From the category archives:

Education

Thumbnail image for Colonizing the Student: “Creating Diversity and Difference”

Colonizing the Student: “Creating Diversity and Difference”

31 January 2010 Education

The classroom is a text. Under traditional models of teaching, the teacher would be considered the author and the students are the readers. As the teacher attempts to convey monolithic meaning, the students receive and interpret the monolith in their own ways through their own viewpoints. Thus, if I have 15 students, then 16 of us are producing meaning: 1 author + 15 readers = 16 makers or meaning.

Tagged as: author, classroom, colonialism, difference, diversity, Education, educational theory, meaning, postcolonialism, reader, text, theory

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Thumbnail image for Colonizing the Student: “Craving Difference”

Colonizing the Student: “Craving Difference”

15 January 2010 Education

Now we come it: colonizing the student. What do I mean by that?

As I mentioned earlier, I think that the relationship between teacher and student could, in dysfunctional situations, be compared to the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized.

Tagged as: colonialism, difference, diversity, Education, postcolonialism, teaching

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Thumbnail image for Colonizing the Student: “The Purpose of the Educator”

Colonizing the Student: “The Purpose of the Educator”

14 January 2010 Education

The student’s brain is traveling down a dark road, and the teacher’s hope is to entice it to make a stop at some intersection and buy some goods, some snacks for the road. Occasionally, it will stop in for a full meal or maybe stay the night in one of the roadside motels. We put the student in front of our favorite authors, our favorite thinkers, our favorite teachers, the people and ideas that challenged and stretched us, and ask them to tell us what they think about it. This is the bait. If we get a nibble, we’re usually pleased. If we get a real bite and then we’re able to reel them in, then we’re really jazzed.

Tagged as: bob dylan, colonialism, communism, Education, john birch society, learning, postcolonialism, teaching

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Thumbnail image for Colonizing the Student: “Introduction”

Colonizing the Student: “Introduction”

10 January 2010 Education

Lately, I’ve been thinking about educational theory. As I’ve been doing this, I’ve been reading a variety of essays about race and class struggles as well as some texts dealing with genocide and imperialism in Africa. Perhaps an odd combination when it comes to thinking about students…

Tagged as: colonialism, Education, pluralism, postcolonialism, sherman alexie

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Thumbnail image for Gadamer and Harkness

Gadamer and Harkness

29 December 2009 Education

As mentioned previously, I am working through some hermeneutical issues, and, thanks to Merold Westphal, I am particularly interested in the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer. In reading Westphal, I came across this quote from Gadamer’s Truth And Method:

To reach an understanding in a dialogue is not merely a matter of putting oneself forward and successfully asserting one’s own point of view, but being transformed into a communion in which we do not remain what we were.

Tagged as: communion, conversation, Education, gadamer, harkness, hermeneutics, understanding, Westphal

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Thumbnail image for What a College-bound Senior Needs

What a College-bound Senior Needs

23 December 2009 Education

Currently I am preparing for a course that I plan to teach in 2010-2011 called “Worldviews” — or something like that. This course will be a requirement for seniors at Houston Christian High School, and I am, therefore, thinking through what would have been really helpful for me going into college.

Tagged as: college preparation, college preparatory, Education, high school

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Thumbnail image for Christian High School Bible Curriculum: A Proposal

Christian High School Bible Curriculum: A Proposal

20 November 2009 Biblical Studies

In a recent conversation with a friend, I started to dream about what a truly excellent high school Religious Studies curriculum might look like for a (somewhat) ecumenical Christian high school.
After some poking and prodding, this is what I came up with. I think it’s interesting enough to post here. If you happen to steal [...]

Tagged as: bible, Education, religious studies

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Thumbnail image for Great Faculties Make Great Schools

Great Faculties Make Great Schools

15 November 2009 Education

Recently, my friend and colleague, Edward Carson, has been posting about finding teaching positions (see “Dear Student Part 1″ and “Dear Student Part 2″) — specifically, Carson is interested in independent/private schools. I like a lot of what Carson has to say here; though, from a race standpoint it is more difficult for me to [...]

Tagged as: Education, teaching

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