Read Part 1: An Invitation to CBU Faculty and Students<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ____<\/p>\n\n\n\n The First Relationship: Myself and I <\/p>\n\n\n\n If we are to live connected lives, the first relationship to be re-examined is our relationship with our selves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his book, \u201cThe Courage to Teach \u2013 Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher\u2019s Life\u201d<\/em><\/a> Parker J. Palmer states that \u201cwe teach who we are.\u201d Parker adds \u201cTeaching, like any truly human activity emerges from one\u2019s inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together.\u201d Consequently, knowing ourselves is as crucial to good teaching as knowing our students and respective subjects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So how are we to do this? We can start by first examining our fears. Fear is primal and also universal. Palmer<\/a> says we as educators, in particular, swim in fear. I\u2019m a terrible swimmer, but I\u2019m pretty good at swimming in these types of waters. And I can identify at least my three big oceans: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since our cognitions are connected to our emotions and actions, one of the easiest things to do when we have fearful thoughts is to disconnect emotionally and relationally. When we retreat, the deep waters become even more difficult to tread as we struggle with unhealthy egos, despair, and isolation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But here is the good news: Although this deep inner work starts with us, it doesn\u2019t have to end with us. The antidote is community and connection. Palmer adds: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we want to grow as teachers \u2013 we must do something alien to academic culture; we must talk to each other about our inner lives \u2013 risky stuff in a profession that fears the personal and seeks safety in the technical, the distant, the abstract.\u201d <\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The current practice literature on leadership has raised our awareness of the importance of emotional intelligence and vulnerability in strong leaders. Bren\u00e9 Brown is a social work professor and researcher who studies about shame and connection, states \u201cVulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage.\u201d Her TED Talk on the Power of Vulnerability<\/a> is one of the top five most-viewed TED talks in the world, with over 50 million views.3<\/sup> Henri Nouwen similarly writes in \u201cIn the Name of Jesus \u2013 Reflections on Christian Leadership\u201d<\/em><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSomehow we have come to believe that good leadership requires a safe distance from those we are called to lead. Medicine, psychiatry, and social work all offer us models in which \u2018service\u2019 takes place in a one-way direction. Someone serves, someone else is being served, and be sure not to mix up the roles! But how can we lay down our life for those with whom we are not even allowed to enter a deep personal relationship? Laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life.\u201d <\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n If we are to show more fully in our relationships, we must first show up fully to ourselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And when we show up as our most honest and authentic selves, we can call forth the same in our students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As CBSS faculty, we have the opportunity to lead by example to create this type of environment here at CBU. Who else is better equipped than Christian behavioral scientists, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, and social workers to set a new culture and do the \u201crisky stuff\u201d that Palmer encourages us to do if we want to flourish as a university? If not us, who?<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflect and Discuss:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Coming Next: Part 3: Designed for Co-Creation: Teacher and Student<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n _______________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/cshb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/04\/silas-baisch-ceITO2rlDgc-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/cshb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/10\/russ-bermejo-3-1024x577.png\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"