Courage is Critical
"I love the moment of introducing students to critical pedagogy, the moment they furrow their brows and whisper with not small amounts of irritation "What's pedagogy?" And, if I'm lucky, we have a conversation about how critical does not simply mean locating and naming the bad, the incomplete, the oppressive in a given instance, but also a means considering the possibilities, hoping for and imagining something better." (pp. 57 in my iBook... sorry)
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| The Kid's Table |
I first heard the word Pedagogy last Spring. I couldn't say it confidently until the first week of this semester. Only recently could I comfortably distinguishing "Pedagogy" from, "an intellectual word for teaching." The term never irritated me, but because of where I'm from (I'll be home in a week), deep inside there is a need to frame for utility. I learned early that Truth doesn't matter if you won't do the work to avoid "being weird" or "thinking you are better than everyone." I do not resent my home town like I used too, but I'm glad
for now not to live there.
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| One of my favorite pictures of my Grandfather and his sons. |
It's easy to cast people where I'm from as blissfully ignorant, but I don't let them off the hook so easily. They seem humble and satisfied in a way I will never be. Criticism is never particularly rewarded, but one should never underestimate how sharp these skills can be in an impoverished and isolated area. When I reluctantly share what I study at a family gathering, the amount of theorizing I am met with is transformative. The Parrish's attach their own secret ideas to the credibility of our discipline. The whole table nods in agreement. No topic is off limits, but my grandfather will whisper and bring a finger to his lips as if his secret opinion about "the other" is just for me. Things that they couldn't articulate before absorb everyone's attention until the next storyteller finds a graceful segue, usually in the form of a corny but reflexive joke, and takes the floor. Trust rewarded, I am relieved.
This is how This is how COMM 1010 feels. I use big words with as much fluency as
possible, and hope to render our differences meaningful enough to
illicit reaction (pp. 161). These reactions come in the form of nods and
jokes, but sometimes there are eye rolls, audible scoffs, and blank
stares. Miraculously, every Monday and Wednesday I leave Wooten Hall at
11am... relieved.
It's the point in the semester when I get tired of looking for the bad, I'm ready to use something, and I
need to use something if final projects are going to come with any grace. It's time to have faith in people and "lay our cards on the table and say we believe we have a strong hand, that this way of viewing the world has both merit and hope." (pp. 174)
First of all these pictures are adorable! Second, I really like your insight about your family. This is something I think most of us are going to face during the holiday season. I really like your connection to 1010 because I feel that my students do the same thing. I have one class that is totally on board and understands and then my other 1010 class doesn't even understand half the time. It's a difficult balance and I feel the same way every time I leave class! :)
ReplyDeleteI love reading your posts. I feel like you say what I am feeling… just more eloquently. I, too, need courage to finish out the semester. We are reaching the point in our teaching that will require the most courage to see and be seen. To develop a co-created classroom we need to allow our students to educate us as much as we educate them and the topics coming up make me the most nervous. I hope that we (my students and I) have created a classroom of understanding and respect as we enter these last two weeks. I have come to respect my students and wish nothing but the best for them. May we all have the courage to guide them through the remainder of the semester and (hopefully) aid them in getting a little closer to finding their agency.
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