Grab Bag
At some point this semester, please post a link to an article, video, website, etc. that made you think about something we’ve done in class. Also, please provide a brief discussion about whatever you submitted. This has no due date, but my hope is that you will check it periodically and read what your classmates are posting (feel free to comment, too).
Well, I'm going to break the rules a little and just write a plug for a book: "For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood....and the Rest of Y'all Too" By Christopher Emdin.
ReplyDeleteI am reading this book for another class that I am taking, and it is completely shaking my worldview (seems to be the theme of this semester...).
I am recalling Pring's comment: Any theory is always open to revision in the light of further experience and criticism. We can never be certain that our beliefs and theories are correct. But we can feel confident in them if they have been subjected to the most rigorous testing (p. 137).
I REALLY REALLY thought that after my first five years of teaching "in the hood" that my beliefs and theories about teaching "in the hood" were correct (I won't get into all of the beliefs now, but would love to have discussions around this if anyone is interested). I had subjected my beliefs and theories to five years of rigorous testing, though they certainly underwent some drastic changes from year 1 to year 5. Fast forward 4 more years, I left "the hood" to teach in a more affluent area, then returned to "the hood" this school year.
I started this book and can't put it down. Christopher Emdin did not give me any "hard numbers" or trend lines or correlations; he still gave me data. My reality is only my reality because of the way I have experienced it. The reality within the four walls of my classroom was never experienced the same by my students as it was for me. In some sense I always knew that, but after reading this book I can absolutely never forget it. And I'm shaken because of it.
This experience reminds me that it's not always about data and "classy writing" (thank you, Becker!). A well written story of the experience of one person can easily be the most powerful thing someone can read, making "qualitative" or "anectodal" data just as important as the hard stuff.
-Chelsea
Chelsea -
DeleteHad you read the Biesta article before writing this? If not, I would be curious about your after-thoughts. What you are saying here seems to align with much of what I got from Biesta's article. Having been in a similar teaching situation (although I am careful to assume similarities!), I agree with the power of anecdotal evidence and a need for a "desirable intervention" vs. an "effective" one (as per Biesta). I am no longer teaching in that situation but would love to read Emdin's book, for general reflection and also because I am willing to bet that the insights it provides are more widely valuable than just in the context of teaching.
Kori
Kori - I have not read it yet! I was just sitting down now to read it. I will check back afterwards! :) -Chelsea
DeleteP.S. A colleague wants to borrow the Emdin book when I am finished, but I'm happy to pass it along to you after that!
Now that I have read Biesta, just coming back to make one more comment. I highlighted and doubled starred this comment when I read it:
Delete"The problem with evidence-based education, therefore, is not only that it is not sufficiently aware of the role of norms and values in educational decision making, the problem is that it also limits the opportunities for educational professionals to exert their judgment about what is educationally desirable in particular situations."
I am so glad that is explicitly stated, as it has been on my mind all semester. I think it also goes back to the points both Kori and I made above. Just because an intervention seems to be "effective" by some [arbitrary] measurement does not mean that it is actually desirable in every situation. And furthermore, teachers need the professional license to make those decisions in their own classrooms. No one knows the students in the classroom as well as the teacher does (except for their own families). In the same way that parents should be able to decide what is best for their own children, teachers should be able to decide what is best for their own students, within reason and within certain parameters. The trouble is determining the appropriate parameters, I think.
-Chelsea
This may be cheating, but honestly, what I thought of most this semester was related to conversations I had with others about writing and feedback. It was like the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, or in that realm...suddenly, any time people talked about their reaction to feedback on their writing, it seemed amplified after reading the beginning of Becker's book and when reflecting on some of our conversations in class.
ReplyDeleteWhile I've felt it myself, it's surprising to hear how viscerally people can react to feedback on their writing. A close friend of mine talked at some length about how upset he was over feedback from a professor on a paper for re-submission; in part, because the feedback did not seem to address the actual reviewer comments, but also, just how much the way it was written mattered to my friend. He's not overly sensitive, but he took it so personally, and he stressed just how intentional his writing was, and the painstaking detail with which he crafted this submission. In the end, it wasn't even a reaction to the reviewer comments, but to someone he knew personally.
More recently, we got a desk reject on a paper to a high-tier journal. It was an interesting study that I feel had impact, but there were any number of things that made it likely we got rejected, not the least of which was that the journal did an issue on our topic the month before. Still, our lead author was shocked, and he talked about how well-written it was. I've seen him react to reviewers--not well--and I wondered how he might have reacted to feedback. In his field, it's actually common to get an acceptance without any editing.
These things just made me think more about how personal writing can be for us, how intimate. I feel like I tune in more when people talk about their feelings on feedback, on writing. There's this kind of stubbornness, or pride, that when we write, it's perfect. It's a piece of us. And it's so easy to take it personally when we get back comments, or revisions, or red marks, and thing, "Wait, that's mine--that's me!" and it almost feels like a betrayal, even when it's strangers. It's like we're being judged, and I know that's not everyone's reaction, but it is interesting to hear it, and see it, the way I do now.
I think it's taught me to let go even more. It feels very human, but I also think it makes me want to hear what other people think, because it's not personal. Whether or not I'm actually able to do that is another story!
^^^^Meagan
Delete