My very first teaching gig was in the Adult and Vocational Ed teacher credentialing program at UC Berkeley. I taught there for two years, before moving on to other things. Those classes were so inspirational for me… my students were working teachers of all ages who taught all over the Bay Area. They taught in [ Read more … ]
getting messy
Creating third space when you teach, train, coach or mentor
I’m getting ready to fly to the midwest to do a workshop and book event in my hometown. In honor of the occasion, I’ll share a few words on “third space” in the teaching, training, coaching and mentoring relationship. (You can read more in chapter 6 of my book, Getting Messy: A Guide to Taking [ Read more … ]
What is aesthetic space and why is it important?
Philosophers throughout history have asserted that “the fundamental nature of the world is aesthetic” (Alfred North Whitehead, Gregory Bateson,James Hillman, Martin Foss,Donald Winnicott to name a few.) The word aesthetics comes from the Greek word “aisthenesthai” which is the ability to perceive. James Hillman writes, “Aesthetics in this primordial sense involves sensing the things of [ Read more … ]
Don’t know what you’re doing? You’re on the right track.
When I started teaching professionally, I was faced with a dilemma: Present information in the conventional manner and try to look and act the part of “The Expert,” or on the other hand, honor the inspiration of my own unique creative process. I tried my best to do the first option and it didn’t fit [ Read more … ]
The doorway to your genius
In a meeting in late December 2006, the President of a small university asked me what course I wanted to teach in their Ph.D. Psychology program. Instead of responding with the curricula that I was already prepared to teach, to my surprise I found myself blurting out… “metaphor.” The topic was right there; there was [ Read more … ]
