"I Don't Know" - The 14th Incarnation of The Dalai Lama

As for Sir Ken Robinson's talk, I couldn't agree more that knowledge is more about what you don't know (what you are open to) than what you think you do know (what you are closed off to learning).  In fact, I will briefly note here that I practice Zazen, which is Buddhist practice, but that is not the pertinent point. So, I will jump right into my thoughts on what teachers could consider doing to better reach and engage students. Teachers could openly share with students their own biases. Biases tend to work themselves intrinsically into the way we think and communicate with others in ways that sometimes makes a bias sound like a fact or even wisdom, when it is more like an opinion or feeling. Even when we are aware of our own biases, they can still subconsciously affect how we treat people and probably affect how we teach. This kind of conversation between teacher and students (and students to teacher as well), in my opinion, would help create an open learning environment. Students might be more likely to feel confident and free to speak up, as the teacher has raised awareness in their students' mind to their own fallibility, making room for students to make mistakes as well. Sharing biases might make everyone more open to learning something new.

Our initial discussion boards were designed to help students open up and share about themselves, which is a great start, even for online communication.
 
In undergrad, I had an Ed Policies Studies professor at UIUC, his name was Jason Sparks, who asked his students to acknowledge their biases, which might influence their perspective on their topic, by including them in our writing, in the opening paragraphs of our writing assignments. It was part of his grading rubric: did we put our biases on the table in the first paragraph? He spent part of a class talking about what influences his perspective - having taught on an Indian Reservation - and that we should know where he is speaking from in case his perspective is contradictory to what we think or believe. And we should feel free to ask questions and share our perspective openly as he had done. He gave us an example, showed us that he is not the final authority on the topic he teaches, and asked us to be aware of the same issues in our studies, teaching, and communications.

By being open about biases, teachers can avoid alienating students who maybe don't share their teacher's beliefs, or do not share their culture or background. They can openly and honestly give students a new piece of wisdom, which is that everyone is speaking from a subjective place, no matter how esteemed or educated one might be. Teachers can initiate an open-learning environment and help students see that the voices they bring to the conversation are just as valuable to each other and to their teacher, as their teacher's knowledgeable perspective. This can help drive the hunger for learning by demonstrating that there is no start and stop points on the education spectrum. We are all still learning, and saying "I don't know" can lead to amazing wisdom.
 
This blog reminded me of my Teaching Philosophy, which I am sharing a link to here: Teaching Philosophy. It is based on the teachings of Peter Elbow, which informed my perspective during education courses I took in grad school. This document is 12 years old. The google doc says, "Last Edit was on June 15, 2012."  That's still pretty good stuff actually.