“Recognizing that the students are more than just receptacles and can’t be treated as such, One must recognize their agency, their need for creativity, their strengths and capacity for problem-solving, and their worth.”
— Students, also, must recognize these things in themselves if we are to succeed as teachers.
I realize we talk a lot about the ills of biases in class. But how can we recognize them in order to set them aside? What experiences can we draw upon other than the ones that have formed these biases? Which is the cause and which is the effect? And then how do we undo it?
Replying to the comments on “self-identified ‘radical’ professors”: I think it’s in human nature to be blindsided by things we’re looking for. When we want something — even if it’s to be known or seen as a certain type of person, radical or otherwise — not only can we become mesmerised by it, but the desire many times springs from a lack of something else in our broader lives. It is a sad say for any of us when we hold a position (of power) that shields our egos from the reality of what we might actually be. It’s easy to get angry with someone who preaches one thing, but practices another. But after getting to know many people like this in my life (even myself more times than I’d care to admit) I’ve learned to view the situation with a detached sadness. Maybe this is why Paulo asks us not to “teach” but rather to discuss?
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In two years of teaching, I have had one situation like this come up — to the extent that it was disrupting class. My solution at the time was to ask the student to join me in the hall while the rest of the students were asked to continue their work on an assignment. Rather than admonishing the student for their behavior, I took a moment to explain that 1) I was mad and 2) why I was mad. I leveled with him.
I then gave him a moment and encouraged him to explain / express himself (in the model I just presented). As with most behavior problems it really had nothing to do with me, or the class, but rather something he was bringing with him to class.
I’m curious to know if you driven much before moving to the United States?
You bring up this point about the stereotype of Asian drivers. Someone pointed out to me a number of years ago that this stereotype has a funny twist to it. If one of us thinks we are a better driver than someone from country _______ as an fundamental quality of the race…. it makes the assumption that the experience level is the same for both drivers — which is rarely the case. Drivers in the US on the whole obtain many more hours of driving practice than people in other countries for each year they’ve had a license. It’s just as a matter of how our society / culture is built. Americans drive everywhere. So what we take for granted after a certain age may still be a very new skill to members of other cultures.
Sara makes a good point. Perhaps this is the IT person’s first one-on-one experience with someone (from his perspective) from a foreign country/culture? What better way to change his mind than to be met by a confident, well-spoken person as he enters your office to work on your computer trouble?
— In Professor Fowler’s article, he/she mentioned: Always engage with your students; do not do something “to” them, or “for” them, or “at” them”. —
Exactly. I’m glad you picked up on this notion.
I see it a bit like chewing food. Some things in life can only be done by the recipient — you can’t do it for them. Or, at least, you can’t do it for them well.
The secret to teaching is only the student can do it for the student.
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Personally, I’ll be happy if students (engineering in particular) still *want* to learn after they leave their undergraduate experience. I know that my peers, myself, and many graduating seniors that I talk with feel “done” with school at that point in their lives.
Graduate school is an option for many of them, but something about the undergraduate engineering experience has sapped their will to learn. Some make it back to school in some form, but many don’t. I hope for those students they find some track in their lives that fills that need for growth and education.
I’m *really* glad to see another non-traditional student going into a teaching career. I’ve had similar breaks in my educational track as I’ve struggled to pay for it all. Looking back, its been one of the best paths my life could have taken.
I firmly believe that one of the hardest hurdles to cross when transitioning from the student to the teacher is recognizing the importance of topics and a priority to convey them in. Having a life perspective outside of academics helps immensely. If for no other reason than it gives the person an alternate mindset to compare his or her academic mindset with. What works in both settings? What seems to work in one but not the other and why? From there, its a matter of applying ideas, seeing how they work, and adapting.
I’m sure you’ll do a stellar job when it comes time to teach a full class.
