Trigger Moment

I had a teaching inspiration this morning. What we know from brain and psychology research, problem-solving is creative, memory is longer lasting and compassion is triggered by emotion and thought working together, not thought over emotion or emotion instead of thought. Damasio and Immordino Yang call it, "emotional thought."

Mimi Michaelson did her doctoral research on adolescent moral exemplars who have developed far-reaching activities, such as what Ryan Hreljac did in building wells in Africa. She found each of the youth she interviewed had experienced a "trigger" incident--something that caught their attention. In my research on the processes of compassion within children, ages 6-11, I found that an emotional reaction triggered their recognition of the needs of others. In a way, re-writing my dissertation and re-thinking Michaelson's work was a trigger incident for me just this morning.

When we teach, what is our "trigger incident" for the students? Do we bring in a desert tortoise, do we sit around a campfire together, do we listen with all of our heart and mind?

What trigger incidents have you found to be a great teaching tool, for you? Please share your ideas as a "comment" to this post.


"As he (Saul) was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice, saying to him, "Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?" "Who are you, lord?" Saul asked. And the voice replied, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do." Acts 9: 3-6 NLT

Read: Acts 9: 1-19