Generative LISTENING

Footnotes

1a. Menu labelled "How Would You Like to Begin": My intention is to engage with praxis (Freire, 1970) and live in the phenomenological sense of the term "authentic" by aligning my actions with my intentions. (Heidegger, 1962). Therefore, where there is an opportunity for praxis, I will try to recognize it and to respond with action.

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1b. From a tradition of critical pedagogy, Freire defines praxis as"reflection and action directed at the structures to be transformed" (Freire,1970, p.126). Through a  practice of critical reflection, we may gain a critical awareness of our own habits and biases. This awareness is required in order to identify systems and roles of power and our role in it (1970). The focus on identifying bias as a step to overcoming them is aligned with Scharmer's self-knowledge and presencing, or deeply focussing and contextualizing one's attention on the immediate present (Scharmer, 2013). His approach of slower "listening" (meaning understanding) parallels Aoki's metaphor of lingering on a bridge: pausing and presencing to hold space for understanding (Aoki, 2005, Scharmer, 2013). The idea is beyond contemplation, it is critical while patient; it is phenomenological in that "presencing" (2013) is reflecting on the action between us and our context. The phenomenological reciprocity (Heidegger, 1962) of contextual influence makes us aware of how our bias manifests context and how the context manifests our bias. Through this attunement, we are taking action; we are engaged in a process of Bildung, or self-curation, for a harmonious balance between our inner and outer lives (Siljander, Kivelä, Sutinen, & Ebrary, 2013). It is a connected practice that, as discussed by Heigel, challenges personal growth (Wood, 1998). Bildung, as discussed by Heigel and Humbolt is the self-creative activity of man changing his world and self that Marx refers to in his understanding of praxis (Gramsci, Hoare and Nowell-Smith, 1972, p. 332).

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Gramsci, a post-Marxist historian, philosopher and politician, explores praxis through cultural hegemony: "The philosophy of praxis does not tend to leave the ‘simple’ in their primitive philosophy of common sense, but rather to lead them to a higher conception of life." (Gramsci, 1971; Ives, 2009). For Gramsci, like Freire, there is no neutrality in the world; everything is political (Freire, 1970; Giroux & SpringerLink, 2001). In Gramsci's view, hegemonic thinking is "primitive", or of a lower quality of thought. By developing an awareness of hegemony, the assumptions of meaning dictated by the dominant culture (Gramsci 1971; Ives, 2009), one cannot un-see it and, therefore, evolves beyond the place of ignorance where cultural hegemony thrives. This evolution of thought is, for Gramsci, a byproduct of praxis. 

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For Hana Ardent, praxis is our highest form of being (Ardent, 1906). Praxis is our capacity to analyze our selves then put that knowledge into action that is the greatest gift of our humanity and is what makes us free (1906). 

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In all the understandings of praxis above, there is a thread of unity of self and action that mirrors the phenomenological concept of "authenticity" (Heidegger, 1962).  There is also the thread of praxis as an act of evolution and liberation. Some modern definitions shift away from the authenticity, Bildung, or unity of thought and action. For example, in A Dictionary of Sociology, praxis is defined with a hierarchical evaluation of action over thought: "[praxis is a] philosophical term referring to human action on the natural and social world. It emphasizes the transformative nature of action and the priority of action over thought" (Scott 2014). The liberating, power of our self-awareness being the catalyst for action (Ardent, 1906; Heidegger, 1962; Freire, 1970) ceases to exist in this definition. 

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2. "We need to define the role of the adult, not as a transmitter but as a creator of relationships — relationships not only between people but also between things, between thoughts, with the environment. It’s like we need to create a typical New York City traffic jam in the school." (Malaguzzi, 1994). This reflects the reciprocal relationship constantly evolving nature of contexts explored by ​Deleuze and Guatarri in their metaphor of the rhizome(1987). Praxis of rhizome theory requires teachers to be "creators of relationships" (Malaguzzi, 1994) between people and ideas. This is a "difficult and complex" (1994) role of guide and prompter in the emerging space, in order to allow the students to become their best future selves (Scharmer, 2013). 

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bell hooks share's Freire's view of education as praxis for liberation: "To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn. That learning process comes easiest to those of us who teach who also believe that there is an aspect of our vocation that is sacred (hooks 1994, p.13; Freire 1970).

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3. Written in the School Act in 1989, the goal of BC education is to create "Educated Citizens", the elaborations as laid out by the province, mirror the goals listed in this document (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2020 ). 

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Cowichan School District #79 published a district strategic plan titled "Beyond Education" (2020) which also mirrors the goals listed. The language used to communicate a holistic approach includes: compassionate, relationships, equity, inclusiveness, critical thinking,... It includes all of the points mentioned in this "Project Big Idea". 

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4. "[Dialogic] teaching harnesses the power of talk to engage interest, stimulate thinking, advance understanding, expand ideas, and build and evaluate arguments, empowering students for lifelong learning and democratic engagement" (Alexander, 2019). Evidence for the academic learning advantages of dialogic teaching can also be found in Mercer, 2000; Pantaleo, 2007; Vygotsky 1986.

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5. Alexander, who coined the term "dialogic teaching" and is a leading researcher on the approach, acknowledges that there are times (like listening to enders or a quick review of key concepts) when dialogic teaching is not the most appropriate method (2019).  While didactic teaching may fit in certain instances, “monologic instruction alone is not sufficient” (Wells, 2006, p. 387). 

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Freire contrasted dialogic and anti-dialogic teaching, where dialogic is cooperative and participants "meet in cooperation in order to transform the world" (1970). It is socio-constructivist and ecological (Bateson, 2000; Scharmer, 2013) with a critical pedagogic focus on the transformation of our world and political coexistence (Freire, 1970). The "anti-dialogic" teacher is focused on self, is dominating, and "transforms the dominated" (1970). The anti-dialogic teacher uses dominating tactics to transform the dominated into a state of greater oppression and hegemony (1970; Ives, 2009).

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6. Aoki warns of the superficiality of "how-to" in the context of the convenience of technology: "[we are] in the seductive hold of a technological ethos, an ethos that uncannily turns everything virtually into ‘how to do’s,’ (Aoki, 2005/1990, p. 369).

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7. (Arendt, 1906; Heidegger, 1962; Freire, 1970)

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8. (Bateson, 2000)

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9. (Scharmer, 2013)

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