Silence in a Classroom :: Learning Teach Teachers Papers

Silence in a Classroom How can silence be put to use in a feminist classroom? What are the positive ways to cultivate silence, ways which empower, rather than shut down? Audre Lorde has been widely quoted on the negative impacts of silence on women. She uses the term "silence" as an active verb; those with power have historically silenced others.But I am interested in the other implications for silence, namely, using silence as a tool:for discovery, creation, and real critical thinking.Our culture is afraid of silence.We bombard ourselves with cell phones, television and radio. Often the assumption is that if someone is not talking, it must be a "bad" thing.As teachers, we replicate this model in our classrooms.We feel that students must really be getting something out of our classes when they talk about what they are learning.But does talking always insure that a student has really processed the material and made it her own? Or is talking in class often another form of performing for the teacher? Particularly in a writing class, where students are practicing putting words down on the page, cultivating a silent space seems imperative.My belief is that the more students are encouraged to write rather than talk in the composition classroom, the more they will trust their stance as authors of their own pieces.Silence can be an opening into the untapped places where deep, explorative writing is created.Peter Elbow writes about "felt sense," the way we can feel whether or not our intentions are being expressed in our writing by "listening" to our bodies: The foundation of verbal meaning often lies in the silence of what is felt nonverbally and bodily.When writing goes well, it is often because we periodically pause and say, 'Is this what I mean to be saying?'It's amazing that we can answer that question:that we can tell whether a given set of words corresponds to an intention.The source of the answer is the feelings and the body-consulted in silence.When writing goes badly, it is often because we don't make these pauses for quiet consultations with felt sense. (Everyone Can Write 176) Many of our students are just learning to "trust" themselves as writers.Most haven't had the opportunity in high school to explore what writing can do for their thinking; they have been taught that "writing" is a product produced for a teacher.Student-centered pedagogy seeks to de-center teacher authority, and has moved away from traditional methods such as the lecture format to more group discussion.

Gandhi as a Leader Essay

Gandhi is one of the most prominent political leaders of 20th century. According to experts he single handedly motivated the people of brutalized and oppressed country to fight a non-violent battle against the mightiest empire of the world at that time. His leadership style is talked discussed across schools, universities, management institutes, political circles and corporate organizations across the world. This paper will shed light on what was Gandhi’s leadership style, how it was so effective and what is its relevance in today’s world. For a leader and first and foremost is the knowledge of his/her followers. This can come either with understanding them closely or coming from them. Gandhi came from normal background. He suffered the atrocities himself for example he was thrown out of a train on railway station because he wasn’t white and can’t travel first class. Gandhi didn’t take that humiliation silently but decided to resist it through various conventions. Secondly he identified with the common people and decided to leave the western style wardrobe with much more minimalist one as the masses in India could only afford that. He decided to live simply and sleep on ground like masses of Indians at that time. By living like them and traveling third class in train people able to identify with him (Communication ) and realized that here is the man who not only know what they are going through but also living it with them. Gandhi motto was not ‘I know what you are going through’ but that was of ‘we have to fight it out together to get freedom’. When Gandhi started India was a divided countries ruled by either Britishers directly or number of patrons of British who were equally brutal in oppressing people. Gandhi knew that if India has to get Independence than every section of Indian society has to contribute to it. With his influential he tried to bring the neglected sections of the society into mainstream and motivated them to fight for a common cause. Gandhi strategy (Planning) was clear, he wants to challenge the morality of the most brutal force on the face of earth and want to gain independence for India with a non violent struggle. His belief in non violence was unshakable so much so that once in the course of civil disobedience mob got violent and burnt down the police station. He refused to take it as an aberration and called off the civil disobedience movement. Secondly the planning of the struggle is also done in an evolutionary way. Gandhi understood that if the britishers leave at once there will be a vacuum and that will be filled by the violent sects of the society which are comparatively more organized compare to liberal power in the beginning of the struggle. In the beginning Gandhi launched struggle for right for independent primaries with in the british rule. Once able to achieve them he designed the campaign for no taxation and finally a full blown struggle for complete freedom (Vision). The relevance of Gandhi has not decreased over the years, infact it has significantly increased given the trigger hungry world we live in. Martin Luther King Jr followed the example of Gandhi in resisting racism and fought for civil rights by challenging the morality of ruling America. A bullet for bullet gives the oppressor the right to oppress more and way to fight oppression is not subjecting to it and resisting it by questioning the morality of it. Knowledge@Wharton (2006) Gandhi, Mandela, Mother Teresa, a Tree, a Pillow †¦ Images of Leadership from Future Leaders. Retrieved on 25th Feb from http://knowledge. wharton. upenn. edu/article. cfm? articleid=1417 Gandhi (1926). My Experiments with Truth. Govt of India Publication.

