I have used my blog to interrogate ways #EducatedWorldMaking can be applied in the classroom. This is one of many styles I hope to implement as a teacher throughout my career, but I want to discuss certain aspects of World Making in the classroom I have discovered through my time in our semester.

World Making in the classroom is a tool I have explored, but it is just a tool and not the only form of teaching I or any other teacher should rely on as the sole method. In Sara Ahmed’s book entitled Living a Feminist Life she discusses the feminist toolbox. In which everyone fills up their box with certain tools that differ based off individual preference and experience. I want to discuss how this tool can be implemented and also the limitations of it as well.

I.               World Making in the classroom can excel in popular culture or social justice-based courses. Popular culture and social justice both offer opportunities for envisioning society differently, #EducatedWorldMaking can create a space for students to engage in alternative theorizations of the future which is vital in understandings of social justice. World Making in popular culture is also important in embodying messages of popular culture. Take Dr. Brian Lain’s course on zombies and rhetoric- half the assignments are based off the students creating a world in which the zombie apocalypse is happening. Making a world, even for a short time, requires embodiment and application of concepts can be more understood by students because they have to think about the concepts in more concrete ways.

II.              World Making in the classroom can be limited by research classes. I would not apply to a course such as 3010 or courses on research methods. Perhaps it can be implemented in a unit on embodiment, performance, or progressing the field, but certain parts of our field need to be taught so students are not hurt later from lack of knowledge. If we allowed students in 3010 to envision a future where APA citations can be whatever they want it to be, we might set them up for failure as they lose major assignment points for not knowing how to do style. As much as we argue that writing styles and writing rules are oppressive, not teaching our students the rules can hurt them in the long run. Even though I want to teach students to think critically and freely, I also want them to know the rules before they start breaking them.

I feel that some of my classmates opted for focusing on philosophies in their blogs but as I reflect on what it means to incorporate Queer World Making into education, I see it less as a teaching philosophy to be applied always and see it more as an application to guide students to what it means to engage in Communication Activist Pedagogy: transformation of their world view, increased advocacy and engagement, and increased empathy and critical evaluation skills. I am glad to have focused on and developed this tool through my blogs this semester and I look forward to cultivating it and it’s applications throughout my career.

 

Ahmed, Sarah. Living a Feminist Life. Duke University Pressed Books, 2017.