3/4...Teacher Interview Project--What Questions Do We Want to Ask? (optional post, but please do participate)

We need to have our interview questions settled and ready to go by the time we leave for Spring Break (less than a week!).  Below is a slightly modified question list from last semester. Please look the questions over and either suggest a possible new question or an improvement to an existing question. Note: this blog post is optional, but I am really hoping that y'all will engage with it so that we can have a productive class on Tuesday and so that everyone is up to speed and ready to go with the project! (Yes, this is an example of our radical experiment in invitational education...do this because you care and you want to!!!)

EDUS202- Draft Question List 

1. Tell me the story of how and why you got into teaching.

2. What do you see as the purposes of school? (Possible follow-up: What do you hope students will take away from your class and from school?)

3. Can you share a story about an obstacle/adversity that you had to deal with as a teacher? What did you learn/take away from it?

4. How much of a voice do educators have in curriculum and methods, and do you agree with what and how you are teaching? 

5. If you could change one thing about U.S. education, what would it be? (Possible follow-up: How would you like for it to be addressed?)

6. Diversity and equity in the classroom are things that we talk about a lot in our class and it has been in the news a lot, too. What changes in schools related to diversity and equity have you seen during your time as a teacher? 

7. What would be one thing you would share with someone who is pursuing a teaching career?  (Note: only ask if you are planning to become a teacher)

   

1/16…Labaree’s “From Citizen to Consumers”

In this post, please provide: 1. one takeaway (one specific thing that you learned from a very quick read of the article and; 2. Ask a question about something you didn’t understand or that you’d like to know more about.  

1/21…Democracy, pt. 1

Have you done much thinking about democracy and what our schools might/should have to do with it? If so, what have you been thinking? If not, either do some thinking about it and report or consider why you haven’t been thinking about it. 

1/23…Democracy, pt. 2

What do you think the filmmaker is trying to convey about democracy? What was new to you? What did the film contribute to your understanding of what democracy is and/or can be?

1/28…What is Teaching?

What do you make of Ayers' way of talking about teaching? Did he bring up any new/different ways of understanding the enterprise? Any other thoughts?

1/30…Traditional and Progressive Schooling

Can you give an example of an experience you have had as a student that seemed traditional? How about progressive? Please very briefly one or the other. Was it a good experience? Why or why not? 

2/4…Critical Pedagogy

What is critical pedagogy and what you do think of it? What connections can you make between the idea of critical pedagogy and the Gutierrez article?

2/13…Precious Knowledge

 

React to this film. If possible, relate this film to the contemporary CRT controversy or something else going on these days. 

2/18…Podcast: Have You Heard?

Post an opinion about something you heard and a question about something you didn’t understand or that you’d like to know more about. Alternatively, you could consider the question of whether/why P-12 teachers might benefit from listening to this podcast.

4/3…Classroom Management/School Discipline and the Aims of Schooling

What was school discipline like where you went to school? Looking back, can you remember any teachers who did a particularly good job of managing their class? What did they do/not do?

3/20…Deficit and Asset Approaches: The Case of Ruby Payne

Do a little bit of exploratory research about Ruby Payne and her book "A Framework for Understanding Poverty." If you do a google search or a google scholar search, you will quickly see that her ideas are both widespread and quite controversial. Share something that you discovered about her work. You are welcome to provide some commentary on what you share, but it is not required.

3/25…“New Kid”

Raise a question that you’d Like to ask Jerry Craft. It should attempt to be on point for a course like this one (e.g., some facet of how he thinks about schooling, teaching, learning, etc.). 

4/8…Teacher Interviews

Share something interesting or surprising from your interview. It can be something about the content of the interview or something related to your interviewee. You could also use this space to ask a question about the analysis of the interviews that we are about to begin. 

4/10…Ask a Teacher Advocacy Expert

In light of our readings on teacher evaluation, teacher activism, and education policy, come up with two questions to ask an expert on teacher evaluation and teacher advocacy/activism. I will share the blog with a local teacher organizer and I will ask them to pick some of the questions to answer.

5/4…Teacher Evaluation (Focus on Policy) (note: this due date is a change)

After looking over the VA Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers and the Greene article (from Forbes) what are your thoughts on teacher evaluation? 

●        The Virginia Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers,http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/performance_evaluation/teacher/index.shtml

●        Greene (2021).”This Decade-long Experiment in Teacher Evaluation is an Unsurprising Failure,” Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/11/30/this-decade-long-experiment-in-teacher-evaluation-is-a-failure/?sh=28a6596a1737

4/22…Teachers and Teaching

What do you make of the way that the teachers (interviewees) tended to talk about teaching and being a teacher? Were you surprised by anything? Worried or disturbed?  

Grab Bag…(due 4/30)

At some point this semester, please post a link to an article, video, website, etc. that made you think about something we’ve done in class. Also, please provide a brief discussion about whatever you submitted. This has no due date, but my hope is that you will check it periodically and read what your classmates are posting (feel free to comment, too).