Page 78 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 78
šolsko polje, letnik xxxi, številka 5–6
wrote down carry-on and my professor refused to give me a point because it was not
a word we had covered in class.
The beginning of every lesson with her secondary school students
is reserved for something Nina calls “life update”. This is an activity that
works well with small groups in which students are given a chance to
tell everyone what they did over the week.7 This opens up a discussion in
which all students participate, mostly by asking questions. This activity
helps on three levels:
- It builds a better classroom climate. This is especially true if the chil-
dren had a test before. “Life update” helps break the tension and en-
ables the students to relax or, as Nina explains, “to be humans before
they have to be students again”. It also helps because it allows the stu-
dents and teacher to come to know each other better. It gives some
cues about the personal lives of the students that might have an im-
pact on their current mental state. These cues are important to the
teacher so that he/she knows how to structure the class (for example,
the teacher may behave differently if they know that a student’s fam-
ily member has just died).
- It helps with student–student relations: they get to know each oth-
er better by asking simple questions about the everyday life of their
peers and are hence more open to participating in other classroom
discussions, even those that cover more serious or controversial top-
ics on a deeper level.
- It helps with student–teacher relations: students believe that the
teacher is genuinely interested in their experience which in turn
makes them likelier to share.
Nina in this context says that the students: “stop seeing me as an au-
thority and start seeing me as a peer”. We would argue though, in line with
Shrewsbury (1987), that this activity does not undermine the teacher’s au-
thority, but moves the conception of power as domination to power as
a creative energy. It is therefore an empowering activity that “provides a
7 While “life update” has some upsides, which will be discussed, one possible concern entails
different levels of student willingness to participate in such an activity. Not all students
automatically want to share their everyday lives with others. Nina explains that, as an Eng-
lish teacher, she likes to use it nonetheless since the main goal of this activity is to develop
speaking and listening skills. “I accept answers such as ‘Yesterday I took a long nap’ or ‘Nothing
special, really’. I don’t force students to participate if they don’t want to, but I encourage them and invite
them to.” Respecting the students’ choice to share or not to share something is an important
part of feminist pedagogy as it builds better student–teacher relations based on trust and
mutual respect. Not forcing to share also helps create an environment where students feel
safe and are in turn perhaps more likely to speak up in the future.
76
wrote down carry-on and my professor refused to give me a point because it was not
a word we had covered in class.
The beginning of every lesson with her secondary school students
is reserved for something Nina calls “life update”. This is an activity that
works well with small groups in which students are given a chance to
tell everyone what they did over the week.7 This opens up a discussion in
which all students participate, mostly by asking questions. This activity
helps on three levels:
- It builds a better classroom climate. This is especially true if the chil-
dren had a test before. “Life update” helps break the tension and en-
ables the students to relax or, as Nina explains, “to be humans before
they have to be students again”. It also helps because it allows the stu-
dents and teacher to come to know each other better. It gives some
cues about the personal lives of the students that might have an im-
pact on their current mental state. These cues are important to the
teacher so that he/she knows how to structure the class (for example,
the teacher may behave differently if they know that a student’s fam-
ily member has just died).
- It helps with student–student relations: they get to know each oth-
er better by asking simple questions about the everyday life of their
peers and are hence more open to participating in other classroom
discussions, even those that cover more serious or controversial top-
ics on a deeper level.
- It helps with student–teacher relations: students believe that the
teacher is genuinely interested in their experience which in turn
makes them likelier to share.
Nina in this context says that the students: “stop seeing me as an au-
thority and start seeing me as a peer”. We would argue though, in line with
Shrewsbury (1987), that this activity does not undermine the teacher’s au-
thority, but moves the conception of power as domination to power as
a creative energy. It is therefore an empowering activity that “provides a
7 While “life update” has some upsides, which will be discussed, one possible concern entails
different levels of student willingness to participate in such an activity. Not all students
automatically want to share their everyday lives with others. Nina explains that, as an Eng-
lish teacher, she likes to use it nonetheless since the main goal of this activity is to develop
speaking and listening skills. “I accept answers such as ‘Yesterday I took a long nap’ or ‘Nothing
special, really’. I don’t force students to participate if they don’t want to, but I encourage them and invite
them to.” Respecting the students’ choice to share or not to share something is an important
part of feminist pedagogy as it builds better student–teacher relations based on trust and
mutual respect. Not forcing to share also helps create an environment where students feel
safe and are in turn perhaps more likely to speak up in the future.
76
