Students have started their blogs; some have designed them and others are already entering text. I've observed a number of things in this process. The first one is personal. I cannot find the time to keep up with my thinking on theory and the connections or with the activities. There is a lot to be said about the dialogue that happens between the students and when they call me in to consult. I can almost feel the knowledge growing and taking shape in the air between them as as they call out to me. I always end up in a conversation when I visit a group and we've all changed a little when I leave. I think of theory that discusses the way learning happens in dialogue and the fact that we are constantly changing with each and every interaction.
There is also something to be said about mutual respect when students understand that the facilitator is just that - someone whose experiences can help guide them to the bridges and over them. They don't see me as perfect and that elevates them to humanity and not just a thing in the class for a grade. They are empowered by the combination of knowing they don't know while knowing that they are able to find the knowledge, to build it, to add their knowledge to a larger entity and make it make sense.
I must not forget to add that a few students have shared with me questions about domestic violence and they have mentioned that this is a direct result of the project about women. This makes me think even more deeply about the need for education that is women centered - not excluding men but women centered. Women are still struggling to understand the consequences of patriarchal hegemony and young women are caught in the web before they can find the road to critical thinking. I believe that a women centered classroom will also give men a chance for freedom too.
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