Higher Ed

Higher Ed: Holding On Tight Is Easier Than Letting Go. Why We Need To Learn How To Do Both Well.

As Dr. Ed Burger prepares to leave Southwestern University to become President and Chief Executive Officer of St. David’s Foundation in Austin, Texas, he and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss the art of letting go, as they wrap up the KUT podcast “Higher Ed.” Ed says “letting go” in the workplace starts with a pretty straightforward assessment. “That’s a great test. In the middle of working on something, just stop and say right there and then, ‘whose job am I doing right now?'” says Ed. “And if it’s not your own, you should stop – if you want to embrace the art of letting go.” But Ed acknowledges “letting go” when the emotional stakes are higher presents more of a challenge. “It is so easy to hold the unpleasant things or the poisonous things that we experience – the negative stimulation around us,” says Ed. How we let that go, he continues, is what dictates how joyful a life we can lead. So how does one go about “letting go?” Some ideas from Ed: * Trust other people. * Share responsibility and accountability with others. * Exercise mindfulness. * Embrace different points of view. *Forgive. Listen to the full episode to hear more about grappling with letting go. For this final episode of “Higher Ed” we have practiced the art of letting go by ditching the puzzler! This episode was recorded on Oct. 22, 2019. The post Higher Ed: Holding On Tight Is Easier Than Letting Go. Why We Need To Learn How To Do Both Well. appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Higher Ed: Learning From Failure (And Then Letting It Go)

In the very first episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton talked about the importance of failure to learning. Has any thinking changed about that concept in the past five years? Ed says he has greater clarity now than he had five years ago about one aspect of effective failure. He says he better understands the difference between just bouncing back from failure and actually learning from it. “It’s not the mistake, it’s what comes next,” says Ed. “If you make a mistake and say ‘well, that didn’t work; I’m going to try something else,’ that’s tenacity, which is fantastic and perseverance, which is wonderful. But it’s not effective failure.” So what exactly is effective failure? “It’s stopping and it’s holding that attempt that didn’t work, ” says Ed. “And instead of doing the cultural norm, which is to pretend it didn’t happen and sweep it under the rug…instead of focusing on perfection, focus on the process.” Ed believes that what makes a failure “effective” is the evaluation that follows. “You hold that failed attempt in your mind until you have an epiphany, until you have an insight,” suggests Ed. “Until you see something that was there but you hadn’t seen before. And then you can dismiss it, let it go and do something else.” And Ed says that “letting go” is crucial to the process so that people do not get stuck wallowing in their failures. “That letting go… can be challenging for some people who do not want to let go and who say ‘see,  I’m not good at that; I can’t do it,’ ” Ed points out. “But instead … the letting go is just as important as the learning.” Listen to the entire episode to hear more about incorporating effective failure into daily life and learning. That opportunity may present itself before the episode even ends (depending on the solution to last episode’s puzzler about art with matchsticks!). This episode was recorded on Oct. 22, 2019. The post Higher Ed: Learning From Failure (And Then Letting It Go) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Higher Ed: Be Grateful For The Frustration That Can Come With Learning. You’ll Learn From That, Too.

“Thank you” may not always be the words that come to mind when struggling through a difficult lesson or dealing with a mountain of homework in school. But in this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss the role that gratitude can play in learning and education. Ed firmly believes that those two little words can play a big part in enhancing learning – especially when the going seems tough. “What if that frustration actually ended up being kind of a positive? What if we became grateful for being frustrated, as a state?” asks Ed. “The truth is, I think that gratitude is such a powerful mindset to move us in a positive direction.” Ed maintains that expressions of gratitude have a ripple effect on all manner of work in and out of school. “If we can embrace gratitude and be thankful for any aspect of life or any aspect of one’s work, it uplifts us,” says Ed. “It allows us to be more creative, to be more innovative, to see things more clearly, [and] to look for opportunities and potential.” For some people, expressing gratitude feels difficult. Ed understands where that comes from says the benefits are worth the effort. “It’s a vulnerability, and we don’t like being vulnerable. We don’t like to put our feelings and our heart on our sleeves,” says Ed. “But, we have to remember that we are human. To embrace our humanity is a great gift to ourselves and to others. And one way to embrace our humanity is to show appreciation and to express gratitude.” Listen to the full episode to hear more about the benefits of being grateful. And hopefully. you will be thankful for a new puzzler. This episode was recorded on Oct. 22, 2019. The post Higher Ed: Be Grateful For The Frustration That Can Come With Learning. You’ll Learn From That, Too. appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Higher Ed: Really Good At Something In School Or Work? Beware Of The “Success Trap”

