Sense-Making Home Page

Meetings, Conferences, Workshops

1996 Sense-Making Workshop

Workshop Abstracts

COPYRIGHT AND CITATION INFORMATION:
© Higgins, John W., 1996. Cite as: Higgins, John W. (1996). Sense-Making as a method of practicing a critical pedagogy in the multi-cultural classroom. Paper presented at International Communication Association annual meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 23. Available at: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/meet/m96higgins.html

ESSENCE OF PROJECT:
Critical pedagogists assert that goals of the progressive university classroom include the "liberation" and "empowerment" of students and teachers. Feminist pedagogists contest prevailing perspectives within critical pedagogy and their underlying theoretical assumptions, while supporting the basic concept of a "liberating pedagogy" over more traditional educational models.

An integration of both critical and feminist approaches as they intersect this project provides a pedagogy that de-emphasizes the teacher as the agent of empowerment, and that considers: student's experiences and perceptions as one basis of "legitimate" knowledge; other ways of knowing beyond reason and rationalist thought; self-reflection on the part of the student; self-reflection on the part of the teacher that includes the acknowledgement of ideas and practices that were unsuccessful; recognition of the manifestations of power in the classroom; recognition of the gender bias present in the discourse of critical pedagogy; recognition of the oppression possible in the form of "giving voice"; recognition of the necessity of experimenting with forms of communication other than dialogue; and the need to consider contexts within the creation of pedagogies.

Both critical and feminist pedagogies have focused primarily on the theoretical aspects of a liberatory pedagogy rather than on methods that might assist implementation of such a practice.

Sense-Making is explored here as a practical means to further the liberatory goals of critical and feminist pedagogies in the university classroom. In particular, Sense-Making's manner of questioning is utilized to promote analytical, critical, and self-reflexive thought and a recognition of self and others as repositories of "valid" knowledge. Sense-Making also encourages the inclusion of ideas, feelings and emotions as well as rational thought, thereby addressing the concerns of some feminist pedagogies.

While I have employed Sense-Making to a limited degree within the university classroom in the U.S., the primary institutional setting for this exploration-in-progress has been the multicultural, multinational classroom in the "developing" world: the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

CONTEXT:
To appreciate the context within which this project is taking place, a background of the situation in the Northern Cyprus classroom is in order.

Here, approximately 80% of the students in my classes are from Turkish Cyprus; 19% are from mainland Turkey, and the rest are from the Middle East or Turkish Cypriots that consider themselves British. Most of the students have emerged from primary and secondary schools that focused on rote memorization of facts and figures, with little concern for independent, creative thinking or problem-solving. In these classrooms, the teacher provides both the questions and the answers; questioning either may be interpreted as disrespect or an outright challenge to authority and discipline.

The students attend a university in a country that is not recognized by any other than Turkey, that is under the effects of an international economic embargo, that is suffering from the impact of a rapidly devaluing currency, and where memories of war and mass murder against Turkish Cypriots by Greek Cypriots are still very close to the surface. Military troops of various nationalities serve as daily reminders of the global politics involved in what the world for over 30 years has termed "the Cyprus issue."

On the personal level, these factors contribute to a sense that time is standing still in North Cyprus, that the political situation cannot be resolved, that "no solution is the only solution," and that there is little an individual or group can do to effect change in society or one's personal life. This is the context within which students enter the university classroom.

My personal context is also relevant: I am a foreigner, the newcomer, the man, the American -- the "Other" -- who carries with him the baggage of theories of "liberatory pedagogy" and "development," a wide array of critical and liberal pluralist assumptions, and undoubtedly far too much education. My primary research interests here are to see what value contemporary theories of development and critical/feminist pedagogies have within an institutional setting outside the U.S. and the "developed world."

Using Sense-Making, I have attempted to create situations which create a base of "legitimate" knowledge through personal and group exploration. Projects have included assignments that were Sense-Making informed (e.g., self-reflexive examinations of the students' media usage), modified Time Line self-interviews to encourage self-reflection on the part of the students (and to help me better understand these students), and modified Time Line interviews with relatives and older friends in villages to help students and non-Cypriots better understand and appreciate the history of the Turkish peoples on Cyprus.

The project is a work in progress, and I am only now able to gain some reflexive space from which to begin an analysis of the experience.

