Students and Teaching: Part I

Posted on by | Leave a comment

As educators we have all been there when we stand at the front of the class and have to “phone it in.” But, for those of us who relish teaching and think about pedagogy, teaching effectiveness, and the scholarship of teaching and learning, we know that we give more thought to teaching and the attendant points. I feel compelled to share a discussion that I had with my Feminist Political Thought Seminar the other day.We were reading and discussing articles related to reflexive teaching and learning.

I was struck with several things. The first point is that the students sense when an instructor wants to be in the class or is engaged with the material. And, this environment influences their interest in the class and its materials. Likewise, they also notice when an instructor seems disinterested in the material and has less “energy” teaching or interacting with them. I have been thinking about this. Ultimately, I know that I already knew this—most of the students are smart. They know how to “read” the instructor. What I was caught off guard with is this notion that their level of engagement with the course is influenced so heavily by the instructor’s pedagogy. It makes perfect sense, but to hear so many repeat these points—really stayed with me.

Boring material can be revitalized by an instructor, yes, makes sense. But, great material can also be marred by a less than enthusiastic instructor.

The points that the students kept on making also spoke to feeling like they were more than a number in the classroom. They wanted the instructor to speak to them.  They also want to have a personal connection—so that they knew that the instructor cared about their opinions or their work. The students noted how helpful office hour consultations are with an instructor. But, I wonder what else is helpful. Is it the quick hallway conversation after class or a thoughtful response to one of their email queries? I’m still thinking about our discussion and will post more in the next part of this discussion.

 

Community Building Via Social Media

Posted on by | Leave a comment

I am revisiting this post from the three years ago and want to comment on how positive my experience has been with engaging more in the local community and higher ed community in general. In the Fall 2009, I decided to make a concerted effort to get more involved in my communities. I have already blogged some about this, but this blog will speak more so to the consequences. What have I learned? Who have I met? And, has it been worth it?

Maybe I should first say that I enjoy networking and I’ve been pretty good and successful with networking within Women’s Studies and Political Science. I have lots of friends and contacts in the US and Canada and I really do feel like I am part of the academic community. Given the teaching focus of my job that I’ve had for almost two years, I have had a chance to meet others with similar interests in the Scholarship of Teaching  and teaching and technology. But, I wanted more–I wanted to meet more people in different units across campus and in the city in general.

Somehow I came to this realization that I wanted to expand my networks in academe and in my local community in Victoria, so I joined FourSquare (I broke up with FourSquare eventually), Twitter, and stepped up my involvement in local community related events in Victoria. I also made a point of contacting others in Vancouver or other parts of British Columbia. I don’t want to be one of those academics that is so niche focused that I miss out on other opportunities and connections. This led to leading workshops and giving various talks in the community.

I’ll start with FourSquare. I like the game aspect of it–it’s fun. And, I’ve actually met people from the FourSquare hits. In a previous post, I noted that I’ve attended some of the High Noon Hump Day Meet Ups and these are usually focused on iPhone apps, FourSquare, iPad apps and the like. Frankly, these have been fun–lunches and chats about technology. I am such a nerd at heart and admit to it. Big smile. Well, this lasted for a few years and eventually I broke up with FourSquare, as I got a bit obsessed with it and there was no real benefit.

My Twitter use has been a two-fold win. I’ve used it in the classroom and personally. I have made more friendships than I can count and here I am referring mostly to the people that I have met in real life (IRL). However, to be honest, I have also “met” some wonderful people in higher ed, other Latinas, YA Lit readers, political junkies, and academics on Twitter, who I might never meet IRL. We have shared journal article suggestions, URLS, statistics, book suggestions, recipes, and gripes about everything. I connect with prospective, current, and former students on Twitter. I have also made professional connections with others.

I guess this post is my evangelism about social networking and social media. Yeah, I’m sold. Yeah, I’m an enthusiast. Professionally and politically stepping this up has led to blogging for Equality 101, the University of Venus, the Globe and Mail, as well as speaking opportunities. I have also found that my profile on my campus and network of friends and contacts is wider and it is rewarding.

Can you build community via social media? Yes. How are you building community? I am using the usual subjects–attending events and meeting people, but social media and social networks are definitely part of my arsenal.

Filling Up My Cup

Posted on by | Leave a comment

What do you do to fill up your cup? I’m referring to self-care and the ways in which we each fill up the emotional bank so that we are ready and raring to go in our work lives. I read. Spend time with my family, exercise, and watch TV. Living in the West, we are raised to think about individuality and productivity, so taking time for oneself can seem like a luxury. It’s not. Self-care is important for all of us.

Fill up your cup! And, for some of us that might mean a heaping cup of coffee in the morning or a cocktail in the evening. Cheers!

