The readings for this week redefine what it means to learn something. Many teachers believe their job is to teach the students some kind of truth or lesson that conveys information. For example, the purpose of a lesson about the Diary of Anne Frank might be to convey the prepackaged idea that Anne is a symbol of optimism within a bad situation. However, the authors of both readings want to challenge the idea that the teacher’s role is to tell their students universal truths. Instead, teaching is about giving students the tools they need to analyze the world around them. Learning should not just be listening to a lecture where the teacher tells the students everything they need to know about Anne Frank. Learning should be encouraging the students to figure out information by themselves using different sources that might contradict each other. It is more useful for the students to be able to analyze these sources for their validity and their significance, rather than simply telling the students what is important. I loved the examples in both readings because the students were actively engaged in their learning. The authors value the students’ input and don’t just see students as empty vessels that need to be filled with information.
The readings reminded me that learning should be an empowering experience. As a student, I feel empowered when I am challenged to creatively analyze the course content in my own way. Teachers should be aware of how they view their students and how their assignments might be either empowering or disempowering to students. The readings for this week are also similar to the education as social justice readings we did before break because the students in these classrooms were expected to understand social inequity. I liked how Larry Steele ended his article by explaining that he doesn’t care what jobs his students will have in the future, but he hopes that they bring knowledge about social justice to whatever job they might work at. Teaching students to think analytically about social justice does not necessarily mean they will all end up working for non-profits or other like-minded organizations; it means that they will be prepared to consider social and environmental costs at any career they choose. They will be empowered to promote change in whatever area becomes their passion.
I totally agree with your point that teaching is more about giving a student skills to think critically than imparting information on any old topic. But while you point out the positives of Steele and Spector’s more critical approaches, I still don’t think either of them really managed to depart from “teacher’s role of telling their students universal truths.” In some ways, they were still teaching values that were supposed to be accepted. Albeit these weren’t the same values that popular society pushes (an optimistic Anne Frank and bottom-line driven businesses), which is certainly to their great credit. I just wish both had been a bit more explicit about how their own values were entering into their respective teaching styles (because social justice and human rights are still making their own valuations). I think that could have been a great jumping off point to talk about being critical of the subjective perspectives that everyone brings to the table. I think that would have been an easier and more effective way to begin critiquing the popular conceptions that the students had since it would start with an individual (who is a little easier to critique) and then move onto the more abstract critique of society at large.