Jordan Clayton

Geography GTP workshop

Spring 2003

 

Dealing with MAPS classes:  1. Dealing with racism, sexism, and conflict in MAPS classes  2. Teaching MAPS classes with students that have a wide range of skill-levels

 

I.                    general intro comments

A.                perceptions of authority

1.                  male TAs may experience less problems..

2.                  ESL TAs may experience most problems

B.                 why students may not talk (from Curzan & Damour, p. 46-55)

1.                  peer pressure

2.                  not enough time to think

3.                  lack of preparation

4.                  class dynamics (workshop focus)

a.             students need to feel comfortable to participate

b.            be aware of / involve(? see below) students representing minority viewpts

5.                  quiet students

6.                  outside forces

7.                  difference in skill levels (workshop focus)

C.                your role as TA in recitations = facilitator, not benevolent, omniscient provider of info

II.                 racism, sexism, & conflict

A.                requires flexibility

1.                  let discussion follow its course as long as its somewhat related to discussion topic

B.                 emphasis on (equal?) value of all opinions shared

D.                many problems (but also benefits) arise from debates

1.                  feel ganged-up on

2.                  asked to speak as representative for larger group 

a.             often doesn’t work well to elicit responses from minority students

b.            ignorance about people in other countries (entire population reduced to “they”)

3.                  need to empower these students / give some recourse

III.               wide range of skills levels

A.                a common issue for intro physical labs (?)

1.                  wide range in backgrounds in technical skills/education

2.                  less room for opinion

3.                  allow plenty of time during lab to answer Q’s

B.                 also an issue in intro human recitations

1.                  esp. w/grading essays

2.                  try to scale the grading accordingly (?)

IV.              general discussion advice

A.                “don't let anyone get to smug and comfortable with her or his position”

B.                 “If there are pat and easy answers, then it is a poor discussion to begin with.”

C.                take all comments seriously / never embarrass a student for any comment

D.                encourage / solicit participation from all students, incl. dif. backgrounds

E.                 don’t respond personally to provocative comments, let class respond (?)

1.                  ask students to support / come up with counterpoints to comment

F.                 announce from outset that you’ll be discussion sensitive material

1.                  clarify expectations: treat each other with respect

2.                  students should question quality of arguments offered, not validity of others’ beliefs

G.                create “safe space”

1.                  listen & don’t judge too quickly / thoughtful, not reactive

2.                  speak up if you disagree

3.                  beware of using “us” & “them” categories (often don’t know backgrounds of classmates, etc.)

H.                play devil’s advocate..

V.                 practice:

A.                mock discussion

1.                  topic: population control

2.                  volunteer from group: TA

3.                  run brief discussion about topic

4.                  someone add provocative comment

5.                  group reaction?

6.                  often we assume that we understand and can incorporate the ideas listed above for dealing with racism/sexism/etc, but when startled with a provocative comment we often forget and react impulsively (as opposed to thoughtfully).  True for this mock discussion?

B.                 2nd time through…