Great post! I love the part about individualized curiosity. Curiosity can be a vital part of learning but I think it is difficult to set standards on what we define as being curious because of our each individual idea and definition of curiosity. This is why I appreciated the illustration stating that guidance will be provided to meet those conditions. What I gather is that each person’s curiosity will be embraced and supported in the learning environment.

I love the part about active silence. Silence is often understood to be a negative presence in the classroom but I think there is value in a silence when it is effective and productive. Sometimes, silence is needed for students to learn and we can use this in our classrooms as well. Awesome point!

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I really like the idea of it being an interactive process where both or all parties are engaged. This allows everyone to have a goal in learning and to be invested in the process. What I find to be tricky in the implementation of this, is how much each party participates and when has one participated too much? Too much to the extent that there is only one participant. In theory, we can have guidelines to prevent, but in practice, I often wonder if we can do this in an effective way that allows the learning to continue flowing.

Hi Armin, thanks for your comment, and apologies for not getting back earlier. I think we could debate about the pressure of publishing and other potential reasons, but the root of the problem is what really needs to be reached. The core values of people, their principles, their morality, their ethics. If people with low ethics end up as scientists, then we could be in trouble

Thank you for sharing this post. I am a fan of OA. The fee we pay for the journal goes for reviewing and formatting and making it available online. OA journals also host your data and make it available for everyone. So, first, I know what I am paying for, and second, I can use free data, which is fantastic. Also, the more independence that OA journals possess, the more reduction is in the number of people who want to make a profit from the business of publishing. This cycle reduces the total cost of publishing. In addition, I imagine that one day I will graduate but still want to do research. I will again need to pay for access to traditional journals in case I want to do research. Even when in university, not all traditional journals are accessible because universities do not go into contract with all journals. I need to pay for the journals that the university did not have a contract with. Long story short, making my research available for everyone, broadens its impact both in terms of metrics, such as citation number and in terms of helping those who really want to read it but do not have access to it. For these reasons and many more I am a fan of visibility.

I believe cooperative learning, collaboration in essence, is important to critical pedagogy, as you say. I say this because feedback from my students on their cooperative group work exercises centers around the understanding, and different points of view, that they learn from their fellow classmates – ideas and slants on the material they did not think about on their own. Opening students to different ideas in a safe, low-stakes environment is a way to help facilitate the critical learning process.

Just a personal antidote here. My son graduated with an MBA and did very well in the program – but so do many MBAs. He really got a very good job because his life was balanced – because he knew how to use a screwdriver. He not only earned an MBA and a couple of other degrees, but he also worked construction, milked goats and built fence. Connecting learning with life experience, with ways that students can connect to ways in which perhaps they are already thinking critically, could help them make connections in the classroom and with class work.

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Helping students to learn to think critically is a process – one that some students catch on to quickly and others do not. Adding in a disability sometimes can add steps to the process and a great deal of patience and work can be involved. I once taught algebra to a blind student. The process was long, different and required great patience, but on the flip-side, when the student showed progress, solving equations on her own, we both experienced a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Yes, we overthink. We overthink a lot. Instead of putting efforts where they are necessary, we waste a lot of time and energy thinking about consequences. It is weird but we are in a way taught to think like that. In general circumstances, I am pretty sure you heard a lot of people asking you, “Are you sure?” even if it is the right thing to do. Also, we don’t necessarily do anything unless it has some benefit for us. May be we should cater some time to (over)think about helping people around us. Interesting post!

Nice post. I like the structure of your post. The equity picture is a good representation of the unique teaching/learning interface for different people.