The Way of Oz: A Guide to Wisdom, Heart, and Courage

3: Learning: An Integrated Perspective

I perceived that you had acquired some knowledge . . . from others, and that you were perplexed and bewildered; yet you sought to find out a solution to your difficulty. I urged you to desist from this pursuit, and enjoined you to continue your studies systematically; for my object was that the truth should present itself in connected order, and that you should not hit upon it by mere chance. Moses Maimonides (1135–1204), Talmudic scholar, philosopher, physician, and author of the broadly influential text The Guide for the Perplexed (1190) The “connected order” Maimonides recommended in The Guide for the Perplexed is relevant to our twenty-first-century world, including his timeless advice to “observe, study and seek understanding .” Division chief Rufus E. Miles, Jr. (1910–1996), of the US Bureau of the Budget, coined the aphorism that “where you stand is where you sit,” meaning that your position in an organization shapes your views, whether they are related to personnel or program development, philosophic perspectives or policies. In the context of this book, you might consider a modification of Miles’s law, that where you stand is related not only to where you sit but also to what you read, what you write, what you communicate , and what you experience. Experiences come alive when they involve interactions among all the elements of learning, particularly as they relate to learn3 Learning: An Integrated Perspective The Way of Oz and Learning.........................60 ing and wisdom, because learning in and of itself does not lead to wisdom. The eminent psychologist Robert Sternberg wrote: Wisdom is defined as the application of knowledge, successful intelligence, and creativity toward the achievement of a common good through a balance among intrapersonal, interpersonal, and extrapersonal interests, over the short and long terms, through the infusion of positive ethical values. That is, wisdom is the skill of using one’s intelligence, as well as one’s knowledge, for a common good, today and long into the future. Why is wisdom so important? Just consider what can happen when great intelligence is not accompanied by wisdom. Hitler, Stalin, and many other crackpot despots have shown how different intelligence and wisdom can be. In short, your understanding—your learning—involves many activities. Indeed, effective learning comes from your integrated efforts that mutually reinforce and support combinations of learning, loving, and serving— wisdom, heart, and courage—guided by a focus on the future and humility. In other words, learning is integral to and supported by what I have termed the Way of Oz. Living in the Integrated Learning Model You may know the work of jazz composer and performer Michael Franks, whose lyrics integrate learning and understanding from many fields. In Franks’s song “A Walk in the Rain,” for example, he writes, “I lived in a painting by Renoir” (Barefoot on the Beach, 1999). Consider this line and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting the Luncheon of the Boating Party, which portrays a group of friends who have been out in a boat, now enjoying a con- 61.........................Learning: An Integrated Per