This week’s readings made me think of Maya’s presentation and the class discussion about teachers loving their students. As I shared, I believe they can—and I myself have been on both ends of that situation.
Growing up, I was an extremely extroverted kid—one of those students where everyone knows their name. My teachers always went the extra mile to be there for me, correct me with care, and help mold me as a person, not just a student. (My mother was always an active parent, working with—not against—educators, which is always a huge help to teachers.)
One example that always sticks out in my mind is when the school’s guidance counselor truly went above and beyond for my family and me. In third grade, my mother had brain surgery. With my dad having a traveling job that kept him away, she ran the household and took care of us on her own. This guidance counselor, who was close to me and my family (due to being in constant contact because of my behavior), took it upon herself to reach out and give us gift cards to help with groceries, since she knew my mom had been out recovering.
This is just one time a teacher showed her love for me, but every day I showed up, they made their love clear. To this day, I can still pick up the phone and call these teachers, count on them for job opportunities, or even just a shoulder to cry on. The seeds they planted years ago have allowed me to still have a relationship with my teachers—literally from K-12.
So yes, I do believe teachers can genuinely love students.
Now, back to this week’s readings.
Cate Denial’s A Pedagogy of Kindness brought up so many great points. In my opinion, it’s like gentle parenting for teachers. This focus on kindness—genuine kindness—truly has the power to alter a student’s educational experience. I agree that we need to take a step back from traditional models, level out the power dynamic, and treat students as the humans they are.
The most important part of making this a reality is getting teachers to reflect. “When suspicion or anger is our first response, a pedagogy of kindness asks us to step back and do the reflective work of asking why we’re reacting in that manner and what other instances of disappointment or mistrust are coming to bear on a particular moment in a particular student-teacher interaction.” (Denial) Just like with raising kids, it’s easy to gentle parent and be kind when kids are behaving and everything is going smoothly. However, the real challenge comes when things get rocky—and that’s when we really have to put these strategies into practice. Something seemingly so simple—kindness—actually calls for deep emotional growth. But ultimately, it’s what’s best for students’ development.
Marisol Brito et al.’s Love in the Time of Peer Review was a thought-provoking piece. I’ve already touched on my feelings about love, so I’m just going to focus on other aspects of the reading.
I’m not sure if I agree with every single point made, but I do believe we need to change the way we approach peer review. For starters, I agree that we need more transparent reviewing—and honestly, that goes beyond just peer review. Reviewees should know what’s being evaluated and where the reviewer is coming from, so they know what to expect and how to navigate things from the beginning.
At the end of the day, this reading reminded me of my belief that feedback—no matter the form—is like a conversation. It’s just an opinion, and everyone has opinions. You don’t have to agree with them or take their advice just because it was offered. That said, I do think it’s important to stay open to constructive criticism and be able to take in certain opinions. But for me, the feedback I value most comes from people I respect or opinions I can actually understand. If I don’t agree with the feedback, I usually don’t take it. That might sound bratty, but I know that one person’s opinion doesn’t define me as a writer. So why would I stress myself out with rewrites—especially if I don’t respect, agree with, or even understand where the feedback is coming from? That’s just how I approach it.
I’m going to keep my opinions on Asao B. Inoue’s Assessing so That People Stop Killing Each Other to a minimum since I’ll be presenting on Inoue. That said, the topic of language’s power—especially in classrooms—is something I’ve thought a lot about. Last semester, I took Dr. Fall’s World Englishes course, and it truly opened my eyes to these issues and made me so much more informed. I’ve done a lot of research on this topic and firmly believe that more people—especially educators—need to understand the influence their words and language choices have. Two great pieces that tie into this are Dr. April Baker-Bell’s We Been Knowin’: Toward an Antiracist Language & Literacy Education and Vershawn Ashanti Young’s Should Writers Use They Own English?
“…the paradox of teachers who are by necessity steeped in a white racial habitus while many of their students are not…” (Inoue) This line really stands out to me because it highlights the need for teachers to intentionally reflect—something I’ve mentioned before. When you’re deeply immersed in the system, it can be hard to recognize that you might be part of the problem. That’s why educators must take the time to reflect on their own experiences and teaching practices—and consider how they can be the change, especially with the influence they hold. Doing so can make a huge difference in the classroom and in students’ educational journeys.
Leave a Reply