I realize we talk a lot about the ills of biases in class. But how can we recognize them in order to set them aside? What experiences can we draw upon other than the ones that have formed these biases? Which is the cause and which is the effect? And then how do we undo it?
This is a practical and concise tangible type of take away from last week. I choose all them! But really, I think getting all of what we read down to one sentence is a rather hard thing to do. I notice where my group’s complex critical pedagogy bubble is, so great work getting it down to one clear sentence!
I notice that in my classes students want to talk about social implications. Yesterday, we read a piece on how financial disparity affects access to healthier foods, and they genuinely wanted to talk about possible solutions or if the problem has more parts to it than just one that can be fixed by one solution. I think it was one of the most engaging classes yet.
If I had to choose one description as to what critical pedagogy means to me, I would go with, “get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom – recognize and set aside biases.” Discomfort was a topic recently discussed in my graduate teaching scholar class. Is it ok to feel uncomfortable? We, as humans, typically run away from it; we naturally gravitate towards things, people, and situations that bring us comfort. However, if you reflect on times in life when you have learned the most, it can often be drawn back to an instance that wasn’t necessarily comfortable per se. For example, I think about the time I lived in Philly, interning with the USDA for a couple of months. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, but I learned a great deal about food microbiology, travel, what I’m looking for in a potential career, and about myself as a person. I think the same goes for the classroom. While it is important to make students feel that class is a place where they can be comfortable to share their thoughts and feelings, the idea of discomfort comes into play for things such as challenging students with difficult questions, having students interact with people different from themselves, and encouraging students to try things they have never done before.
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom – recognize and set aside biases.”
This really stood out to me. In many of my classes, I like to play the contrarian but to be argumentative, but to play Devil’s Advocate. This often means speaking up in times when conversations become uncomfortable. I’ve found this to be a good source of interactional learning, and I try to employ this method in the classroom with students. Not to make them uncomfortable, but to try to engage them and have them think from perspectives not necessarily their own.
I like the “teaching to fish” bubble. Teaching students the skills they need to succeed in both their academic careers and the challenges they will face after is one of the things I wrote about in my teaching philosophy. I like that you brought up the “studio” as well. I feel that studios often emphasize that the work you are doing is a process, and there is always room for growth.
Like they say “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime”. This holds true for Critical Pedagogy as well. We should provide students with the tools and techniques to help them outside of class.
Interesting, I grew up with a slightly different version. “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Give a Man a Fishing Rod, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime”.
I like your’s better, because it involves more active participation and communication between teacher and student. The emphasis is on acquired knowledge rather than material possessions. My version runs the risk of ignoring the identities of your students, and resulting in the age old joke: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Give a man a fishing rod, and he’ll break it up for firewood… or swap it for a fish”.
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom – recognize and set aside biases.” really stood out to me. It’s very easy to get stuck in the same mind set and refuse to listen to other perspectives but in doing so, you’re doing a disservice to yourself and others by not engaging in a dialogue.
I like the idea of getting students to “get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom” and allowing students to recognize biases, but I disagree that they need to set those aside. Rather, I think we should encourage students to embrace bias through argumentation. By introducing them to different perspectives, they develop the tools to analyze bias or the limits in those perspectives. These skills shine through in argumentation in writing and debate, and if the students follow this thread to their logic end, then students are afforded the skills to confront their own voice and way of seeing their surroundings. In short, they have greater capacity to confront their own bias. While there is a risk that they may shut down, we as instructors should explore ways to facilitate engagement. Otherwise, I wholly agree with most of the points in the elegant chart.
Great post! I love the part about individualized curiosity. Curiosity can be a vital part of learning but I think it is difficult to set standards on what we define as being curious because of our each individual idea and definition of curiosity. This is why I appreciated the illustration stating that guidance will be provided to meet those conditions. What I gather is that each person’s curiosity will be embraced and supported in the learning environment.
October 30, 2017 @ 2:15 am
I realize we talk a lot about the ills of biases in class. But how can we recognize them in order to set them aside? What experiences can we draw upon other than the ones that have formed these biases? Which is the cause and which is the effect? And then how do we undo it?
