I’ve been really struck in my reading by one particular assertion that William James (1899/2001) makes: “The ‘nature’, the ‘character’ of an individual means really nothing but the habitual form of his associations. To break up bad associations or wrong ones, to build others in, to guide the associative tendencies into the most fruitful channels, is the educator’s principle task” (p. 42). This is a new thought. I’ve always assumed that bad behavior was either derived from some hereditary temperament or the product of poor training (which could include not having the child’s needs met). I’ve never envisioned behavior as the result of the mental connections that one makes. It’s really intriguing to consider how my approach to my students might change if I followed James’ advice to “acquire a habit of thinking of your pupils in associative terms” (p. 45). I’ll need to spend a lot more time drawing out how this practice could affect my teaching, but as an initial reaction, I can think of people I know who tend to act in certain ways because they immediately jump to particular thoughts. For example, I have a longtime friend who some people consider stubborn. If someone “tells” him to do something, he will not do it, because he does not like being bossed around. It has caused problems in our friendship because sometimes he reacts badly to my sincere efforts to tell him things that bother me. If I am interpreting this passage correctly, I think that James would say my friend has formed an association between being asked to do something and being controlled by another person. He has a negative association that influences his behavior. If I could help him replace this negative association with a more positive association between expressing something I need in our friendship as evidence of how much I trust him and desire his friendship, he might react differently. I’m still not certain how you can guide somebody’s associations, but I want to spend more time pondering this idea and what it’s practical implications might be in how I react to people.
James, W. (1899/2001). Talks to teachers on psychology and to students on some of life’s ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover. ISBN: 0486-41964-9
Mary Ann (Nestmann) Lynch 
These are some lovely observations, Mary Ann. Indeed, much of any therapist’s (or teacher’s) training has to do with helping individuals recognize the patterns in their lives that are not serving them well and to build those that will … It’s interesting to think of ourselves in associative ways like this. The building up of better associations for ourselves in life is much of what the self-help industry is about as well.