I really enjoyed reading your post! My uncle is the former Dean of Students and VP of a small private college in North Carolina, and given this class I have asked him a lot more about his job this semester, as well! I agree that the strategic plan is a crucial genre that drives a lot of decisions and choices within the university.

I loved reading your post, Cherice! It is interesting to hear that STEM education is often more fact or content-based than some humanities courses! I went to a liberal arts college where interdisciplinarity was constantly emphasized. In fact, we did not even offer engineering at my alma mater! It is encouraging for me, as a hopeful future faculty member in the humanities, to see your perspective on what the humanities can offer STEM, hopefully we will see more STEAM curricula in the future!

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Great points here! I really like the specific anecdote you provided. I agree that being a “good student” doesn’t necessarily mean questioning others, but instead is connected to a willingness to invent, create, experiment, and even make mistakes. I think this outlook will serve you well as an educator and I believe students will appreciate this perspective as well!

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Thank you for this post! I am particularly interested in Godin’s suggestion of making course materials available online. Many students I have met at VT are in 18-20 credit hours, aka very, very busy! I am interested in the ways in which we can use technology to help our students have more control over their own chaotic schedules. I do think, however, this technique may be more easy to implement in some disciplines that others. I teach writing and worry it may be more difficult to deliver content and provide feedback in this setting than in a traditional classroom.

Interesting points here about how open access can often mean that anyone has the right to “distort” the information. While I know some have had easier times, I worked with a religion class as an undergraduate to alter the historical Jesus Wikipedia page, and although we were guided by a faculty member, were met with much resistance in our attempt to alter the site. I think the ability of people to alter information varies quite a lot.

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You made some great points in this post! I, too, am more on the side of incorporating technology, although it can be distracting. I recall spending far too much time as an elementary school student staring out the window and / or daydreaming, so I’m more of the mind that if someone wants to be distracted or off task, they will find a way to do so.

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Very creative artifact, guys! I agree, I would like to hear more about the creation / intention of this work in class this evening. Looks nifty!

I really like your perspective about how critical pedagogy may be the “next step” after cultivating “mindful learning” and “inclusive pedagogies.” As a new teacher myself, I also find it intimidating to think immediately about being a critical pedagogue, particularly in consideration of the real-life constraints placed on graduate students and non-tenured faculty members like the need to complete coursework and publish, large course loads, lack of departmental support, etc. I think that although critical pedagogy may seem intimidating / overwhelming at first, to discuss it is a great initial step! Nice post!

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Great post — love the title! I really like the graphic your group came up with! The emphasis on “radical openness” and “curiosity” really struck me. My group did not explicitly talk about those components of critical pedagogy, but I love them! It is so refreshing to think about how we could help our students become life-long learners through curiosity and, well, just darn good people, via a commitment to fighting oppression and cultivating “radical openness.” Awesome work, y’all!

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I agree that while conversations about race, diversity, and inclusion are difficult ones to have — ones that can often create conflicts. As a younger teachers, I have often been nervous about bringing significant discussions surrounding these issues into the classroom, especially after the events in Charlottesville in summer 2017. I have often tried to intiate these conversations within the writing classroom by reading thought-provoking texts about these issues and by minority authors and then insisting that the conversation connect directly to the text, to deepen our understanding and critical thinking and to avoid the scary, hateful territory of over-generalization for entire people groups. I enjoyed reading your post!