REASONS I TOOK THIS ROAD:
Frankly, survival brought me to Sense-Making and this project. My first year classes are composed of students who are studying English and have only a basic understanding of class lectures and the texts. Other problems are familiar to the developing world: The library facilities are modern, but as yet there are few books on the shelves. Ordered books do not make it to the university bookstore; promised facilities fail to materialize. The books which are available often reflect decidedly European and North American biases regarding the cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean region. The classroom situation was not going well until I drew deeper upon my own knowledge of critical pedagogy and Sense-Making.

Critical and feminist pedagogies indicate a direction, with their emphasis on student experiences as a basis of knowledge. Sense-Making's theoretical focus on personal life situations provides a connecting link to these pedagogies; the Sense-Making method of questioning and "probing" grants a means to implement these theories by allowing the inclusion of student experiences in a manner that encourages self-reflexive thought.

As "tidy" and rational as this project may sound within the parameters of this precis, my movement in this direction in this situation was more akin to the action of a swimmer using a life preserver . . . or that of a street puppeteer reaching into his bag of "tricks" to address the needs of a changing audience.

WHAT HAS BEEN HELPFUL:
Particularly helpful have been the myriad of logistical and physical problems I have outlined above. These forced me to search outside my own perceptual "box" for alternatives to my established teaching methods. Feminist pedagogy has provided theoretical insights to the limitations of critical pedagogy; Paulo Freire's description of the "culture of silence" has given me a better understanding of some of the tangible results of oppression. Sense-Making's attention to concrete situations as one grounding point has been immensely helpful in helping me focus on the connection with Freire's "limit situation" and "empowering moment."

WHAT I HAVE STRUGGLED WITH:
Hindrances have appeared in the form of my own cultural biases, my own perceptions of what constitutes a "good" teacher or student and accompanying behavior for each in the classroom. In addition, many of the precepts of cultural studies and critical theory -- including the notion of helping students become more aware of themselves and their surroundings and to effect change in their lives and society -- are problematic here, given that the state operates quite differently than in North American culture.

I question the role of outsider as a possible "academic imperialist" within an academic tradition that does not embrace critical perspectives, and which seems content to maintain the status quo.

Given the power relationships at work in the classroom, I question the possible "public confessional" nature of Sense-Making when used/misused in this setting, and the appropriate level of self-disclosure between student and teacher within the academic framework.

WHAT WOULD HELP:
Additional explorations using Sense-Making in a variety of educational settings would help develop a theory and practice of critical and feminist pedagogies. Contributions would help that are related to the following issues: the imposition of "foreign" notions of pedagogy and scholarship within a "traditional" setting; the appropriate level of self-disclosure in the academic setting; the appropriate level of participation to be required within the classroom ("forced voice?"); the role of discipline and appropriate evaluative methods in the allegedly progressive classroom; and the contribution of higher education to the "rising level of unfulfilled expectations" in the developed and developing worlds. More writings related to feminism and pedagogy other than the sources available to me here would be helpful.

THE BEST OF WHAT I HAVE ACHIEVED IS:
I have begun to better understand the intricate mechanisms involved with the notion of the "culture of silence." Students have developed a concrete mechanism of inquiry. I have broadened my understanding of and appreciation for these bright, energetic students. My own motives, hopes, and goals in the classroom have come under self-scrutiny and realignment. The least pleasant of what has transpired is also rather revealing, and the subject of my own personal contemplation.

ABSTRACT:
Critical pedagogists assert that goals of the progressive university classroom include the "liberation" and "empowerment" of students and teachers. Feminist pedagogists contest prevailing perspectives within critical pedagogy and their underlying theoretical assumptions, while supporting the basic concept of a "liberating pedagogy" over more traditional educational models.

Both critical and feminist pedagogies have focused primarily on the theoretical aspects of a liberatory pedagogy rather than on methods that might assist implementation of such a practice.

Sense-Making is explored as a practical means to further the liberatory goals of critical and feminist pedagogies in the university classroom. In particular, Sense-Making's manner of questioning is utilized to promote analytical, critical, and self-reflexive thought and a recognition of self and others as repositories of "valid" knowledge. Sense-Making also encourages the inclusion of ideas, feelings and emotions as well as rational thought, thereby addressing the concerns of some feminist pedagogies.

The specific site discussed in this presentation is a multi-cultural, multi-national classroom in the "developing" world: Turkish Northern Cyprus.