Blog #1 – Common Sense: Localized Common Sense and the Importance of Its Examination

Welcome to today’s blog which concerns the idea of common sense. I have been asked several questions about the topic after reading a section in Kumashiro’s Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice. These questions consist of what common sense is defined as, why common sense is important to be aware of, and what common sense I have concerning curriculum and pedagogy.

Let us start with the first question. Based on Kumashiro’s piece, how is common sense defined? Now, there can be a long explanation for this or a short one. Kumashiro’s piece leads me to believe that common sense is a localized understanding of what is standard and accepted in a comfortable manner in society, and common sense becomes more varied the further an individual is removed from their origin. This means common sense can be different on many levels, and it cannot be assumed that individuals are going to understand or be comfortable with what others have perceived as common sense. Not only that, common sense is the construct of how we perceive society should be in terms of — but not limited to — how people live, what they eat, and their hygiene. Everyone has common sense, but common sense becomes more inconsistent the further individuals stray from their homes, communities, and countries. Therefore, common sense is a localized acceptance of explicit and implicit standards which makes society comfortable and work effectively.

Now that there is a definition, why should individuals be aware of common sense? Individuals have to be aware of common sense and examine others and their own common sense to make proper communication and decisions. This way if groups have differing common sense, communicating their common sense can make situations more productive. Additionally, without understanding the common sense of each group, problems can arise that are not originally seen as problems by other groups. Kumashiro’s piece explains that there is more than one common sense of how an educator teaches: “Some students even complained to the other teachers, worried that I was jeopardizing their chances of passing the end-of-year exams because I was not ‘teaching’” (Kumashiro, 2009, p. xxxi). Their society had a different idea of what teaching was, so events were not moving smoothly from both teacher and student perspectives. This means it is important to be aware of common sense because it can ruin the effectiveness of teaching since individuals may rebel or be left uncomfortable with the situation. Furthermore, there are implicit ideas that are obtained from common sense, and individuals do not realize the ideas could be projected onto others. This projection comes in the forms of all ideas such as masculinity, femininity, and how to treat social classes. Common sense is not just limited to these ideas. This is why it is important to be aware of common sense because our implicit ideas in our common sense can be detrimental to ourselves and society, holding us back from achieving the goals that we have as a community. Now, if individuals project these implicit and explicit ideas onto other societies or groups with differing common sense, it can create more problems. Therefore, individuals must examine their own common sense addressing current problems in personal common sense to not create further complications and achieve societal goals.

With all this examined, what is my common sense concerning curriculum and pedagogy? The curriculum stands as an entity that is formed by collectivized standards of society as a whole. From my understanding, the curriculum is the teacher’s guide to what students need to be taught. I like to believe that there is flexibility in what can be taught as long as it still meets the outcomes of the curriculum. Unlike in other places, I believe it is not remembering facts for exams but giving students the criteria and thought processes to answer questions intelligently. The curriculum allows a standard for people to assume the knowledge someone must know after completing a course, creating a province-wide knowledge foundation. Therefore, if I were to ask someone who has taken the class before me, they might be able to explain an idea to me that I am not understanding because even if they took the course somewhere else, there has been a standard for them to learn that information I am asking for. Additionally, I also have a common sense of what the curriculum should not be. The curriculum should not be completely different in every school. As well, the curriculum should not be difficult to understand, but should still be interpretive. Concerning pedagogy, I believe pedagogy to be the theory of teaching based on evidence from studies and teachers’ personal experiences. Now, my pedagogical common sense deems physical punishment completely wrong, which is not common sense everywhere. The reading piece provides proof of this not being common sense globally: “I tried to manage the classroom with dialogue and verbal admonitions but was often told by students that controlling a classroom meant hitting those who misbehaved” (Kumashiro, 2009, p. xxx). I thought this was odd and further validates the process of examining common sense. My pedagogical common sense also shows me that there are many ways of teaching that are effective, and there is no one way to teach. As well, I believe research studies are vital in creating effective teaching methods. If I am using research studies, I will always be continuously evolving, but my future endeavours may find that experience to be more important in changing my pedagogy. I believe discussions and group work are very important. As well, lectures are an essential tool when used properly, and I believe lectures should be filled with emotion and drama. With that in mind, a teacher is a guide in all fields, and they should know more than their students in their core studies.

The importance of analyzing this is to know my common sense but to realize my common sense could not be the same as others, so I have to be understanding and forever evolve as an individual. I have to understand that my common sense of pedagogy and curriculum can be similar to people around me but can be drastically different around the globe. My statements could be opinions that are deemed wrong in another place, and that is what I have to be aware of and continue to think about throughout my career.

Reference

Kumashiro, K. K. (2009). Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice. (Revised ed.). Routledge.