{"id":3995,"date":"2015-06-08T18:40:30","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T22:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2015\/06\/08\/professor-henderson-convocation-2015-address\/"},"modified":"2022-11-07T17:24:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T22:24:32","slug":"professor-henderson-convocation-2015-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/professor-henderson-convocation-2015-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Henderson Convocation 2015 Address"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAspects of Transformation\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott Henderson<\/strong><\/p>\n

William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Education<\/strong><\/p>\n

Furman University Convocation<\/strong><\/p>\n

September 3, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Good morning.\u00a0 As the title of my talk indicates, I\u2019m going to spend a few minutes discussing something that President Davis has emphasized on previous occasions.\u00a0 Specifically, I want to talk about an education that not only informs<\/em>, but also transforms<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Scott Henderson spoke on “Aspects of Transformation” at the 2015 fall convocation.<\/p><\/div>\n

First, let\u2019s see what the dictionary says about the word transform<\/em>.\u00a0 Dictionary.com provides this utterly professorial <\/em>definition:\u00a0 to transform<\/strong> is to become transformed<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 That was helpful, wasn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Fortunately, another online dictionary provides the following definition for transform<\/em>: to <\/em><\/strong>change<\/em><\/strong> the outward form or inner character<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Having once taught middle-school students, I can tell you that there isn\u2019t a whole lot a teacher can do to change the outward form of a student<\/em> (bovine gum-chewing notwithstanding)\u2014and because Furman extends a laudable liberality with respect to what our students wear and how they\u2014AIR QUOTES\u2014\u201cstyle\u201d themselves, I think it would be safer for me to confine my remarks to inner character<\/em> instead of outer form<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Before identifying which aspects of inner character we might wish to transform, let me take a moment to talk about how fast<\/em> we can expect those changes to occur.\u00a0 Basic physics tells us that velocity equals distance divided by time.\u00a0 To put it differently, velocity depends on how far<\/em> you have to go and how much time<\/em> you are given to get there.\u00a0 And therein lies the rub. We are living in an era when policymakers and elected officials often set highly unrealistic educational goals.\u00a0 They want our children\u2014both individually and collectively\u2014to make dramatic gains\u2014to travel great academic distances<\/em>\u2014in very short periods of time.\u00a0 Even more frustrating, we are told that these gains must be quantifiable<\/em>; nothing, it seems, matters unless you can affix a number to it. \u00a0Colleges and universities are not exempt from these contemporary fetishes.\u00a0 More and more colleges are having to report the standardized test scores of their graduates\u2014for instance, GRE and LSAT results.\u00a0 Furthermore, there are increasing calls for a national exit exam that all<\/em> college graduates would be required<\/em> to take\u2014and whose results would form the basis of \u201cgrading\u201d institutions of higher learning.\u00a0 That would certainly make us retreat back to the monasteries.<\/p>\n

I assert that we make a fundamental mistake if we think that a transformative<\/em> education\u2014a change in inner character<\/em>\u2014can occur rapidly.\u00a0 We are not alchemists and this is not Hogwarts.\u00a0 Indeed, if a student comes to class tomorrow morning and says, \u201cDr. Henderson, I was transformed<\/em> last night,\u201d I will immediately send that student to the infirmary\u2014or suggest that he\/she read a little less Kafka. \u00a0(If necessary, feel free to Google \u201cKafka.\u201d)\u00a0 I would further submit that in educational terms<\/em>, even the span of four years qualifies as an overnight sleepover.\u00a0 With regard to the issue of quantification<\/em>, it rarely has any validity or even relevance when we speak of inner character<\/em>.\u00a0 Who among you could quantify<\/em> the impact of your one or two most influential teachers?\u00a0 Were you transformed from a 5 to a 7?\u00a0 Or were you closer to a 6 who became an 8?\u00a0 I think you get my point.<\/p>\n

Let me now suggest three things that Furman students should look for in terms of transformations\u2014though no two people will experience them at the same time or in exactly the same way.<\/p>\n

First, Furman seeks to transform closed minds<\/em><\/strong> into liberated intellects<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 No, I didn\u2019t say \u201cliberal intellectuals\u201d\u2014I said \u201cliberated intellects.\u201d\u00a0 One of the oldest and noblest objectives of a liberal arts education is to liberate the mind to doubt intelligently<\/em>. \u00a0That\u2019s what we mean by a liberated intellect.\u00a0 I hasten to add that this doesn\u2019t mean you should question everything all the time<\/em>; that\u2019s the opposite of acting \u201cintelligently.\u201d\u00a0 I should also add that you shouldn\u2019t doubt only the views of others<\/em>.\u00a0 You must apply thoughtful skepticism to your own beliefs <\/em>as well.<\/p>\n

Second, Furman seeks to transform unreflective speakers<\/em><\/strong> into perceptive listeners<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 I once heard the concept of \u201clistening\u201d defined in the following manner: \u00a0\u201cListening is not an activity that can occur when your lips are moving.\u201d\u00a0 It took me a minute or two to get that\u2014I must have been talking instead of listening.\u00a0 At any rate, we live in a world in which people increasingly talk past <\/em>one another instead of to<\/em> one another.\u00a0 Worse still, if we refuse to listen, we miss the chance to potentially learn something\u2014or even more important, re-learn<\/em> something.\u00a0 Our own silence can sometimes be the best<\/em> teacher.<\/p>\n

Third, Furman seeks to transform mutual exclusion<\/em><\/strong> into mutual inclusion<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 When we state that two things are mutually exclusive, we mean that they cannot co-exist.\u00a0 And yet one of the great problems confronting the human race has been\u2014and continues to be\u2014the ability of different races, religions, philosophies, and ideas to peacefully co-exist.\u00a0 Residential colleges and universities are on the forefront of this kind of real-world problem-solving.\u00a0 To take but one of countless examples, Furman and other colleges have the opportunity to show the rest of society how to welcome individuals who identify as transgender.\u00a0 Mind you, words alone will not be sufficient.\u00a0 As the philosopher John Locke noted in his 1690 essay entitled Some Thoughts on Education<\/em>: \u201cPeople learn most by example.\u00a0 Thus, we should not wonder why children better understand what they see <\/em>than what they hear<\/em>.\u201d Or, as a participant in the current cohort of the Riley Institute\u2019s Diversity Leaders Initiative recently noted:\u00a0 \u201cDiversity is a fact, but inclusion is a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are three of the primary\u2014though not the only<\/em>\u2014aspects of a transformative education.\u00a0 You cannot find them on a midterm exam, or in an acceptance letter to graduate school, or in a year-end bonus from your employer.\u00a0 Rather, you will find them in what the ancient Greeks referred to as \u201chuman flourishing\u201d\u2014which in the most literal sense means \u201cgood spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

With confidence and eagerness, let us all begin this new academic year by making our way toward the goal of a good spirit<\/em>.<\/p>\n

THANK YOU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAspects of Transformation\u201d Scott Henderson William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Education Furman University Convocation September 3, 2015   Good morning.\u00a0 As the title of my talk indicates, I\u2019m going […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":15247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}