Standpoints and Standards

As part of our discussion in this most recent meeting of Pedagogy and Communication, we briefly covered the use of Standpoint Theory as part of the autoethnographic analysis of individuals' pedagogical methods. So in this entry, I give a description of my own standpoint, and how it contributes to my perceptions of pedagogy.

Currently a graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies, I applied to the program on the premise that I would eventually go on to receive my PhD., and establish a career in academia. As part of this potential career, I made it one of my requirements of attendance to be employed as a Teaching Assistant, in order to begin learning the intricacies of teaching college students and developing a pedagogical philosophy I would hopefully articulate to my strengths over the foreseeable future. The son of a Caucasian Vietnam veteran and a Filipino, I have always identified phenotypically as asian, while the benefits from what I grew to understand as whiteness. Undeniably, this has benefitted my academic career because I have managed to attend a 4 year university and this graduate program at little to no cost, as a result of my father's veteran retiree benefits. While I acknowledge that I have primarily benefitted from these racial identifications, growing up, my physical association as asian-american led to some stereotypical associations which placed me under constant scrutiny in public discourses. Primarily, I was held to certain expectations in public school by the faculty and student body. Needless to say, this caused me numerous stressful periods, and I felt as though I had to meet these expectations or be considered a failure by society. However, I grew through these as much as possible for myself, which has led me here today.

So how has this effected my pedagogy? This is hard to determine. However, I do take the individual experiences of each of my students into consideration as we proceed throughout the courses I teach. My own experiences have taught me that assumptions homogenize the classroom to a single standard, relegating individual experience to the inconsequential. Clearly, this is not what I desire. But as teaching is still a relatively new venture for myself, I have yet to determine the best approach for accounting for and supporting the individual, while still aiming for the best learning experience as a whole in my classrooms. I realize that sounds like a cop-out, but even I am still learning. All a part of the process I assume!

Sources:

Orbe, M. P., Groscurth, C. R., Jeffries, T. & Prater, A. D. (2007). "We-The Militant Ones," A collective autoethnographic analysis of racial standpoints, locating whiteness, and student/teacher interaction. In Cooks, L. M., & Simpson, J. S. (Eds). (2007). Whiteness, Pedagogy, Performance: Dis/Placing Race. Lanham, MD: Lexington