Nature Vs. Nurture Nature And Nurture - 1794 Words

People say many different things create serial killers, some believe society breaks them down, but others argue that mental illness is the only reason that these monsters turn to cruelty and insanity. In the world today,there are many things that brings great disagreements and controversy, nature versus nurture is one of these issues. Nature versus nurture argues the differences between traits that are inherited and the environment that surrounds us. Nature is simply the characteristics that we inherit at birth which make up our personality, physical maturity, intellectual capacity and interactions with others. Nurture involves the way the environment on our personality, physical maturity, intellectual capacity and social interactions affect us. Through examination of people throughout history, it is easy to see that nurture beats nature almost every time. The things that happen in our childhood, whether they be pleasant or horrific, truly affects the outcome of how and who we are as we grow into adults. According to Psychology in Everyday Life, Nature and Nurture begs the question: â€Å"How does our genetic inheritance interact with our experiences to influence our development?† (64) Does the idea of having good or bad genes, effect the way people turn out? In the text Psychology, scholars ask, â€Å"is a person like Hitler born that way, or did something happen to make him the person he was?† (251) After studying and analyzing people such as this, we come to find that nurtureShow MoreRelatedNature Vs Nurture : Nature And Nurture1821 Words   |  8 PagesNature and nurture are usually seen as very different things, but they are actually somewhat similar and even integrated. There is a huge debate over which holds more influence over how people develop and whether they behave based on genes or their environment. In Si ncero’s article Nature and Nurture Debate she discusses arguments for both sides, saying behavior may be completely in a person’s genes, or it could come from experience and influence. Many people believe â€Å"that the criminal acts, tendencyRead MoreNature Vs Nurture : Nature Or Nurture874 Words   |  4 Pages Nature or Nurture. Nature may be all of the genes and hereditary factors with which influence them to become who they are such as physical appearances and personality characteristics. Nurturing impacts people’s lives as well as how they are raised and all the environmental factors. In combination, these qualities can be the true identity of oneself. Many people may argue that nurture appears to a play huge factor in the two, but others may think otherwise. Not having both as a characteristic canRead MoreNature And Nurture : Nature Vs. Nurture1780 Words   |  8 PagesAs Nature Made Him: Nature vs. Nurture Human behavior is determined by both biological and environmental factors. Psychologists are interested in learning which of these factors is a greater influence on human behavior and identity. Although psychologists today generally agree that both nature and nurture play a role in conditioning behavior, there is still disagreement about the part that each of the factors have in determining behavior. The nature versus nurture debate focuses around the extentRead MoreNature Vs Nurture : Is The Nature Or Nurture?1300 Words   |  6 PagesAoS 3: Student Directed Research Investigation Unit 1 Psychology - Megan Rodrigues RESEARCH QUESTION How is the nature vs nurture debate related to a consideration of the mental disorder, schizophrenia? INTRODUCTION Schizophrenia is categorized by thoughts or experiences that seem abnormal with reality, disorganized speech or behaviour and decreased participation in regular daily activities. Difficulty with memory and concentration are sometimes also present. The two hit hypothesis generally refersRead MoreNature Vs Nurture : Nature And Nurture1821 Words   |  8 Pages Nature and nurture are usually seen as very different things, but they are actually somewhat similar and even integrated. There is a huge debate over which holds more influence over how people develop and whether they behave based on genes or their environment. In Sincero’s article Nature and Nurture Debate she discusses arguments for both sides, saying behavior may be completely in a person’s genes, or it could come from experience and influence. Many people believe â€Å"that the criminal acts, tendencyRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture : Nurture1405 Words   |  6 PagesDecember 2015 Nature vs. Nurture Very few people know that the nature vs. nurture debate actually began early on with famous Greek philosophers such as Plato and Descartes. These two theorized that certain things were inborn and occurred naturally regardless of environmental factors (Cherry 1). Most people began to witness this debate in 1896 when the phrase â€Å"Nature vs. Nurture† was coined by English polymath, Francis Galton (â€Å"Nature vs. Nurture†Origins 1). At this point the nature vs. nurture debate grewRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture : Nurture901 Words   |  4 Pagestime the proverbial nature vs. nurture question has sparked quite a debate. I hold the belief that nature vs. nurture is a zero-sum game. We essentially enter this existence, a lump of clay that needs molding in order to take form. So, I believe my creative abilities can be attributed to the sum of our genetic predisposition, the nurture of our mind, and the dynamic of both nature and nurture, with nurture being the predominant influencing factor. In psychology, nature refers to the inheritedRead MoreNature Vs Nurture And Nurture1777 Words   |  8 Pagesformed and cultivated through nature or nurture. This psychological anomaly is why I am writing this paper. Ever since I have enrolled in, and taken, a psychology class during my junior year, I have questioned whether every little emotion and action is because of nature or nurture. No topic is more widely explored and researched than morality. It cannot be scientifically or psychologically proven or tested, making any claim highly controversial. This idea, of nature vs nurture, that I had previously researchedRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture : Nature Versus Nurture1337 Words   |  6 PagesNature vs. Nurture There are many different ways that behavior can be explained, especially on the terms of nature vs. nurture. Aggression is a behavior that has been extensively analyzed in a complex manner and the causes of it can be explained many different ways. Aggression can be defined as hostile or destructive behavior that can cause injury or destructive outlook especially when caused by frustration. Nature can be defined as aspects of behavior that have been inherited or are genetic, whileRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture : Nature Versus Nurture Essay1939 Words   |  8 PagesNature versus Nurture You got your dark brown hair from your father and you got your looks from your mother, but where did you get your excitement for sports and your love for all animals? A person’s physical characteristics lean more towards genes and heredity, but our genes are not mentioned as much when behavior is the topic. This is how the nature versus nurture debate first began. Scientists who believe in the nature theory believe that people behave the way they do due to heredity and genes