You're published, so that justifies EVERYTHING

Honestly, where do I begin?

I'll just jump right in by discussing the Bell and Golombisky (2004) article, "Voices and Silences in Our Classrooms: Strategies for Mapping Trails Among Sex/Gender, Race, and Class". I will then discuss the article by Hendrix, Jackson, and Warren (2003), "Shifting Academic Landscapes: Exploring Co-Identity Negotiation, and Critical Progressive Pedagogy". Finally, I will discuss the article by Vargas (1999), "When the 'Other' Is the Teacher: Implications of Teacher Diversity in Higher Education".

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Dear Elizabeth Bell and Kim Golombisky,

After reading your article about the silencing of voices in classrooms, on behalf of black women in America, I would like to thank you for providing yet another analysis to the apprehensive relationships we form with our white female counterparts and NOT providing a solution to the issue. Heck, you don't even suggest a productive way to analyze the relationship and that's the best part of this article! We thank you because we forgot that the feminist movement did not include our voices. The feminist movement was about the struggles experienced between white women and white men and we certainly do not want to involve ourselves in family matters. We forgot that we are often uninvited to the conversation about the Civil Rights Movement, as black men are often the focal point of discussion. Thank you for recognizing that white individuals in academia must make "room" for us in the classroom as we can sometimes be ignored. Please do understand that we are not angry and nor do we want to take control over your classroom(s), we just do not like to be ignored... we love that you understand that about us. We also love that you understand that it is our job to help white people "get it", although sometimes we do not "get it" ourselves. Wait, what is "it" exactly? And last but certainly not least, we thank you because we do not want you to take the attention away from other students in the classroom. We feel that would be unfair and might cause some tension between us and our white female peers and we just simply cannot have that! There are some things you are missing from your arguments, but overall I think you did a pretty good job at leaving out other women from different races. Your coverage of Good Girls, black women, and privileged individuals pretty much sums up silencing voices in the classroom.

Thanks,
Unexposed to the Construction of Race

P.S. I am sending you a copy of "What the Black Woman Thinks about Women's Lib" by Toni Morrison (2008). This was written four years after your article, so I'm sure you did not have access to such an interesting critique to the relationships between black women and white women. I am also sending another copy of hooks' Teaching to Transgress (1994). You might have the wrong one.

P.S.S. I obviously do not represent an entire culture of black women. That would be wrong for me to do.

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Dear Katherine Grace Hendrix, Ronald L. Jackson, II and Jennifer R. Warren,

Your critique of co-identities in academia is one that challenges and negates the very ideas and arguments that many journals publish year-round. I understand that your article was written in 2003, but for some reason I think people have yet to grasp the analysis that you present in your article about existing alongside individuals with multiple identities. Here specifically, I am referring to race. Particularly, what I really enjoy about your article is that you acknowledge that there is a sense of invisibility that marginalized individuals feel in the classroom. Not necessarily because the classroom environment is structured that way, but sometimes because a dominant expectation exists. However, you also provide a critique on how to approach the issue(s). Not only should individuals who have multiple identities be acknowledged, but they should be understood as a pivotal role when critiquing interactions and cultural worldviews. They should be understood and acknowledged to question the traditional approaches to pedagogy. So how does one approach differences in the classroom when they, according to the understanding of differences provided in your article, are not different? For example, how does a white male discuss issues of race with his student who is of color? Well here is where you provide your definition of critical progressive pedagogy, similar to Freire and hooks' approaches to pedagogy. Critical progressive pedagogy is best defined as a progressive challenge to traditional academia (the banking model) in order to emphasize the importance of critiquing oppressive structures. Some people like Stanley Fish would call your method a joke and a hindrance to academia entirely. But I must say I love that you acknowledge academia's role stating:

While some scholars argued that critical pedagogy has done something to make academia political, progressive critical pedagogy scholars maintain that academia is already inherently political, and critical pedagogy is only one tool for understanding the dynamics of this brand of politics, (2003, p.182)

Finally, I want to discuss your critique of the Cultural Contract Theory. This is the most interesting section in your article as you cover various levels of contracts made between individuals who seek to practice democratically in educational contexts. For example, your overview of the cocreated cultural contracts develops a deeper understanding of how teachers and students can create negotiated agreements that encourages an open and relational environment that implements dialogue between both parties. Allowing your reader to comprehend not only a theoretical understanding of critical pedagogy but also the praxis that is very important when discussing the nature of this pedagogy being progressive. One must do in order to understand the benefits. 

Thanks,

Shared Racial Identity

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Dear Lucila Vargas,

Allowing your reader to engage in a critique of understand the other as a teacher. Often times scholars are focused on how the classroom experience is for the students that they lose the importance of understanding the full experience in the classroom. And the experience occurs much more than in the classroom. Clearly you outline early on in your paper that you results and critique are not an argument based on "women of color" as a whole. You respectfully allow your reader to understand that you are not a voice for all women of color, but provide an analysis based off your own experience as well as those individuals you have interviewed. Honestly, I know your article was published in 1999, but there are still some scholars who provide critiques on the lives of others without providing a substantial amount of research to justify their findings. Odd, I know. Nevertheless, you do provide an interesting analysis to understanding the role of the other for individuals in academia in order for those individuals to understand their roles better for themselves or in relation to others. The second day of my class this semester, I introduced my students to the notion of Whiteness. To be clear, my purpose was to allow my students to understand a critical concept and try to help them understand that we would challenge dominant expectations throughout the semester. Providing them with a deeper example, I highlighted some of the differences they might experience with me as a woman of color versus if their instructor was a white male. One student responded, "oh there would be no difference at all. We would still respect you and be open to new ideas." We discussed this in further detail and then maybe five weeks later, I received anonymous critiques on how I approach topics of race "too much" and how I was making them feel "uncomfortable" in the classroom. Nope, they didn't notice the examples of gender that I provided. How could they when I was talking about race too much? But what's too much when we live in a world where people fail to realize that issues of race are always easier to discuss when we socially isolate them? Everyday I feel like I'm performing for a different audience but because I accept the fact that I will never perform the role of an instructor as I am socially expected to-- I am able to provide a space for my students draw a sense of reality in regards to their identity and experience as well as my own. However, how do you define such implications of politics in the classroom?

Thanks,
Understanding Ways to Encounter Other Teachers

P.S. Next time could you include a deeper analysis of more people who fall under the other category or suggest theorists that approach ways to analyze power structures? Have you read Freire? I'll send you a copy of his book! 

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Scholarship...

LOHRUH