In summary....

A colleague recently asked me what I have learned from the writing of this paper. I found it to be a very interesting question. I have learned a number of things and I have reinforced a number of things that I thought I knew and now have the history and the scholarship to support that knowledge. A primary lesson in this has been the reinforcement that my job is to facilitate learning. It is not to be the “sage on the stage” and impart wisdom to the students. I have learned that I can add my voice to the process, yet my voice will help students find theirs. Dialogue is a critical component not just to higher education and adult learning theory but also to life itself. The practice of dialogue builds relationships and it is a critical art. Rhetoric as a tool can be useful. When information that is logistic or process oriented in nature, rhetoric is a necessary tool. The use of rhetoric in teaching what I do when teaching the Learning Assessment Seminars at DePaul University can be both dialogue and rhetoric; it is not bad to be both.