Blog Post #5: "Doing" Critical Pedagogy
Blog Post #5
How Do We Do Critical Pedagogy? Wink text ch 4: 142-172
· Describe your initial response to what you read. What surprised you? What stuck out to you? What questions do you have?
· Choose one of the strategies Dr. Wink shares in chapter 4. Write about how you might use this strategy in your own classroom practice. Be as specific as possible.
· Dr. Wink talks about DEMOCRATIC PEDAGOGY on page 144. What is democratic pedagogy? Why might it be important? How does this concept relate to the two (or three) pedagogical models shared in the text?
Response Title: Reading is Fundamental
Yet again, I find myself connecting with Wink. Her emphasis on reading as a fundamental part of helping our students become learners really resonates with me. I am reminded of a friend of mine who has been teaching for over 15 years. One of the things she does with her classes is to read a short story by O. Henry, “The Ransom of Red Chief”. If you’ve never read it or heard of it, do yourself a favor and go check it out – it really is a SHORT story. Sometimes her students are confused that she is reading aloud what seems like a ramdom story, but the whole class joins in laughter when they find that the kidnapper in the story is actually willing to pay the father to take back his son because of all the trouble he caused. The students often end up asking more questions about the story, the author, and any recommendations on other things that have this kind of comedic value. Many of the students are not readers, and have never felt an exciting connection with the characters and stories in the world of literature.
Our society doesn’t seem to have a problem with this. Popular books these days tend to be made (or remade) into movies. By the time a student decides that he or she might read that book in that teen series that everyone else is reading, the trailer for the movie comes out and the student decides that it would be easier and more fun to just wait and watch the movie instead of wasting time reading a book.
I like Wink’s “The Messenger and the Scribe” activity. I think this would work really well in a lesson covering mutations in DNA. I would divide the class in half, then pair students up. In each pair, I would ask the student to choose a messenger (responsible for reading and reporting) and a scribe (responsible for recording the messenger’s words exactly). On one side of the class, I would have the steps of DNA transcription. Each step would be numbered, but the messengers would each start their journey around the room at a different point, meaning that they would need to remember both the number of the step and the description of the step. The other side of the room would have the steps of DNA translation posted, with the students performing in exactly the same way as the transcription group. After both sides of the room are finished collecting and recording the “messages,” I would have the scribes from each group come up and read their recorded steps in order. I would then read aloud the actual steps that were posted in the room, and as a class we would point out the differences between the original text and the text the scribes ended up with and discuss the possible reasons for these differences. This would be a perfect way to talk about DNA mutations that can occur during transcription and translation and the probable causes of these mutations.
Democratic pedagogy is teaching and learning that is meaningful to all participants. In this environment, the critical eyes of the teachers and administrators would always be on the lookout for ways in which students are being excluded from the learning environment, either by personal choice or by a lack of communication between other students and/or the teacher in the class. It is an environment in which questions are asked and the answers are powerful change agents. The opinions of students and teachers matters. Choice is a critical element in the establishment of democratic pedagogy. Participants must be willing to be open-minded when listening to the opinions of others, and must be willing to compromise or make complete changes in the teaching and learning process.
I believe that democratic pedagogy and critical pedagogy are one and the same. In Critical Education, the first model presented, the roles of the teacher and student are interconnected, dependent on each other. The students see (probably without ever naming) that the teacher is empowering them to learn, and the teacher observes her students to be sure that she is engaging everyone and providing diversity to appeal to the learning styles and backgrounds of the students. Cooperation is essential to critical (democratic) pedagogy. The Banking Education model is a lot like the democracy we seem to see most often these days. The leaders (teachers) make all the decisions and hold all the knowledge, while the students respond in the way they are expected to respond, with little to no back-and-forth occurring in the relationship. The teachers tend to teach in a way that they believe reaches the majority of the students in their class, without considering ways to reach out to diverse learners or evaluate methodologies that do not support the learning of all students. This is the version of democracy that seems to reign in our education system. I will refrain from commenting on the political system…
This chapter gave me some useful tools. I also saw that I have “done” critical pedagogy for many years without ever naming it, or even giving it much thought. I have always believed that each student is different, and what works for many students does not work for all students. One of the most rewarding parts of teaching for me is when a student says, “No one has ever said it that way before, and now it makes sense.” To me, that is the reason why I will continue to learn more about theory and let theory inform my practice, so that I can continue to help students have these “Aha!” moments.
Donna W.’s comment
I'm glad Wink still speaks to you. You've done a super job with this. I particularly like your adaptation of the messenger and scribe. Nicely done!
