Nicholas Redig
“To Reconceptualize Teaching”
Presentation Outline
I. Results
A. When teaching for community, how ought we conceive of the teacher?
1. Because the nature of knowledge necessarily rules out the banking system, it too rules out the very idea that teachers ever had an authority of knowledge.
a. It should be of no grave concern that teachers abandon such a
notion.
b. Instead, teachers ought to embrace the alternative model as it correlates with reality.
2. A transition to the alternative model (a learning-focused pedagogy) of teaching should not be viewed as leaving the teacher without some sort of authority.
a. Empowering students does not leave the teacher powerless.
b. The nature of power is such that it cannot be shared equally. Otherwise, it would not exist as such.
c. The aim of the teacher is not to teach in the traditional sense of the word.
-The authority that still remains is derived from the position of
teacher itself.
-This person is responsible for creating the environment conducive to learning and in this sense can still be viewed as teaching.
-The conception of what it means to teach within this new paradigm has to shift in the same manner as the paradigm does.
-When Larry Spence says that professors should no longer teach, he is calling for a focus on learning rather than teaching.
-Teaching is still involved in the learning process.
-This acts as an indication as to why the notion of teaching
ought to be examined and reconceived to fit with the new paradigm.
3. bell hooks offers insights with regard to reconceptualizing what it means to teach.
a. She writes:
“When as teachers we teach with love, combining care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust, we are often able to enter the classroom and get straight to the heart of the matter. That means having the clarity to know what to do on any given day to create the best climate for learning.”[1]
b. With these words in mind, along with the rest of what I’ve
presented here today, it is apparent that teachers:
1. set the framework for real communication/real knowledge
creation
2. have to lead in a subtle manner
3. have to have a sense for his/her students to navigate the classroom accordingly
4. have to have an understanding that the exercise of their power consists of framing the activities within the course to maximize student learning.
-Each class is distinct from the next.
II. Why does this matter within the context of WRIT101?
1. It seems that before one can be effective in his/her approach, that
he/she must have a sense for the responsibilities of the teacher within a learning-focused paradigm.
2. bell hooks offers what she calls teaching with love as a model for us, as teachers, to enact. (Her call for teaching with love is closely aligned with my idea of subtle leadership).
3. Within this paradigm of teaching, a teacher must always adjust, readjust, reflect, and revise. And this is always a work in progess…
Bibliography
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