Short tale reflection of McLaren's tale of student class participation

 

I was struck by the January 3 tale as I begin each class seeking what students sought from my course. Although a Public Speaking class, I learned to build their confidence by asking, “write your thoughts down before verbalizing.” My students typically encounter greater communication apprehension telling me, “I’m too nervous, let me think first.” When the teacher listed a variety of topics expecting students to respond, I’ve learned to avoid putting students on the spot. Instead, I ask them to form groups and generate topics for which they will research and present. This tale reminded me of how I use to approach students.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The myth of objectivity in education

  Oh objectivism with your fixation that objects have inherent properties and fixed relations Don’t you know objects should be viewed as entities relative to our interactions with the world? You should view properties as interactional rather than inherent Metaphor is pervasive in our language and conceptual system helping understand experience Do students have inherent properties and fixed relations or are they more? Do one-size curriculum and instruction approaches work on all students? Or must educators understand the experiences of students and their relation to them? I cultivate relationships with my students to honor their experiences and individual preferences  
Read more

Poetic and metaphoric epistemologies

  The lack of fixed meanings and ambiguity disturb you You expect your rationality to answer all questions of teaching You check the boxes as you study how to teach your students Yet your epistemological framework leaves no room for uncertainty Yet teaching involves relationship building Metaphor provide means to understand to build relationships with students To understand their experiences and convey curriculum and vary instruction Poetic epistemologies unleash creativity creating new meaning and understandings Which aid the teachers in examining new possibilities for innovation One cannot teach without feeling and thinking which poetic and metaphor epistemologies permit
Read more

Who are teachers and what is their role

  Who are teachers? Who determines what can be taught? Why do we allow Western thought to answer these questions? Must students be the intended audience of instruction? What should be conveyed to student? And who determines what should be shared with students? Can ordinary people disseminate knowledge and philosophy? Can the person sharing personal knowledge and wisdom teach? Can their words decolonize our thought and practice? Rather than propagating dominant structures, deconstruct them Can they draw attention to the horrors caused by colonialism? Rather than preparing future subjects to participate in dominant systems We observe dominant structures that have generated extreme wealth for some At the expense of poverty for the many We are programmed through schools to be good workers to serve the system Can representatives of the Global South create epistemological skepticism? Emancipation will not happen overnight but through generations Can they...
Read more