Alicia Freeman: Getting to Know You (Or Me, I Guess)

Generally when it comes to “Get to Know You” type exercises in classes, I tend to a) act awkward; b) make an unfunny joke; and c) most likely mention my love for RuPaul’s Drag Race. All generally go over about as well as you’d expect. Since I have the opportunity to introduce myself in writing, I figure I’ll try not to do the three aforementioned things, but we’ll see how successful I am.

I grew up in Carson City, NV and took a few years off before attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I lived on the West Shore, the best shore, of Lake Tahoe during those years, spending a lot of time slinging sandwiches at the local deli and taking a break from coursework. When I moved to San Luis Obispo for school, I found the transition back into schooling difficult at first – I lacked motivation and commitment. However, I finished in three years and decided, hey, why not get a masters in English now. That will get me a job, right?

Not so much. I moved to Chico after I graduated to be with my boyfriend and spend a year trying to find a job with not much success. So, I decided to go back to school to be a teacher. I’m currently taking prerequisite courses in order to (hopefully) get in to the Cal Poly single-subject credential program for next Fall. It seems though I grew up in Nevada, I can’t take the Chico heat. Plus, my parents moved near there several years ago, and I’d like to be near them again.

As for Etienne Wenger’s ideas in “A Social Theory of Learning,” I think of myself in a learning community as that awkward girl who does not know how to behave around others (unless they also like RuPaul’s Drag Race and want to talk about it.) The reading suggests the standard structure of learning focuses too strictly on individual success rather than looking at knowledge acquisition as a social concept. As stated on page eight of the reading:

Learning in this sense is not a separate activity. It is not something we do when we do nothing else or stop doing when we do something else. There are times in our lives when learning is intensified: when situations shake our sense of familiarity, when we are challenged beyond our ability to respond, when we wish to engage in new practices and seek to join new communities.

This quote builds on the concept that learning is social, while additionally making it an innate part of the human condition. Learning does not happen just in school; it also happens out in the real world. As I understood it, the reading suggests education should look at learning in this sense – when we face life lessons outside of school, we turn to our communities (whether they already exist or need to be created) in order to cope and to learn. If education looked at learning in this way, it would not be as fear or anxiety-inducing and oppressive.

I personally prefer to accomplish things on my own. I mostly hate group discussion. But I understand how building a community in the classroom and making teaching more social than individual would help with the atmosphere. Being more social is just something I will have to learn how to do better.

(I made my featured image Foxy Jack Kerouac because I have a weird fascination with him. So there’s that.)