Comment on Dream Learning by kgculbertson

Amen, Lauren!
This is kind of what I am trying to crystallize for my dissertation. Humans would not have become the learning machines we are today had it not been for that inherent (even burning) desire to share what we know with others. I think sometimes that basic idea is lost because we tend to ‘value’ (as a society) people who make an individual contribution – in sports, science, medicine, etc. I often wonder what types of shifts in thinking could occur if we recognized the significance of thinking, and learning, together. We’re getting closer than I imagined might be possible 20 years ago, but I think we need to start having many more conversations around collaboration & creativity to rise above the conversations about the value of competition and individual success.

Comment on Dream Learning by kgculbertson

Thanks, Sara.
I definitely believe that the language/words we use are imperative to moving conversations forward. I also believe that the profession of educating others needs to be elevated in most people’s minds in order to progress in our thinking about how education happens and who is considered a Professional Educator.
There are some significant ‘adjustments’ in thinking about who can and should educate youth in the US in the past 10 years. Some for the better and some not. But what’s interesting to me is that even in the seemingly negative changes (i.e. Teach for America) the shift that occurs in the conversation is often for the better.

Comment on Dream Learning by kgculbertson

Thank you, Rud. I appreciate your support and your insight. I think we all do have the ability to ‘teach’. Perhaps not within the current structures we currently consider ‘learning environments’ but definitely there are plenty of opportunities for each of us to engage, inspire and unite others. Perhaps that’s how learning should be organized…

Comment on Dream Learning by kgculbertson

Hey Brandon.
It’s mostly daydreaming/envisioning and planning. I do often dream of being in an education position, but I don’t have vivid dreams of specific people (Students) that I can recall. I do often think about students I’ve had. There are so many stories, personalities, successes and failures that have shaped my reality and world view. I carry them with me as reminders of them and of who I am.

Comment on Being the professional mean guy? by Soo Jeong Jo

I like your expression – “professional mean guy” hahaha. I think that is a really difficult task to be mean. I heard many stories about students who came to the TA crying or being angry because of their grades. I didn’t have those experiences yet, but I have no idea how I should react to that kinds of situations if it happens to me. Specifically, if a student says he or she will lose the scholarship because of 1 point in my class, that would be a hard situation to conclude.

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…