How Do We Do Critical Pedagogy? Wink text ch 4: 142-172
· Describe your initial response to what you read. What surprised you? What stuck out to you? What questions do you have?
· Choose one of the strategies Dr. Wink shares in chapter 4. Write about how you might use this strategy in your own classroom practice. Be as specific as possible.
· Dr. Wink talks about DEMOCRATIC PEDAGOGY on page 144. What is democratic pedagogy? Why might it be important? How does this concept relate to the two (or three) pedagogical models shared in the text?
Response Title: Reading is Fundamental
Yet again, I find myself connecting with Wink. Her emphasis on reading as a fundamental part of helping our students become learners really resonates with me. I am reminded of a friend of mine who has been teaching for over 15 years. One of the things she does with her classes is to read a short story by O. Henry, “The Ransom of Red Chief”. If you’ve never read it or heard of it, do yourself a favor and go check it out – it really is a SHORT story. Sometimes her students are confused that she is reading aloud what seems like a ramdom story, but the whole class joins in laughter when they find that the kidnapper in the story is actually willing to pay the father to take back his son because of all the trouble he caused. The students often end up asking more questions about the story, the author, and any recommendations on other things that have this kind of comedic value. Many of the students are not readers, and have never felt an exciting connection with the characters and stories in the world of literature.
Our society doesn’t seem to have a problem with this. Popular books these days tend to be made (or remade) into movies. By the time a student decides that he or she might read that book in that teen series that everyone else is reading, the trailer for the movie comes out and the student decides that it would be easier and more fun to just wait and watch the movie instead of wasting time reading a book.
I like Wink’s “The Messenger and the Scribe” activity. I think this would work really well in a lesson covering mutations in DNA. I would divide the class in half, then pair students up. In each pair, I would ask the student to choose a messenger (responsible for reading and reporting) and a scribe (responsible for recording the messenger’s words exactly). On one side of the class, I would have the steps of DNA transcription. Each step would be numbered, but the messengers would each start their journey around the room at a different point, meaning that they would need to remember both the number of the step and the description of the step. The other side of the room would have the steps of DNA translation posted, with the students performing in exactly the same way as the transcription group. After both sides of the room are finished collecting and recording the “messages,” I would have the scribes from each group come up and read their recorded steps in order. I would then read aloud the actual steps that were posted in the room, and as a class we would point out the differences between the original text and the text the scribes ended up with and discuss the possible reasons for these differences. This would be a perfect way to talk about DNA mutations that can occur during transcription and translation and the probable causes of these mutations.
Democratic pedagogy is teaching and learning that is meaningful to all participants. In this environment, the critical eyes of the teachers and administrators would always be on the lookout for ways in which students are being excluded from the learning environment, either by personal choice or by a lack of communication between other students and/or the teacher in the class. It is an environment in which questions are asked and the answers are powerful change agents. The opinions of students and teachers matters. Choice is a critical element in the establishment of democratic pedagogy. Participants must be willing to be open-minded when listening to the opinions of others, and must be willing to compromise or make complete changes in the teaching and learning process.
I believe that democratic pedagogy and critical pedagogy are one and the same. In Critical Education, the first model presented, the roles of the teacher and student are interconnected, dependent on each other. The students see (probably without ever naming) that the teacher is empowering them to learn, and the teacher observes her students to be sure that she is engaging everyone and providing diversity to appeal to the learning styles and backgrounds of the students. Cooperation is essential to critical (democratic) pedagogy. The Banking Education model is a lot like the democracy we seem to see most often these days. The leaders (teachers) make all the decisions and hold all the knowledge, while the students respond in the way they are expected to respond, with little to no back-and-forth occurring in the relationship. The teachers tend to teach in a way that they believe reaches the majority of the students in their class, without considering ways to reach out to diverse learners or evaluate methodologies that do not support the learning of all students. This is the version of democracy that seems to reign in our education system. I will refrain from commenting on the political system…
This chapter gave me some useful tools. I also saw that I have “done” critical pedagogy for many years without ever naming it, or even giving it much thought. I have always believed that each student is different, and what works for many students does not work for all students. One of the most rewarding parts of teaching for me is when a student says, “No one has ever said it that way before, and now it makes sense.” To me, that is the reason why I will continue to learn more about theory and let theory inform my practice, so that I can continue to help students have these “Aha!” moments.
Donna W.’s comment
I'm glad Wink still speaks to you. You've done a super job with this. I particularly like your adaptation of the messenger and scribe. Nicely done!