The Repository @ St. Cloud State

Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

Date of Award

11-1994

Culminating Project Type

Thesis

Degree Name

English: M.A.

Department

English

College

College of Liberal Arts

First Advisor

Philip Keith

Second Advisor

Rex Veeder

Third Advisor

Walter Ullrich

Keywords and Subject Headings

Education, Compassion, Jon Hassler, Literature, Minnesota, Teaching

Abstract

This thesis shows how the novels of Jon Hassler document the critical importance of compassion as a foundation for effective teaching and for education in general. Although the author resists claiming that his novels were written to send any specific message about education, the portraits of teachers, students, and the education process are so pervasive throughout his novels that they offer a useful case study that stresses the importance of personal character rather than scientific teaching methods as the key factor in effective teaching.

The thesis begins by showing that Hassler's novels demonstrate a need for compassion in education. Using Maslow's path to self-actualization as a framework for understanding student development, it observes how compassion in education can help satisfy student needs, thus allowing them to move closer to their potential. The third and fourth chapters discuss two contrasting illustrations of teachers and teaching in Hassler's novels, first noting representations of teaching where compassion is absent, then representations of teaching where compassion is present. The fifth chapter examines Hassler's dramatization of how teaching with compassion can lead to teacher burnout. Ultimately, this emotional cost is overbalanced by the power of hope that justifies the compassionate teacher in his and her vocation. The thesis also includes in an appendix a comprehensive listing of works by and about Jon Hassler.

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