Recently I attended an online conference presented by ACUE called “Creating an Inclusive Online Learning Environment”. I thought most of the information was very useful, except there was one line that stood out to me: “Structure helps everyone and hurts no one”. It reminded me of when Barabara Omolade says, “the absence of structure leaves students without a clear sense of where the course is going. It is like telling students to drive to California from New York without knowing how to drive very well and without a road map” (39). At first I thought, ok this works, but then I also thought of hooks’ experience with college structures, “I struggled to claim and maintain the right to be an independent thinker… they often used the classroom to enact rituals of control that were about domination… Nonconformity on our part was viewed with suspicion…an undercurrent of stress diminished our learning experience” (hooks 4-5).
There are times when I need structure, it keeps me accountable; however, structure can also be limiting, confining, suffocating. Some students need structure, I agree with that, but other students need the flexibility and the malleability a feminist pedagogy could provide. To say that “structure hurts no one” is a very limited perspective of not knowing what it is like to be a single mother with a sick child, writing a paper until 2am for an 8:30 am class that has an hour commute, while still wondering what to do about day care. I was unable to stay home since I had already used my only allowed absence when my car broke down. Having a sick child is scary enough, but to have to ask for an additional absence and be told that my “unexcused absence” will decrease my grade is just another stress that weakened my drive to learn.
Although hooks is writing of the boredom involved in class lectures, the struggles of a single mother also encourages teachers to “rethink teaching practices… strategies to enhance learning…[and] recognize that each classroom is different, that strategies must constantly be changed, invented, reconceptualized [sic] to address each new teaching experience” (7, 10-11).
Omolade offers three levels of structure within Black Feminist Pedagogy: 1. power being expressed through the relationships and personal connections between teacher and students, 2. assessment being complicated by ideas versus grammar and having to face uncomfortable feelings to raise the bar for her students so that grades are based on ability to communicate, without exception and 3. the institution having influence on teaching methods, content, and political understanding.
Going off these three premises, Shrewsbury has three points of teachers’ responsibility to their students; to enable empowerment, instill a sense of community, and promote leadership. Enabling empowerment consists of creating individual and collective goals, fostering independence, instilling individual responsibility to the whole, promoting the development of frontal lobe skills, and increasing students’ self-esteem and competence (Shrewsbury 10-11). Shrewsbury also brings up the notion of the joys and difficulties of learning—one such joy and difficulty is the development of self and the distancing from society. As hooks writes, “School was the place of ecstasy—pleasure and danger. To be changed by ideas was pure pleasure. But to learn ideas that ran counter to values and beliefs learned at home was tom place oneself at risk, to enter the danger zone” (3). To instill a sense of community, Shrewsbury states teachers must: understand the classroom as being a collection of distinctly different individuals who are coming together in a classroom community; have awareness of the difference between men and women, according to her being that men want rules and women want connections (12); and acceptance that “Decision making when there is a community of mutuality rather than a community of isolated individuals can take place by consensus as well as by formalized decision rules” (12). In other words, rules can be made and changed when individuals decide to work together. The leadership aspect ties back into empowerment with individual and collective goals, the development of frontal lobe skills, responsibility to the whole, and a display of competence; however we need to express “our ability and our willingness to act on our beliefs” (13) because without empowerment, leadership is impossible.
hooks also promotes empowerment to transfer lessons into the world, flexible agendas, focus on individual needs, establishing community, acknowledgement of intrinsic value and collective contribution, the deconstruction of old values, putting together a collective effort for change, acceptance and discussion of individual differences that diverge from heteronormative standards, and exert an effort to stop biases and domination (6-10).
What all these reading have in common are the ideals that the teacher is not the head of power, but an active participant in the classroom community, that we must discuss what we know and reflect on our personal experiences as individuals (on topics such as abuse, sexism, discrimination, racism, and so forth) and work together in a group effort to learn about the histories and experiences of women and other oppressed communities so that we can create social change and change our reality outside of the classroom.
Three questions I want to ask in order to generate a collection of histories of our unique class are: (Note: Remember this is a public site)
- What situations have you experienced oppression for your differences as an individual, in the classroom setting or outside of it?
- What situations have you experienced in which the common norm has been challenged and successfully renegotiated?
- What can we do in our daily lives and/or as a class to instigate social change?
