As I was reading this chapter from the Woman's Way of Knowing, one of the biggest. concepts that was being brought up was how when we teach, we often spend too much time on focusing on the perfection of the 'end product' or end goal, and do not open ourselves ups to showing students our own personal thinking processes' and how our own minds work. Because of that, it can be intimidating for students, and "So long as teachers hide the imperfect processes of their thinking, allowing their students to glimpse only the polished products, students will remain convinced that the only Einstein--or a professor-- could think up a theory" (Belenky, 1997, p. 215). By having openness as a teacher to our students with how our minds work, it gives into a sense of vulnerability as well as transparency as students get to see how we come up with the concepts and projects that we want them to do, and this level of transparency leads to better understanding of the project and what we want them to get out of it besides this singular 'end product'. Of course as art teachers we think about the visuals and the ending result, but in reality the real learning and growth comes from the student actively working with their ideas and figuring out what they want to do and knowing how to do it. By getting rid of this authoritative teacher is the all knowing being in the classroom complex, our students can also become more comfortable within the classroom and open to sharing their ideas and opinions instead of just accepting what we tell them to do. Students need to be actively learning in their environment to grow as a person.
The biggest analogy that Belenky (1997) makes in this chapter is based around the concept of a 'midwife-teacher'. This concept opposes the traditional viewpoint of the 'banker-teacher' in which the teacher is the holder of all knowledge and passively passes on their information to their students without having the students contribute at all with their own knowledge. Belenky (1997) states that mid-wife teachers "assist the students in giving birth to their own ideas" (p. 217). This means that as a teacher, you need to encourage students to have independent thoughts, and that when they do tell you these thoughts and ideas, to encourage them and add on to their knowledge, promoting them to investigate further instead of shutting them down immediately. Belenky (1997) compares student's ideas to that of a "fragile newborn" and as mid-wife teachers, we need to act as supporters rather than the "mothers" or students of said ideas (p. 218). Another concept that Belenky (1997) discusses is about creating a community within the classroom culture and environment. Calling this a "connected class", Belenky (1997) explains that the connected teacher "tries to create groups in which members can nurture each other's thoughts to maturity" (p. 221). When Belenky says this, they are saying that by creating a classroom that supports students ideas and independence, students may also bond together and bounce of each other's ideas to flesh them out. And by starting at the beginning, there is more room for flexibility and uncertainty, which encourages students to open up more about what is on their minds. And of course, we need to ensure the respect of each other's opinions. One of the final takeaways I took from Belenky (1997) is regarding objectivity in teaching. Belenky (1997) states that "Objectivity in connected teaching, as in connected knowing, means seeing the other, the student, in the student's own terms" (p. 224). When we go into the field of teaching, we need to understand the lives and backgrounds of our students outside of the classrooms, as their realities might be a lot different to what we have grown with or seen in America. So. it is highly important to empathize with our students, in order to. promote a positive and open classroom environment. Source: Belenky, M. F. (1997). Womens way of knowing: the development of self, voice, and mind. New York: BasicBooks. |
In the reading, “Woman’s Way of Knowing” by Mary Field Belenky (1997) she discussed a way of teaching referring to the teacher as a ‘mid-wife’. The role of a midwife in its usual context is defined by a person who assists the pregnant mother give birth to their child. Belenky used this as a metaphor to describe teachers who push their students to explore and strengthen their original ideas instead of trying to push their own agenda and viewpoints. She contrasted this concept with the idea of a doctor who uses anesthesia on a woman giving birth and how the process becomes his as the mother cannot feel anything and he is in charge.
As an art teacher, it is important to promote a student’s creativity and self-expression as much as possible within the classroom. In no way as a teacher should you be imposing only your viewpoint or shutting down students ideas just because they are not the same as yours. We need to work in order to guide them and their thought processes, and to push them as much as we are capable of. The metaphor of a midwife- someone who is extremely helpful and close to the mother was an unexpected yet perfect way to describe on how we as teachers should work with our students. We need to let our students voices shine and come from a place of giving advice rather than acting condescendingly or our own egos and knowledge. Belenky expounded upon this metaphor, and brought up an example of how a student, Faith, enjoyed her ‘mid wife’ teacher, because “The teacher did not tell Faith to replace her thought with a different but only to ‘think more,’ to let the thought grow” (1997). Encouraging student’s personal ideas to take charge is teaching them to think critically with their imaginations. Students are not meant for just absorbing knowledge, but also being able to think on their own. For my piece I chose markers to create a graphic, similar to cell from a comic strip of a woman giving birth and the phrase, “ thoughts grow”. Instead of drawing a baby or even a vagina, I drew an orchid instead, which symbolizes sex and commonly associated with women. I have the woman’s silhouette spread eagle as if she is about to give birth, and the only thing you can see is the flower as well as the phrase ‘thoughts grow’, which tied back to Faith’s story of having a midwife teacher. I used markers to create a more bold and graphic design to make it almost resemble a bumper sticker on someone’s car. I drew the text more relaxed as if the phrase itself was allowed to grow and thrive. Georgia O'Keeffe, Red Canna
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"(1) make curriculum content relevant to the experiences and interests of all students,
(2) employ language that makes academic
content userfriendly to all students,
(3) utilize diverse strategies to fill in important academic gaps (pp. 6 I -65)".