Slow Down and Listen: The Naturalness of Listening in Education

• In Event: 43.059 - The Philosophy of Listening in Intercultural Perspective

Abstract

Objectives
We live in an age of speed. We strain to be more efficient with multiple deadlines. Living on the edge of exhaustion, even our habits of relaxing have changed. For example, when we listen to music, seldom do we sit and just listen, we jog, drive, study, shop and kill time/silence with music. What if - in light of the philosophy of slowness and naturalness - we slow down and listen? This paper challenges the cult of speed in education and calls for the naturalness of listening by drawing on Taoist's notion of “Zi Ran” (自然）/naturalness and slowness.

Theoretical Framework
The meaning of naturalness is revealed in the two separate parts of the phrase "zi ran," ("自然"） along with the meaning of ziran as one word. Zi, as in the word of ziran, does not only refer to the self, but also indicates the consequence of being self - freedom and joy. "Ran" means "as it is," " as itself reveals." Ziran indicates the natural Way of Being for Laozi. Naturalness "comes with a continuity of its own" (Liu, 1998, p.433), and it is not only limited to certain things but exists in the universe.
Slowness is the forgotten dimension of naturalness. As Laozi said, "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." As the counterpart of speed, slowness does not mean slower than fast during the progressive future-oriented movement; instead, it indicates the moment(s) of the present. When we are busy, we stop listening. Only when we follow the naturalness of the universe that we can savor the moments and listen. Listening, from an ontological perspective, calls for a space of open up and dwelling, it respects the differences of the individuals as they naturally are.

Modes of Inquiry and “Data”
Methodologically, this paper does not deal with "brute data" (St. Pierre, 2013) such as field notes or surveys, it takes "philosophy as method" (Koro-Ljungberg et al., 2014) to explore the naturalness of listening from a Taoist perspective. The concepts of slowness and naturalness inspired us to reflect on the dilemma of the current educational sysytem between process and product. Specifically, this paper asks the following questions:
What is the relationship between slowness and listening?
How might curriculum scholars being in the space of naturalness?
How would "listening" in schools help to nurture the uniqueness of each student?
Guided by these questions, this study didn't intend to create a new theory of listening. Instead, it reminds curriculum scholars to embrace the philosophy of naturalness in the practice of listening; to savor the moments of slowness where we have already forgotten when we busy with everything else.

Scholarly Significance
The philosophy of slowness and naturalness challenge the cult of speed in modern educational systems. It disrupts the modern schooling system which overemphasizes on knowledge acquisition and productivity. Listening, as argued in this paper, is not a technique but a pedagogical approach.

Author

• Shaofei Han, Louisiana State University