Thanks for your post, and I agree that critical pedagogy does not make immediate sense in some courses, at least the way they are currently structured. For example, I am thinking of an introductory statistics class, where you learn about the mean, standard deviation, and t-tests, and I also don’t see an obvious way to make that more “critical” without re-developing the entire way statistics is taught. However, (and maybe my experience was unique in this regard) I think that many of my undergraduate courses got at this “raising awareness of critical issues.” The courses I am thinking of tended to be upper-level classes in my major, but I also took several Spanish/Latin American literature classes, which might be skewing the distribution in favor of critical pedagogy in this case. These classes were usually smaller and involved more research papers, projects, and other activities that encourage more critical thinking than, for example, multiple choice exams. Of course, while we would all like small classes, the reality is that large lectures are kind of necessary for these introductory courses that teach “the basics,” which are an essential foundation, like you said, for being able to go on and think critically about those concepts later. So yes, to echo your point, I also don’t think critical pedagogy is automatically the best model in every case.

Thanks for your post! This is a very interesting issue you bring up. The example you gave clearly demonstrates how “the truth,” or what is taught as the truth, depends on who is writing the text and the power dynamics. It reminds me of A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (http://www.thegoyslife.com/Documents/Books/A%20People's%20History%20of%20the%20United%20States-%20Howard%20Zinn.pdf). Basically, Zinn recognizes that much of our history is from a white, male perspective and that there are many more viewpoints to consider. While I realize that this bias exists, I guess I also wonder about a solution to the problem. You mention that this is why we need critical pedagogy, but how does critical pedagogy fix this situation (asking out of curiosity, not trying to badger)? For a history textbook chapter about a certain event, should there be different sections dedicated to these contrasting perspectives (the Great Depression in the eyes of a woman, but also a Chinese immigrant, Irish-American factory worker, etc.)? Even then, how do we then decide that these narratives are the truth (would the interview with the Chinese immigrant be true for all Chinese immigrants during the Great Depression?)? Isn’t writing always an act of power, in that I am promoting my perspective, and what I believe to be the truth, over someone else’s? I definitely agree with you; I guess I just don’t quite know how to get closer to a solution..

Thanks for this viewpoint! I have often wondered along the same line of thought. For example, I am a female, but when I think of discrimination I have faced or struggles I have overcome, I cannot think of one that involves my gender. Instead, it had to do with being raised Catholic in a very Baptist southern Appalachian town (church was burned down, best friend told me I was going to hell when I was 8–surprise! I don’t think much of religion anymore). Or by there being a lack of after-school childcare–my babysitter lived in a trailer, beat all the kids, the only way we were not hit is if we were watching T.V., I got scolded if I asked for more food, which was chicken nuggets or grape soda (i.e. it ain’t no homework help at Rainbow Riders, that’s for sure). All of this is overlooked, assuming that I have struggled in society because I’m a girl, or else not at all.

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Oh my gosh I’m in the same boat! Forgive my slight moment of arrogance: I’m a girl and was always the best student in math class from elementary through high school (I come from a small town so it’s not a momentous accomplishment). But yeah, I was really surprised to read about that stereotype as well. Especially because, continuing on the theme that I am from a small town, people there tend to be a little on the discriminatory side (I love them all dearly, they’ve just lived on the side of a mountain for generations), so if there is a negative stereotype to propagate, that would be the place to do it. But I never encountered any shock or surprise that I was good at math or that I made better grades than boys, or else I was just very blind to it if there was.

I studied abroad in South America as an undergrad and am a huge proponent of international experiences/spending time outside of your home country to gain exposure to different cultures and develop new perspectives! Of course, studying or living abroad is not possible for everyone, and I agree that we can make much more use of existing diversity that we already have on campus to at least get a feel for the multicultural experience (not to imply that you have to be from a different country to have a distinct culture–the good ol’ U.S. of A. is quite colorful and varied from sea to shining sea). I also like that you talk about students sharing/comparing ideas and learning from each other–I tend to think that it is beneficial to talk about our differences to be able to appreciate them and maybe even, as you mention, try to incorporate them into your own life. Thanks for the post!

