By Maria Sermersheim
Meditatione Ignis
My classes this semester have been phenomenal, and one professor in particular is notable for her excellent seminar management. A friend of mine has described her guidance of our class discussions as similar to that of an orchestra conductor, and I cannot think of a better comparison. This professor is attentive to the signs of students who wish to contribute, she is able to draw out the tentative contributions of others, and she responds to each comment in a way that appreciates what is good, gently redirects what may be less accurate and builds the conversation forward to a productive understanding of our object. Observing her guidance of the classroom this semester has spurred me to think much more about how I conduct conversations and attend to different personalities in group settings, because as essential as her direction is for the flow of class, she also seems to manage it in a perfectly unobtrusive way, where the subject of conversation remains the focus, not her own interventions or predetermined aims. I think we can all learn from her; so, what are the keys to being a good social conductor?
The first key is attentiveness. My professor is keenly aware of the subtle signals her students make when they have thoughts to share but are not yet brave enough to volunteer them, but she is also able to ease the pressure of being put on the spot, and this is the second key: encouragement. She helps students to work out their comments and uncertainties out loud, helping them be brave. A third key is precision in appreciation: she does not over-validate comments that may lead us off-topic or misinterpret the readings, but she does make the most of what is best in them. And the fourth key is being goal-oriented: she always fits the new contributions into the flow of the things other classmates said before, finding a way to weave it all together to explore certain important themes. In pursuing this goal, though, she never tramples over our points, and she uses our genuine thoughts to build up the whole.
Now, why have I spent this article analyzing my professor’s excellent pedagogical practices and making the analogy to a “social conductor”? What is the payoff for ordinary people and their lives of faith? It seems to me that these skills of being a good social conductor are not only ways for us to live charity in social settings, but they are also a model for us in all of our relationships. As friends and siblings, we need to be attentive to the other, to listen and to appreciate all the goodness they bring to our lives. We need to build each other up to the goal of holiness. As parents, especially, we need to encourage growth without making the formation of the child more about ourselves than about God; my professor’s unobtrusive, subtle support is instructive in this regard. Even as strangers, we need to be able to recognize others’ needs and the encouragement that we could give them, placing our interactions with them in the larger conversation of our lives and not forgetting them as if they were a useless side comment. Taking our cues from this excellent professor, may we all recognize the good in others, draw it out for its own sake, and weave together the many melodies for a grand symphony which glorifies not the conductor, but God.