As you mentioned diversity brings both opportunities and challenges. It is important for instructors to teach all students to contribute to the ongoing commitment to social justice. Instructors should let different voices be heard and contrasting opinions be valued in the classroom. Students should become familiar with various social justice concepts, activities, institutions, and movements. This I think help reduce some of the challenges you mentioned.
Author: Armin
Comment on Red Queens in Inclusive Pedagogy by Armin
Thanks, James, I enjoyed reading the topics discussed in your post. I think speaking about inclusivity in a capitalist society is inherently challenging. For example, when it comes to education, the whole education system is designed to give superior service to wealthy neighborhoods since it is funded that way. Other areas, like healthcare, work almost in the same way. Before talking about inclusive education, we may need to first talk about inclusive capitalism or “to make capitalism more equitable, sustainable, and inclusive?”. This reminds me of the Marxist theory according to which the society is composed of bases (e.g., relations of production) and superstructures (e.g., culture, institutions, etc.). It seems to me that a real change in education and healthcare should come from the base: by changing how such primary services are funded.
Comment on Teaching as controlled improvisation by Armin
I definitely agree with you that “academics find it challenging to connect with students and meet them at their level.” Many existing experts and researchers are not necessarily good teachers, and that’s why we are taking these courses on education. I wonder what percentage of existing faculty took a class on education in the last decade? Probably very small. I also agree with Chris on practical problems when you want to apply the theory of good education. Having taken three courses on education, I think the student-faculty ratio is very important to the feasibility of quality education. Connecting with students is not easy with the current amount of workload and expectations from faculty members.
Comment on Can I REALLY Be My Authentic Self While Teaching in the Classroom? by Armin
I agree with you in many aspects and I had similar doubts while reading the text. I think your points such as “Does the author take into account the positionality and worldview of the different types of teachers? Does the author take into account the campus climate and campus politics?” are quite legitimate. Even each department has its own political atmosphere and you cannot easily be your authentic self in the classroom. By the way, I think the author might have referred to a type of classroom with no political contexts, which at least in academia, is not so realistic. In the best case scenario, the boundaries of authenticity are very limited. All in all, I think authentic learning is more viable and perhaps more important than authentic teaching.
Comment on Is Grading a Necessary Evil? by Armin
I agree with you about the necessity of replacing the conventional way of grading with more recent options. However, grading might not be entirely left aside forever. I accept the fact that grades are extrinsic motivations. Nevertheless, I think the way we grade (e.g., assigning heavy points to mid-term and final exams) is particularly problematic. There are many options for better grading. I think one possible solution is to either entirely get rid of mid-term and finals or assign lower weights to them or make them optional. Instead, instructors could include lab activities, take-home assignments, projects, out of class learning activities (e.g., attending conferences, etc.) and many more options that reflect how students performed during the class. At the end of the semester, there could be bonus points to encourage students to catch up. All of these could be evaluated either quantitatively or qualitatively. Although taking this approach requires a significant amount of time to be spent by the instructor, I think the positive results will pay back the time and resource investment.
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Comment on Fear of Failure by Armin
I just want to add that beside the fear of grade, there are many other factors that make almost any student anxious at school. Anxiety is a serious issue both at undergraduate and graduate levels and learning environments shouldn’t exacerbate it by traditional systems of standardization. I have been a TA for more than a year and in this relatively short period, I have faced many students who had family issues, deaths of family members or friends, mental health issues, etc. Even if such issues would not exist, millennials tend to be anxious because of their lifestyles, and, in many cases, they have serious financial concerns. There is a variety of methods to not to cause additional troubles through grading and assessment which should be applied by instructors at any educational level.
Comment on Is there a connection between assessment and motivation? by Armin
I am currently taking another course on education and it seems to me that about zero percent of the faculty take courses on education once in a while. At the first place, I think the university should require them to take a course on education in which many of these aspects, such as assessment, stress, etc. are addressed. By the way, I think when it comes to exams there should be more flexibility than what currently is. For example, flexibility in the time and format could help students decide when is the best option/time for them to take it and if a take-home exam is better or a classroom exam. Also, exams don’t seem to be necessary if an instructor gives regular assignments and graded lab activities. I agree with you that stress is an impediment to learning, creativity, and students’ interest in the course content, and should be addressed by allowing for some levels of autonomy.
Comment on Build it, and they will complain by Armin
We have invested a lot to establish extensive infrastructures for our educational systems. Then, we have gradually got used to them and found ways to use them in the most efficient ways. We have undergraduate classes of up to 300 students (maybe more) at Virginia Tech taught by one professor. We then find out that there is this need for making a change to all the infrastructure and the way we worked for so many years. Making a change is very expensive but it is inevitable to the economy and the society to maintain its position in the global market. I think one aspect of our solution should be to develop infrastructures, workplaces, and work styles that are highly flexible and maximize the potential for change.
Comment on Why are we taught to be sheep? by Armin
Your post in some ways aligns well with Langer’s discussion on mindful learning. I agree with you in terms of the need for a change in how we approach teaching and learning in general. We know that the traditional way of education based on standardization is now changing. However, as we discussed in class, the change in the politics of education is slow but inevitable. For example, at Virginia Tech, some standardized tests, like GRE, are no more required for entering the graduate school. Open access journals are gaining more popularity compared to the past. When it comes to education, especially in academia, I am an optimist because of the nature of the people who work in these settings. Universities are essentially less conservative and more open to change compared to many other institutions. I think the more difficult challenge is how to deliver this notion of mindfulness to families, public schools, and the society in general.
Comment on Can “we” practice change in education? by Armin
I agree with you in terms of the need for a set base. Part of the disagreement with Langer may come from the fact that her points are not discipline-specific and may seem too broad. Nevertheless, I also agree with Langer. Langer says the notion that “The basics must be learned so well that they become second nature” is a myth that undermines true learning, reduces creativity, and so on. My interpretation of her point is that learning the basics is not essentially wrong or useless, but the problem is how we deal with them. The memorization and internalization of basics are problematic if we accept them as the set of governing rules or unchangeable facts. If we treat the basics this way, we reduce the space for creativity and doubt. However, learning about and working with the basics are not essentially damaging.
