Well, for last week we read our assigned chapters on critical theory and, lucky us, we were able to see Deb Appleman present information on her research, in person. Then is Rick’s class, we also looked into critical theory in analyzing media representations. One of the things that has really stuck with me is the idea of using critical lenses as a way to provide a safe environment for bringing up difficult issues and encouraging deeper discussions among students. Appleman notes in her text that through the use of the postcolonial lens creates a more “inclusive classroom” that “validates the experiences and perspectives of readers from outside the mainstream” (89). This is achieved by using the lens as a way to recognize, respect, and truly acknowledge the unique histories and cultures from all around the world. By giving students a chance to read literature written by non-Western voices, literature written by the people who have been oppressed, silenced, and neglected, students can feel more comfortable with their identities in and out of the classroom.
Another advantage to using the postcolonial lens, and some of the other lens as well, is that by using this lens teachers can establish a more empathetic classroom dialogue. Using different lenses in order to illustrate different ways of examining a text teaches students not only to question the world around them with a critical eye, it also puts them in someone else’s shoes; shoes that might belong to their fellow classmates. By using the postcolonial text, for example, white students might be able to empathize more with their minority classmates while those who are the minority can partake in discussion knowing that they are for once not the only ones to interpret a text in one specific way. This safe zone, in which students can share a viewpoint that might be drastically different from that of the mainstream population, will connect students in a way that forces them to open their eyes. Such discussions will open up avenues for teachers to really attack the tough issues brought up in a text without fear that some students might feel singled out, attacked, or simply uncomfortable with their reading of the text and class discussions.
All of this will help students become more critical observers and actors in the world around them. Appleman quotes a teacher who in order to move her students “outside their familiar patterns of thinking,” took it upon herself to ask them to reflect upon how they would handle being indoctrinated—“incapable of thinking collectively in any but the most inhuman ways” (91). Her point was to illustrate to her students the need to think of themselves as “public individuals” rather than brainwashed members of a community. They need to think beyond themselves and react to what they encounter in society from a variety of viewpoints in order to successfully participate in the world around them. As teachers it is our responsibility to give them the strategies and tools that will help them examine and analyze the world around them critically, today, in hope for a better tomorrow.
Hi Meredith. Deb Appleman was quite a speaker, eh? It's nice to hear from people who are so passionate about what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was writing up my comment on your post for this week (Oct. 20) when I realized I hadn't commented on your last post, so here I am, making up for lost time. My bad!
I think your last paragraph sums it all up really well. The critical lenses are wonderful tools for getting students to think differently. They are excellent tools for us all to start thinking differently. And while we may teach the lenses, and critical approaches in general, in the English classroom, those skills will transfer to the world around them. We teach them to read the word, then how to apply those same skills to reading the world.
I also think you are absolutely correct about why it even matters. It's going to be difficult for our students to change the world and make it a better place (for you and for me and the entire human race - michael jackson anyone?) if they aren't able to examine the world and critically analyze it. By giving our students a way to do that, we are giving them an important first step in making tomorrow better.