Pedagogy

Teaching Democracy

Teaching is an exercise in promoting democracy and dialogue. This begins with acknowledging that experiences and interpretations of reality are not neutral and are interpretations (Levin & Liberman, 2019; Mattsson, 2014). Because of this, I take a proactive stance in teaching democratically. In Cornel West’s (2004) seminal work Democracy Matters, he states that to fight corrupt elite power and promote a true democratic tradition, we must weave Socratic, Prophetic, and Tragicomic elements. The Socratic method questions reality and power relations; Prophetic creates visions of possibilities; Tragicomic dissects our understanding of suffering. In my philosophy, each of these components can be implemented into a teaching-learning practice of social work in accordance with our Code of Ethics by combining critical and feminist theory.

Teaching in the Classroom

Traditional positivistic approaches to teaching lead students to accept that the classroom is prepared for the “real world” which devalues the act of learning and human experiences outside of corporate dominance (hooks, 2003).  To combat these notions, I fall within the tradition of many critical theorists who assert that the classroom is a microcosm of the "real world.”  Bell hooks (2003) iterates it best by saying that the classroom needs to directly integrate students' experiences in the classroom with their experience of the world outside of academia.  Ultimately, hooks (2003) guides her students to re-envision a world where their experiences in the classroom directly relate to the world beyond the classroom.

Cognitive Dissonance

The process of democratizing the classroom is vital as it promotes a trusting space in which dissonance can be experienced. While promoting “purposeful, hopeful, and dreaming” social workers is crucial, having social workers who deeply understand the suffering that is produced by systems of oppression is even more so. To be able to face this suffering, social workers must undergo the process of cognitive dissonance where they experience self-doubt, internal conflict, and challenge their preconceived notions of how the world works (Berkley et al., 1986 as cited in Taylor & Reynolds, 2019). 

You can find my full pedagogical statement HERE.