WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.580 This is The Reading Instruction Show and your 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:06.919 host, as always, Dr. Andy Johnson. Topic of today's 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:11.740 podcast is called Belief Systems. Now each of 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:15.900 us has a vast network of belief systems that 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:19.879 act as a sort of template to help us interpret 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:23.179 and organize new information and experiences. 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:26.600 Included in this belief system is what we think 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:30.489 is true in regards to the nature. of reality. 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:35.369 And as we encounter new data, we use this network 00:00:35.369 --> 00:00:40.210 to interpret, analyze, and organize this data. 00:00:41.350 --> 00:00:45.670 Now our belief systems also act as filters to 00:00:45.670 --> 00:00:49.250 eliminate data that does not correlate with our 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:54.090 constructs. In this sense, our belief systems, 00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:58.509 our beliefs, can limit our perceptions, and keep 00:00:58.509 --> 00:01:03.710 us trapped in our current ways of thinking. This 00:01:03.710 --> 00:01:08.150 podcast describes three different levels of belief 00:01:08.150 --> 00:01:13.870 systems, each successively harder to access and 00:01:13.870 --> 00:01:19.250 more resistant to change. Level one is knowledge. 00:01:19.769 --> 00:01:23.189 Level one contains our knowledge constructs. 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:27.170 These are that which is addressed in traditional 00:01:27.170 --> 00:01:32.469 education. Change here occurs through assimilation 00:01:32.469 --> 00:01:36.909 and accommodation and is relatively easy and 00:01:36.909 --> 00:01:41.230 data -friendly. Assimilation occurs when current 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:45.129 schemata or mental constructs are used to interpret 00:01:45.129 --> 00:01:50.969 and process new data or experiences. When these 00:01:50.969 --> 00:01:54.909 constructs are found to be inadequate, accommodation 00:01:54.909 --> 00:02:01.109 is used to revise or rebuild new ones. At this 00:02:01.109 --> 00:02:04.090 level, there is little resistance to new data 00:02:04.090 --> 00:02:09.830 as long as they support level 2 beliefs. Let's 00:02:09.830 --> 00:02:13.289 look at level 2 belief systems, personal and 00:02:13.289 --> 00:02:17.889 cultural paradigms. Included here might be our 00:02:17.889 --> 00:02:21.400 philosophical views. our cultural and religious 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:25.979 views, and our deeper assumptions about the purposes 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:32.120 of individuals, institutions, and society. All 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:35.919 of these are used to help us interpret the world 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:40.800 we experience and to prioritize our resources. 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:45.060 Now, we don't address these beliefs directly 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:49.400 in our educational system. However, they are 00:02:49.449 --> 00:02:52.990 clearly expressed in the kinds of things that 00:02:52.990 --> 00:02:58.229 are valued, the allocation of resources, curriculums 00:02:58.229 --> 00:03:01.090 and the type of information that's presented 00:03:01.090 --> 00:03:04.569 to students, the type of data that are measured 00:03:04.569 --> 00:03:09.349 and reported in what we call assessment, the 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:12.849 accomplishments that are rewarded, the hierarchical 00:03:12.849 --> 00:03:15.270 structures and the amount of empowerment given 00:03:15.270 --> 00:03:19.319 to teachers and students, and educational models 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:24.360 and philosophies. Now change at this level is 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:29.039 resisted. However, when it takes place, it begins 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:34.479 with a state of dyssynchrony. This is a perceived 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:38.039 difference between the ideal and real states. 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:43.639 Here one receives new data in the form of experiences 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:48.439 or insights only to discover that these data 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:52.900 do not correspond with existing personal and 00:03:52.900 --> 00:03:57.919 cultural paradigms. To continue to receive this 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:02.259 data while maintaining old structures creates 00:04:02.259 --> 00:04:06.360 disequilibrium, an internal disorder or cognitive 00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:11.030 dissonance. For growth of any kind, there must 00:04:11.030 --> 00:04:15.590 be disintegration of the old belief systems so 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:18.709 that the new ones can be built to accommodate 00:04:18.709 --> 00:04:23.430 the new data. The time between structures is 00:04:23.430 --> 00:04:27.610 the time of disequilibrium, often resulting in 00:04:27.610 --> 00:04:32.990 anxiety or depression. This resembles Dabrowski's 00:04:32.990 --> 00:04:37.339 theory of positive disintegration. which states 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:41.600 that advanced development of any kind requires 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:47.699 a breakdown or a disintegration of existing psychological 00:04:47.699 --> 00:04:52.420 structures in order to form higher, more evolved 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:58.860 structures. Level 3 is our metaphysical paradigms. 