to the IDC list
sotto voce: Although, as a University educator — I agree with John’s appraisal of the condition of the contemporary educational institution (having taught in around 50 institutions in Europe and the US), there is this critical area to consider: yes, the classroom has not undergone a physical re-design, but perhaps it doesn’t need one. When the door closes, it has the potential to be a space for transcendent encounters between the participants IF the oppressive effects of the fear that is instilled by the dominant educational system in both student and teacher — the fear of nonconformity, the fear of personal idiosyncrasies, and the fear of the unknown — if the fear is mitigated. I believe this fear is a result of the accumulation of pathological (unbalanced) relationships that are mandated between humans when operating in hierarchic situations. If, as a facilitator, I can make even a small breathing space by establishing a trusting relationship among the participants, a space that allows at least a consideration of the powers that cause the fear to begin with, I feel that I have been successful. Of course, it is important to go beyond an awareness of the effects of oppressive social relations, and move into a radical praxis that opens all possibilities, especially the possibility of fearless encounters between the Self and the Other. This, I believe is the essence of learning — the fearless opening of the Self to the unknown Other, the willingness to empathetically share a point of view with that Other.
The physical/material nature of the room itself does indeed have built-in to it the accouterments and arrangements of power and control. But it is possible to do simple things like re-arrange the furniture. this simple act alone cracks open the situation. Sometimes, for example, I take all the furniture in a space and before class I pile it all up in a corner. Watching the reactions when people come in the door, and in the instant that there is a the registering that the situation is anomalous, the participant facing an unknown. It is in that moment where something can happen. It’s also nice to have participants “curate” changes of venue where everyone can meet. Having a ‘class’ in someone’s living room is sure to shift things. It is called a Living room for a reason…
Too often I have seen “new media” curricula that miss the crucial ramifications of what “new media” has inflicted on the social structure — where there is the teacher and the students, interacting in the same old form of power relation. Yes, the subject of inquiry is ‘radical’ and suggests other ‘radical’ ways of behavior within the greater social system, but often the dynamic of classroom relationships do not reflect the suggested realities of the subject of inquiry. I have found that it is of paramount importance to facilitate (and participate in) a evolutionary set of relationships that may start from the traditional teacher:student model, but transitions to a distributed human network during the course of studying “new media.”
Furthermore, without establishing a lived praxis, the radical possibilities of personal and social transformation are largely missed. I think this is a fundamental weakness of the vast majority of academic programs that seek to engage “new media”: That within the classroom, it IS business-as-usual. Of course, there are exceptions which usually are a result of the efforts of individual teachers. It is rare for an institution to move itself into a space which denies the efficacy of its institutional structure. It does happen, but it is rare.
I have found crucial to my own praxis is my position within the local hierarchy — for the last ten-plus years I have maintained connections to institutions through personal relationships of people in those institutions. From this, come invitations to conduct workshops or seminars, where I am able to maintain a degree of independence from the local politic. This independence has great value as my relationship with the students can be much more frank and open in most cases. Often, the workshops include in-depth critics of the hierarchic situation that the students are in — discussions that evolve openly from the content of the workshop (for example – networking and creative action) — and discussions that lead to practical awareness and actions that are immediately relevant to actual situation of their lives.
Of course, I personally pay for this independence in the lack of economic security that the social system mandates for people who follow non-traditional behaviors… Sometimes the price seems too much, and a “permanent” position seems attractive, but usually I can dispel that illusion with a phone call to tenure-track friends. ;-)