In-Class Response to Buffington's 'When Teachers Aren't Nice: bell hooks and Feminist Pedagogy' (CONTINUED)

QUESTIONS
3. Does feminist teaching have a different effect/impact on female versus male students?
4. Do you believe feminist teaching makes a classroom more real?
5. Because female instructors have a special power, does this make females better teachers?

QUOTES
" In short, we can't turn the classroom into a classwomb. And we shouldn't even try." (5)
" I won't go so far as to say I'm never nice in class, or to pretend that my students are all afraid of me. But I will say,with bell hooks, that power and authority do belong in the feminist classroom. That conflict and struggle are vital parts of revolutionary feminist pedagogy." (12)


From the moment I attended my first university lecture I noticed an extensive difference between my high school teachers and university professors. In high school I established strong connections with my teachers and got to know them considerably well. However, now that I am in college I feel like I am not as comfortable communicating with my instructors. I think this is a result of large class sizes and professors' availability. Coming from a high school with a student body of 1,100, it is definitely intimidating to ask a question or make a comment in a class with 450 students. Going back to the bonds between my high school teachers and myself, they tended to make themselves available A LOT. Of course, this is nearly impossible for a university professor to do, as their schedules are much more straining than back in high school. As a student, this change has been a little bit of a challenge, for it has been somewhat of a culture shock as well. As my freshman year begins winding down, I am forcing myself to this deal with this difference and get used to it as soon as possible.

Looking from Multiple Perspectives

STEP ONE: IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS: In order to write a successful proposal, you need to you need to examine multiple perspectives: you’ll want to represent as many people’s interests as possible as you describe your problem and solution, and you’ll want to understand your resisting audience’s inclinations as you pitch your solution.

For the following arguments, identify different people who are involved in the issue,  people who are directly impacted by the problem posed, people who officiate the policies involved, people who have legitimate concerns or investments in the conversation, or other kinds of stakeholders. 

·      McKemy Junior High must reconsider its decision to cut music programs.

a. students and music teachers

b. school board and McKemy Junior High principal

c. State government

* ASU’s dry campus policy is injurious to the students and should be amended.

a. ASU students and their parents

b. local authority

c. school board

* I propose that the ASU adopts a stricter campus security in order to keep vagrants and other potentially dangerous individuals off the school grounds.

a. students and their parents

b. school board/people in charge of budgeting and distribution of funds

c.Tempe and ASU Police

STEP TWO: Develop Context: how do these stakeholders interact with one another? Do they have the same interests, attitudes, or ideas? What do they agree on and what do they disagree on? Pick one of the debates from the first page and develop a profile for each stakeholder: what are their commonly held values, objectives, or beliefs? What kinds of information or experiences get factored into their decisions?

#1 ASU students and their parent's main priorities are to receive an education and safety. If campus security were to increase, that would probably mean that tuition would rise. This would definitely affect their decisions. If tuition would have to increase, students and their parents would perhaps discuss alternative ways to increase personal safety.

#2 The school board's mission is to make ASU an ideal institution that everyone wants to attend. When deciding what college/university to attend, safety plays a huge role. Increasing ASU's security would mean increasing the university's budget or cut funding from other programs and areas. Depending on how important the school board sees safety versus other projects and programs, this could decide whether increasing safety would be the best way to spend the school's funds.

#3 Tempe and ASU Police's mission is to maintain a safe environment and take active action to keep control and conserve peace at ASU and around the community. An increase in ASU security would be beneficial to the police departments, as this would create new jobs. Because this would benefit the students of ASU and the police department, I think this proposal would be taken seriously.

STEP THREE: Research: What would be the best method to represent or address these perspectives in a proposal essay?

#1 The best method to address this proposal would be to meet with the school's president and go from there, as to where this proposal should be directed for it to be considered.

#2 If the school board were to address this concern and make this proposal, they would probably send a letter to the state's department of education explaining the situation and the benefits if the department of education took action.

#3 Because increasing security would create jobs and expand the police department, I believe Tempe Police would be the ones who bring this proposal to the table by describing how both organizations would benefit if this proposal were to go into effect.