Language
These readings made me think about language and what is "okay" to talk about in class. What if we talk about diversity and differences through language and the rhetorical purpose of the language that we use? Can we separate the issue from the term and then analyze the effects of the different uses and contexts of the word?
I remember feeling strange talking about certain topics: religion, sex, obscene language, death. When I have had students whose parents have died, I really struggled with what to say. Now, as time goes on, I just talk about it. Maybe I'm talking about this issue on too basic of a level. I guess I think with first year comp, students may not have had too much of an opportunity to really think about the power of language. I think of the phrase "that's gay." Some of the best discussions in class have taken place when I've said, "okay, let's talk about this word." We had a great discussion on the rhetorical purposes and context of certain obscenities, starting with "bitch." I hear these words and phrases all of the time, and I felt like when I stopped and pointed it out and talked about meaning and effects that students stopped for a second and thought about language. They might not use those terms and labels so freely after that.
Okay, so my point is, if you open up your class to thoughtful discussions of diversity, difference, and touch issues, you can make them aware of language and the bias in our words that sometimes we don't even recognize. So, let's say that you have a class that has very little diversity, I think you can still affect a change toward acceptance by talking about and identifying the language used to describe different groups. I think I can see a good assignment coming out of this.
I felt like I should share this story. I think it was my second semester of teaching comp at a regional bi-directional university. We sat in a circle and everyone had an artifact bag with five items that represented you in some way. We got to a student that I will call Stan. He went through several items until he pulled out a condom. He said, "This represents me because I've been ridden more times than a Greyhound bus." This is a vivid classroom moment for me. A year before I had graduated from a southern Baptist university--sometimes called the baby Baylor. I had no idea what to say. So, I smiled and said "thank you." I was not sarcastic; I treated the comment like he said he loved peanut butter, but I was stunned. Homosexuality was in the classroom and could not be ignored, but actually, I ignored it. He was always very open about his sexuality and his comments, but I also saw tension build between him and other students. Actually, I think now that if a heterosexual student said that I might have said, "that's not appropriate," but I don't think I could have said that to Stan; I don't know where I am going with this except to say that this is my first teaching experience where the topic of sexuality was raised.
I remember feeling strange talking about certain topics: religion, sex, obscene language, death. When I have had students whose parents have died, I really struggled with what to say. Now, as time goes on, I just talk about it. Maybe I'm talking about this issue on too basic of a level. I guess I think with first year comp, students may not have had too much of an opportunity to really think about the power of language. I think of the phrase "that's gay." Some of the best discussions in class have taken place when I've said, "okay, let's talk about this word." We had a great discussion on the rhetorical purposes and context of certain obscenities, starting with "bitch." I hear these words and phrases all of the time, and I felt like when I stopped and pointed it out and talked about meaning and effects that students stopped for a second and thought about language. They might not use those terms and labels so freely after that.
Okay, so my point is, if you open up your class to thoughtful discussions of diversity, difference, and touch issues, you can make them aware of language and the bias in our words that sometimes we don't even recognize. So, let's say that you have a class that has very little diversity, I think you can still affect a change toward acceptance by talking about and identifying the language used to describe different groups. I think I can see a good assignment coming out of this.
I felt like I should share this story. I think it was my second semester of teaching comp at a regional bi-directional university. We sat in a circle and everyone had an artifact bag with five items that represented you in some way. We got to a student that I will call Stan. He went through several items until he pulled out a condom. He said, "This represents me because I've been ridden more times than a Greyhound bus." This is a vivid classroom moment for me. A year before I had graduated from a southern Baptist university--sometimes called the baby Baylor. I had no idea what to say. So, I smiled and said "thank you." I was not sarcastic; I treated the comment like he said he loved peanut butter, but I was stunned. Homosexuality was in the classroom and could not be ignored, but actually, I ignored it. He was always very open about his sexuality and his comments, but I also saw tension build between him and other students. Actually, I think now that if a heterosexual student said that I might have said, "that's not appropriate," but I don't think I could have said that to Stan; I don't know where I am going with this except to say that this is my first teaching experience where the topic of sexuality was raised.
posted by Keri | 8:43 AM
1 Comments:
Keri,
A million things to think about from your writing. I'll start with Stan. Like you at that moment, I wouldn't want to offend or be insensitive to my students. Though sometimes they may find our silence offensive. I try so hard - I don't want to offend. But, what about when we are offended? Do we have a voice in that? I guess it brings us to the point of communicating, without judging the person, but being able to share. For instance, I say I don't want to offend, so I would hope my students would talk to me if I have offended them (that's another issue to consider here - how we maintain or build that openness). On the other hand, hopefully the students would share a desire to not be offensive to others, and maybe it is good to respectfully and calmly talk with a student if what they are doing is offending you or others in the room. Ohhhh, tricky situations.
Post a Comment
<< Home