Democracy has been raised as very problematic and this is
what I find extremely interesting because in my future profession I want to
know how to successfully create a truly democratic classroom. Saskia Sassen in
her video discussed the “tools and techniques” put into place to create
democracy which have been a “given openness” and a “given choice” but she
critiques stating that these “given” tools don’t necessarily produce a balanced
and equal distribution.
This is a great point and very concerning as a future
educator. In past posts I have stated how it’s very important to me in my
future classroom that all my students have an individual voice but her general
statements in regards to democracy have me concerned that I will never truly be
able to achieve this because it will be practically impossible to maintain
equal distribution. Her piece has made me come to the realization that my classroom
is going to be an experimental remaking of an informal political organization and
not til then will I know how I will be able to manage an as equal distributed
democracy as much as possible. This frightens and saddens me because it puts my
student’s voice and opinions at risks. True
democracy has been raised as a problem and the reality of even distribution
within civil society, networked and my biggest concern, the classroom. What are
the ways we can create a more distributed outcome?
This is something that I will not be able to tackle until I
have the grounds to experiment and I hate the term experiment because no
student should be a trial. I will need to discover what the individual cause is
in regards to my students that is holding them back from contributing and producing.
As an educator this is going to be a challenge because this preventive factor
is highly likely to be different for every student.
Varnelis, Kazys.
"Saskia Sassen: Networks, Power, and Democracy - YouTube." YouTube.
N.p., 26 July 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpw1GpHzAbc&feature=youtu.be>.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI think if you first recognize and then accept that each of your students, every year is going to come with something different, then you will be able to acknowledge and appreciate that you will constantly be redefining your idea of democracy for your classroom. I think when it comes to teaching, the biggest thing is remembering that fair is not equal. Every student is not going to get, need, or deserve exactly the same thing but that is completely separate from having a successful classroom. I view a truly democratic classroom as all students feeling confident and comfortable within in a classroom to share their opinion and know that it has value and worth. I think every year we are experimenting on ourselves as well. Teaching is profession where you have to learn hands-on. The only way you can grow is to make mistakes and change them and continue to be reflective and improve on your strategies and methods.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alexis that "Every student is not going to get, need, or deserve exactly the same thing but that is completely separate from having a successful classroom. I view a truly democratic classroom as all students feeling confident and comfortable within in a classroom to share their opinion and know that it has value and worth." Each student is an individual who will express themselves in a different way. As long as you remain passionate about achieving democracy and set the tone of your classroom accordingly you will find the ways to achieve it. It will be different from year to year because your students will be different, but as long as you seek ways to allow them to express their unique voices and allow them the platform it will happen. I hope they will then take what they learn from you and demonstrate it outside the classroom so that true democracy will spread.
Alexis and Sharlene,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice. I left writing my blog feeling very defeated. Not to quote you again but when you said “Every student is not going to get, need, or deserve exactly the same thing but that is completely separate from having a successful classroom. I view a truly democratic classroom as all students feeling confident and comfortable within in a classroom to share their opinion and know that it has value and worth” this really brought a light to the whole frustration and concern regarding achieving democracy in my future classroom. Both of your advises gave me reinsurance. Thank you.