In keeping with the mantra that dates back to the first day of class, I have tried to notice what I’ve noticed and continue to consider what I haven’t noticed. The major thing I’ve noticed is that I know everybody’s name in the class. I rarely, if ever, manage to confidently remember each person’s name in my classes. I also notice that I’ve sat next to the wide majority of our class at some point in this term.
I’m used to informally picking a seat on the first day of class and ideally sitting there until the last day of class. By having opportunities to talk and consider the points of view of just about everybody in the class, I feel that my own thoughts and discussions were equally considered which allowed for more genuine interaction with everybody. As such, I felt more authentically engaged with class topics and discussions because I was able to consider them through the unique perspectives of the class. In class, the importance of context was discussed as it relates to the field of anthropology. I think that by learning everyone’s name and having meaningful interactions with everybody, I wasn’t left in the dark about a person’s context as it framed their discussions-- as least not as much as I would have had the connections never been made. Knowing snippets of the class’ backgrounds has framed the way I interpret our discussions.
Geertz’ idea that culture is semiotic has stuck out to me the most this term (1973:5). He explains that humans are “suspended” in culture that they created themselves.
And to analyze culture would be to seek out meaning through one’s interpretations of it. As such, this has framed the way I think about not only my own behaviors but the behaviors of others I interact with and those I don’t. Particularly, I think about the wink/twitch analogy that explains how behaviors are embedded with messages. One person may interpret someone’s wink as a playful gesture and another person may think that same wink is actually an eye twitch. What differs between the two interpretations is the meaning assigned to the behavior. If one doesn’t understand the meaning or the message, then the behavior will also be misunderstood. I think that this has been useful in understanding what I notice such that I use my contextual understanding of the world to explain what I experience. But I think it has also been useful in explaining why there are things I am not noticing such that maybe there are gestures that I am not recognizing as being embedded with messages and are therefore not noticing.
Going forward, I personally intend to use these connections between context and culture to inform my role and behaviors as a teacher. I think that by understanding my own positionality in cultures and societies will play a role in how I interact with students as well. It will also shape the curriculum I develop and share with the next generation of people who are also simultaneously creating and responding to culture and society. Trouillot explains that “any historical narrative is a particular bundle of silences” and that these silences are a result of power imbalances (1995:27). By recognizing and countering these imbalances, at least within my classroom, I hope that there will be fewer silences in the narratives that are voiced. I hope that this approach is normalized to the point that students will take the same consideration of their positionalities in order to inform their interpretations within cultures and societies.
Caroline, I enjoyed this blog. I was able to connect with it personally because I also experienced the sense of being able to understand everybody else's perspective while feeling my own was listened to just as much. I also liked that you are going to tie all of this into your future endeavors as a teacher. Great blog!
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