Go Fish?

Hi guys, welcome back!

Today I was thinking about Mr. Stanley Fish, and how he does not have me hook, line, and sinker. His book, Save the World on Your Own Time, left a bad taste in my mouth for a number of reasons. The main idea that kept reappearing throughout his book that I took issue with, was his distain for educators bringing their own personal views into the classroom.

Growing up, my family was generally uneducated on political matters, which in turn means I didn't have much background on the political sphere at all. Then, I had a teacher who changed it all for me. When I was in middle school, I had a history professor who introduced me to the importance of politics, regardless of affiliation. We were discussing the government, and he related political views to help us understand the content in a different way. He encouraged my class to understand government, its functions, and what exactly the different sectors did. He was open about his political beliefs, but encouraged us to think about where we align. I never felt his intent was to sway us to believe what he did, but that he wanted us to think for ourselves. Learning to hear different points of view, and have a successful conversation with someone who believes different from you, usually begins within your academic journey.

After I began to develop my political ideology, I realized that I actually fell on the opposite side of the political spectrum of my teacher, who was the one that encouraged me to make this discovery. Although I don't agree with his political views in most contexts, I agree with his pedagogy of bringing his views into the classroom when it was relevant to the material at hand and furthered the understanding of the content. I feel through this self-disclosure on his part, I felt comfortable to explore my own views and the material alike. His views and ideals gave me a starting point of research that developed who I am in certain senses. I was able to differentiate between ideologies and find which specific ones fell in line with what I held dear in my heart and priorities. I am now heavily involved in politics, and make sure to educate myself on what's going on in that arena. This standpoint has given me the ability to realize that I want to always grow with the way the world is changing. Getting exposed to different viewpoints and ideas is absolutely critical to a successful education. My journey began in middle school, and has led me to become passionate about matters I didn't even think I would be concerned with less than a decade ago. 

Due to the lasting impact my teacher left on me from merely mentioning the importance of understanding politics, and self-disclosing his personal views, I have the desire to do the same with my students. I know some of my students may be in the same space that I was, uneducated and not familiar with matters that affect them. I feel that introducing them to possibly controversial or political issues, and offering my viewpoint, could inspire them to learn more for themselves. 

My ⚡️#lightningboldt of the week has been realizing that I really value learning teacher's opinions on matters, not because I want to believe exactly what they do, but because I feel it can inspire me to learn more about the topic myself. Through this realization, I hope to inspire my students to learn more for themselves about important things in society through offering my viewpoints on matters related to the content in class. 

On that note, I understand where you were trying to go with your book Mr. Fish, but not much of it stuck with me. So, maybe next time I'll have something more positive to say, but for now- Go fish!