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In the Peace Corps people talk a lot about how the most meaningful things are the little day-to-day victories. Today in one of my classes I asked for a volunteer to read a definition written on the board. I was answered by blank stares. I waited and asked 2 more times before a girl finally stood up (in Mozambique students stand to answer questions or otherwise speak in class). The next time I asked for a volunteer, after a slight pause the same girl started to stand again. I thanked her, but told her I wanted a new person. waited again and asked 2 more times before another girl finally stood. The 3rd time I asked for a volunteer a girl stood up right away. The 4th time I asked for a volunteer six students jumped up at the same time, making me laugh out loud. • On the walk home from town one day some girls ran from a house with their hands extended, asking for money. I told them I wasn’t giving them money, and they yelled at me in Tchopi. A week later I walked by the same house. The girls yelled, “Oi, mulungo!” I responded “ I have a name, but it’s not mulungo.” They giggled at this idea. About 10 seconds later one girl hesitantly asked, “What’s your name?” They called, “Goodbye Anata” as I walked away. The following week when I walked by one of the girls yelled, “Hey! I forgot your name, what is it?” • Today in all of my classes, each time I asked for a volunteer there was a huge commotion as 8 different people would jump out of their seats, trying to be the first one to start reading. It was a wonderful feeling. One girl also asked a question today in class. It wasn’t subject related, but I’ll take it! With about 15 minutes left in my last class it started pouring and I had my first experience with trying to teach a class of 45 students (absurdly miniscule by Mozambican secondary school standards let me add) in a cement room with a metal roof. I ended up letting them go 5 minutes early because attempting to teach was just futile. (Scooter, January, 2010)
teaching in culture seeing the kids • as layers of mystification and obfuscation are peeled away, as the student becomes more fully present . . . experiences and ways of thinking and knowing that were initially obscure become the ground on which an authentic and vital teaching practice can be constructed. (To Teach, p. 25)
labels (good and bad) always limit kids • labels one-dimensional • a label (even an accurate one) emphasizes one dimension at the expense of many others • labels emphasize differences between kids • emphasizing differences limits kids • valuing similarities frees kids • the goal of good teaching is a community of children, each with many identities and indefinite possibilities
how to learn to see kids • begin to understand how kids are viewed in this culture—explore the beliefs and values we hold about kids • pay close attention to kids from as many perspectives as possible, in as many contexts as possible • strive to glimpse the possibilities, knowing that the more possibilities we see, the more we create • be humble—understand that no matter how closely we look we will only be scratching surfaces
see kids as unique and rare, • but not as completed, rather as having with many and unknowable potentials. • without defining them in terms of their differences from others
the great (American) cultural (teacher) myth • others • may prejudge kids • may bring preconceived ideas about kids • be influenced by what others say or believe about them or about kids in general, • but I see kids for who they really are
mediation • we do not act directly on the world—no person, thing etc. is directly accessible • all our transactions with the world—people, things, relationships—are mediated by • cultural beliefs, values, expectations, • experience, knowledge, and so on.
history of ECE • a stream with many currents. • at times some currents are stronger and closer to the surface than others. • some currents become weak and seem to disappear, only to reappear later. • often different currents join to form a seemingly new one. • but the currents of today can be traced to the currents of yesterday. • you are entering a stream that has been flowing for centuries
teaching some initial premises kids have many selves, many identities, many dimensions, often depending on contexts • the more selves, dimensions etc. one sees in a kid the more possibilities for connecting with the kid • the more selves, dimensions etc. one sees in a kid the more possibilities one creates for the kid
kids spend much time sharing who they are with other kids. • they spend much energy being like each other, talking like each other, dressing like each other, and so on. • so why do we as educators spend so much time emphasizing the differences between kids. • what would it be like if we spent as much time and energy looking at what kids share, at what they have in common?
history projects • don’t plagiarize—cite sources for quotations and paraphrases—always credit • full references for books, articles, etc. • quotations—citation and page # • present well—organized, attractive • first person plural
Lesson Study in lesson study teachers • explore long-term goals of schooling, eg, love of learning, respect for others • explore goals of a particular subject area, unit, or lesson • plan and conduct a research lesson • carefully observe student learning, engagement and behavior during lesson • discuss and revise the lesson based on these observations
research lessons • 3 groups (6, 6, 7) • plan & teach a 40 minute lesson to the rest of the class (2/17; 2/22; 2/24) • lesson—first of a 3-lesson unit on the topic • 2 or 3 people teaching, the remaining 3 or 4 observing and taking notes • after the lesson, a 30-minute discussion by the research lesson planning group on the lesson, revisions etc (others observe) • ending with short 5-minute recap by an outside observer
