In one of my last blogs I wrote that I would like to be objective when teaching, and Geraldine commented afterwards that it is impossible to be completely objective. I realized this, but the comment got me thinking about the ways in which I know I'm biased. How am I biased, and can being biased ever be a good thing? I know that my challenge as a teacher in Saskatchewan will be that I am a White, middle-class female. I am privileged in many ways, but if I want to be a good teacher I have to think outside of the social factors that define me or, even better, not let those factors define me. My goal is to connect with as many students as possible, but I realize students with different backgrounds than my own may see our differences as a barrier than as someone who may have something in common with them.
The two questions that really got me thinking this week were: 1) Is knowledge an attempt at domination? and 2) Does gaining power disempower someone else? I have to admit that, although I think these are interesting questions, they shed a negative light on gaining knowledge. They raise an interesting concept though - does education provide a further barrier between individuals? We already know that race, class, gender, etc. provide social barriers, but knowledge as a form of social separation is something I had never really given thought to. I suppose the way I had thought about it before was that knowledge was tied to class. In that sense, I believe knowledge does create a divide between those who have it and those who don't. The way the first question is phrased, however, as knowledge being an "attempt at domination," gives the impression that domination is the sole purpose of gaining knowledge. Knowledge is power, but domination is another thing.
I wonder if being female ties in with the "insider-outsider" discourse. Maybe I'm feeling strongly about this topic because I was watching Miss Representation with my grade 12 class recently, but I feel that being a female makes me an outsider in our patriarchal society, but also an insider because I am living in it. Maybe that's not what Longino meant, but I think I could make that argument.
That's all for this week!
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Monday, 4 March 2013
A Day Full of Science
In contrast to the regular pattern my Education classes follow, my Monday was filled with talk about science. This morning our class discussed two readings, one by Chalmers and one by Goodstein, that dealt with the perceptions and dicourses within the realm of science. In this afternoon's class, we talked about inquiry-based learning, especially in science. In both classes, similar questions were raised: how important is inquiry-based learning in science?
As a humanities person I feel disconnected from the realm of science, especially because the last time I took a science was five years ago in my first year of university. Sometimes I miss it, and I often wish I was better at it. Perhaps I would be better at it now, but I didn't have the confidence when I was younger to pursue it. It was interesting to hear my classmates debate about the importance of inquiry-based learning in both this morning's and this afternoon's classes. I can hardly remember doing experiments in my high school biology or chemistry (especially not in chemistry). Inquiry-based learning within science required a lot of supervision, but I feel that a teachers who are responsible for a topic with so much potential for activities that involve hands-on learning should take advantage of the possibilities. This afternoon our class did an experiment where we added purple cabbage water to baking soda, baking powder, apple juice, vinegar, and bathroom cleaner (all separately) and had to record our results. I am twenty-three years old and I am still impressed by experiments such as these. Imagine what children think when they see vinegar and baking soda reacting for the first time!
Another interesting thought that came from our discussion in this morning's class and from the readings was the question of integrity within the realm of science. As someone who does not know a lot about the epistemology of science, I found it interesting that scientists feel inclined to falsify information in order to finalize research. Each discipline has its obsession with perfection, which is something I thought about when researching my 16x16 topic about the mentality of cheating. As a society we are obsessed with being perfect, being the best, and being the most successful. It was interesting to hear that the trend of perfection and dishonesty exists in a field of study I am unfamiliar with.
As a humanities person I feel disconnected from the realm of science, especially because the last time I took a science was five years ago in my first year of university. Sometimes I miss it, and I often wish I was better at it. Perhaps I would be better at it now, but I didn't have the confidence when I was younger to pursue it. It was interesting to hear my classmates debate about the importance of inquiry-based learning in both this morning's and this afternoon's classes. I can hardly remember doing experiments in my high school biology or chemistry (especially not in chemistry). Inquiry-based learning within science required a lot of supervision, but I feel that a teachers who are responsible for a topic with so much potential for activities that involve hands-on learning should take advantage of the possibilities. This afternoon our class did an experiment where we added purple cabbage water to baking soda, baking powder, apple juice, vinegar, and bathroom cleaner (all separately) and had to record our results. I am twenty-three years old and I am still impressed by experiments such as these. Imagine what children think when they see vinegar and baking soda reacting for the first time!
Another interesting thought that came from our discussion in this morning's class and from the readings was the question of integrity within the realm of science. As someone who does not know a lot about the epistemology of science, I found it interesting that scientists feel inclined to falsify information in order to finalize research. Each discipline has its obsession with perfection, which is something I thought about when researching my 16x16 topic about the mentality of cheating. As a society we are obsessed with being perfect, being the best, and being the most successful. It was interesting to hear that the trend of perfection and dishonesty exists in a field of study I am unfamiliar with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)