Knowing ourselves as instructors

One thing I liked about this text is that it raises problems I can identify with and gives practical advices to deal with certain situations:

• I have been ashamed and embarrassed byt the attitude or behavior of members of my social groups (p. 465)

• I have been made aware of certain biaises of mine (for instance, re: french-canadian accent), but I realize that it is very difficult to even identify one's own biais independently (p. 467): "Greater self-knowledge...can give us more options when responding in thoughtful ways when conflicts arise"

• I am troubled and concerned about the idea of responding to biaised comments in the classroom (pp 468-469) . I noticed that biais is often expressed in a humorous way and I believe this negative humor may mean to relieve tension and nervousness when certain topics are alluded to. How can you be clear enough to identify it and decide wether addressing it or not (sometimes making a big deal out of something only brings negative attention to the "perpetrator"), assertive enough to address it if needed, flexible enough to have some impact on the "perpetrator," and not turn them off to the whole thing: their contribution matters and they deserve our full interest: "An appreciation for the process people go through in developing awareness about oppression." And most importantly, the point about: "Why am I so annoyed at this person?" (p. 469). Isn't it hard to not show your feelings? The article refers to the "challenge" of maintaining "openness to both our own internal process and to what maybe going on for our students," (p. 470), but also advices to "disclose my own uncertainties to students," but what if I am just really p.o?

• Thus, I really like the "time out (for all) idea, with written response (p. 473)

• My favorite part in the text: "We are in many ways texts for our students... In some respects, we are both the messenger and the message...Self-disclosure is an important part of this process and one of the most powerful ways of teaching is through modeling the behavior we hope to encourage in others" (p. 474). This reminds of b. hooks' comment about Freire's immediate positive response to her femininist criticism at the conference, and how just this point transformed her understanding of him. I, too, feel that the way I present myself, address students, issues, respond or not, everything is part of my message as a teacher.
  

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