Understanding human and human condition is such an important point you discussed, I really like your example Neda! Unfortunately in real world not only it might not taken it into account but also might get avoided intentionally.
Author: Yousef Jalali
Comment on Remembering why we do what we do by Yousef Jalali
Great point! Professionals do need to think about their work in connection with public and that needs further attention in educational settings.
Comment on Critical Pedagogy in Practice (Not a word cloud) by Yousef Jalali
Such an interesting representation of critical pedagogy! I should say that I enjoyed listening your explanation of different aspects of your vision. One particular aspect I really like was the fact that you take into account community or public, in several ways.
I also like implicit conception of relation in your plan, highlighting the notion of participation “with” the world.
Comment on What animals can teach us about inclusive pedagogy by Yousef Jalali
Beautiful! In Dr. Edward’s class (engineering ethics and public) we watched a video in which a dog (I think ) was helping an injured dog in a highway, it was incredible and of course sad. We also watched videos of ignorance of humans situations that others are in need for help. Indeed there is a lesson…
Comment on Diversity in the classroom: Bigotry and why Race matters by Yousef Jalali
Very good points! I also think that is crucial to explore the roots of these assumptions and judgments. I think to some extents Vendantamis tries to address it as it illustrates the role of family, educational system, and in particular media. And of course this is not whole picture. The systemic root of maintaining status quo which is beyond a particular institution may need further attention. I believe the panel members on podcast took this into account in exploring the issue of race and racism.
Comment on Authentic Teaching by Yousef Jalali
I believe what you mentioned about giving students opportunity to question what they learn is such a valuable goal. In connection with the notion of critical thinking, I believe students do not have that much opportunity to practice to think and reflect critically on various topics. Most lecture-oriented classed do not support that kind of environment. I also think your emphasis on team and the role of relational capacity can lead to the learning context in which students actually have a better chance for fostering critical thinking.
Comment on Finding your voice in teaching: Discovering your vocabulary by Yousef Jalali
Great point. I did face this sort of fear. I think part of this is going to be resolved as we do our best in preparation and anticipation of different issues students may face. Another part, which I think is related to authentic voice is the fact that I as a teacher might not have answer to all questions or be comfortable about all details. I think being honest about this might be really helpful.
Comment on Keep Calm and Dismantle the Grading System? by Yousef Jalali
I believe I have been facing the very issue you mentioned. On one hand, I would need to follow some departmental policies and be strict at least in some aspects. On the other hand, I can see that paying too much attention to details and creating, I would call it, a magic formula for rubric and assigning numerical representation for every single detail can potentially destroy students’ creativity and put them in a sort of isolation in which they cannot imagine beyond standard norms and they cannot bring their insights, which I think, is at least valuable to be explored. In a way we deal with students as a machine need to perform in a certain way and function in a certain manner. And of course the extent of what I discussed may vary depending on subject matter. The analogy of climbing mountain that Dr. Michael Wesch is very resonate with me. How we can work on institutional culture and develop strategies to actually apply that in the educational settings is definitely worthy to explore.
Comment on Mindfulness, Learning, and Education by Yousef Jalali
As you mentioned there are some limitations regarding where mindfulness strategies can be applied; and it might be more challenging to be implemented for some subject matters. I can see it as a more general skills which can be applied in different contexts. And I think regardless of subject matter and complexities, teacher can play an important role in creating space for students in which they can question, welcome new perspectives and engage in dynamic process of inquiry.
Comment on New Ways of Teaching and Their Effectiveness by Yousef Jalali
I think you discussed some valid points. Yes, the fields and disciplines are different, surely a discussion-oriented social science class is different with a lecture-oriented statics class. And as you discussed interaction with environment and teacher, and motivating students can still play an important role regardless of context, though its format might be different. I think we can not move from lecture and might be necessary for many subject matters, but what we can do is to think about teacher as facilitator, as a member of learning community, granting that I think we may move forward to reshaping even our lecture-oriented class in a way that students’ learning became its priority.
