As I read the title “Save the World on Your Own Time,” I had a gut feeling I may disagree on the perspective Stanley Fish supports. The title alone already contradicts the perspective of ‘authentically learning you’ by giving off the assumption that there are better things to do than try and save / impact the world which gave me a bad taste in my mouth to start with.

Through the perspective of ‘authentically learning you,’ it is important to understand yourself and others in order to change and impact the world in a positive way. My whole perspective focuses on teaching from the heart, meaning teachers establishing an authentic relationship with their students and understanding how they learn in order to teach them in THAT way. We cannot as instructors simply enforce the cultural norms of conforming to the traditions of the past. We must foster an atmosphere where students can be the creative, unique individuals they are, not who society tells them they must be. It is important when teaching to take a step out of your own perspective by taking off your individual lenses of your personal experience, giving way to recognize and understand both sides of a story. We do this by critically thinking through topics and issues in order to share the perspective of both sides instead of staying limited to one side.

As I began my masters, it was the ability to gather knowledge at a level I had never experienced before that intrigued me. However, the notion of being able to take that information to bring positive change to the world is why I signed up for the exhaustive, yet fulfilling journey. I desired / desire to bring a positive and encouraging atmosphere where my students can share whatever they desire. 

A few things Fish believes contradicts some very foundational principles I live by on a daily basis. For example, Fish believes we should just “do our job”. We should conform to the role we are supposed to play and not think twice about it. He also believes we should not try to do someone else’s job. We are not responsible for advocating on behalf of someone else. Though I understand why Fish would have this perspective, this opposes the view of authentically learning you. Authentically learning you desires to connect with people by first learning them, then taking on the role of helping to create active citizens within the community and advocating no matter the cost. Lastly, Fish believes we should not allow anyone else to do our job. While this statement taken out of this context would make perfect sense, we must understand what Fish intended. I believe Fish is saying that teaching and advocacy are two separate worlds which should not be placed together. However, this also contradicts the viewpoint of authentically learning you by not allowing the classroom to be a space for advocacy to happen.

Overall, I do believe Fish and I approach teaching and the world from two very different perspectives. However, I would like to place value on the fact of Fish believing in the concept of debate within the classroom and giving students the opportunity to learn how to argue two sides of a story instead of basing their opinion ONLY on their own experience. Academic growth happens when the students can formulate their arguments based on a broader perspective than only their own. However, within the perspective of “authentically learning you” significance is placed when students are able to bring in their personal experiences as well as understand the value of seeing other perspectives. In turn this allows for students to bring their passions into the classroom; therefore creating an atmosphere for advocacy. Only then will we begin to see positive change in the world.

#authenticallylearningyou

Fish, S. (2008). Save the world on your own time. New York: Oxford