Pedagogical Approach As a teacher of college students
I feel that motivating students by allowing them to see that learning
is an exciting venture is my number one priority. I feel that this
can be accomplished if I allow my students to know that their learning
matters to me. According to the educational theorists, Schlossenberg,
Lynch, and Chickerling, "mattering is important to all adult learners.
For some it may be the single element that makes the difference
in their completing their degrees and developing a feeling of satisfaction
and a sense of belonging." Students need to believe they are a part
of a learning community where they feel connected to their knowledge.
My job is to facilitate knowledge construction, rather than to simply
impart knowledge.
To enable students to have the experience of
mattering I create a feeling of connectedness within my classroom.
I do this through small group work and class discussion. Through
small group work my students learn that their input "matters" to
their fellow students. The following exercise illustrates how I
create a connected community. My students are asked to analyze three
stories with a common motif over a period of three weeks.
The central question in each story asks what
it means to be an American. The first short story, an autobiographical
account by Rogelio Gomez, "Foul Shots," exposes students to a Mexican-American
boy and his struggle to belong to a culture in which he feels alienated.
This story is significant because the reader sees the "man's" view
of the "boy's" thoughts as Rogelio Gomez looks back at, and interprets,
those feelings. After reading the story I ask my class to cite specific
instances of stereotyping. By doing this I want to show my students
the great fantasy of the "idea of a social body constituted by the
universality of wills" (Foucault). Stereotypes exist because of
power relationships. These stereotypes manifest into the negative
self-images that the Mexican boys had of themselves at the time.
Gomez admits that they are ashamed because of "the supposed inferiority
of our language and culture" (53). Next, I ask my students to compare
popular television mothers now to those Rogelio watched in the 1960s.
This question is meant to bring contemporary culture into the discussion,
and allows the class to focus on the prevalent American "types"
of mothers. I then ask them to compare these television mothers
with their own mothers.
In this way I hope to make them feel a connection
to their own culture, and also to Rogelio's. The climax of "Foul
Shots" comes when the all-white upper-class basketball team throws
the Mexican team a bag of Fritos. This is a prime example of popular
culture informing racist stereotypes. This incident is made poignant
because of the "Frito Bandito" commercial that was airing during
this time. The commercial was later banned because of its offensive
nature. I break my students up into groups and give them each a
question to discuss. I then tell them to report their findings back
to the class. By separating my students into groups I disperse the
power away from the "Panopticon" of the teacher, because I cannot
possibly hear what my students are saying. By "Panopticon" I refer
to Foucault's idea of the centralizing of power by an authority
figure, and the idea of surveillance. We are all learners in my
classroom.
Group one is asked to explain why they think
this action upset Rogelio so much. Group two is asked to share a
time when they were made to feel inferior. Group three must focus
their discussion on what could have been thrown in the middle of
that room that would have had the same impact.The final group lists
athletic events and their stereotypical association with a specific
race or gender. I want them to begin to see how culture shapes their
understanding of themselves. Group discussion also helps my students
to define learning as a joint construction of meaning.
The next story that I deal with is called "In
Search of Bruce Lee's Grave" by Shanlon Wu. This story is about
one Asian-American male's search for identity. He attempts to define
his Asian maleness through identification with a fictive character
represented in popular culture. The only problem is that there are
not many Asian role models in the media. This absence says something
about American culture without my having to point it out. Since
all of my students can identify with this creation of identity through
hero worship, the point that alienation is a cultural construct
becomes clear. I ask my students to tell me who their heroes were
when they were growing up. This exercise is always fun. The responses
range from Charlie's Angels to Michael Jordan. The last story I
would like to discuss deals with the issue of cultural and gender
bias.
The story is titled "There was a Man, There
was a Woman" which comes out of a collection of shorts stories by
Sandra Cisneros called Woman Hollering Creek. This story
focuses on one woman's desire for freedom in a world controlled
by men. We talk about how the woman in the story interprets the
"truth" of her surroundings. Foucault's definition of "truth" maintains
that "each society has its regime of truth, its 'general politics'
of truth: that is, the types of discourse which it accepts and makes
function as true; the mechanisms and instances which enable one
to distinguish true and false statements, the means by which each
is sanctioned; the techniques and procedures accorded value in the
acquisition, and the status of those who are charged with saying
what counts as true (Foucault). Reality based on dominant discursive
attitudes is particularly evident in the first paragraph of the
story. When the woman returns from the hospital after childbirth
she notices "her lipstick, and body talc, and hairbrush all arranged
in the bathroom a different way" (Cisneros 50). I ask my class to
discuss the options available to her should she choose to leave
her husband. The "truth" is that the towns she has known "are built
so that you have to depend on husbands. Or you stay home" (Cisneros
50). Gender inequality leads into a discussion of the wider topic
of women's place within our society. Within the context of the story,
the woman can either go back to her father's house or she can continue
living with an abusive husband. Since I realize that we cannot interpret
a text without bringing our own cultural context to it, I ask the
class if they can think of an instance in contemporary society where
a woman drowns her children, since this is mentioned in the story.
Susan Smith's name comes up immediately.
We begin to analyze exactly what would drive
a mother to such despair and cruelty. I write their ideas down on
the board in "bubble clusters" so that they can see how a seemingly
disjointed set of ideas can become a valid interpretation of a story
through joint construction of meaning. After clustering their ideas,
my students are made to see how this play of statements can form
a cohesive whole. By examining relations of power in this little
vignette, I focus my student's attention on who has power in our
society and who does not, thus, I am showing how all stories are
part of a larger meaning involving historical conditions, relationships,
and influences. By introducing my students to the analysis of works
according to their relationships to power, I hope to foster critical
thinking skills.
It is important to try and help students to
understand and interpret the culture which surrounds them. One's
ability to interpret popular culture informs critical applications
to works of literature. By making connections between works of art
and their everyday lives, I believe I help my students to create
meaning and recognize the prevalence of power relationships in the
world. A complex network of power relationships and cultural practices
informs everything that my students read. It is my job to help my
students recognize that there is no one universal truth, because
once they realize this, they are on their way to articulating and
trusting their own voice.