Abortion Politics in #YALit: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Posted on by | 7 Comments

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

They say that the abortion wars could not get worse. I beg to counter this statement, given my recent read of Neal Shusterman’s Unwind. The book takes place in the dystopian future. The second Civil War in the United States is the Abortion Wars between the Life Army and the Choice Brigade (the third group is the US military). While society seems fine—things are amiss. Abortion is now illegal, but parents or guardians can choose to have their kids (13-17) unwound. Yes, that’s right, the teens’ bodies are donated to society, so that s/he lives on—it’s not about death. Right. It ends up that teenagers see how ridiculous the law is. There are several references or allusions to how organ donation has become big business due to the availability of healthy organs. There are now suddenly lots of young healthy body parts available—part of the Bill of Life is that 99% of the body parts are reclaimed. Continue reading →

Advising Undergradutes

Posted on by | Leave a comment

I am one of the department’s three Undergraduate Advisors and I have come to love this part of my job. I’ve previously posted about this, but today I want to speak to the little things that I take special care to do in my office. I am well aware that some students are intimidated by this advising thing. They want good news. They really want me to say, “Yes, you’re on the right track to graduate.”

I am an advocate for them and will do what I can with the university policies. But, ultimately they have to take the classes and pass them. I find that listening is the biggest part of advising. Advising takes time. And, I try to establish a rapport with the student. It’s during these moments that I am trying to demystify the hoops that the students have to jump through. Sure, the student could look at the website and check of classes, but some don’t. They want an instructor or advisor to help them with this–to triple check and I’m OK with that.

I have to admit that I do prefer the face to face advising. When I get a rather long-winded email about advising issues, my first response is sending my office hour schedule to the student. There is something about the face to face contact and then the other conversations that come out. Students are more apt to ask about the next term’s courses, work, and letters of reference in advising appointment. I do feel that I can do more face to face, but that’s just me.

Thinking about International Women’s Day

Posted on by | Leave a comment

This centenary in honor of International Women’s Day was unlike any other that I can recall here in Canada or the US. As Joe Biden might say, “It’s a big fucking deal.” Yes, it is a BFD. On March 8th, I posted in the afternoon on my Twitter feed, @janniaragon: Could you imagine if 10% of the discussions about #IWD today took place on other days. I think that 10% of my overall tweets or more are about gender or women specifically, so it might prove too much different for me. However, I’m thinking of the overall media focus and online presence of the celebration of women and it was no doubt pretty amazing.

What would it take to have this heightened focus and response on the vulnerable (poor or aged) or other groups? What would it mean if we could focus so strongly on the environment for a day or more? What could it mean to the lives of undocumented peoples if we tried in earnest to help them? It would make a difference. Some people live this way everyday of their lives. I see some of the students on campus do this with their commitment to social justice, for instance. I see people posting on Twitter, their blogs, their books, and other networks to this effect. I point here is that I don’t want us to give up on women or other causes. It was wonderful to see so many posts on #IWD but lets make sure that this continues.

“The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous.” Margot Fonteyn, English Dancer

Rebuttal to Margaret Wente

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Wouldn’t it be great if the Globe and Mail ran a regular column that responded to Margaret Wente? They don’t and I’m not a journalist, but I will respond here to her article published on March 8th. The Globe does not like people linking directly to their articles, so I’ll just note the title, “A Legacy of Success.”

In Margaret Wente’s world, women are white and have lots of class, education, and other privilege. I’m not sure where she lives, but it is not the reality that I see on campus at the University of Victoria or one that I am completely familiar with in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties in Southern California. My reality or familiarity with women’s realities varies. See here I use the plural as we cannot use the singular, since it doesn’t speak to the varied ways that women live their lives in the West.

It is no doubt that the 20th and 21st centuries have held some of the largest gains for women in the West. We do have more women completing school and attending college. However, our social mores and social policies have not changed quite as quickly to aid families with these changes. We still see women doing more care work in and outside of the home. We see that the economic Gender Gap between women and men has increased. And, this is only looking at women and men and not disaggregating the numbers for different racial and ethnic groups, as the gap is wider. Women might live longer, but more apt to work in the Pink Collar Ghetto. Thanks to this we see that the feminization of poverty continues. More women are poor or vulnerable.

We might have some of the most educated women in the West ever–according to Wente, however, if the economic Gender Gap is increasing and so few women are leaders of Fortune 500 companies one might surmise that there is more work to be done. Right? Then, if we look to the criminal justice system. We see that Aboriginal women constitute some 20-25% of the incarcerated federally, yet Aboriginal people as whole constitute only 4% of the population in Canada. Thus, Aboriginal women are over-represented in prisons in Canada. If we were to look at racialized or women of color in the US, we would also see that they are over-represented in prisons. Angela Davis and Julia Sudbury have each spoken to the problems of racism and the Prison Industrial Complex. The struggle is not over.  Continue reading →

Feminisms

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Hypothetically, let’s say I was I was interviewed by a local reporter a few weeks ago. And, since this is a hypothetical situation I’ll go ahead and leave the reporter nameless. Again, this is all just for kicks and giggles as I would have to make this sort of story up, right?

