Teachers, Knowledge, Building Relationships: Invitation and Hospitality

This lecture allowed me to think back and recognize various ways in which my teachers have honoured knowing and doing in the classroom. An example of this would be when a teacher in my elementary  school would ask other students about the holidays they celebrated around Christmas time. This was able to integrate different students’ backgrounds, beliefs and religions and made these students feel recognized and accepted. Our teacher would ask these students to share these holidays they celebrated and explain to the class its significance and purpose. By incorporating a more relational thinking in the classroom, students will feel more accepted and comfortable as we recognize that while we may have differences, we also share commonalities. Relational thinking in the classroom allows the space to act more as an integrated community or society rather than attempting to assimilate students that are seen as different. 

It is vital to incorporate a more relational based thinking into the classroom in order to create invitational educational environments and relationships. This means creating dynamic and mutually reciprocal relationships between the teacher and the students. Integrating the ‘I-Thou’ model rather than the ‘I-It’ model requires relational based thinking and calls for teachers to care about student’s goals over their own, being more collaborative and listening more to students’ feedback, and talking with students by engaging in conversations rather than dominating the dialogue.