I from time to time consider myself as a teacher. I have no formal class or curriculum, but would want it no other way. Now, were my teaching to consist only of the talks I give on occasion, it would not be very effective; it would be empty lecturing, the sage on the stage. What makes my talks worthwhile (at least in my view) is that they are the punctuation marks that characterize a wider practice. My work, writing and activities to constitute the bulk of my teaching. Now it is in this context I look at the suggestion that a teacher ought to withdraw, so as not to impose their authority over the field. I certainly withdraw my authority - for in my view, it is not mine to impose. But I do not otherwise withdraw from writing or speaking or otherwise asserting myself. I will speak, every day, about the need to assert one's own autonomy, but I cannot assert one's autonomy for a person; this is something that must be done for oneself. This, at least, is how I response to Barbara Ganley's interesting post.
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