stfx presentation on storming the citadel
TRANSCRIPT
Once upon a time…
FRANK THE TEACH
“Critical teachers must be seen to be critical learners too.”
- Stephen Brookfield
Stephen Brookfield, Chapter 9, Storming the Citadel, in Becoming a Critically Reflective
Teacher
In this chapter:
• Five reasons why teachers need to read theory (or How Reading Theory Helps Critical Reflection)
• Four ways to evaluate it
Five reasons you need to read theory?
1. Helps us label our challenges or affirm our insights
2. Helps us think outside of the box
3. Can be as sounding board (contrasting perspectives)
4. Can preempt “groupthink”
5. Helps us see the big picture
Evaluate theory around four categories of questions
1. Epistemological questions—how author found his or her “truth”
2. Experiential questions—recognize risk of distortion in depictions based on author’s experiences
3. Communicative questions—check form, presentation, and style for political influence
4. Political questions—examine whose interests may be served by the article
Get it?
HOW NICE FOR YOU…
Stephen Brookfield
understands my pain!
EPISTEMOLOGICAL
PEDAGOGIC
POLEMICAL
AXIOMATIC!
LIMITATIONS
• SEVEN fancy words that make digesting
the article difficult for new researchers
• SIXTEEN pages to explain just four
categories of questions for evaluating
theory is too much for any new researcher
to apply in practice
CONTRIBUTION TO MY
LEARNING
Helps me with my weaknesses:
1. Builds on my academic jargon knowledge
2. Reinforces my understanding that I need to study theory to become a better teacher
3. Provided me with a theorist that may provide some insight related to my interest area (the benefits of critical thinking)
“If we as teachers hope to encourage
critical thinking in others, we must
engage in it ourselves. Throughout our
teaching careers we must participate in
an ongoing, collaborative process of
reevaluation of, and liberation from, our
taken-for-granted views.”
- Berlak, A. and Berlak, H. from Teachers Working with
Teachers to Transform Schools