The summative self-critique quote that I can most relate to is:
There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on looking and reflecting at all.
Michel Foucault
To me this quote exemplifies how I have been instructed in Undergraduate and now Graduate Studies, the importance of being a reflective practitioner. I believe what Michel Foucault is saying, is how important it is to be open to thinking and seeing things from a different perspective. Without this openness, one’s reflection is very limited, only seeing the world in a narrow scope. Opening up to diversity through race, class, and gender is necessary in today’s educational endeavors.
There is evidence of this quote through the work of Delpit and Dowdy, as well as in the ABC News article. Standard and non-standard dialects are accepted differently. Without the ability to think differently and see differently one might be mislead through what they hear. This reflection comes in attending to the different social situations we are put in. Just because someone talks with a deep southern drawl, doesn’t make them any less intelligent or socially unacceptable.
Race was the topic of discussion in the Noll article. This article depicted teacher failure to Zonnie and Daniel. The lack of interest in their Native American culture “distorted the view of their capabilities”. In this case, there was a lack of this openness to being reflective. All that was needed to support the learnings of these two students was to inquire about their culture, making learning relevant and REAL to them.
Through recognition of their own “differences” older students can even work toward political change – i.e., the Perry Article. For the younger students, they have to be taught to “speak up, and out” in order to gain a “voice” in literature. These voices are not wrong; students have to be taught to defend their thoughts or ideals. This also means a teacher has to think differently and give each student’s idea equal credibility and focus.
Deborah Hicks, in her book Reading Lives, portrays the epitome of Michel Foucault’s quote. She dealt with the obstacles of two children in the classroom as related to race, class, and gender and how it affected their literacy. Through her close observations she was able to follow their progress over three years and provided suggestions to Jake and Laurie’s teachers. These suggestions were not based on trial and error, but through close reflections from their home and school cultures.
“Reading Lives” in all of us whether it is in our race, class, or gender. I am experiencing this in my own classroom. Working at Whitnel has been a challenge, not through dealing with racial or gender differences, but that of class. I have had to shift my thoughts from my own social class to those of my students. Each of these articles brought forth a new way of thinking, from the way we speak to the way reading/writing is taught. There may come a time that a student is sleepy from “going on call with dad” or name calling because a boy student wants to paint his fingernails. These are instances where being a careful observer is necessary, to avoid disciplining a student for something out of their control or stopping bullying before it begins.
Tolerance can and must be taught in the classroom. Not one student or teacher comes in with the same background. We have to teach that is it “okay” to be “different”. Therefore, we have to embrace Foucault’s quote to “think and perceive differently” to address all the needs of our students.
Angela Steele