Volume 5, Issue 10

Martin Luther King Jr. said "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." This book is about ending the silence in higher education. The silence about the extent to which, despite their avowed intentions, our institutions do not provide an environment in which students are encouraged to learn about their own purposes and values and to seek solutions to larger human and societal issues. The silence about the ways in which our institutions continue to maintain structures and reward systems that result in discontinuities and fragmentation between professional and personal lives. And the silence about our institutional restrictions on the exercise of innovative leadership and bold new directions in teaching, learning, and scholarship. In Chapter One we call upon institutions of higher education to once again direct the huge intellectual resources of our faculty and administrators to addressing the major social, economic, political and environmental crises of the 21st century. Part Two suggests specific ways to meet this challenge and provides a variety of innovative practices in the areas of curriculum, pedagogy, student affairs, and integrating spirit and community. The first two chapters in Part Three outline the challenges involved with planned change, and suggest specific strategies for implementing institutional planning processes, professional development, and assessment that incorporate authenticity and values. Clearly to accomplish the institutional amplification we call for requires powerful leadership, individuals who are willing and able to lead from the soul.

An overemphasis on individual achievement can lead, however, to self-indulgence. College students are daily bombarded by messages from television, cinema, etc., that encourage them to pursue only their own self-interest.

The author shows how student teachers can explore the idea of vocation by reading and discussing two children's books. She begins her paper with the examination of the concept of "vocation" held by writers Parker Palmer and David Hansen.

Because of their special role of supporting and advocating student development, it is important for student affairs administrators to respond to the spirituality movement by deepening their own resources and understanding.

The authors of this book examine important issues relating to such concerns as the teaching of values in the formal curriculum and the place of religious activities on campus.