Great post. It is really important to develop a good healthy student-teacher relationship. I believe that if a teacher is more than just a person who imparts knowledge. A teacher also has the responsibility of shaping the lives of the students outside the classroom. And the classroom atmosphere, ethics, and diversity play a big role in this respect.

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Great post, Pallavi. I feel that some people are biased/rude and they do not even know about it. Some students question your knowledge on the basis of skin color. It is sad but it is the truth. I do not think it has anything to do with the U.S.A in particular. I feel that one will face a similar biased/rude behavior in one’s home country as well. For example, in India, you will have trouble if you are a minority or even a woman. It is really sad to know that people judge you. That being said, I am an Indian myself and do not feel too enthusiastic about teaching in U.S.A for similar reasons as you.

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I loved the video and the graduation cap idea at the beginning. I particularly resonated with Riya’s sentence “The core idea is to empower students through the learning process, to help them become independent individuals with ideas, opinions, and a lot of questions.” I think it sums up a teacher’s role perfectly.

Thanks for the post. I like the approach of problem-solving mentioned by Meredith. I am sure it works in the field of engineering but not sure if it will elsewhere. But again, case studies and problem-solving is a must in the engineering profession. It not only fosters teamwork but also increases creativity and critical thinking.

Thanks for the post. It is a well-written post. The one thing that I liked was the balance between giving and getting as mentioned by Cindy. A teacher needs to find this right balance. A good base of knowledge along with enough stimulation of curiosity is the recipe for a perfect teacher and critical pedagogy.

Good post guys. I really liked how all of you think differently on this topic but still, have one common definition of critical pedagogy. I really liked Shannon’s sentence “Learning is a unique process that cannot be based upon a teacher’s preferences or habits without consideration of who the learner is and how that individual will connect with and apply the information that is being explored.” A teacher is not only for disseminating information, but it is a teacher’s responsibility to generate curiosity and creativity as well.

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Hey! It is a really good post. I really liked the definition in the chemical engineering section. It kills me sometimes to know that the teacher is not interested in making the student understand the logic behind the derived equations. An engineer only works best if they completely understand the concept in and out. That also helps them in relating it to problems at hand

I totally agree with you, Matthew. We as civil engineers are lucky to bring positive changes to the lives of people. That actually makes the job of the teacher easy in our profession

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Thanks for replying. I think in civil engineering we are solving for societal issues like constructing roads and bridges. But these are not the same as one finds in other fields like liberal arts and social sciences. For example – a long bridge connecting the mainland to an island does solve connectivity problems which in turn makes life easier.

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Thanks for the reply, Meredith. We need to learn from the past taking into account the growth in the future. But I believe past failures in civil engineering has forced us to research more and implement better things in the future.

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