From the list of tonight’s readings, I thought that the Goebel piece “Who Are All These People?” brought up some interesting points that have yet to be addressed in articles or discussion. We all know that students bring a plethora of diverse experiences, values, and expectations. I appreciated that the article voiced some of these expectations and/or assumptions about the role of both teacher and student in the classroom.
I can only talk from my own experience as a woman, but I think that Goebel brings up some interesting ideas about the ways in which female students respond or participate in classroom discussion. He asserts that women are more likely to talk in terms of providing support and in “spirited shared discussions” (Goebel 23). In comparison, he notes that male students tend to thrive more on the competitive nature of classroom debates which are more “content-oriented” (Goebel 23). My own attitudes toward class discussions fit in with Goebel’s presentation of female members of class discussion. For the most part, I don’t like debates. As Jessie’s model suggested on the first day of class, debates connote a winner and a loser in a competition to prove xyz. I would much rather participate in a balanced and open-minded discussion in which speakers are able to validate or at least respect the views of someone else. Even today in our small group discussions, the two male members of my group debated among themselves almost the entire time. On occasion, the other female in the group and I would offer support to one or the other debating males, or voice our own opinion about something that struck us in the reading. In the end, I found myself with a bit of a headache from trying to focus on who seemed to be “winning” their little battle of wits. At one point there was even acknowledgment of the enjoyment each felt when one male mentioned that he would continue on with the topic because he “loved” arguing with the other. I recognize that this is not the case for all males, but it proved true today. Any thoughts?
I also think Goebel’s understanding of power relations in the classroom is worth mentioning. As he states, many teachers assume that they hold the power in the classroom. Said power may be tenuous, but it is theirs to command. Goebel is right in asserting that in order to help students succeed in the classroom, we need to acknowledge the power they bring into the classroom and find ways to put that power to good use.
Moving beyond myself, I think it is important for teachers to acknowledge the different ways in which their students may perceive their role, the role of the teacher, or even the level of importance and/or amount of participation connected with the American education system. Just as multicultural literature can (and should) be used in the classroom as a way to help students understand and explore the cultures and experiences of others and find themselves along the way, teachers should use the multicultural aspects of their students to do the same.
Well, I don't know if a love of arguing is a male thing or not, but I definitely enjoy a good argument! I always assumed that a part of that is due to the fact that I grew up with a brother who also liked to argue...as we've gotten older it's become more debate-like, but it would make sense that it has to do with what many consider to be the competitive "nature" of males.
ReplyDeleteI guess I would say that in order to engage a variety of learning and discourse styles that as a teacher you want to employ a number of discussion strategies; debate won't always work for every student, but neither will supportive discussion. If you ever get a chance to do Great Books training, I would highly recommend it, as it isn't really debate and it isn't really a socratic seminar, but rather it's more of a directed discussion that allows for disagreement and different viewpoints but is at its heart a "spirited shared discussion."