Hi Tim,
I sincerely appreciate this reflective post and sharing your struggles with graduate life in general. I am glad to hear that this course helped you–not only with the conceptual content–but also because the exposure to the diversity of experience, discipline and world view can be so powerful. Its one of the things I love most about being a part of the GEDI community. Your affirmation that supporting students and their learning on an individual level is so important–and one that will serve you well as you move forward in developing as a scholar and an educator. Continue to process what you have learned and develop your strategies for implementing these lessons learned in your classroom. Now that you’re on the path, you can only follow your curiosity and learn more from here!

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Hi Pallavi,
Thank you for sharing this very real and vulnerable post with us. I am sorry that this has been your experience; I have never received SPOT survey feedback, but I can imagine that if this happened to me, it would crush my spirit. I think you are doing very important advocacy and human rights work and I know that you are making a positive impact in the lives of your students–even if some of them are entitled, disrespectful and downright petulant. Your work should bring you joy and so I hope that you are able to find this–whether you choose to remain in education or if you focus more on research. Thank you for engaging with this course–there is no doubt in my mind that you care and are learning valuable lessons that will help you regardless of how you decide to move forward in your career.

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Hi Riya,
I agree that seeing our jobs as educators as a multi-faceted and extremely human endeavor is one of the biggest takeaways/realizations that we try to help students see during their time in this course. Your prof sounds like a great mentor and I am happy that you have had such a positive experience working with him and seeing the ways in which he is connecting with students on a very personal, human level. It is easy to think of the work we do in terms of quantity and trying to grade the quality; but it’s really about meeting each student where they are as a person and helping them grow into who they will become–whatever that means for each individual. Thank you for sharing this reflection and showing us the change in thinking/mindset that you have experienced this semester. No doubt it will have a profoundly positive impact on your future as an educator and your students will only benefit from their time studying with you.

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Hi Tim, Negin, Gary, Spenser, Jap and Dami,

Thanks for your post this week y’all! I enjoyed your short, but sweet take on critical pedagogy: engage with your inner child, your critical, curious selves. This definition implies returning to one’s roots and perhaps, rediscovering those things that make us excited about learning.

My favorite part of the Jigsaw posts is when each person shares ways that critical pedagogy can be applied in their discipline. Each of you gave good examples of ways that we can be better learner-centered facilitators. Even though I don’t study what y’all do, I still learned a lot from what you shared. It was a nice touch to include critical pedagogy keywords. That helped set the tone for reading your individual sections and it was a refreshing approach.

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Hi Ben,

Great post this week! I really appreciated how your post arced from how people can change an institution from within by playing the game/by the rules of who has the power. It’s a great example of Friere’s teaching and philosophy.

It was also really refreshing to read as you shared wonderful stories about your father and how your own engagement with fundraising activities through the music community in Floyd has evolved over the years. There were so many good lessons embedded in your post (RE: standing up for the less fortunate, rethinking pedagogy & practice, identifying ways to connect with people for a purpose–Mardi Gras Ball vs near-panhandling) and I appreciate you putting all your ideas and experiences out there for us to learn from.

It was nice to see you tie this all back to your own pedagogy and questions you are working through with respect to how you see education and your place in the system. Thank you for sharing, it was great food for thought!

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Hi Andrew,

I appreciate the time you spent adding context to the front-end of your post. Friere’s theory of critical pedagogy has been so influential in education in recent decades, but it is still a novel concept to many. I, for one, had never heard of critical pedagogy until I took the GEDI course in Fall 2017. For me, it revolutionized the way I thought about teaching and learning. Before, I had considered the teacher/student relationship as a fixed concept (akin to the banking method he describes) where the students’ job is to study study study everything the teacher “knows.” It wasn’t until reading Friere that I realized that teachers are really more like facilitators and guides for growth in learning–and that all parties benefit from the thought exercises.

In Landscape Architecture education, I am interested in helping young designers “see” the world in a more open and holistic way. We have an incredible amount of implicit bias about what makes good design or what is aesthetically pleasing based on our background and experiences. I use this method of problem-posing to encourage students to think about what they’re seeing and all of the interconnected processes at work–instead of jumping to a conclusion based on face-value. Friere has made a profound impact on the way I perceive the world and how I teach others to “see.” In the process, I am learning as much as the students and it’s an extremely gratifying experience.

Have you thought much about how you will incorporate the problem-posing into your pedagogy going forward? I think it’s a beneficial thought exercise for all scholars and aspiring educators.

Thanks for the post this week!

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Hi Adbhut,

Wow! Reading this post about this physicist’s talk was quite shocking. The whole time, I was imagining a Vaudeville (shepherd’s) hook coming out from the side of the stage to pull this man away from the mic. Good on those women in the audience to live-tweet and bring attention to the blatant gender bias. And good on you for being a voice for gender equality and equity in science!

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Hi Andrew,
This is an interesting debate you’re bringing up. I wonder if it’s one that’s been raging since the dawn of higher education (and the ability to rack up astronomical student loan debt)? Anyway, there are bound to be more skeptics now that the College Admissions Scandal (I wish I could hyperlink in the comments, but I can’t so, here’s a brief about it from USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/03/18/college-admissions-scam-what-did-students-know-what-should-happen/3164580002/) has come to light and we see that the ultra-rich and privileged are operating within a system where the rules just don’t apply to them.

I personally still believe in Higher Ed and the point that tenacious students will get out of it what they put into it and will both personally reap the benefits after graduation AND be in a position to contribute to society. Higher Ed isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok. So maybe that’s where the 47% are coming from.

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Hi Mohammed,

I agree that as educators we have a responsibility to also be advocates. I don’t buy the argument “I was hired for ____ department to teach XYZ so I’m only teaching that.” As educators, we are in a position of power and influence, and its important for us to help students see and unpack the “negative associations and superficial judgement” we carry with regard to race and other biases (when confronted with them). Hatred and discrimination can not be tolerated; we have to help students see those biases so they can grow from them (and out of them).

I am interested to hear more about how you got “Better Together” up and running at Arizona State University and some of the lessons learned from that experience. Thank you for this insightful post.

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Hi Vibhav,

I am with you: the first time I heard Dan Pink, the message really resonated with me and made a lot of sense, but I had never formally been introduced to the concept before. I hear what you are saying about recognition and I agree. I don’t know if anyone expects to be recognized–I mean, not usually.

We come to work, we do our tasks, we try our best, but it’s still fairly routine and there are few surprises. But when you recognize the achievements and contributions of employees and team members, that improves morale, makes people feel like they have been seen and are appreciated and has the power to impact how that person perceives themselves with respect to the company/institution/etc.

So we’re all just doing our jobs the best we can/know how and aren’t expecting to be recognized, yet when we are there is this profound impact and the individual is positively motivated to continue doing the good work that gained them recognition. Does that make sense? To me, it’s always more gratifying to be recognized by a superior than to just be handed a bonus. Money comes and goes, but when I am recognized as a contributor, that gives me something intangible that money just can’t buy.

I don’t know what the best answer to developing motivation is; I am sure that there are infinite possibilites, but it seems like when we take a moment to see people as people and not just as boxes to be checked, everything changes for the better. Thanks for the thoughtful post!

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