> It may be that the Teacher role has become so imbued with a history of
> control-over-students that even the most collegial teachers cannot
> effectively slip out of that suit of armor and into something more
> comfortable. The gesture of wearing jeans to class isn't as powerful as
> the cultural gesture of being in the Teacher's position.
And we have to recognize that part of this lies within the student--I've
often encountered resistance (sometimes very strong) when I try to "slip
out of that suit of armor." The students often come into our classrooms
having been conditioned to expect a very particular teaching method, and
when we don't provide them with that, they can feel as though their own
learning process is compromised, and that that will have further
consequences. This can be (and often is) overcome within a course, but
it's made for some rocky starts for me.
Greg Sturgeon
c647679@showme.missouri.edu
http://www.missouri.edu/~c647679