I was initially contacted for an article to run prior to March 8, which is International Women’s Day. Ultimately during the interview it became apparent that the interview was on background and that the reporter and I did not see eye to eye. Now, both these points are fine.

I knew that this interview was different than other interviews. I was told that I would have an opportunity to review my quotes. I’m sorry but I do not get that opportunity. I’m not George Clooney or Oprah! At that time I new that I was dealing with the junior varsity squad. Regardless, imagine my surprise when I was asked this question, “So, me and my girlfriend are 25 and like, well, thanks to feminism we are having a hard time finding a man to take care of us.” I started to cough.

“Can you please restate the question.”

She did and it was pretty much the same sentiment. I moved into a spiel about class, race, and education privilege. And the response was, “Oh, I never thought of it that way.” I changed the subject to how so many people don’t really know what feminism is about and how the Feminist Political Thought seminar did a “homework” exercise requiring them to speak to someone about feminism. She listened and our call ended and I realized that the article was going to be interesting.

The article that this reporter wrote essentially argued that feminism has gone too far. My first point of contention. We have feminisms. There are different variants and theories that it’s so easy to condense them into one. A previous post of mine discussed this notion of “Big Old Bad Feminism.” My next major issue with the article is that feminism is not partially blame for overtired, overworked, unhappy women. I do think that economic injustice might be more responsible or a society that does not value women’s paid and unpaid work.

Now I can get to the issue of racialized women. Racialized women in North America do not have equal access to education and are over-represented in the prison industrial complex. They are connected to the criminal justice system more so than their white, middle class cohort. Unfortunately racialized women are also more likely to be victims of domestic violence and not live as long. Then, if we look to all women, we see that they are doing the second or third shift. Women do more care work compared to men. So, has feminism gone too far? No, my friends it has not.

It’s short-sighted and false to make such ridiculous claims. As much as I love my dear, sweet partner–we take care of one another. I could win the Super Lotto tomorrow and I would keep my job. I love it. I’m making a difference in young people’s lives. But, then again, I have more depth to my personality and life experience. Then, I woke up. This was just a random nightmare thanks to my cold medicines. Right?!

Over Share: Violence

Posted on by | 2 Comments

I did something today that I’ve only done previously in some of my American Politics courses. I shared that I had been assaulted years ago over a parking spot. Previously, I’ve used the assault as an example, when differentiating between civil and criminal cases. The students usually write away and understand the difference between the type of cases. A few students have approached me later in the term and acknowledged that he or she was a victim of some random act of violence or a survivor of domestic violence.

This week in my Gender and Politics class we are examining violence. Specific to Tuesday’s class, we had a student led discussion about violence and intersectionality. When I was in front of the students, I suddenly decided to quickly share my first brush with violence. (And, yes, I ruefully noted that it’s a shame that there was more). The Coles Notes (similar to Cliff’s Notes) version is that an undergraduate student chased me down and assaulted me. This was during my first year of Graduate School. This man attacked me in front of Fraternity Row and the frat brothers playing basketball did not intervene. They later told the detective that, “We thought she was his girlfriend.” Oh, that statement still speaks volumes.

I shared this story with my students, so that they could have a human face  in their minds, when we have these heady discussions about violence. I know that some of them have survived violence, too. I don’t know if this was an over share. Did some of them think this was unprofessional? I don’t know. I’m sure that the course experience surveys (evaluations) will speak to this, if they had a problem. The major reason why I did this–is we are uncomfortable talking about violence. Violence does not happen to us. But, it does.

I am hopeful that the Twitter exercise will field some honest points. I asked them to discuss the framing of violence via Twitter posts. You will see them (fingers crossed) with the #Poli335 hashtag.

So, I ask you, how do you see violence framed? Is it framed as an issue that only certain people are victims of violence?

Patience: Reminder

Posted on by | Leave a comment

It’s that lovely point in the term at my campus. Reading Break was last week and the vast majority of the students did not use the week off from classes to catch up or even get ahead. And, they’ve hit the ground running with paper due dates around the corner and final exams looming in the distance. Due to this, the students have a real sense of urgency and even panic. This is when they start to get ill, their attendance gets worse, and for many of them–they stop keeping up with the reading. They are in full–sink or swim mode.

What I have to remember–is patience. Yes, the syllabus is our contract and I do expect them to review it. However, the best tactic I’ve found for this last month is simple patience. I need to remind, validate, help, and occasionally chastise. The last month is really about coaching them. This seems to hold true for so many of the students. Even though I might want to hit my head against the desk–the best thing I can do for them is to take a breath, smile, and answer the question. The answer might be–review the syllabus. But, it does me (and my students) no good to get exasperated. Patience.