The teaching of Paul Reasoner’s story
An inside look at the philosophy teacher’s life inside and outside the classroom.
By Conrad Engstrom | Royal Report
Paul Reasoner doesn’t like to be noticed. He would like to go unnoticed. He wishes this story was not even written about him or would even mention him. The philosophy professor who has been teaching at Bethel for 30 years doesn’t think of himself as interesting. Then, he starts telling stories.
It is Wednesday morning and Professor Reasoner walks into class at 9 a.m. sharp. Not a minute early. Not a minute late. He pulls up the PowerPoint lecture for the day. The class is called meaning, persons, and God, which is a more creative way of saying “introduction to philosophy.” The lecture starts with each slide moving, as the slides move across the screen, students become bored and tired. Then Reasoner will say the magic words that make students ears perk up like a dog.
“Let me tell you a story about this to make this point a little more clear,” Reasoner says.
Students move towards the edge of their seats wondering what type of story he will tell. Will it be another story about his time as a student at Bethel? A story about him growing up in Japan? A story about his many trips to the Philippines working with an orphanages? Students wait in eager anticipation.
“Paul was a couple years behind me at Bethel. I actually played basketball with him for a year or two here, and his wife was in the medical field and was interested in doing something with street kids and observed the Philippines.” — Paul Reasoner, Philosophy Professor
Paul and Marlys Healy are Bethel graduates who started the orphanage The Children Shelter of Sabo, in the Philippines. Sabo is perched on the southern part of Sabo island with a large population, making it the second largest city in the Philippines and is on the southern part of the island of Sabo. The orphanage cares for abandoned children whether left at birth or wandering the streets.
“Paul was a couple years behind me at Bethel,” Reasoner said. “I actually played basketball with him for a year or two here, and his wife was in the medical field and was interested in doing something with street kids and observed the Philippines.”
Reasoner is not an official staff member with the orphanage, but his wife, Shari, is in charge of the elementary school that is connected with the orphanage. She makes trips to the Philippines every five months. His son, Joel, is a staff member at the orphanage alongside his wife, Jinkee, who is from Sabo.
Reasoner’s wife keeps him up late at night skyping with the children in Sabo. She tells him stories about the children there and the improvement they are showing in all areas of their development. Reasoner plans to visit the Philippines with his wife, during the interim and spring semesters; looking forward to spending time with his family and work on projects for his teachings.
Born and raised in Japan, Reasoner considers Japan as his real home despite living in the Twin Cities and teaching at Bethel since the early 1980s.
“Ideally I would like to have a house in Tokyo or outside of Tokyo and live in both places for part of each year,” Reasoner said.
Class ends in room RC306B and students file out, Reasoner however, takes his time. He is in no rush. He just finished a story tying Confucianism to his time studying in Japan making a concept easier for his students to understand. Something that has not gone unnoticed.
Reasoner’s trips to Philippines
· 1984 first trip orphanage started
· 2007 son and his wife become staff members
· 2015 upcoming trip
