Making the connection

I am particularly struck by Fiore and Elasser and Nan Elasser's (?) experience as a teacher in the Bahamas. In some of the theory we have been reading, we have learned that students creating the curriculum leads to an engaged population and the learning is more connected and deeper than traditional education. It is phenomenal to see that played out in this article. I am also reminded of Women’s Ways of Knowing, as they write about the phases the women are going through on their quest to learn. I really loved that book and the idea that learning is fluid—we move through phases of learning styles depending on the environment and what we are learning. I admire the constructivism the Bahamian women use to learn. Writing the papers in phases shows such a clear progression in their “ways of knowing.”

I am experiencing some of this in Capstone, since we are creating our own work for the semester. We read a few articles about how some members of VCU Adult Learning teams have done additional work on their own, even traveling to Europe to present on their project. When I first read that, I was a little shocked—how could someone be that into their learning? However, reading articles like “Strangers No More” reinforce the idea that if the subject is important to the learners and there are stakes involved (the manifesto), learners will spend outside time on their studies. Of course, this transformative learning was a huge part of Educating Rita, which we watched in 601. She became so passionate about books and studying that she became a different person.

While I liked the ethnographies, reading more theory-based pieces (I liked all of the ones assigned this week!) help bring the learning in the program full circle. More Freire!


Liz Lemon wedding gif from here.