Sunday, October 28, 2007
as i think about returning to teaching
Digital ethnography is COOL. If I were in college right now, or had a real professorship at a university, I might be all over this.
I have to say that when I stand in front of a classroom full of students like this, I certainly see those messages. Well done, kids. Yer tellin' it like it is for ya.
So what can I do, as your teacher, to help you show up, read your assignments, and incorporate your "real" lives into whatever it is you are doing in my class? I can't do it without you. Speak up. I have my standards, and you have yours. What can we do to make this work? Seriously. If you don't step up, why should I bother to show up to do what I do?
See, you're in college now. No one is forcing you to be here. Feel free to come back later if you'd rather be somewhere else for a while. I'll be here.
The basic elements of a solid education are painstakingly laid out every day in innumerable institutions of learning by people who bet their time, energy and patience that helping YOU achieve literacy is a worthwhile way to make a living.
Yes, some of us might like to feel some nobility in our profession. We memorize the occasional "thanks" or other expression of appreciation. We generally enjoy our colleagues. We stay up late at night trying to figure out the best ways to make our curricular mandates interesting and relevant for you. We LIKE you. We want you to succeed. We believe that there is a great deal at stake in your success.
Some of us complain about our working conditions. We worry about you, collectively and individually. Most of us want to make this whole thing "fun" for you if we can, but not at the expense of the profundity of genuine learning--the kind of learning that will help you get by in the world, make good personal and societal decisions, improve the quality of your lives and those of the members of your community. That includes us, too.
So keep talking. Keep writing. Keep communicating your messages to us. We really are listening. Your lives matter to us. Your ideas involving your education are valid. Bring it on, kids...
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2 comments:
I think the "fun" aspect is part of the problem. I think there was a time--a long time, like a couple of thousand years--when kids understood the purpose of education (whether that be formal, book-learning education or apprenticeship at the side of a mentor or parent) as preparation for adult life. There were things they had to know and understand to move out of childhood and into the world of adults, and they saw that movement as a real and tangible transition. The world was the adult world.
I think none of that is true now. The world is an adolescent world. The economy is focused to a large extent on meeting the needs of children and teenagers. The popular culture and mass media are focused on their needs almost exclusively. Fashion takes its lead from that group, and older people mimic them. There is no clear, irrevocable transition from childhood to adulthood. Kids probably have a hard time defining exactly what adulthood means. Having a job? Lots of kids have jobs. Having children? Lots of teens have children while in high school. Raising children? Tons of adults don't bother raising their children.
We all wear jeans and sneakers. We all spend our money on toys. We all play video games. We all want to have fun. I guarantee you that we do not define "the pursuit of happiness" the way Mr. Jefferson did.
So when you stand up in front of 115 students, do they think you're there to bring them into a world they don't yet know, or simply to amuse them?
A,
The comment outgrew the comment box; it gets its own entry. I need the editing capability and I'm not sure I'll have that when I push the Publish button...
H the O
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