When I am submerged for some time in a
group of Aboriginal people, knowing that I am not expected to judge
everything that everybody says or does {much less declare my judgments as
quickly as I can come to them!), it's as if a huge weight lifts off my
shoulders. It's a weight I didn't know I was carrying until recently, the
weight of this obligation to form and express opinions at all times and
about almost everything.
Hi Ray,
Every time I read Ross' words I am inspired. Few have learned as much as he from Aboriginal peoples. What I copied above, from your post, connects in my mind with what I sent yesterday to this list from an interview with David Noble. Towards the end of it he said:
At 5:01 PM -0500 12/18/02,David Noble said :
In my classes, students have to be lulled away from their anxiety about producing, and lulled into the idea that we're getting together, maybe we're reading something in common and discussing it, but that's it! Socrates didn't give grades, from what we know; he had dialogues with people and that was it! I like the impulse. We are so out of it, given the content of education today, and it's just getting worse and worse. When I announced I was no longer using a syllabus, to avoid the commoditization of my work, there was simply no documentary evidence that my course ever happened and it upsets everything, everybody. A lot of people can't handle this idea of education. They can't function outside of its institution. We're then talking about livelihoods, job security, and people get very nervous because universities won't tolerate much. After I gave 270 A's at York University, some of the executive committee wrote a letter to my department chairman and to me demanding an explanation. You know, I just told them to fuck off-politely-and haven't heard from them again, but it's in my file. I don't care about my file, but a lot of people do, especially people who don't have any job security at all. I have tenure at York and until they get rid of that-but, who knows?Ross describes the burden of judgements and there is nothing more burdensome for teachers than marking and report cards. We grade roads, eggs and meat; should we be grading students? Marks get in the way of so much rich learning. So do gold stars, incentive plans, praise and other bribes. When I was teaching Grade four in 1983, I wrote anecdotal descriptions of each child's learning in lieu of report cards. The local newspaper advertised that a local Video Games place was giving free tokens for each 'A' on students' report cards. My students complained that they didn't have any, so I got hold of some report cards and gave them all A's. They were ecstatic.
Ross' book fundamentally challenges our concept of justice. I believe it could do the same to our concept of education. I dearly hope we "Return to (discover) the Teachings".
Take care,
Brian
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* Brian McAndrews, Practicum Coordinator *
* Faculty of Education, Queen's University *
* Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 *
* FAX:(613) 533-6596 Phone (613) 533-6000x74937*
* e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* "Education is not the filling of a pail, *
* but the lighting of a fire. *
* W.B.Yeats *
* *
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