Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Subversion: An Essential Tool of the Master Teacher

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

In her discussion of Melinda Anderson's Becoming a Teacher, what Jennifer Gonzalez means by 'subversive' is "smart, qualified, ethical teachers breaking rules, finding work-arounds, and flying under the radar to do things in a way that aligns with their expertise and experience, not the way they are told to do them." And... yeah. I see that. Subversion is necessary, says Gonzalez, because "curricula are almost always chosen by people outside the classroom, and are too often guided by 'tradition.'... many teachers know that the prescribed curriculum in their school is not relevant to the students in the room, so it's often necessary to veer from it... (they) actively work against what she sees as restrictive policies and systems that overlay teaching." This, I think, is the right way to teach, or for that matter, to do any job.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 08:12 a.m.

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