it as a metaphor for your own learning. Try to ‘listen deeply’ to your non-human teacher and the process of growing.  What does it tell you?