Why “Wiser Pedagogy”?
Coming up with the title for the site was something I struggled with. How best to capture the goals and aspirations I have for what this site could become? Just imagine the implications of calling the site “so-so pedagogy” or even simply “wise pedagogy”? I have to think about these things if I’m going to ask my students to do the same: to think about what titles do. To highlight how the title might shed light on the main idea.
“Wiser” is clearly a comparative term. What exactly am I using as my basis for comparison? And if my goal is to promote what I consider to be the best among the possible options, then it would be silly of me not to keep in mind the various approaches to education (or pedagogies) that are out there– the ones most widely used to achieve the best results in terms of helping students succeed at becoming more critical thinkers, readers, and writers. And so, here, you will only find discussion of what is tried and true. Rather than discuss all possible approaches to teaching, I’m going to focus on the most effective methods, strategies, and approaches to developing assignments that engage students and challenge them while making use of the interests, knowledge, and expertise that our students bring into the classroom.
Professor Gomez 