A Buberian Pedagogy
It is hard to summarize a succinct philosophy of teaching honestly. I have learned so much and in such a short amount of time to figure out the most prescient points to develop my own personal pedagogy. I think this is because as teachers we should always be learning. Teaching is an art form. It is constantly in flux, meeting the demands of the immediate culture as well as holding onto some actual hardline orthodoxy. By orthodoxy, I mean the universal truth statement that education is vitally important to be a fully realized human being. There are many paths to this standard. Many different pedagogies. I teach 7th grade now but I want to eventually teach high school and then perhaps at the university level. All those students have different standards, needs, and interests. All will have me relearning what it means to serve them as their teacher.
Despite all these questions I raised honestly the philosophy or even theology I brought to my classroom from day one hasn’t changed at all. In college, I studied philosophy and the philosopher that had the biggest impact on me, my faith, and life orientation was Martin Buber and his highly influential book, “I and Thou”. It is a short, concise philosophical treatise about the philosophy of relationship. How everything is oriented towards a ‘Thou’ especially the eternal Thou. I am not going to get too esoteric or metaphysical in this essay but I just want to say that the book confirmed a core belief I already carried into that philosophy classroom in that the only currency we have that matters in this world is one of the relationships. That no man is truly an Island and we should invest our time in cultivating our time with others. I knew this, spiritually, when I walked in on Day #1 of this school year but I didn’t understand it holistically and perhaps this year has been me reconciling my theory with practice?
One of the ways I have adapted as a teacher is in ridding myself of dependence upon an anchor theory of education that I wouldn’t deviate from. When I started I thought I knew exactly what kind of teacher I was going to be and how I was going to teach. These high-minded approaches ignore the utter reality that you are going to be in a classroom with up to 40 students from all walks of life, with different motivational, learning, mental or societal issues. After the initial shock that they aren’t going to live up to whatever standard you have in your head the point then is to be flexible in your daily dialogue with them in how you present yourself and the content. With the sole purpose of building those relationships mentioned earlier. Throughout this year there have been two educational theories that spoke to me in practical terms on how to present the content and develop proper classroom management expectations — Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget.
Lev Vygotsky in his theory of social dependence on each other which fits with me Buberian tendencies. His theory that we learn the best through social interaction students have with their peers, teachers, and other experts. Consequently, teachers can create a learning environment that maximizes the learner’s ability to interact with each other through discussion, collaboration, and feedback.
Lastly, Vygotsky argues that culture is the primary determining factor for knowledge construction. We learn through this cultural lens by interacting with others and following the rules, skills, and abilities shaped by our culture. This theory has inspired me to create a classroom that is alive, active, and inspiring for those who come from all walks of life. Especially those recent immigrants from Mexico who might be intimidated by the new culture around them. While Jean Piaget presents a more tangible approach on how to present the actual content at-hand. His ideas surrounding schemas or the background knowledge the students bring to class help me adapt my lesson plans accordingly while scaffolding the lesson plans so they can further learn and assimilate the content along the way. I have
used his theories while writing my lesson plans throughout the year thus far and have provided me a way of shaping the content.
To come back to my initial point that while adaptability is important in any pedagogy the primary purpose of teaching is building those relationships to help these students become full human beings, active citizens in a free society, as well as understanding that they aren’t an Island; hopefully using their education to make a world a better place. I have learned this is possible through the two-book selections I had the pleasure of reading this year: “For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the rest of yall too.” by Dr. Christopher Edmin as well as a small booklet “Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook” by Jacobin Magazine and Chicago Teachers Union CORE Caucus, the stories of fellow teachers have kept me sane and anchored even in my most despairing moments this year; and that my theory of education and pedagogy is possible. It isn’t easy but nothing righteous ever is easy.
