Kuma, B. Chapter One: Beyond Methods

One of the most interesting things I found in this chapter was on page 13 when Kuma says; "Classroom reality is socially constructed and historically determined." What was interesting to me about this was the way in which students or teachers perceive their environments. What I think personally is that each classroom is sort of built on a role of fear. For example, the classroom itself is shaped in a hierarchical top and bottom, the top making up that of teachers, and professors, while the bottom is made up of students. So even at a conscious level, students will always perpetuate some source of fear at the dominance of teachers in the classroom. The same can be said of teachers. Teachers are dominated also, for above them lies the greater faculty and curriculum shaping them. After this, I think the outside upper political and social sphere governs. Therefore, reality would be shaped not in a way conceived by teachers and students, but by an outside source silently governing the outside world.

Also, Kuma lists the flaws of Reflective teaching and Passive teaching, but strays away from including the flaws of Intellectual teaching. Why is this? From this I get the sense that the book could be perhaps written in a biased manner? Who knows.....