Learning as Parents

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Learning as Parents
November 06, 2010

This month has been busy writing and editing the book. The good news is, my editor and I have talked recently and we are excited about how the book is shaping up. Because we want it to be the best it can be, we are waiting to release the book until February 15, 2011 (the bad news?). With the holidays, we had to add in a bit of extra time.

So, the other good news is that I am extending the pre-order special until December 31, 2010. You can still order the book for $15 and get free shipping until then. You can pre-order the book through the website.

Go to pre-order page….

As part of the process of researching and writing the book, I have spent many, many hours reading research articles on the impact of psychological control of children. Much of the research literature confirms what we’ve experienced in our own lives about the negative impact of controlling children. I’m excited to include a lot of this newer research in the book.

I also have spent time reading articles about adult learning and transformative learning. In my experience as a teacher and facilitator with undergraduate students, and in my own learning process, I saw and experienced transformative learning on a daily basis. It has been fun to read more about how researchers view the transformative learning process and its impact on us as adults.

I have written a couple of new articles about this transformative learning process for us as parents.

Critical Reflection

“Only when one is able to hold the uncertainty created by anxiety long enough for risks to be taken is one capable of critical reflection. This means that critical reflection should be conceptualized as an experience linking reason and feeling instead of an experience of controlling emotions.” This quote got me thinking about the role of critical reflection in our learning as parents.

Balancing Thinking and Feeling

One of the values expressed in our culture is a belief that thinking is of a higher value than feeling. As human processes, thinking and feeling are often put at opposite ends of the spectrum. In many ways, we ignore the role of feeling and emotion in the learning process.