Hello, Bobbie! Thank you for writing this thoughtful blog. The idea of structured vs. unstructured was one that I mulled over quite a bit while reading your post. In the past, I would go “Unstructured for days!”; considering only the curricula/ways to interpret assignments, but that was before I considered the factors outside of material things, like the students, teachers, and environment inside and outside the classroom. As the articles for this week expressed, minorities, the community, and the system itself must be considered so that what is taught in the class can be used for a bigger purpose outside of it. I cannot compare to the great tasks of being a working mother balancing school, work, and home life (Big kudos to you! You are amazing!). When it comes to events of changing the common norm, I like to look back to my high school Physics class. Let me preface this by saying that I am horrendous at mathematics so the concept of Physics and myself working together is like oil and water. I am also highly a visual learner. As such, having to create a final project involving hands-on mathematical formulas was a daunting idea. Rather than have me create something subpar with my limited abilities, the teacher focused on me using my strengths to instead write and draw a comic serving as introduction for students on The Standard Model. I created something that was outside the norm for a Physics Class that helped me understand a concept more than I had before. Plus, more than anything, it was exciting. I looked forward to working in this classroom environment because my teacher was able to create a community of students who were taught material in the way that was most beneficial for them and encourage us celebrating each other’s differences. We can take more steps like this to prevent ableism, for example. I believe other ways that we can create social change is continuing to provide new points-of-view (or “windows” as Omolade puts it) through the unique personal experiences of the students. Additionally, we can not only remove biased language, as explained by Joseph, but delve into the stories that were hidden under a veil.
Hi Bobbie,
Interesting post. I think you really nicely create an overview of some of the topics I was interested in. Now to hop to your questions.
In terms of times I’ve been oppressed in the classroom, I’m not exactly sure. Sometimes things aren’t so obvious and I feel like a lot of what’s happened to me has never been directly addressed. I do feel that I’ve had one experience in particular where I wasn’t taken seriously because I was fem bodied and openly queer. I had a lot of animosity from a particular teacher who would give me noticeably worse grades than the ones I was getting in other classes. Whenever I would discuss this with her she would invalidate me and belittle me in casual ways. I think it was interesting in particular that this was coming from a woman. Perhaps this was kind of a misplaced aggression of shame and guilt sort of like what was discussed in A Black Feminist Pedagogy? I’m not sure.
In terms of what we can do, I think a lot of it has to come at the systematic level. It’s causing more attention to the way these structures of oppression are built. But while that’s being done, it can also go all the way down to the specific class level. I think it’s interesting how much this class is structured on these pedagogues and I never realized that it was structured this way until we got to this part. I never analyzed why this class was performing differently than the other classrooms I’ve been in. It makes me appreciate what we’re doing here just a little more.
Hi Bobbie!
I enjoyed reading you blog post and I loved that you choose to discuss the structured vs. unstructured aspects of a classroom. I can only imagine how challenging it is to be a working mother and taking college classes. However, I can completely understand how it feels to be trapped in the structure of a course. Currently, I am taking 20 credits, working two jobs, and trying to adapt to co living with my boyfriend of 4 years. I have so much more responsibilities and weight on my shoulders being home than I probably would have if I was in Cortland. With that being said, most of my psychology courses are extremely structured. My one psychology course, I feel like the professor does not even take into consideration that we all have a lot on our plates this semester. I hate busy work, yet, my professor continues to give it to us. I emailed this professor a week ago explaining my unique life right now and that his class work is unrealistic. The strict guidelines and due dates every other day was causes me more stress than necessary. Luckily, after I sent the email, he addressed this issue to our class as a whole and in turn, we have re-structured our syllabus in a way the benefits us as students while sticking to the professor’s goals.
I think that courses need be more flexible to the students. The same syllabus/structure that might have worked 5 years ago for a class might not necessarily work for the current semester. Even from last semester to this semester, I think it is appropriate to change certain assignment or required readings. Ever since I took a class with Danica my freshman year, I have always been a huge fan of the way she structures her courses. I have never found myself too stressed out by her assignments and even when their might be too many readings, she acknowledges that and allows us to communicate with her in compromising. I love that we come together as one unite in learning rather than a clear divide between the hierarchy of the professor and the students which I often find in a lot of my other classes. If I could change my classes to be similar to the structure of our course, I 10000% would in a heartbeat.