Benedict Had No Standard Syllabus

In my upper-level courses, I have begun to shift to more flexible, creative assignments
to give students the opportunity to express themselves in ways they are most
comfortable. Some students have expressed a willingness to submit paintings, some
have submitted sculptures, and others have stuck with the tried-and-true method of
submitting a typical essay. The issue that arose for me was a simple one: how do you
measure a student’s submission on its own terms, rather than doing what is typical,
which is “ranking” it among peers who have submitted identically formatted projects?

This task has demanded more from me on a student-to-student basis as a professor,
and that is precisely why I have continued to embrace it as a pedagogical tool. As the
second chapter of Benedict’s Rule notes, the Abbot “must know what a difficult and
demanding burden he has undertaken: directing souls and serving a variety of
temperaments, coaxing, reproving and encouraging them as appropriate” (2.31). When
we lead a class full of students, and I am using lead deliberately here, we are forming a
temporary community united around the common goal of learning, ideally, something of
genuine substance. Everyone’s journey to that goal will be different; some will succeed,
others will not, and many will find circuitous routes to reach the end.

What we provide, ultimately, are guardrails defined by our discretion. Benedict contends
discretion is “the mother of virtues” and the Abbot “must so arrange everything that the
strong have something to yearn for and the weak nothing to run from” (64.19). By
opening up the possibility of more creative assignments and wildly varied submissions, I
have taken the risk of seeming like my grading is arbitrary and can appear to be guided
by favoritism. That is why Benedict insists the Abbot “should avoid all favoritism in the
monastery” and “is to show equal love to everyone and apply the same discipline to all
according to their merits” (2.1, 2.22). We must ask something of our students, in terms
of the work they submit to us. By my rationale, I want them to submit what they are most
proud of, rather than by what I most expect, so I can assess their merits based on the
quality of their unique work as an expression of their individuality amongst a group of
colleagues.

Some students, in these cases, require more guidance and will ask more of me as a
result. This is the burden, and privilege, of leadership. Quoting Acts in Chapter 34,
Benedict writes, “Distribution was made to each one as he had need” (34.1). By giving
students the opportunity to express themselves their way, I have also put the burden of
leadership on them. If they are up to the task and need no assistance from me, that’s
wonderful. If they are not, and require a helping hand, I can offer a more unique learning
experience that will guide them along that circuitous route toward a valuable education.