GEMS (Gender, Education, Music, And Society)
Volume
6, Number 2, October 2013
Because I Am A Teacher: A Dialogue
For Consideration
Dr. Stephanie
A. Baer
Copyright Notice: The policy of GEMS is that authors
will retain copyright to their materials.
Abstract:
I am an artist/researcher/teacher seeking to better understand and explicate
the role and power of the arts in education. These identities have allowed me
to explore the complex nature of what it means to teach and to learn, and has
provided an ongoing conversation where I can inquire and respond through
written dialogue. In reading a dialogue, we enter into conversation not as
observers, but as participants in inquiry. We begin to actively involve
ourselves in the vital process of asking questions. We become aware of a means
of play within thought. Without this experience, our senses become impoverished
of creative potential; we lose the ability and willingness to reach out beyond
our own reality and engage in someone else’s. The willingness to imagine possibilities
is what makes a good educator. This dialogue questions the senses, because our minds do not teach our students, our whole being and identity teaches students. Our lived
experiences teach students. Our wholeness
teaches students. We cannot separate out the parts and pieces of us before we
enter the classroom. We need to take advantage of our whole beings and teach to
the sensibilities we have as humans. It is the only caring, noble, democratic,
informed thing we can do. What follows is a pedagogic creed; an exploration; a
dialogue that considers what it means to teach and what roles must be
considered for one to fully grasp the power and complexity of being a teacher,
and the all-encompassing nature of learning.
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