Bird Droppings October 2, 2025

In a world of data, can we still use intuition, or should I say listening to our gut?

About two months back, on a long weekend, I spent the better part of it either sitting on or walking on the beach at Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Whenever my wife and I go, we ensure we see the sunrise every morning. It was supposed to rain, but we got a tremendous two-mile walk the first morning. I got thinking back to only a few years ago. I could not make the walk to the end of the island without resting. My cardiologist told me that my pacemaker would change the quality of my life, and he was not kidding. Sitting and listening to the wind and waves, I drifted into a philosophical wonderland. For many years, I have felt we are missing the point in education, stressing the quantitative aspect. We seem to forget that learning occurs in the qualitative portion of teaching more so than in the quantitative.

I had a thought this morning, and it is depressing when I think about it. We are training our new teachers in everything that we, as older teachers, find wrong in education. (pre-NCLB) It hit me as we teach these new teachers how to take tests the “right” way. We are teaching all these new teachers that standardized testing is good and essential. We are teaching all these new teachers to skip critical thinking parts of life to adhere to mandated standards. We are skipping the pieces that teach about imagination. Sadly, we thought we needed to skip all these things because we needed to concentrate on testing, standing in line, being quiet, and not questioning. I see that, far too often, their courses are now focused on how to take tests, how to teach kids to take tests, and how to talk to kids about testing. We are losing imagination, and we are losing critical thinking skills in our new teachers. A piece I find disheartening is that we, too, are losing all the stories. We are losing all the creativity and individuality of the students by taking it away from the teachers.

The inherent skill sets often make a great teacher; I speak of those almost instinctual attributes. Granted, in a scientific study, more than likely, these are learned skills, but there is an aspect that is still not with all teachers. After observing for a few minutes and listening, I told a fellow teacher I could tell when a child has emotional issues. Granted, observations are part of most evaluations, but I was referring to an intuitive aspect of observation. Something we learn, perhaps, as we experience and live life. Over the years, I have worked with many children and have recommended additional involvement, but unfortunately, it was not done. I could have said I told you so; however, I have refrained from saying that.

“Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.” Edwin Hubbel Chapin

As I was discussing the final class debriefing, which is called a teacher training program, I recalled a thought that hit me: Why can some teachers do more than others? Some teachers fail; others flounder in intuition, a simple thought, and a difficult concept to teach to another. This is an area most education classes forget. For many years, I have considered teaching an art form. There is an aspect of teaching that separates great teachers from poor teachers.

“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” John Steinbeck

“Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out.” Michael Burke

Knowing what to do at a specific moment intuitively is not easily taught in a classroom; it must be experienced and understood more deeply.

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” Dr. Benjamin Spock

“Instinct is untaught ability.” Bain

In a teacher training session on grading, one time, I listened to seasoned teachers discuss how they would do this or that. One teacher said, “Do you have that written down? What is your starting point? How much planning time do you allow? I watched and heard in disbelief that this situation was one of the teachable moments going by the wayside. The person speaking turned around, stunned as I was, and said I do not plan; it takes ten minutes to jot down a daily note to my students, and each day they experience new things, and we build on that.

“Instinct is intelligence incapable of self-consciousness.” John Sterling

I began thinking of keywords in teaching, intuition being a good starting point. Teaching anachronisms helped, and I found IESP: Intuition, Empathy, Sympathy, and Perception. These are all aspects of a good teacher, a good parent, and a good person.

“Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.” Dr. Joyce Brothers

In researching intuition in years gone by, many psychologists believe we have stored experiences and concepts that we do not even recall, which are the basis for intuition.

“Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain but simply points the way.” Florence Scovel Shinn

Other researchers consider aspects yet undiscovered as a basis for intuitiveness and intuition.

“A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.” Jawaharlal Nehru

So many years ago, Nehru was the first Prime Minister of an independent India and was also a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi.

“Instinct is the nose of the mind.” Madame De Girardin

I saw this note, and it intrigued me. Instinct is a door opener and perhaps a starting point, a beginning; it could even be one of our senses.

“I would rather trust a woman’s instinct than a man’s reason.” Stanley Baldwin

I do not know exactly what this entity is; we call it intuition. I have observed many teachers, parents, workers, and managers; some know the answers, and others must understand and solve the issues. As I was thinking and pondering the past few days, I always seemed to return to my favorite quote.

“Life is about the journey, not the destination,” Steven Tyler, Aerosmith.

One of my red-neck buddies responded, “What the h— does that have to do with intuition”? Some of us have a destination goal, but the journey is as critical and crucial as a result. Each aspect of the pathway is essential, rather than simply the end of the trip. When you are looking as you go, you see so much more. I recall a long childhood trip where we would play games, looking for animals. If you look only for red-tailed hawks, it would be miles and even hours between birds. If you choose birds and how many different ones you can see, you increase the chances of seeing something every few seconds or minutes. Open that to all animals, and now, every few seconds, you are looking for details on the roadside, trees, and grass. Life is similar; some people look for specifics, so minute that they seldom find what they seek. Others see every nook and cranny. Intuition is in the crannies, I think.

“The really happy man can enjoy the scenery on a detour.“ Anonymous

I wish I had said that. Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and hearts, and always give thanks, Namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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