Thanks for the post! It reminded me of a presentation an engineering professor, Marc Edwards (Flint water guy) gave in one of my classes last year. He was talking about ethics in terms of water contamination and public health, but he started out the class with some shocking videos. The first video was of a child in China (he was quick to emphasize that the location–being in China–has nothing to do with his message; he could have picked a similar video from elsewhere) being run over by two different vehicles. Neither of the drivers does anything to help the toddler, nor do numerous passersby that see (and even step over!) the child. The toddler ends up dying. (I found the video he showed but did not post it due to the unpleasant content). He followed up this video with one of a dog getting run over by a car in the middle of a busy interstate. Another dog goes to the first dog’s aid and nudges it gently to safety, at great risk due to the heavy traffic. He used this as a jumping off point for his talk, making his point that humans are conditioned to be cowards (but that they don’t have to be! And, of course, there are many examples of humans being heroic too). He talked about the negative connotations of the words “snitch” and “tattle-tale” in terms of speaking up when something is wrong or doing the right thing which can result in, among other things, losing your job or friends. He asserts that, in the rest of the animal kingdom, you are not kicked out of your herd or denied food and water (equivalent of losing a job) for being heroic. Sorry this was a long comment, but if you ever get a chance to hear this presentation from Marc Edwards, I highly recommend it! And I will share the dog video link, because it has a happy ending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIXm_uBySS0

I had a similar experience when I tried to tutor fellow students in math in high school…I thought, “well I’m good at math, this means I’ll be great at teaching it!.” This turned out to be wrong (if anything, math coming easily to me might have hindered me from being able to teach it to others?). University students are fortunate to be able to learn from leading scholars and researchers, but I agree that professors should also know something about how (as opposed to what) to teach. I’ve always thought it’s interesting that, for example, elementary school teachers generally need a degree in education in order to get a job, but university professors don’t necessarily need a degree, class, or certificate in education or even teaching experience to secure a position (although, additional teaching efforts such as these do make you more likely to get a job, perhaps). Thanks for the post!

Nice post! I enjoyed how you related teaching to acting/performance but also stopped short of suggesting that instructors should be entertainers (a pressure I sometimes feel). I also like that you emphasize how it takes dedicated practice to become a good teacher (or actor), which goes against the common T.A. or new assistant professor model of “Here’s the syllabus from last year; you’ll figure it out!.”

I’m glad someone besides me is concerned about sitting in front of screens for too long! To be fair, any repetitive activity that is done without moderation is probably damaging–reading an actual book all day (while enjoyable, and definitely in order if I am reading Harry Potter) may not be the best ergonomic thing to do for hours on end day after day, but neither is running 20 miles every single day (for normal people, not necessarily ultra marathoners that magically never get injured). I think the danger with technology more so than any other normal activity is that there are sooo many opportunities to look at a screen throughout the day that we’ve pretty much blown our chances at “moderation.” I am also glad you brought up the issue about funding for this technology. Some of the technology may really be worth the investment and the big push. Others I am not so sure about. Maybe I’m ignorant, but why do people think SmartBoards are so cool? Am I missing out on some revolutionary function they are capable of? It’s just the same as a chalkboard, right?

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Kohn also irritated me to no end! Especially because there is another huge amount of pedagogical research (that he seems to be unaware of??) that shows that tests are awesome! It’s called “the testing effect” (see, apparently, my favorite book, Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning–I promise I will stop mentioning it one day)–basically, students learn better when they have to work to recall information in the form of any test, be it a self-test with flash cards, an ungraded quiz, or our traditional exam, Finding that information in our brains makes the connection stronger and makes that information easier to find the next time around. Thus, tests are actually a great learning tool. The authors suggest that tests should be more frequent, but also lower-stakes in terms of grading and even just short quizzes, so that students can enjoy the benefits of the testing effect without increasing anxiety over “ten tests instead of two?!”. However, while they call for less emphasis on grades, they also do not demand an end to them altogether. Projects/portfolios/papers have their place in education, but tests do too…according to what I assume are also thoughtful, responsible scholars who completed the research showing this.

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