1. Palmer writes on page 37, "I should have remembered from my own experience that students, too, are afraid: afraid of failing, of not understanding, of being drawn into issues they would rather avoid, of having their ignorance exposed or their prejudices challenged, of looking foolish in front of their peers. When my students' fears mix with mine, fear multiplies geometrically--and education is paralyzed." Is Palmer writing that fear is the root cause of our failing educational system? Do we live with more fear than 50 years ago?
2. What are these "live encounters" to which Palmer refers? What do these "encounters" look like in practice? I sense what he means, but it's just too vague, or maybe I'm being difficult. Is it simply student-centered learning? How do you communicate to other teachers what these are and how they can create these experiences in their classrooms?
3. "When I ask teachers to name the biggest obstacle to good teaching, the answer I most often hear is 'my students'" (Palmer, 2007, pg. 40). I find it humorous that some teachers put the blame on "the administration" or students' attention span, work ethic, and natural ability, when we hate when students don't take responsibility for their actions, academically and behaviorally. The buck always stops somewhere else, sometimes it is the joint responsibility of the students and administration, and I have been one of those teachers.
4. Palmer discusses that students are marginalized and that we need to hear their voices in order to be better teachers; however, hasn't the "marginalization" of children always been true? Was there a time when students' inner lives were truly appreciated? Why do young people now need to be "liberated" like African Americans or women? Yes, students believing that their ideas have value is critical, but I'm not convinced that the silencing of young people is the cause for a fallen educational system. It's not that I couldn't be convinced, but I need more than this.
I'm completely in favor of teachers being open, revamping their practice, self-reflection, focus on inner landscape, but how do you convince teachers to reflect on their fear and actively work to overcome it? I found myself thinking, "Gosh, do all teachers need therapists?" How can teachers help each other acknowledge or rid themselves of fear? By the way, fear doesn't just affect curriculum, it also dictates how a teacher deals with misbehavior. Don't even get me started on that. That might be more damaging that a poor lesson plan. :)
Although it is immensely interesting to compare generations, I don't know if we can quantify or give a real answer to the question of whether there was more fear 50 years ago or today. We did duck and cover drills for nuclear war -- more kids today do have to fear random violence (although even a cursory check of newspapers 50, 100, or 500 years ago shows random violence has always occurred.) School and schooling does appear to be more anxiety-ridden than ever before and perhaps that's a reflection of global competition and the waning American century. Who really knows.
ReplyDelete"By the way, fear doesn't just affect curriculum, it also dictates how a teacher deals with misbehavior. Don't even get me started on that. That might be more damaging that a poor lesson plan. :)"
ReplyDeleteActually, I'd like to get you started on that topic. (Although the rest of your post was great to read too.)
How does your role as a dean (one that I don't have as a teacher) allow you to see fear in teachers? How do you respond? Perhaps we can discuss this in class?
Thank you for the great commentary.
Boy, Comment #2 hits home from my days in the Principal's Office! It really is easier to point the finger outside of ourselves and to really believe that what we just did was true, fare and accurate. I'm not a failure (a HUGE fear) if I move the causes for lack of student achievement to someone else. In the end, that really is missing the entire point of the Gospel!
ReplyDeleteI was also wanting a little more on the "live encounter" topic. I assumed Palmer meant student-centerd classrooms as well since that has been a recurring theme for Palmer and Durka.
ReplyDeleteThe way I would define "live encounters" in my class would be the situations where my students are challenging me on a topic I've presented to them. I encourage them to challenge me on any and everything I teach them. It is part of the scientific inquiry-based environment I encourage and promote.
We definitely have some "live" discussions.
A. very good question about fear and whether we live it more today than in the past. Is the system more broken now than before? Or are we simply more aware? And if we are more fearful today (as I suspect)what are the measurements that tell us so?
ReplyDelete