Education 311: Field Work Seminar

Spring 2013

Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College

Jody Cohen

Bryn Mawr/Haverford Education Program

Office: Bettws-Y-Coed 303 (BMC)

Meetings by appointment

Phone: 610-526-5214 (office), 215-206-6832 (cell)

jccohen@brynmawr.edu

Course Overview

This is the culminating seminar for students completing the Minor at Bryn Mawr or Haverford Colleges, and is open only to students completing the minor.  Drawing on the diverse contexts in which participants complete their fieldwork, this seminar will explore how images and issues of practice emerging from students’ fieldwork inform and are informed by cross-cutting issues in the field of education. 

What do you wish you/we could have talked about with the women at the jail?

I wish we could have talked about the tension of Bryn Mawr students being able to leave at the end of the day, or the broad topic of power dynamics between us.

I wish I could’ve known why the women wanted copies of Zehr’s book on the children of incarcerated people.  How could they actively choose to step face to face with such a poignant reminder of their failures and losses?

I wish we could have asked – and they could have told me – about the details of their lives.

Also, I wish we could have reflected together on what we learned by making art: What we learned about being creative/having agency within institutional structures; about finding our niches; about working collaboratively.

What did the virtual tour of BMC really make you feel?  I noticed you became very quiet and reserved. – to (a particular woman)

What did you expect from this class prior to starting it? – whole class

I wish I was able to ask about religion and its role in the women’s lives while incarcerated.  I also wish I was brave enough to share experiences I had in common and to admit some of my own faults to make the conversation more equal.  And why didn’t I just ask how they felt about us coming in and how they saw our class, outside of an escape from the monotony of the jail’s daily routine.

Here's an interesting piece about taking the practice of restorative justice from prisons and using it instead of other disciplinary practices in schools...

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/10/17/08restorative_ep.h32.html?tkn=SUTF2jciDTH8F91y7avjwzZdnR%2B%2BCKn%2Fxmuw&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

Assignment #1:

 Pose and address a question/dilemma/claim about “voice” and the classroom, or, more broadly, about voice and learning.

Consider these questions if/as useful:

How are you understanding/defining “voice”?

What do you see as the promise and/or the challenges of students (and others) finding and using their/our voices in learning?  In schooling?

How do you understand the relationship between “voice” and listening?  voice and dialogue?  What part might performance play?

You might want to think about these (and other) questions in terms of gender and/or in terms of learning in particular contexts and spaces (e.g. classrooms, prison, theatre, life).

Draw on texts (our shared texts and, if you want, others that are relevant) as well as experiences, again if and as relevant. 

Some thoughts about finding your way in/delving into your paper:

Our final ESem celebration and performances will be Sunday, Dec. 11, 7-9 pm in the English House Lecture Hall!  

Each group will have 10 minutes to present/perform/engage/teach and learn with us as you see fit …

Performance groups are:

Tanya, Meg, Samyuktha, Michaela, Jess

Nancy, Hayley, Jillian

Shannon, Serena

Ellen, Sam

Amy, Genesis, Sophia, Laura, Pan

Morgan, Elissa, Jia

Rae, Jacqueline, Mfon, Chandrea

Kamila, Jordan

…looking forward!

What is something you learned, and something that you taught, during the times we walked and talked w/ one another on Tuesday? (If you weren't able to join us then, name something in the last week that you learned, and something that you taught--not necessarily in school.)

I’m Jody Cohen, teacher of one of the ESem sections, and I’ll introduce myself by sharing a piece of my educational autobiography.  I grew up in a suburb outside Washington, D.C.