Adult Learning

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Review: Teaching from the Heart

Vivian W. Mott
Adult Learning 1997 8: 7
DOI: 10.1177/104515959700800405
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Review
%achingfrom the Heart, by
Jerold W.Apps. (1996). Malabar,
FL: Krieger. 133 pages. $21.50
(hardcover),

u p o n scanning the pages of

Appss Teachiugfrom the Heurt,
one might be tempted to conclude
prematurely that the book offers
little in the way of profound or
innovative inforniation and that
the ideas within have little to do
with adult education. Apps suggests that educators today suffer
from an over-emphasis on the
pragmatics of learning and
teaching, a paradigm that he
maintains is an artifact of the
industrial age, but one that

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production line. Individuals have

inalienable rights, which coinmodities do not. On the other
hand, the well-being of the individual is seen a5 being directly
connected to his or her output.
The more education a person has,
the more potential he or she has
for adding to the industrial growth
of the country. Hence, within this
mindset, while individuals are not
commodities, they are resources
-resources that must he nurtured in order to ensure the greatest economic growth. But of
course, as economist Kenneth
Boulding pointed out over forty
years ago, the problem with viewing people as resources is that this

doesnt serve us well in a changing world. Instead, he says we

need new ways of thinking, new
ways of incorporating mind, body,
and spirit . . . especially in our
learning and in our teaching
(p. 8). One way, according to
Apps, is teaching from the heart.
Apps maintains that all teaching and learning benefit from a
connection with the heart, and he
includes exercises and examples
to assist the reader in moving
toward heartfelt teaching and
learning. These include identifying barriers (such as fear, inner
turmoil, and time constraints),
understanding the importance of
relationships, and undertaking
self-examination to know better
who we are. In partial response to
the recognition of heartfelt teach-

ing as unpredictable, filled with

ambiguity, and sometimes even
chaotic (p. lll),Apps does offer
a teaching credo, techniques for
group learning, or suggestions for
relaxation, solitude, and journal
writing. While learners and
teachers alike may identify with
the barriers and agree with the
value of self-reflection, the reader
is left, however, with questions
regarding just how to accomplish
what Apps advocates.
As with his other works, Apps
writing style is straightforward
and direct, sprinkled with anecdotes, metaphors, and personal
examples of significant experiential learning. His ideas leave the
reader convinced of the merit of
heartfelt teaching, yet uneasy
about its implementation or

conception treats the individual

as an intermediate good,
instead of as an end.
Is the goal of preparing individuals for work the same as the
goal of educating them? This
question has great importance,
not only for adult education, but
for childrens education as well.
As linkages with industry become
the norm for all levels of education -including elementary
schools, it is becoming increasingly clear that adult educators in
particular, have f.di\ed to explore
the ramifications of this issue. To
read the current research is to be
struck by the absence of debate.
I n fact, very often corporate interests are defined so as to embrace
the whole individual. The basic

premise being I suppose that a

fulfilled worker is a productive
one. One of the principal themes
of the post-war period has been
the idea that education should be
a national priority because it
affects American productivity and
hence American world standing.
While American economic health
has long been connected to the
diffusion of information and
particularly of innovations, the
post-war era has seen a greater
connection than ever before
between diffusion and educational levels. As educators have long
recognized, diffusion by itself is
not sufficient for innovation. In
the same way, the connection
between innovation and education remains to be more fully

consequences. This response is

perhaps reflective of the very
pragmatic disposition of educators to which Apps refers. Apps
himself acknowledges that there
are potholes in the road, and
the road maps are not clear, but
he adds I can think of nothing
more important for a teacher to
do than to help people become
more human, the ultimate goal
of teaching from the heart
(p. 116). Who can argue with
that? A
-

by Vivian E Mott
East Carolina Univmity.
Cremuille. SC

explored.
As adult educators embrace the
trends laid out along the parameters of the learning organization,
we might do well to remember
that this is just a managerial
trend, not an educational goal. To
confuse the two, is to ultimately
lose sight of the importance of
the individual within our highly
individualized society. This is the
contradiction with which American adult educators must grapple,
if we are ever to develop a satisfactory policy regarding adult
education in the workplace and
beyond. A
Amy D. Rose
Northern lllino&University

March/April 1997
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