Maha, thank you for the post. As you said, this contemporary pedagogy course has made us as a teacher to think about so many questions and considerations when we design courses, teach, assess, interact with students, and so on. If we had not taken this class, it would have been much easier to deal with them, just doing things routinely. But now it is our responsibility to create a better learning environment once we knew what the right things were to focus. Good luck to us!

Cindy, I appreciate you doing such a wonderful job for the little kid! Your story reminded me of the Ted Talk named “our loss of wisdom” by Barry Schwartz. In the talk, he illustrated an example of the job description of a hospital janitor where there is no single word about human beings even though moral skills including kindness, care, and empathy is an essential part of the job. Likewise, your job duty as a principal of an elementary school might not include taking care of kids in “that” situation, but you did the right thing! To paraphrase his talk again, I celebrate your colleagues and students for having “moral heroes”!

Thank you for your post and wonderful insights. I think it is not easy to define the complex concept of critical pedagogy with one sentence, but the group thoughts really well described various elements of critical pedagogy. As Vibhav pointed out, it would be also important to develop the physical environment to support complex critical teaching and learning, in addition to creating an inclusive atmosphere.

I love the definition of critical pedagogy you made concluding with empowerment and social change, which are the ultimate goal of critical pedagogy. It seems that for some fields like engineering, physics, math it is more difficult to apply critical pedagogy in their teaching and learning, but I was impressed by the various ways you’ve shared. Thank you for the post!

Thank you for the post! I like how you elaborated the definition of complex critical pedagogy by using identity. In particular, as a landscape architect, I agree with the ideas of Davon that urban planners and designers should have political, cultural, and social identities and be able to interact with diverse individuals and ideas. I think it will be important for a teacher in this field of study to encourage students to have and express their own identities to deal with complex environmental and social issues.

LikeLike

Great post, Connor! I agree that being impartial on the assumption that everyone starts from the same condition and the same place does not coincide with the core ideas of diversity and inclusion. As a teacher, we really need to understand every student are different in terms of not just socio-demographic characteristics, but also ideas and perspectives, so that they need different supports and helps, as you pointed out.

LikeLike

Thank you for sharing your thought. I agree with that it is not easy to openly talk about diversity, inclusion, and equity because of our fear, discomfort, indifference, or doubt. I remember how the movie Green book that was awarded 2019 Oscar was criticized that it covered up the complex reality of race issue, taking a “racial reconciliation fantasy”. (https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/green-book-movie-about-racism-made-white-people-white-people-ncna938886) Like this, we tend to escape or conceal these kinds of heavy subjects. I would say that, as the reading “Dismantling Racism in Education” pointed out, it might be important to become “more comfortable with the discomfort of having these conversations.”

You brought up important issues in alternative assessment system! As you pointed out, qualitative assessment without criteria could have the potential for bias or discrepancy. This could happen because of not only different expectations between teachers but also individual teacher’s preconception toward each student. I have read a journal article showing teachers’ biases to assess students performance based on their identifiable child characteristics. In short, a more systematic approach to alternative assessment is really needed, rather than completely throwing away the grading system.

Thank you for your post! I was also thinking of the purpose of assessment, and whether the current grading system would fit into the purpose. Definitely, assessment is not to define their ability, nor to criticize their performance. As you pointed out, assessment is to prepare students better for the real world and to make them learn more. So, I totally agree with your idea that grading and exams need to exist, with the transformation of its focus toward motivators.

Thank you for your post, Corrie! When it comes to the reason why we learn and teach, I think we tend to regard education as a means to an end. We’ve tried to study hard, get good grades and earn degrees to get a better job and ultimately to gain riches and fame. Although such a reward might be effective to get A or any bonus, you will end up concerning only with reward and losing interests in learning. I believe mindful learning is more focusing on learning as an end in itself, just like curious children who enjoy exploring the world.