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:03.069 This is our basic paradynamic structures related 00:05:03.069 --> 00:05:07.170 to the nature of reality or our metaphysical 00:05:07.170 --> 00:05:12.550 perspective. These include our fundamental assumptions 00:05:12.550 --> 00:05:17.350 about both the phenomenal reality of space, time, 00:05:17.470 --> 00:05:21.290 and matter, as well as the trans -phenomenal 00:05:21.290 --> 00:05:26.740 or the transcendental reality. described by mystics 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:30.680 and shamans, prophets, poets, and quantum physicists. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:36.360 Contained here also are our most essential religious 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:42.439 or spiritual beliefs. One's metaphysical perspective 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:46.800 greatly impacts the type of data that's perceived 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:51.639 and processed, and it's extremely resistant to 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:56.079 change. When change does occur at this level, 00:05:56.540 --> 00:06:00.220 it brings about a whole new way of seeing or 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:04.899 visioning the world. In many cultural traditions, 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:09.000 people engage in a vision quest in order to have 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:13.959 such a change. If successful, the quest causes 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:19.120 them to re -vise or re -vision their world, to 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:24.350 see again, re -vision. Now, this revision seldom 00:06:24.350 --> 00:06:29.189 happens instantaneously. Instead, it's a process 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:33.569 that occurs after a series of successive stages, 00:06:33.910 --> 00:06:39.129 which include preparation, incubation, insight, 00:06:39.750 --> 00:06:44.250 and verification. And these are also the steps 00:06:44.250 --> 00:06:47.189 described in the Wallace model of creativity, 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:53.040 a process similar to that of enlightenment. This 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.860 movement from one perceived reality to another 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.560 is similar to the shamanic death experience. 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:05.540 A shaman is one who is able to transcend the 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:09.500 human condition and move freely between dimensions, 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:14.439 realities, or states of consciousness for the 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:18.939 purpose of bringing back wisdom, insight, or 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:24.040 healing. A shamanistic state is usually preceded 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.779 by a death experience in the form of great sickness, 00:07:27.899 --> 00:07:32.220 trauma, or by an initiatory experience created 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:37.639 by tribal elders. These experiences serve to 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:41.399 break traditional perceptions of our reality 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:44.800 or our assumptions about reality and dissolve 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:48.000 the existing personality structures so that a 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:52.959 new one might be birthed. So are beliefs about 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:58.500 belief systems? We all like to think that we 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:02.500 are objective, rational beings who come to conclusions 00:08:02.500 --> 00:08:08.279 based solely on data. However, as we move higher 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:12.439 in levels of belief systems and deeper at each 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:17.720 level, our beliefs become increasingly data -resistant. 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:23.279 And at these higher levels, our view of reality 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:27.879 is more apt to define what is relevant and determine 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:33.519 which data gets processed. Finally, the levels 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.440 of beliefs described here illustrate why what 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.159 follows may be difficult for many. In the next 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.039 podcast, I examine the deepest level three belief 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.039 systems related to the nature of reality, which 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:52.519 are most resistant to change. I would, however, 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:56.679 encourage an objective examination of these ideas 00:08:56.679 --> 00:08:59.759 with the goal of expanding what you might consider 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:05.220 to be possibilities. In order to see things as 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:09.929 they really are, one must be free of subjective 00:09:09.929 --> 00:09:14.289 perceptions. This reflects the Buddhist idea 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:18.429 of the empty cup, where one perceives reality 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:24.509 apart from preconceived ideas, emotions, experiences, 00:09:25.090 --> 00:09:28.830 and expectations in order to separate what is 00:09:28.830 --> 00:09:33.129 from one's ego state. This has been The Reading 00:09:33.129 --> 00:09:36.090 Instruction Show. I'm your host, Dr. Andy Johnson.