Increased compassion, spiritual involvement focus of discussion

Some Cal State Long Beach faculty are interested in incorporating more compassion and spiritual involvement in the classroom.

"It's a very possible idea that we need to ponder," said Valerie McKay, acting director of the Faculty Development Center.

McKay and other faculty from the black studies, education and  psychology departments took part in a faculty diversity series Wednesday, led by James Sauceda, director of the Multicultural Center.

Terms such as "creative extremism" and "dangerous unselfishness," created by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were the basis of the multicultural model used by Sauceda to provoke the thoughts of the faculty.

"Dr. King's writings create a spiritual model for multicultural teaching," Sauceda said.

"Academics of the heart, and a personal sense of identity comes through."

This nontraditional approach to teaching can be used as a model for faculty to apply while teaching in the classroom, he said.

Making sure all students in the classroom feel comfortable when discussing multicultural issues such as oppression is important, Sauceda said.

This is true because for every audience member who can relate to a cultural issue, others who do not become defensive, he said. "That's a spiritual, transcendent goal that we just don't talk about," Sauceda said.

Some of the teachers compared the term "dangerous unselfishness" to levels of compassion they can show toward students.

They all agreed personal involvement in the lives of students is difficult when attempting to draw the line between compassion and structure.

Allowing students to have extended deadlines, and showing interest in students in personal lives without being misinterpreted were all issues brought up by the faculty in terms of dangerous unselfishness.

"This is not the way we were trained to teach, and it's not something we were shown as a possibility," Sauceda said.