1
– In Technology and Literacy: A story
about the Perils of Not paying Attention Cynthia Selfe presents an overview
of the political and historical contexts which surround the push for
technological literacy in the united states during the mid to late 1990’s. She
notes that “the national project to expand technological literacy can also
serve to re-teach us a second lesson – that literacy is always a political act
as well as an educational effort” as well as how “official literacies usually
function in a conservative and reproductive fashion – in favor of dominant
groups and in support of the existing class based system” (424, 423). In both
cases She is suggesting the ways that technology has been pushed into
classrooms by the government has done more to widen the class differences, via
the forced focus of a class upon technology that is not equally available to
all students, than its stated goals of reducing and eliminating those
differences. In what ways can we as teachers push back inside the classroom
against these policies which provide a clear advantage to some students over
others? Does this production of an economic policy through education policy
provide us with any advantages as teacher at all? What types of assignments
might meet this policy in the middle by requiring the teaching of technological
literacy while also highlighting the inherent bias of the system?
2
– When discussing the different roles he sees himself adopting while working as
a teacher Tobin says that “Our relationship to with the whole class is not just
the sum of the individual relationships we have established” and that “part of
my job, then, is to try and bridge this gap, to help students “be themselves”
in front of one another; but another part of my job is to learn to accept this
gap and to respond to it” (81). For Tobin the ways that a teacher can, and
should, interact with students in the classroom setting is drastically
different than in one-on-one meetings. If, like he suggests, teachers must adopt
many different roles while teaching in front of a whole class then how does a
teacher’s classroom persona need to
be different than their conference persona? What types of personas do you adopt while
teaching and what situations give rise to their use?
Hey Adam,
ReplyDeleteFor the second question I would first off agree with Tobin's assumption that teachers must adopt many different roles in the classroom. This is because students have very specific needs and a "paint by numbers" approach will inevitably leave some students needing more.
As for how a teachers persona should differ from class to conference, I would again agree with Tobin and say a more formal persona should be maintained in class while a more relaxed and personal relationship can develop in conferences. Making a personal connection in conferences is important because it motivates the student to do good work not just for the grade but because they don't want to let the professor down. I for one know that when I was in college and high school I worked harder in classes where I knew my professors/teachers well. I did this because I didn't want to personally let down my teacher by not reaching my potential.