It is currently Day #5 of the Intro to Pedagogy module. It seems a touch late to write about my goals — so I’ll try a retrospective, plus an update.

As I entered the module, my big goal was to consider how I would approach teaching a new course, such as I am doing with Astronomy this semester. Even though I’ve had to put a product on the table for my students, this course is so early in its development that I would be willing to scrap most of it for a redesign going into the spring semester, when I’ll offer the course once again. My mind, bookshelf, and saved weblinks are a grab bag of classroom activities, types and styles. But I cannot use them all. I need to pick and choose and have a consistent framework, too. It would be confusing for my students (and myself) to have a different style each week. How do I pick a singular, or at most 3- or 4-pronged, approach, a method, a pedagogical framework, for a particular class? What do I hone in on, and how do I stay focused there?

After 4 full days of readings and reflections, I find that I new question has emerged. WHO is the pedagogist? Who did I bring into my classroom? I’m realizing that the answer to this question needs to come first. It’s not just about what I might philosophically believe is the best approach to class design. Who am I as a person, how do I want to present myself in the classroom, and what is the pedagogy that would emerge from my own humanness, that is defined by more than just my academic discipline. Any physicist might well choose from 4 equally appealing pedagogical frameworks or 6 different types of activity, but the choice of “which ones will I choose” requires that I know myself.  What is important to me in my life and who I am, and how can my pedagogy let that shine through?

In summary, I started this module with WHAT at the forefront, and as the first week closes, I think I now have WHO at the forefront, which can then guide me to the WHAT. What does any of that mean?? Who knows!