Toward Teaching
Lin Hixson
"There is no way to transformation; transformation is the way. There is no way to knowledge; knowing is the way." Paulo Freire
Teacher and students come together. Together they give meaning to the world. They investigate not only what they are but the possibility of what they might become. They make a site. They make a site of education.
I teach. I teach in a site. Here I instruct students and students instruct me. I cannot separate my teaching from my learning. I learn from and with my students.
I feel responsible for the atmosphere in this educational site - for the dynamics within it and for the boundaries that govern it. I envision an area in which students can build individual voices and understand contradictory experiences. Ideas are not consumed, but re-invented and re-created; Knowledge is not an object I dispense but a fluid and constantly changing process. The practice of knowing is the practice of action, critical reflection, and dreaming of a particular future and way of life that holds human dignity at its core.
In the classroom, I attempt to work with the experiences the students bring to class, encouraging them to build on what they already know. I ask that they take an active role with one another in learning and in critiquing each other’s work. I set a playful atmosphere but emphasize the importance of discipline – how one uses her time, how one develops a concept, how one completes a project, and how one reflects on what he has done. I provide critical and historical examples to give the students a context when pursuing their work.
I feel most privileged and hopeful as an educator; privileged because I am part of an ongoing dialogue of what it means to be human and hopeful because I am witness to the possibility of change that builds a future of justice and peace.
