Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2008

Abstract

One method to teach a multicultural class: a teacher walks in to a room calls the class to order, steps to the lectern and begins to deliver knowledge. Socially acquired information is disseminated; that gained over years of study and experience. Another view: I walk into a class where my students are sitting quietly at their desks pen and paper at the ready and quietly ask: shall we form a circle? The students agree and after having done so I follow up with a generative (Freire, 1970): what are your current understandings of Diversity? In following the work of Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux, bell hooks, and Maxine Greene among others I undertake an auto-critical approach to the classes I teach. It is a given for me that students bring knowledge to the table, my classes become our classes; we engage in dialogue to interrogate our subject matter: culture and schooling in societies. As the classes I teach are designed for future educators we engage our discussions to push pedagogy and transform teaching.

Copyright Statement

This document was originally published by Common Ground in The International Journal of Learning. Readers must contact Common Ground for permission to reproduce this article. http://www.learning-journal.com/

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