It’s been almost 10 years since Berg and Seeber wrote The Slow Professor, and I wonder if the value in slowing down has crept into the halls and habits of our postsecondary contexts. Perhaps the revolution is honouring its own kairos, the right action for the right time.
Meanwhile, the winter solstice is around the corner.
In this season, when the shifts in temperature and vitality signal a winding down, at least a little, I invite you to acknowledge where your energy is being called. What does the body say in this season (Shahjahan, 2014)?
Do you have a little pocket of time or space that you guard, for you to take a breather, applaud your accomplishments, and decide where to strengthen next? Is there a dedicated space to reflect AND recharge? As the semester closes and we prepare for another, the practice of quiet time to restore the vitality of teaching and professional practice is not a luxury, but a necessity for ushering and sustaining the vitality that allows us to offer our best. For me, it is the urge to read something new or revisit something familiar, not only with a cup of tea, but with a soft, warm scarf. To linger over a page, not rushing to finish to get to the next. Luxuriating in a line by Mary Oliver.
“And consider, always, every day, the determination of the grass to grow…” From Evidence (Oliver, 2017, p. 81)
But beyond viewing regeneration solely as a return to readiness (Shahjahan, 2014), what might it mean to pursue the slow academy as an attentiveness to teaching and learning, in an honourable, ethical, and meaningful way? The metric might simply be feeling rested and better able to provide measured and meaningful guidance to learners, in the new year. What would the metric be for you?
“When we experience timelessness, we are creative…” (Berg & Seeber, 2016, p. 27)
The slow revolution, has it come around yet? I would hope it is more than a wish and that it can be part of practice.
“We need, then, to protect a time and a place for timeless time, and to remind ourselves continually that this is not self-indulgent but rather crucial to intellectual work. If we don’t find timeless time, there is evidence that not only our work but also our brains will suffer.” (Berg & Seeber, 2016, p. 28)
What is the most suitable word for taking a little extra time to turn things over on all sides so that they can be seen a little more fully, perhaps optimistically, a little more clearly? What other words, in other languages, in other ways of being and seeing time do you use for slowing down? The spanish, con calma, feels just right for responding with attentiveness and attunement to what shorter, cooler days elicit. Going slower, immersing fuller.
That too is teaching.
That too is learning.
Inspirations
Berg, M., & Seeber, B. K. (2016). The slow professor: Challenging the culture of speed in the academy. University of Toronto Press.
Shahjahan, R. A. (2014). Being ‘lazy’ and slowing down: Toward decolonizing time, our body, and pedagogy. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47(5), 488–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2014.880645
Oliver, M. (2017). Devotions. Penguin Books.
Galicia S. T. Blackman 