Recently I read a story about an African American educator who took her own personal experiences as a minority women, and used those experiences to educate her students. Dr. Johnson a well educated women, who taught English at an affluent school, in a well to do neighborhood. She was one of the few minority instructors at that institution and experienced some biases not only from her students, but the other instructors as well.
What I admired about this story, is it shows a strong women who is not only determined to make a difference her life, but wants to impact her impact her students beyond the walls of the classroom. Dr, Johnson designs a learning environment that is conducive not only for learning English, but encourages students to consider how they impact the world and others.
It is the style and motivation of Dr. Johnson that I would like to incorporate into my teaching style as well as thinking when I work with students, as well as adults in a learning environment. I believe being able to connect with students is one thing, but when students are able to connect with their instructor as well as with one another, the possibilities of learning are limitless.
Many times educators focus on students understanding the subject matter, but often forget about the context in which students are learning and the importance of them understanding themselves as well as one another. We not only need to learn English and Literature, but we need to experience it from the view point of many authors as possible. Dr. Johnson made sure that her students got the opinions of more than one author, she wanted them to understand and hear the voice of authors from every back ground and walk of life. She wanted her students to relate to as many authors as possible and feel a connection. When Dr. Johnson took the steps to encourage her students to think and express themselves, freely she opened a community of free thinking and understanding which allowed students the chance to explore themselves as well as their impact on one another. It is these types of experiences that allow students to grow and develop into great thinkers. My goal is to create great thinker and impact my students as Dr. Johnson did.
Recently I read a story about an African American educator who took her own personal experiences as a minority women, and used those experiences to educate her students. Dr. Johnson a well educated women, who taught English at an affluent school, in a well to do neighborhood. She was one of the few minority instructors at that institution and experienced some biases not only from her students, but the other instructors as well.
ReplyDeleteWhat I admired about this story, is it shows a strong women who is not only determined to make a difference her life, but wants to impact her impact her students beyond the walls of the classroom. Dr, Johnson designs a learning environment that is conducive not only for learning English, but encourages students to consider how they impact the world and others.
It is the style and motivation of Dr. Johnson that I would like to incorporate into my teaching style as well as thinking when I work with students, as well as adults in a learning environment. I believe being able to connect with students is one thing, but when students are able to connect with their instructor as well as with one another, the possibilities of learning are limitless.
Many times educators focus on students understanding the subject matter, but often forget about the context in which students are learning and the importance of them understanding themselves as well as one another. We not only need to learn English and Literature, but we need to experience it from the view point of many authors as possible. Dr. Johnson made sure that her students got the opinions of more than one author, she wanted them to understand and hear the voice of authors from every back ground and walk of life. She wanted her students to relate to as many authors as possible and feel a connection. When Dr. Johnson took the steps to encourage her students to think and express themselves, freely she opened a community of free thinking and understanding which allowed students the chance to explore themselves as well as their impact on one another. It is these types of experiences that allow students to grow and develop into great thinkers. My goal is to create great thinker and impact my students as Dr. Johnson did.