Hey, I could repeat that hour on the lawn every day with the same support group until sitting in snow got uncomfortable. Palmer apparently is correct when he says that, if we want to grow as teachers, "we must do something alien to academic culture: we must talk to each other about our inner lives..." (12). I appreciate having a shared context (the reading) and an established level of trust that made such a conversation possible.
Lest we doubt importance of that work we strive to do 180 days a year at the dangerous intersection of personal and public life, let me remind everyone in the Palmer book group to remember that golden moment when Bobbi's student recognized her and came running across the grass radiating absolute joy at seeing someone who so obviously had made a difference in her life. Bobbi, I will treasure that memory.
What is lingering with me at this late hour tonight (past my bedtime, so I'll try to make it quick) is seeing a connection between Palmer and Qualley about subjectivity/objectivity. Obviously, the quality of our inner life is paramount to Palmer. And what is more subjective than our inner life, our selfhood, which in our culture is "not a source to be tapped but a danger to be suppressed, not a potential to be fulfilled but an obstacle to be overcome" (p. 18). Palmer decries the "academic bias against subjectivity" in no uncertain terms on p. 19 when he says that it "not only forces our students to write poorly...but also deforms their thinking about themselves and their world."
Well, here my brain makes the leap to Qaulley when she says, "...The only cure for subjectivity is reflexivity, which is more and better subjectivity, more discriminating, and more self-critical subjectivity." I think Qualley must be implying what Sherrie directly called the myth of objectivity. If there is no such thing as objectivity, there is instead the goal of a heightened and refined subjectivity that has been purified repeatedly through the sieve of reflexivity. The Gandalfs and the Obi Wan Kenobis of this world have achieved this level of purity, which makes them seem godlike to us lesser mortals. At this moment my mind goes back to a line from a cult classic from the late 60s called Jonathan Livingston Seagull "Perfect speed is being there." Well, there is no such thing as "perfect objectivity", or we would "be there"---at omniscient objectivity. But we can strive for better, larger, more perfect subjectivity, and if that suddenly sounds like the formula for the spiritual dimensions of the hero quest, I can live with that (and I hope I do).
May the force be with you :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The problem with objectivity is that the vast majority of people do not recognize the phrase "objective opinion" (as in the question "Can I have your objective opinion?") as an oxymoron.
ReplyDeleteEven statements of empirical fact are not entirely objective because the rhetor (my word for either writer or speaker) still has to make some choices in choosing that particular fact to remark upon. Even if I remarked that "the temperature of the room is 84 degrees" this statement reflects a degree of subjectivity because I am using the Fahrenheit system rather than the Celsius designation and because I chose to say something about the temperature rather than the humidity or a gazillion other facts I might refer to.
OK. Where did I miss the heavy talk on subjectivity/objectivity? I will check my notes but this is totally awesome to contemplate! Too early in the morning to stretch this far without a some exercise!
ReplyDeleteOur group would surely embrace your Palmer book.
I don't mean to gush, but the articulate phrase "If there is no such thing as objectivity, there is instead the goal of a heightened and refined subjectivity that has been purified repeatedly through the sieve of reflexivity" makes me tingle.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Lynn. I agree, the visit from Bobbi's student must have been scripted by God. It was a great moment--a blessing to have been in the audience. And the connection you're making between Palmer and Qualley, and the definition of objectivity as "a heightened and refined subjectivity" knocks me out.
ReplyDeleteLynn,
ReplyDeleteHow I would love to be a poetry poster on your wall. I love that I have had the pleasure of your accompanyment on the car ride to Athens. Your insight helps my low comprehension skills take shapes that I am finding throughout my life. I now have an understanding that your prose is just breathtaking. I find myself looking for your blogs to see what you have so eliquently molded together.