A Culture Of Fear

A CULTURE OF FEAR: EDUCATION AND THE DISCONNECTED LIFE

FEAR IS A POWERFUL FEATURE OF BOTH ACADEMIC CULTURE AND OUR INNER LANSCAPE—THE FEAR OF HAVING A LIVE ENCOUNTER WITH “OTHERNESS” IN A STUDENT, A COLLEAGUE, A SUBJECT, OR THE VOICE OF THE INNER TEACHER.

FEAR IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE HUMAN CONDITION AND TO THE ACADEMIC CULTURE.  WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE OUR FEARS—BUT WE NEED NOT BE OUR FEARS.

I.       What are some of your fears in the classroom? How have you dealt with them? What have you learned about yourself and about fear as a result?

In my case, one of my fears is to seem that I am not able to teach. For example: If I make many mistakes during a class, and my students can think that I am not prepare to teach them, another is to have not the whole control in the classroom.

I know some fears are normally in human kind, and we have to face them when they appear because we have to accept that we are not perfect and that creates an insecure feeling called fear. A better way to deal with them in my opinion is to learn of my own mistakes and to make an evaluation what I learnt about them for doing better in the time or situation.

Finally, I think that we never stop to learn of our fears, and we have to face them, whenever they come, whatever they are, or wherever we find them.

II.     Palmer writes, “Good teaching is an act of hospitality toward the young, and hospitality is always an act that benefits the host even more than the guest” (p. 50). In what specific ways do you think a teacher has to be hospitable to students? In what ways do they treat them as unwelcome guests? How do teachers benefit from practicing hospitality toward students?

A good teacher must practice the hospitality because he plays a good role in the class room. He has to create a good atmosphere and make his students feel comfortable and confident; furthermore, he has to create a good relationship between them, but he has to take into account one of the best teacher’s values such as: respect what his students deserve not only inside the classroom but also outside, and he has to focus on their students' learning needs because they feel happy when the teacher has positive attitude. 

Another important thing in hospitality is when the teacher gives to his students the tools for improving their previous knowledge, and to offer hospitality is when the teacher has the opportunity to help them with their needs, and try to be a good model.

Finally, students feel unwelcome guests when the teacher acts in a bad way, or shows that he is very strict or authoritarian, and that attitude creates uncomfortable feelings, and they start to lack of confident which affects the environment and the relationship between the teacher and the students, and the students’ motivation decreases in every class.

III.    Write about a fear, not necessarily related to teaching that once controlled you, but no longer does.  What caused you to confront that fear? What helped you get loose from it? What were the results? What did you learn?

When I was a child, one of my neighbors had a furious dog called Oso, and Oso hated children. I remember that I was bitten trice by Oso, and that was one of the worst fears that I had had until I faced my fear when a friend of mine encouraged me saying "what dogs are lesser stronger than us." And I remember that my fear was disappearing when I kicked them, and I used to be prepare with my belt or club for some possible attacks.

On the other hand, I know that it was not the best way for facing my fears, but it helped me. Finally, I learnt that some bad experiences can create some future fears, but we have the key to confront them, the force to do it and time as a medicine for healing us.

Nowadays, I do not hate dogs, and I do not have any fears when I see them.

  Evelyn Fox Keller says of Nobel Prize—winner Barbara McClintock that her knowing came from “the highest form of love, love that allows for intimacy without the annihilation of difference” (pp. 55).  Does this kind of love have a place in education? If not, why not? If so, how might it be taught? How might it make a difference if we could teach students to love the world in this way?

First of all, in my opinion this kind of love takes place in education if teacher has intrinsic motivation because he/ she has to love his/her job; furthermore, if the teacher has no a commitment or love for his/her job, that it is impossible to reach because he/she has to create a good and close relationship with his/her students making students feel confident and comfortable in and out the classroom, but that could be possible if the teacher teaches the value of the respect because students' behaviors are different, and they have their own personalities. On other words, teacher has to respect students' differences.