Page 27 - Beyond Methods

Conceptualizing teaching acts 15
• grounded on a commitment to world making: teachers realize that appropriate knowledge is something that is produced by inter- action of teacher and student in a given context, and act on that realization;
• dedicated to an art of improvisation: teachers recognize that they operate in classroom conditions of uncertainty and uniqueness and therefore are able and willing to improvise their lesson plans and instructional procedures;
• dedicated to the cultivation of situated participations: teachers pro- mote student discussion in class by situating the class in the words, concerns, and experience of the students;
• extended by a concern with critical self- and social-reflection: teach- ers conceptualize classroom techniques that encourage intro- spection and self-reflection;
• shaped by a commitment to democratic self-directed education: teachers consider ways of helping themselves and their students gain a sense of ownership of their own education;
• steeped in a sensitivity by pluralism: familiarize themselves with the linguistic and cultural diversity of their student population and conceptualize multiple perspectives on issues that matter to them and to their students;
• committed to action: teachers come to see thinking as a first step to action and continually design plans of action to carry out their critical thoughts; and
• concerned with the affective dimension of human beings: teachers think in terms of developing both the emotional and logical sides of their students and themselves.
Reflective task 1.3
What are the implications of becoming/being a transformative intellectual? For what reasons would you support or oppose the expanded role that teachers as transformative intellectuals are expected to play? To what ex- tent do teacher education programs with which you are familiar prepare student teachers to become transformative intellectuals—in terms of im- parting necessary knowledge, skill, and attitude?
The three perspectives on the role and function of teachers—as passive technicians, as reflective practitioners, and as transforma-