I want to zone in then on the idea of creating discomfort in
the classroom. I feel that creating some
discomfort occasionally in the classroom is a good idea because it reflects
that student’s normative behaviour and ways of thinking are being challenged. When
students are asked to think outside of their normal patterns they might be put
in positions that might create curiosity, new awareness, and/or discomfort. In University classes I have found that
teachers have often given verbal warnings that a topic may create discomfort in
the classroom. This may look something like the teacher saying, “we are now
going to talk about something that some people find uncomfortable, this topic
is class. We should try to be open minded and respectful during our discussions
today.” I believe that it is a good idea for teachers to have experience, or a framework
to follow, when facilitating topics that make students feel uncomfortable. With
a quick online search of teaching sensitive topics I find texts that discuss
setting class expectations and recognising student diversity for example.
I think that there is a certain level of comfort that a
teacher would want to create in order to create the best results when teaching
the social-class lens. This level would vary in each classroom in different
groups, but I am going to suggest that I think a productive level would be to
balance the creation of some discomfort with enough comfort that would
encourage students to share their thoughts. Perhaps choosing a work of fiction
that reflects class for the first attempt would help create this balance rather
than using a non-fiction work or a fictional work that closely links to very
real events and people. Appleman uses Hamlet as the example used to read with a
social-class lens, other novels that come to my mind that would offer this
balance might be the Hunger Games or Ender’s Game, rather than a memoir.
I think your comments regarding the lower classes being able to apply the "Marxist" lens more easily than those of the middle-class may indeed be true. I also think that the uber-wealthy, who we may never teach, would also be able to understand and apply this lens with considerable success. However, those students who are from the middle-class may find this particularly difficult, as noted by Appleman in her text. The following students replies, taken directly from the text, show how blind they are to the privileges of their own class: "I found this question to be offensive and pointless. My perception allows me to imagine myself at any point in the circle." and "The social ladder is an arbitrary construct and I don't choose to think of myself in those terms. Therefore, the question is meaningless." In fact, if you closely examine these statements, they are an accurate summation of how the middle-class view themselves as a whole. As you state, Sarah, breaking through their indifference will be a challenging adventure and creating discomfort may be an effective way to make that happen.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's true that the underclass has an easier time applying the Marxist lens. It seems to be a continual frustration of social critics that the people they are trying to help don't see class as the fundamental issue. Take Paul's article which we read last class for example. Even Marx recognized that the world was still waiting for the proletariat to recognize their true opposition. Class seems to be a struggle more often recognized in academic circles than among workers. I think one of the difficulties is that almost everyone will self-identify as "middle class." I would bet Bill Gates thinks he belongs to the middle class. I would bet most low income families identify as middle class too. The hyper-individualistic North Americans that we are, we hold the idea that we are socially mobile very dearly, and don't like the idea that outside forces are actually capable of keeping us down. We, and even more so our neighbours to the south, don't like the idea that we couldn't be on top if we just worked hard enough or got lucky enough.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's what makes it so hard for the students that Appleman is talking about. I think it's less a socio-economic objection to Marxism than a world-view issue. At the same time, that's what we're out to challenge. And it WILL be uncomfortable, like you said Sarah, but so is anything challenging.
I enjoyed your comments. Wondering if individuals can recognize their own class is interesting. When we discussed an article in our 301 class we were told that the definition of what working-class was those who were employed for hourly wages or piecework. I find that this can be understood as a basic definition, but it is interesting because some workers get paid significantly more than others which might reflect on how they perceive their own status as money is linked to power. I disagree that many identify themselves as being middleclass. From my experiences I find that many people who could be defined as middle-class vocalise their status as being working-class. These people perhaps see that they are lower than their peers and are blind to the privileges they do receive or perhaps these people do not want to classify themselves above their working-class peers. However I do agree that many people from all walks of life can often identify to the middle-class as there are some aspects of this classification that many feel they experience at a certain point in their life.
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