Blending Pedagogies

I don't think there is one right pedagogy. I also don't think it is possible to teach using only one pedagogy. When I read about so many of these different teaching methods I realize I do elements of all of them. Especially feminist pedagogy. I've never fully considered myself a feminist, but I realize that I ask all of the important feminist questions when I teach. I'm concerned with representation and equality. But, I don't think feminist pedagogy is only about women now. I think it is really about the under-represented. That could be a gender, a race, a disability. I think feminist pedagogy is more about raising awareness period than about raising awareness about women.

I think my desire to raise awareness is what fuels my interest in service learning. I'm glad I'm teaching a Service Learning Composition class this semester, because I think it is important for students to get outside themselves and help others. I also think it does work to make the learning experience more authentic. It helps students understand about planning and responsibility and deadlines in a way that a regular classroom situation cannot. I'm looking forward to doing more work with service learning. It's interesting to me that it is considered a pedagogy. For me, service should be something people want to do, not a teaching style.

Writing Across the Curriculum is another pedagogy that I find intriguing. I think it's important for students to have resources that show them that various fields view writing differently, but I'm not sure where that resource should be. In my mind I feel like teachers of various disciplines should understand this more than students. How can a composition classroom bear the responsibility of teaching it's own discipline when it has to teach all of the other disciplines? I think WAC is important-- I'm just not sure it's a teaching style.