In-Class Response to Buffington's 'When Teachers Aren't Nice: bell hooks and Feminist Pedagogy'

• This article is a feminists view point on how female teachers should teach their students. Nancy Buffington, the writer of the article says that the way female teachers are viewed should change. Students should not come into a classroom that has a female teacher and think that the teacher will be mothering or nurturing. That should be left to their mother. They have to use their power to help the students learn and experiment more with how they will be treated once they leave school behind. She believes that the students should be put in difficult positions in class and then discuss topics, so that the students go through conflict and struggle.
• Question 1: Is it such a good idea to purposely make students uncomfortable with topics discussed in the classroom?
• Question 2: Buffington states that she tells her students on the first day what her teaching style is and wants to hear disagreement, but does she consider that the students may be too intimidated on the first day to disagree with their professor?
• Question 3: Would her style of teaching be harder for more introvert students than ones that are outgoing and are comfortable stating their opinions?
• Question 4:Does she grade students on their class participation in the discussions?
• Question 5: If a student is incredibly uncomfortable with a particular topic, are they allowed to not participate or is that still a part of the struggle?
• "My students may not always feel comfortable with what they read, say or hear in my class. But they're thinking, learning, and changing."(p.12)
• "Again, rather than pretending that the classroom is politically neutral and unqualified fun, it is more honest and more effective to disclose the agenda, the rules, and the power relationships which pervade any classroom."(p.7)
• "In short, we can't turn the classroom into a classwomb. And we shouldn't even try.(p.5)
• I have noticed a huge difference between my high school teachers and my University professors. The major difference I have noticed is that in University we are more accountable for our actions. In high school they coddled us, they would let students turn in assignments late or the teachers would help the students more with their work. In university it is much less personal. There may be some classes that have fewer students and therefore allow us to get to know our professors better, but in most classrooms we aren't able to become almost what I would say a friend to our professors. This then means that if we don't turn in an assignment, we are usually out of luck, and out of some grade points. I'm not saying that professors don't want their students doing well in their course like teachers do, it's just that the students themselves have to be a lot more accountable for their grade than they do in high school. In high school if a student isn't doing well, teachers are to blame, in University if a student isn't doing well, the blame is put directly onto the student.

Proposals: From Gripes to Solutions

Response 2-
Proposal: Bikers should be banned from biking through campus during the extremely busy times between class intervals because they cause accidents between themselves and innocent pedestrians.