Seminars

Participating in a dialogic, really interesting, empowering, successful classroom seminar is probably the hardest thing in Friends World to do, whether as a teacher or a student. The trick is to keep everyone involved enough to made the learning relevant and interesting, while at the same time getting done what the class was meant to do. Becoming active, participatory learners is difficult for everyone, and there is no way to teach people to be critical classroom thinkers and scholars. Paulo Freire himself talks about this in his book A Pedagogy for Liberation, co-written with Ira Shor. They agree that a successful class depends on students finding a critical, empowered voice, but that there is no way to just give that. It has to be discovered.

Workshop Discussion Sparks

Making seminars better fit the Friends World model

Inspired and Creative

Research and design some class curricula and send them to the faculty and students to use.

Rigorous Training

AAAAAGGGHHHH!

Dialogue is the name of the game. If there is a problem with a seminar, talk to people. Remember that people on the defensive aren't dialoging, so make sure the discussion stays calm. Set up whatever kind of forum you need so that everyone feels safe participating in the shaping of the learning process. Respect the fact that whatever the status quo is, someone probably put a lot of labor into creating it.