Yesterday was my first day working classrooms alone. I did well but definately have room for improvement. I saw my critical theory in action and was impressed by how well the students reacted without being asked to present to their classmates and/or present their own impressions of the current system. What follows are suggestions and personal accounts of my first day that will hopefully help me in the future to better challenge the students I am working with and reinforce a positive dialogue about food, nutrition, and culture.
1. Is the goal of the work clear?
Analysis: I would have to say that while I presented my goal to be educating the students to what a healthy breakfast is, my overarching goal was to motivate them to think critically about the food system in which they eat and change it to their liking. With this in mind, I should have urged them to tell me the problems with the way they get food and solve it. Simultaneously, I could have been suggesting healthy foods to eat in that new and better food system.
Commitment: To talk with them more about acting to change the cafeteria food supply (if they object to it).
2. Is there enough work for the group?
Analysis: Because of my conversational format there was no lack of work to be done. Such a format is grounded in critical thinking and their experience with nutrition and food, so most of the work was them thinking for themselves about what kind of food is the best for them and their families/communities. (Therefore, questions such as: would you let your baby siblings or cousins eat junk food? Such a question might seem like an easy answer, but as soon as their hypocrisy is pointed out, for eating that food themselves, the work really begins.)
[I consider work to be that which challenges our intelligences, whether physically, analytically, musically, interpersonally, or intrapersonally. But it is the challenging that needs to be explicit. More, the challenge should be grounded in the rejection of the traditional logic and the need for a new logic.]
Commitment: Challenge them to recognize the traditional logic of the food system and to imagine a better one.
3. Do people understand how the work connects to the community?
Analysis: The importance of relating nutrition to the lives of the audience is vital to providing a motivation to change diets and being critical of the food system in which they live. Every lesson I began by asking the classroom of students how many people ate something in the morning. If I had to estimate, about half of the students said they had eaten something and about half said they had not. But, while many students had eaten something, the majority of breakfast foods eaten were not healthy. Amidst the confusion of asking probing questions about why you would eat doughnuts and soda for anything besides dessert, I also found many students didn't eat anything because they didn't have time in the morning. With these questionable behaviors, the answers do not lie with me ("the expert"), they lie with the students exhibiting deficient diets. So, I relate my nutrition suggestions to their lives and their families. Putting their stories in the middle of my presentation gives the presentation richer context and more opportunities to seize on untold hypocrisies. Accompanying their stories are questions pushing them closer to cognitive dissonance and hopefully community/family empowerment. For instance, If I ask one student who already admitted to not having eaten breakfast, what he would advise for a younger sibling or cousin: 'Do you think your younger sister ought to eat breakfast, or is it not important for her health?' If they resist and deny their younger sister breakfast, I'll open it up to the class for discussion where most likely I will hear someone inject some nutritional sense. And on the other hand, If they admit to wanting their younger sibling to eat, I'll ask why breakfast is important for their siblings but not for them. Hopefully, this cognitive dissonance will urge them to rethink their attitude toward nutrition, breakfast, their bodies, and their families.
Commitment: Use activities that put their lives and communities at the center of the nutrition debate.
4. Are you challenging people's minds and bodies?
Analysis: I must admit that my presentations were lacking in physical movement. Of course, I could blame it on the classroom structure, but really it was that I was interested in introducing myself in a pseudo-structured and disciplined manner. That said, on following presentations I must include physical stimulation. I say this with a lot of evidence suggesting that students when offered an opportunity to get involved and move around are much more willing to sit still and participate thoughtfully (this theory might depend on the age group).
Commitment: I will work to incorporate activities that are more physical in nature after my introductory presentations.
5. How are students given responsibility?
Analysis: This is an area of education and classroom management that goes underplayed on a regular basis. Yesterday I did not give much responsibility to students. I suppose my failure came in not authorizing them to present to the class in groups. Once a student must present to the rest of the class, and is thereby given responsibility, they tend to understand better why respect for the speaker and participation is so important.
Commitment: Implement activities that urge students to present to their classmates.
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