ABSTRACT
A universal characteristic of teaching/learning relationships is that both the student and professor take for granted a large body of beliefs and culturally specific assumptions that influence how new ways of understanding are presented and learned. Before discussing what is involved in the professor's role as a mediator, it is necessary to address a possible misinterpretation. Because the author sometimes refer to the cultural commons of indigenous cultures, critics often claim that while my ideas possibly have relevance to rural America they have little relevance for suburban and urban America. Preschool children move between the oral traditions of the family and the computer-based entertainment and communication that reinforces the industrial/consumer-oriented mind-set. A department of cultural commons studies would have the advantage of not having the environmental issues determined by faculty whose main area of intellectual competence is based on their past training in a traditional discipline.
