In order to advance the conversation about empathy, we have to interrogate what empathy really means. It’s already become a buzzword, and I worry that it will be easily co-opted by the same forces that are corporatizing higher education.
This isn’t a critique of your post; it’s a challenge to dig deeper.
Meanwhile, the concept of an “Interpersonal Reactivity Index,” while perhaps filling the need to standardize and thus create usable data for assessing empathy levels, also sounds like an Orwellian reduction of a very complicated human faculty. Maybe engineering majors have less empathy in general, but if we used the same test without including academic major as a variable, just human by human, a more nuanced picture would emerge. If empathy is something we can transform into datafied metrics like that, it will also be just another platitude to be swallowed up by corporatized higher education.
Author: Emma
Comment on Time to Put a Bow on it by emma
“If there was something I could share with my future students, it would be this: learning with me will provide an experience unlike any other you have ever had before.” That’s great! I think I’ve been embodying this philosophy without realizing it.
The various techniques we’ve learned in this class, like classroom flipping, problem-based learning, and so on, can all facilitate a unique experience. They can assure students that class is something to look forward to, that might surprise them and draw out curiosities they didn’t even know they had — that’s what education should do, right? But whatever methods we use, I think the important thing is to affirm the specialness and importance of both the course content and the classroom. In this networked age, why should students come to class rather than using Khan Academy (or cheating from classmate notes)?
The in-person experience is important. Give them something they’ve never had before, and might never have again…
Comment on Weekly Pessimism vs Seth Godin, and “Famous Colleges” will outlive us all by emma
I’m with you on TED talks and Seth Godin. I wish there was a way we could promote optimism and counter-current thinking that didn’t have to manifest in these glib performances. Even though I talked about his notion of bravery in my post, I think Seth Godin is mostly a puppet for a toxic culture of hype-productivity. His surface kinship with progressive thinkers doesn’t absolve him of the truth that his premises are the same of the systems he critiqued in that piece.
As future PhDs / current and future college instructors, the answer to “what is school for?” must be more nuanced than what was demonstrated by this week’s reading.
Comment on Successfulness by emma
So interesting that the word “multitasking” was originally used to describe computers…
Comment on Like Deer in Headlights by emma
All things in moderation is a good rule of thumb, but very difficult in practice as an instructor. I talked about this in my blog post — how hard it’s been for me to develop a tech policy in my class. So far I explicitly ban all Internet devices, except in cases of disability and/or the need to use translation software. I dislike this because tit forces disabled and non-English-fluent students to “out” themselves to their peers. Bethany commented on my post and suggested that I tell students my preference is against device use, explain why, but still allow it – if they sit up front. I like that solution, although it’s still not perfect since it’s not universally applicable; not everyone can sit in the first two rows, and not all classrooms are set up in rows.
My fear is that the addictive power of tech is so strong that it eclipses our good intention with regards to moderation / “finding a happy medium.” I think we’re all already slightly addicted, so our judgment may be impaired…
Comment on May I have an hour of your time? by Emma
Great pictures! And all very good points. I like your diversity statement a lot, but I’m concerned that it may be confusing to students. Even though everything you say is true, and probably will ring true for a lot of your students — hopefully many will appreciate your candor — I would also lean toward taking a more affirmative stance that explicitly denounces xenophobia, especially in its most common forms. But then again, maybe I am particularly riled up about this given the political milieu of the last year…
Comment on classroom tech and its discontents. (why am i always thinking about this?) by emma
I really like that idea about having students using laptops sit up front. Maybe from now on, I’ll tell them that my preference is against device use, but if they choose to — for any reason, and they don’t have to say why — just to sit closer to me. Thanks for that. Also, interesting thoughts re: web access. I didn’t know that there were places in this state without it. Lack of access definitely changes the conversation on Internet overload a bit!
Comment on I am me and I can be no one else. by Emma
Faith, I love reading your writing. You have such a clear voice and manage to make sophisticated concepts and nuanced personal experience relatable.
As a fellow humanities instructor, your note on preferring concepts over ideas rings a bell. I think a lot of people feel comfortable with details, rote information, moreso than concepts. But theories and relationships between surface phenomena always seem more interesting to me. The challenge is getting quantia- and details-oriented students on board with that.
What you say about names is interesting to me, too. My students call me “Emma,” just because that feels right to me. But I wonder if I wouldn’t benefit from being called “Ms. Stamm.” I like the idea of pedagogy that breaks down the inequality between student and teacher, but even Paulo Freire knows that you have to draw lines somewhere. Figuring out where to draw those lines is still a challenge for me — and maybe why, unlike you, I get nervous in the classroom…
Comment on Idiot with the Drill by Emma
“Back to Papert though. If the megachange needs to occur in the mindset of educators and the basic philosophies of the education system. The focus of the parable shouldn’t be on technological tools. Because that’s all they are… tools.”
I completely agree with this. We’ve done so much reading on the importance of technology and embracing the new in the classroom. The lack of deep analysis or scrutiny of what technology is, the forces behind its development and adoption in the classroom, and whether we can theorize new mindsets about education beyond the framework of technology and the digital is a little bit alarming. Papert also implies a lot of false binaries, such as that between schoolers and yearners, that probably do moe harm than good.
Comment on Being the professional mean guy? by Emma
I am really, really bad at being the mean guy. It seems to me like this is much more difficult than being the nice guy for almost everybody. I think age and year actually make a difference here — I teach mostly freshmen and sophomores, most of whom are still getting used to college. A little bit of hand holding with them strikes me as more appropriate than for a graduating senior. I’ll echo Kaisen here — whether you’re “nice” or “mean,” making your expectations clear in advance is the most important part. You need to be transparent and follow through on what you say you’ll do if you expect students to do this, too.
