Dr. Caroline Bassett, who has served at Walden since 1982, is a faculty member in The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership and director of the Wisdom Institute, which supports the development of wisdom in people, organizations, and communities through education, research, and consultation. She’s also a certified master gardener, a student of Argentine tango dancing, and a board member of a Tony Award-winning regional theater. Here, she talks about the role of wisdom in social change, the importance of reflection, and how learning the tango can make us wiser.
What is wisdom? I call it a special kind of thinking applied to produce positive results in human life, and all that supports it. It has cognitive, active, and reflective components—it’s a combination of being discerning, of respecting others, of acting with moral courage, and of being reflective.
How does the study of wisdom relate to Walden’s mission of social change? Wisdom serves as the backbone for positive social change. Wisdom helps us to understand the complex intermingling of relationships or events and to work with them ethically and respectfully. For example, one Walden graduate, who works with nursing students, noticed her students’ negative attitudes toward the elderly. So she restructured the curriculum to build in more exposure to the elderly so that the students’ discomfort would be reduced, thereby improving the quality of the care that these people receive.
Why does the world need a Wisdom Institute? Wisdom is so contrary to most of our culture right now, with our emphasis on young and fast. Wisdom is slow and difficult. It’s a lifetime—it’s not 10 easy steps. The Wisdom Institute provides resources for people who want to explore and develop their own wisdom.
What is the best way for people to share their wisdom with their colleagues, children, students, and others? A good way is to wait until you’re asked. Another way is to make observations without insisting that they take your advice, or take it right away, or take it as you give it.
You went to Buenos Aires for two weeks to study Argentine tango. What wisdom have you gained from tango? I’ve learned patience with myself, and forgiveness, humility, and perseverance. The goal in tango is for two to move together as one. It’s a metaphor for being in life, good or bad—moving with it.
If you could make one suggestion for what people could do to become wiser, what would that be? So much of how we see something is how we want it to be, and often that isn’t the case. Wisdom is being able to look at a situation and separate out how you want it to be from how it “really” is.
Congratulations on your sucess in becoming an avid student in tango. Who would of thought that our tango in '85 would have brought you this far.It would be great to Tango with you once again. Tino. My email is tino569@yahoo.com
Posted by: Faustino Armenta | July 27, 2009 at 07:55 AM