On page 13 of “Project Based Teaching” (Boss), the culture of an educational environment is discussed. Boss stated that “Culture is shaped by everything that students see, hear, feel. and interact with at school” (13). It then goes on to say that the culture can be defined almost instantly. I think it is important to recognize that we will be stepping into and contributing to this culture. Things we need to consider are the way we interact and speak with the students. But also if our presence will simply change it in a way. We are college students in uniform that may make the students in uniform that may make the students nervous or curious. We need to act attentively, welcoming to curiosity, and open to answer and ask questions that align according to the PBL culture and the culture specific to the teacher we are shadowing.
On page 6 of “Exploring Place- and Social Class- Based Ways of Knowing,” the conclusion discusses the importance of discussing “social-class connected identities” and how it has shaped us as individuals and learners. In all honesty, this seems to be an elitist position to take. As someone who grew up one county over from Rockbridge, commonly interacted with the school, and a “member” of the working class, I think this concept can be divisive. School is often a place where the playing field is meant to be leveled and by having students share with others their class status when previously it would not have been known, can cause some unconscious or conscious bias within the class. While I recognize that it is important to discuss social class and how there could be advantages or disadvantages depending on which you are a part of, I do not think it is wise to call it a part of our identities, as opposed to a part of our past. Also, as stated in the text, being from a working class family can create trauma and very personal hardships that most students do not want to or feel comfortable sharing with classmates. During our class discussion, we talked about how studying literature can be a way to discuss these sensitive topics, by reading about stories and characters who experience multiple different social classes. This opens up the conversation, but does not require students to share personal information and does not create divide and bias within the classroom.