October 31, 2017 @ 12:18 pm
This is a practical and concise tangible type of take away from last week. I choose all them! But really, I think getting all of what we read down to one sentence is a rather hard thing to do. I notice where my group’s complex critical pedagogy bubble is, so great work getting it down to one clear sentence!
I notice that in my classes students want to talk about social implications. Yesterday, we read a piece on how financial disparity affects access to healthier foods, and they genuinely wanted to talk about possible solutions or if the problem has more parts to it than just one that can be fixed by one solution. I think it was one of the most engaging classes yet.
November 1, 2017 @ 12:14 am
If I had to choose one description as to what critical pedagogy means to me, I would go with, “get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom – recognize and set aside biases.” Discomfort was a topic recently discussed in my graduate teaching scholar class. Is it ok to feel uncomfortable? We, as humans, typically run away from it; we naturally gravitate towards things, people, and situations that bring us comfort. However, if you reflect on times in life when you have learned the most, it can often be drawn back to an instance that wasn’t necessarily comfortable per se. For example, I think about the time I lived in Philly, interning with the USDA for a couple of months. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, but I learned a great deal about food microbiology, travel, what I’m looking for in a potential career, and about myself as a person. I think the same goes for the classroom. While it is important to make students feel that class is a place where they can be comfortable to share their thoughts and feelings, the idea of discomfort comes into play for things such as challenging students with difficult questions, having students interact with people different from themselves, and encouraging students to try things they have never done before.
November 1, 2017 @ 2:30 am
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom – recognize and set aside biases.”
This really stood out to me. In many of my classes, I like to play the contrarian but to be argumentative, but to play Devil’s Advocate. This often means speaking up in times when conversations become uncomfortable. I’ve found this to be a good source of interactional learning, and I try to employ this method in the classroom with students. Not to make them uncomfortable, but to try to engage them and have them think from perspectives not necessarily their own.
November 1, 2017 @ 3:14 am
I like the “teaching to fish” bubble. Teaching students the skills they need to succeed in both their academic careers and the challenges they will face after is one of the things I wrote about in my teaching philosophy. I like that you brought up the “studio” as well. I feel that studios often emphasize that the work you are doing is a process, and there is always room for growth.
November 1, 2017 @ 1:04 pm
Like they say “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime”. This holds true for Critical Pedagogy as well. We should provide students with the tools and techniques to help them outside of class.
November 1, 2017 @ 7:20 pm
Interesting, I grew up with a slightly different version. “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Give a Man a Fishing Rod, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime”.
I like your’s better, because it involves more active participation and communication between teacher and student. The emphasis is on acquired knowledge rather than material possessions. My version runs the risk of ignoring the identities of your students, and resulting in the age old joke: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Give a man a fishing rod, and he’ll break it up for firewood… or swap it for a fish”.
November 1, 2017 @ 4:19 pm
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom – recognize and set aside biases.” really stood out to me. It’s very easy to get stuck in the same mind set and refuse to listen to other perspectives but in doing so, you’re doing a disservice to yourself and others by not engaging in a dialogue.
November 1, 2017 @ 5:29 pm
I like the idea of getting students to “get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the classroom” and allowing students to recognize biases, but I disagree that they need to set those aside. Rather, I think we should encourage students to embrace bias through argumentation. By introducing them to different perspectives, they develop the tools to analyze bias or the limits in those perspectives. These skills shine through in argumentation in writing and debate, and if the students follow this thread to their logic end, then students are afforded the skills to confront their own voice and way of seeing their surroundings. In short, they have greater capacity to confront their own bias. While there is a risk that they may shut down, we as instructors should explore ways to facilitate engagement. Otherwise, I wholly agree with most of the points in the elegant chart.
November 5, 2017 @ 6:20 pm
Great post! I love the part about individualized curiosity. Curiosity can be a vital part of learning but I think it is difficult to set standards on what we define as being curious because of our each individual idea and definition of curiosity. This is why I appreciated the illustration stating that guidance will be provided to meet those conditions. What I gather is that each person’s curiosity will be embraced and supported in the learning environment.