Teachers,Philosophy,andTheory:MakingtheNormalandAssumedStrange
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Teachers, Philosophy and Theory:
Making the Normal and Assumed Strange
Michael Caldwell
The Evergreen State College
Masters in Teaching 2016
Cover Note:
I believe this paper is the best I’ve written because I’m emerging in my skills to allow my
texts to converse with me in my discussion—I’m working towards that goal of being a graduatelevel writer. At the same time, I doubt it’s the best thing I’ve written because the other aspects of
my writing (flow, wording, etc.) had less time committed in this writing process than working to
make my sources’ ideas speak to/with each other. I expect that Michi and Emily will say that I
have work to do in the area of paragraph structure with allowing sources to converse, but I hope
that they like the thought I’ve put into this big question thus far. I anticipate responding to this
feedback by giving myself more time to work with my sources and work diligently in the writing
workshops on Mondays to continue my growth as a writer. I must also admit that I intend to work
on time management as well, and start working with the ideas & bones of the next paper earlier
than I did with this assignment.
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Teaching is a job that is more demanding than ever before in terms of expectations to
support students, and the views of disagreement in how this job is executed can be overwhelming
(Greene, 1977). In an increasingly diverse society that fails to acknowledge differences in
experience between racial, national, gender, sexual and ethnic identities, the job calls for teaching
reflectively and forming a learning theory; an approach to identifying nuances across lived
experiences and teaching with respect to them. As educators tasked to practice philosophy, we’re
supposed to work with, digest, and reflect upon the rich diversity of ways to see the world, and
open up the conversation towards a wider lens of the world around us. To refrain from
interrogating one’s own assumptions and reality, sources agree, could equate to falling through
the cracks for students whose identities and realities aren’t considered in the educational system
as it is (Greene, 1977; Milner, 2010, Zeichner, 1996).
From our lecture for Seminar I, we discovered the notion of the Dominant Narrative of
education-the popular and widely held belief society holds about education and its purposes
(Lardner, 3 Oct. 2016). Essentially, what is problematic about this narrative is that it assumes the
reality of white people, and is reinforced by people of similarly powerful and privileged positions.
In Foundations, we focused on how that dominant narrative informed and defined the purposes of
education in the US over time (Esposito, 4 Oct. 2016). In both strands our discussions began to
illuminate the widely assumed facts and “realities” that society has taken on, and whose realities
are then overshadowed in the process. The dominant narrative of those historically in power has
not only created tensions within the system of education, but also conflicting expectations in
school and society as a whole.
Maxine Greene aptly expressed when discussing notions of justifying action that
“Independence is presumably valued, but dependence and respect are fostered without much
recognition of the contradiction” (Greene, 1977, p. 217). The Dominant Narrative within
education highly values and places moral judgment on students based on their perceived
individual efforts—meritocracy (Milner, 2010)—and yet at the same time students are expected
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to rely on their instructors’ knowledge to gain success. Contradictions and assumptions made
within the purpose of education lead to tension in the realms of race, culture, gender, and more
(Esposito, 4 Oct. 2016). The dominant narrative in education takes moral stances that not only are
in conflict with other worldviews, but goes one step further to cultural conflict as (Milner 2010)
discusses, and unsolicited judgment of students and their families.
Racial tensions with respect to the Dominant Narrative are especially because anyone
whose definition of self doesn’t fit within the story feel a sense of being misplaced: “ ‘Black is a
symbol of evil. Everything that is white is good…This is the image I faced in growing up in
American Society… You say, ‘Well, what am I?’ You feel you’re rubbed out, as if you never
existed’” (Izell Blair, as quoted in Greene, 1977, p.51)’”. This struggle students of color may face
is just the surface of what white privilege overlooks. Students who feel dehumanized or less than
in the classroom setting may not feel inclined to participate actively in school. Unless questioned
otherwise, it’s all-too easy to see that same individual in a negative light; all the more reason to
practice philosophy and building a learning theory that goes beyond the limited scope of one’s
lived experience.
To practice philosophy within teaching takes practice and concerted effort, an art that
Milner (2010)’s subjects achieved successfully in their own ways. Mr. Hall was challenged when
one of his students called him “racist” after he attended to their misbehavior. Rather than ignore
the claim, Mr. Hall thought about why this individual might feel that way. Mr. Hall did “a very
special kind of listening…” that helped him separate from his urge to deny this student’s claim,
and see himself in “the unflattering light of another’s angry gaze” (Delpit, 1995, as quoted in
Zeichner, 1996). Through building relationships and bringing the relevance of race and identity
into his content, “Mr. Hall learned that students had to allow teacher to teach them” and feel that
they were relevant to him before they were ready to learn (Milner, 2010, p. 53). Mr. Hall lived a
life very different than most of his students as a white man that made it difficult for him to
understand their perception of the content he was presenting. In order to understand his students’
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realities, he challenged himself to examine his own assumptions and views of the world and that
“opportunity gap” was closed (Milner, 2010).
Within the classroom, there lies rich opportunities for learning, especially with the wealth
of ideas, lived experiences, and customs between students. Zeichner (1996) poses the following
questions as a framework for teachers to consider in assessing this: “…How do my students’
contexts restrict and/or enable their opportunities, and what is my role within these contexts?” (p.
78). Milner (2010) answers that the teacher should talk about diversity within the classroom
because even “Students who attend mostly white settings do not live ‘in vacuum’; they will
experience matters of race and diversity in the world they inherit’” (p. 40). Dr. Johnson agrees in
her visit with Milner (2010) that she was successful in her position to expose her mostly white
cohort to different ethnic worldviews and literature: “I try to broaden their horizons. They are out
there in the real world and everybody they meet in the world might not look like the people here”
(p. 85). Extending the mindset of interrogating one’s sense of reality to students is vital to a
holistic experience that prepares them for the rest of their lives—they have the opportunity to
develop critical thinking that empowers them to inspect what is invisible to society and be more
adept, aware, and inclusive human beings as a result.
While the journey of philosophy has much to offer for teacher and students, Greene
(1977) asserts that it’s more important that the process is just that; a process: “in ways that
highlight certain factors and suppress others; and frequently their perceptions affect their
conceptualization of man” (p. 58). No matter how much we think about thinking, and our own
assumptions of reality, teachers must accept that our lens stretches only so far, and further that
our task is to inspect what, or more importantly who, that lens obscures, and when. As soon as
that process comes to an end is the moment a teacher begins to miss opportunities to understand
the world and those who think, exist, and dream alongside them. Embodying philosophy as and
educator does more than liberate the individual from seeing as Greene (1977) asserts; it paves
way for the same liberation, if not more, for their students.
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References
Greene, M. (1977). Teacher as Stranger: Educational Philosophy for the Modern Age.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc..
Esposito, P. (04 Oct. 2016). Foundations Lecture: History of Education
Milner, H. R. (2010). Start Where You Are, But Don't Stay There. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Education Press.
Lardner, E. (03 Oct. 2016). Seminar I Lecture: Dominant Narrative in Education
Zeichner, K. M., & Liston, D. P. (1996). Reflective Teaching: An Introduction (2 ed.).
London: Routelage.