Resonant

A little educational philosophy for you on this gray Thursday afternoon:

"...I enter the classroom with the assumption that we must build "community" in order to create a climate of openness and intellectual rigor. Rather than focusing on issues of safety, I think that a feeling of community creates a sense that there is shared commitment and a common good that binds us. What we all ideally share is the desire to learn--to receive actively knowledge that enhances our intellectual development and our capacity to live more fully in the world."

   -bell hooks                                          

What better way to summarize what I do, or at least what I strive for. The challenge, of course, is working within an education system not designed to facilitate this kind of learning, and teaching students who have never encountered education as such a noble pursuit. Still, we work at it, and while I know it's uncomfortable for most of my students, they show me regularly that they like it, that they're learning, and that they're up to the challenge.