The 5M Approach: Layers of Reflection

Introduction

The Chambered Nautilus, a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1858) reads “Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul...let each new temple, nobler than the last,” (Holmes, 1858). This beautiful poem speaks to the richness and complexity of identity and growth. The metaphor of the chambered nautilus is useful to examine both the image and the process for the 5M Approach, a reflection model introduced in this chapter. The mollusk starts in a tiny chamber. As it develops, the mollusk outgrows its home and must create a new abode that accommodates its new size and needs. The cephalopod builds in a circular fashion. It closes off the old chambers that it has inhabited as it matures. The mollusk continues to forge its circular path to literally fit its needs. This living creature adapts and changes for itself and to its environment.

The growth of the mollusk is a perfect metaphor that speaks to growth and transformation. Holmes’ (1858) poem suggests one must abandon old narrow worldviews and move to a wider, more inclusive space--indeed a lifetime of work. The circular shape is representative of the process that lessons are best learned when they are repeated and connected. This metaphor along with a pressing need to reflect, and the rise of experiential education, sparked the layered 5M Approach.

Literature Review

In recent decades, it has become common for institutions of higher education to take on the role of preparing their students to be responsible, informed, educated “global citizens”. In fact, a recent version of The American Freshman examined the skills and abilities needed to navigate in the 21st century. Some of the abilities and skills that institutions of higher education should expect students to learn include: tolerance of people with different beliefs, an ability to discuss controversial issues and an openness to listen and learn from persons who are different from them. In the table below, the 2015 results are shown alongside 2016. Compared to women, men report higher levels of ability to discuss and negotiate controversial issues, and openness to having their own views challenged (differences of 7.2 and 4.0 percentage points, respectively). These gender differences were similarly large in 2015. While women report higher levels of other (perhaps less confrontational) behaviors associated with pluralistic orientation, the gender differences for these measures are relatively small.