Who does not appreciate making high grades in a certain subject or getting glowing performance reviews at work?  In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton explore the lure of the “success trap” and how to avoid it. What exactly is the “success trap?” It is the pull or desire to continue doing that which brings the greatest external praise or reward just because of that success. (Think: I’m really good at Math. I’ll major in that. I hate it, but I’m good at it.) Here is how Ed sees it: “When someone is successful at something….that’s a silly reason to actually go and pursue it,” Ed believes. “But the question is: just because one is good at something, does that potentially dismiss the possibility of doing something that might bring you greater joy [or] might be actually something you’re even better at or something that you’re just actually drawn to and otherwise you wouldn’t give it a shot?” Ed is quick to add that he does not think people shoud ditch their successful endeavors and move on if those pursuits still bring joy. “If that success is something that continues to bring an individual satisfaction and joy and a sense of accomplishment, that’s great; I’m not suggesting everyone’s gotta shake it up,” says Ed. “That should not confine us to look at other possibilities and other opportunities because maybe your gifts and your talents can be amplified in a different direction that we wouldn’t consider otherwise.” So how can people break out of their comfort zone and avoid that “success trap?” Ed says it begins with deliberate and thoughtful effort. “It’s all with intentionality,” says Ed. “If you’re going to hope that you accidentally stumble upon something I would say you have to be really lucky…. you can create your own good luck with intentionality – intentionally assessing.” Listen to the fill episode to hear more from Ed about when the time is right to do that kind of assessment. It is definitely the right time for the solution to last episode’s puzzler about dealing with cards missing from a deck. This episode was recorded on Oct. 22, 2019. The post Higher Ed: Really Good At Something In School Or Work? Beware Of The “Success Trap” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Higher Ed: Want An Exciting Life? Ask This Question At Graduation (Or Anytime, Really)

Most of us have the best of intentions when we graduate from high school or college to make our way in the world and lead meaningful and productive lives. But the minutiae of everyday life can eat into our plans to exist outside our comfort zone. In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton explore one way to keep those dreams alive. Ed has a tradition at Southwestern University called the President’s Dinner. At some point during their time at Southwestern, each student will get invited to dinner at the President’s house with about 12 other people. Part of the dinner conversation will revolve around answering a provocative question. At a recent dinner, Ed posed the following question: “What would surprise you about yourself 25 years after graduation?” After hearing the discussion the followed, Ed wanted to bring that question to “Higher Ed” podcast listeners, too. “What’s something that you could imagine and dream about doing but you really don’t think you would do in practice?’ Ed maintains that asking that question at any stage of life will prompt us to then figure out what concrete steps can we take to get there. And that pursuit, he believes, is the “joy of life.” “When people go to our funeral, let’s say ‘we left it all on the field; we lived this full life,'” says Ed. “So even the surprising things we’ve tried.” Ed says conversely, it might be just as valuable to consider the places where we do not want to be 25 years after graduation. “How can we go to the dark side,” cautions Ed, ” and then what can we do with intentionality to make sure we avoid that?” Ed says we may be our own worst enemy when it comes to this type of exploration. He encourages people to put their education into practice to overcome that obstacle. “We are all biased about our individual selves. ‘ I am supposed to do this. I am good at that and I am not good at art’ or whatever it is,” says Ed. “To overcome that internal bias about you, and to say ‘well, maybe I can be an artist’ is an open-minded attitude which all education that’s focusing on personal, intellectual growth should be offering.” Listen to the entire episode to hear more about how to surprise ourselves 25 years after graduation (or at any point in life). It is also time to see what kind of puzzler we are dealt in this episode. This episode was recorded on Oct. 22, 2019. For all the Higher Ed episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here The post Higher Ed: Want An Exciting Life? Ask This Question At Graduation (Or Anytime, Really) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.