You Don't Like Me? But...but...but...

Carrying on with last week's theme of innovation in my workplace, a college in a small mid-Western town, I want to focus on items 3 and 4 in this article. I suppose I also want to emphasize that I don't believe pedagogy is all that it takes to get ideas out into the open for discussion and thoughtful consideration.  Pedagogy can't exist in a vacuum...it, like everything needs context which something I haven't really appreciated until as of late.

Back to the real story...why don't folks share a best practice?  Especially when our collective good is predicated upon that very notion! Item three in the article talks about failing to recognize inter-dependence.  While this seems implausible, it isn't...the saying, 'Biting off one's nose to spite one's own face,' really applies here.  What is it about humans and their propensity for spite, negativity and I dare say sabotage?  We're all guilty of these behaviours in one context or another, indeed at one time or another...but it really is quite shocking to realize that you, or a colleague, might not recognize that your or their diminished performance due to a lack of sharing or information, somehow doesn't depress overall performance and worse, likely take them down an emotional peg or two. So much for the common good. Teaching in the classroom can't be one-sided...most teachers I know put in a decent amount of effort, but it's shocking how often buy-in from those listening really falls short.  Is it just about communicating the simple fact, that we all need everyone to actively participate...and share?

The fourth point talks about trust...and appreciation.  And 'liking' someone. The latter point should be immaterial when it comes to sharing information...like I can really do that much to change someone's opinion of me, or that I should be expending a pile of time getting someone to like me...it's absurd.  If we're all 'in this together', a person's feelings of friendship or hatred just shouldn't enter into the equation.  We're frequently 'too' emotional about and in the workplace.  We're told that passion is a necessity, but this can lead us down a path where some balance gets in the way and makes life more difficult that it needs to be.  Engaging with students in a familial way is a good thing, but where are the boundaries?  It's easy to say that you can't be friends with students, but that's easier said than done...and does this relationship development actually get in the way?  I believe it does...sometimes.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, friendships come with additional requests...for more time, for an adjustments of a mark, what actually gets taught in class...sometimes.  And then there's the feeling of hypocrisy...a power imbalance and so on and so forth.  That's a boundaries issue I suppose, but it's worth a few minutes of thought.  They don't teach about relationship building in pedagogy training and this is a shame...I think.