Re: Burns, coming through the rye/teaching and learning


Subject: Re: Burns, coming through the rye/teaching and learning
From: Will Hochman (hochman@southernct.edu)
Date: Mon Jul 23 2001 - 05:40:32 GMT


Scottie, Jacques and His Master is a book I loved! Thanks for the
allusion and good words as always.

As for teaching and pedagogy, I know that being masterful is an
illusion that students enjoy but it is too easy to let that illusion
oppress students...I'm sorry but I don't have the balls for it, nor
the desire to oppress and too often when I think I'm being masterful
I feel phony. I do think that challenging students to their maximum
is an art and it's not perfect. You responded to masters by becoming
one and that IMHO is a beautiful path...I admire your knowledge and
passion online but it's not mine in the same way. I think Richard
Hugo, an American poet was my best teacher and he acted more like
father and friend than I had any right to deserve...but his teaching
and persona thrive in my heart and practice. He wrote a small book
about teaching called The Triggering Town.

If you are interested in my comments on this book, I presented a
paper that can be found by using my name in a search at
http://ericir.syr.edu/Eric/

But what I'm really saying is that I am still finding my teaching
persona and working on it and it's changed a lot because of the
Internet. If you really want to know, I like to think my e-life
makes me more masterful and eqalitarian at the same time...how's that
for my idealistic challenge? No crazy cliffs but at the moment I'm
teaching my class to become better critics of technology so don't
think I'm saying puters are panaceas...but they do work well for
me...sometimes, will

-- 
Will Hochman
Assistant Professor of English
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT 06515
203 392 5024

http://www.southernct.edu/~hochman/willz.html



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