Talk:A-HH4199 7

My Canon

Reflections on Formative Influence

Reflecting on our last session, specifically around the discussion on educational settings being fully participatory (if i'm clear in understanding that aspect of the conversation), and thinking of our own class within that context. I am fully a believer that everyone has something to contribute - and let me pause briefly here before finishing that thought to delve into my own teaching experience. In Detroit, i taught a course at the university on public speaking that typically included students from the suburbs alongside those from the inner city, young people who'd never been to the city with those who'd seen to much of its worst, and even grandmothers who'd returned to school on a mission. A wonderfully diverse group. We organized the course with the tenet that we all had something to learn from one another - and over the course of the semester this always seemed to come true, as they grew together, and took so much from giving time to listening and engaging with each other's experiences. After a few minutes of setting out the structure for the day, i typically sat in the back or somewhere with everyone else, while each student took on the role of teacher. I often felt like i didn't do anything, but if pressed, i'd have to say i helped orchestrate an environment where they felt they were listened to, that they had a voice - and it was respected, and somewhere in there they began to believe it and embrace it. Pretty cool experience - and i miss being a part of that and learning from them each week. Anyhow, returning from that rather lengthy aside - in thinking that everyone has something to contribute, I'm also thinking of how much I'm sitting in "My Canon" for a rather different experience. It's safe to say the most knowledgeable voice on Robbie's canon, is Robbie (!), and I look forward to engaging with that experience in perhaps a less directly interactive way within the classroom itself than in some other instances. Which means often i return home full of ideas I want to explore further on my own through my work or follow up with further discussion with other perspectives - and i suppose that's exactly what this forum is for....  Nsousanis 17:09, 22 March 2011 (UTC)