Sentipensante (Sensing / Thinking) Pedagogy

by Laura I. Rendón, Mark Nepo (Foreword)

* Defines seven steps to unlocking the potential of teachers and their students * Deeply informed by the author's educational journey as a minority woman from a background of rural povertyThe motivation for the quest that Laura Rendon shares in this book was the realization that she, along with many educators, had lost sight of the deeper, relationship-centered essence of education, and lost touch with the fine balance between educating for academics and educating for life. Her purpose is to reconnect readers with the original impulse that led them to become educators; and to help them rediscover, with her, their passion for teaching and learning in the service of others and for the well being of our society.She offers a transformative vision of education that emphasizes the harmonic, complementary relationship between the "sentir" of intuition and the inner life and the "pensar" of intellectualism and the pursuit of scholarship; between teaching and learning; formal knowledge and wisdom; and between Western and non-Western ways of knowing. In the process she develops a pedagogy that encompasses wholeness, multiculturalism, and contemplative practice, that helps students transcend limiting views about themselves; fosters high expectations, and helps students to become social change agents. She invites the reader to share her journey in developing sentipensante pedagogy, and to challenge seven entrenched agreements about education that act against wholeness and the appreciation of truth in all forms. She offers examples of her own teaching and of the classroom practices of faculty she encountered along the way; as well as guidance on the challenges, rewards and responsibilities that anyone embarking on creating a new vision of teaching and learning should attend to.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Grad School, Academic

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Bart Everson]

We read this book at Xavier University of Louisiana for our seventh annual Fall Faculty Book Club, sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

At our final meeting, I asked our participating faculty to jot down some thoughts. Here is what they wrote.

The book challenged traditional approaches to teaching and learning and challenged readers to embrace a holistic approach to teaching which brings together both mind and heart and embraces a social justice stance.

Very comforting to have so many others feel as I do. Important to remember that we are responsible for our own outcomes and we cannot really focus on how this pedagogical endeavor affects others even though you hope it will be positive. The potential latent value of sentipensante practices is also intriguing as is the collateral leaning component.

The book provided an interesting conversation about the nuts and bolts of implementing contemplative pedagogy in the classroom.

Useful discussion on how to sustain myself in my career — by building sustenance into my professional and personal life, blended.

Thought provoking! This book points out our society's disconnect with the whole self and emphasizes its obsession with reaching non-integrative goals and measures. My questions is, "How do we change this?"

The best practices are subversive. Love is subversive!

The book reinforced the idea that the goal of education is to develop well-rounded individuals who possess knowledge and wisdom. Professors need to design a relationship-centered classroom based on caring, support and validation. Tests and grades should not be used as punitive measures, but as feedback mechanisms that assist in determining where the student is at a particular point in time.

Laura Rendón describes how to incorporate sensing/thinking pedagogy. Although the author describes the process eloquently, at times the book is lengthy.

This was a good read in that it made me think about what I do and how I can be more effective. There are a lot of great ideas, but sometimes the narrative was so subjective that it did not seem scholarly.

Examples of involving/engaging students were wonderful and inspiring.

What repercussions will we face if we do not acknowledge the existence of the emotional and spiritual along with the intellectual? Woe unto humanity if we do not!

Sentipensante pedagogy is concerned with engagement strategies that are associated with a rational and contemplative education. Engaging sentipensante pedagogy can be transformative and liberating.

On the whole, I felt it was a bit idealistic, however it does bring up some important points. We should always remember to nurture the whole students. I thinnk depending on the class and enthusiasm of the instructor one could be successful with this strategy, and we should all strive to be.

A voice crying in the wilderness, but there are more and more voices!

[Lisa Chaddock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is similar to a lot of the books on the market right now. If you haven't read the current ideas on pedagogy, then this book is a good start. I would continue work, however, with the science of how the brain learns physiologically, especially if you are teaching in the STEM fields.

My favorite statement, "not every professor ought to adopt her philosophy of teaching...it is more important for students to be exposed to more than her kind of pedagogy." It's refreshing to see an author open to a variety of teaching types and styles, so this book does tap into a few things that are easily forgotten while teaching. Culture and personal style do make a difference in how we all teach and how we are received.

The section on setting high standards was also of value, because, as an educator, there is so much pressure from elected officials to get students to pass that we are hard pressed to figure out how to actually help them learn. This book does have some interesting strategies that are helpful when teaching to a diverse classroom.

So, in essence, this is a good book to add to the annual reading list for teachers, and most especially if you are teaching in a diverse classroom.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Modern educational theories are more like religions that people believe in than practices based in reality. This is another example of a book with a well-meaning author who wants to help students succeed, but that falls short in actually providing any pragmatic solutions. I am getting my master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and nearly every book I have read in the program with modern education theories are like this one, so far from reality and disconnected from sociopolitical contexts that they are impossible to implement. While this book has some good points, they are already established and accepted. I did not learn how to be a better teacher through reading it.

[Mya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning more about this type of pedagogy (sensing/thinking). I think with all that students and teachers have gone though with COVID this book gives a great way to encourage whole-person learning and ways to engage both the feeling and the thinking sides of the teacher and the student.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stars for the content and two for the writing style. The message of holistic, feeling-thinking teaching is inspiring, but the delivery was too repetitive and general at times. I think hearing Rendon speak about these concepts and research may have been more powerful than reading about them.

[Ric Montelongo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Rendon is not only a well respected researcher in higher education, but one of the most spiritual individuals whose work reflects her belief that teaching can be sacred and transformative. This book contains wonderful insights from educators who reflect the sentipensante pedagogy.

[Kathrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come.

[The Cholo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. More than enjoyed. I had an ecstatic pedagogical experience reading this, especially the early chapters. I love how Rendón brings in spirituality and contemplative practices. The book is somewhat repetitive in the later chapters, but I would say this is definitely worth the read if you're interested in Student Equity and challenging traditional teaching approaches.

[Maria Judnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was part of a faculty learning group at my university. It generated some great conversations about mindful teaching and was enjoyable to read.