Readings for 9/12/13

I appreciated this week's readings particularly since the identity readings from last week left something to be wanted with respect to practical application.  These texts definitely picked up where last week's left off and addressed some of the practical issues of acknowledging and addressing social identity in learning/teaching contexts.  Opening the Classroom Door (Quinn) asks what a physical classroom might look like to engender a level of comfort for all but what I found more interesting was the section that addressed contradictions.  I think here in particular there was an acknowledgment that regardless of the content and context of the learning environment we as educators are able to provide, it's within these other complex systems that also bear great relevance and influence on the lives and minds of our students.  Given this reality, I think the best we can strive to do is keep these contradictions in mind and empower students (and ourselves) to see these systems at play and then question and challenge them.  

Knowing Ourselves As Instructors (Bell, Washington, Weinstein & Love) through discussions with practitioners, established for me that our identities are always in flux (particularly depending on context) and absolutely affect the conversations we're trying to start or lead.  Building on the awareness that readings from last week call for (specifically the Identity Mapping exercise) I think it's important to keep in mind that these identities we embody and subscribe to aren't concrete.

I was charmed by the format of both The Mystery of Teaching (Ayers & Alexander-Tanner) and Contact (Knight & Schwartzman) and more importantly, it was interesting to be exposed to these three case studies.  It seems obvious that more effective than imposing an agenda on a classroom or community is working with them to achieve universally desired ends.  In some cases, like that of The Mystery of Teaching, the community already had an idea of what they wanted and educators stepped in to work with them towards those goals.  On the other hand, in Contact, through the dance instructor's openness the inmates were able to discover their goals.  I think these show that regardless of the intent of the educator and the level of the educator's awareness, so much of their effectiveness is contingent on the participation of the class/community.