Peter M. Rojcewicz, PhD                                                       September 8, 2014

Leaders throughout higher education can engage self-reflection and personal inquiry to embody ongoing learning on the job and in life. I think of Gandhi’s insight, “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as in being able to remake ourselves.” The more self-unaware we are, the greater the likelihood of projecting outward our indolence, distorting relationships, destabilizing commitments, and dehumanizing others.

Global perspectives and human difference supports community above isolation that shackles the will and dulls imagination. A healthy academy is more than a collective ego or we go; it values participation as an intelligence and presence as a way of knowing. Knowledge by presence means we consider data in decision making and that we be fully available to ourselves and each other, embracing non-defensiveness, flexibility of thought, curiosity, suspension of disbelief, and a willingness to be changed by self-inquiry. A learning environment conducive to inquiry calls for leadership to model relatedness, structure belonging, and move action forward.

(To be continued)