ECS 203 Blog Post #1 – Common Sense

After reading the article from Kumashiro called The Problem of Common Sense, I felt the knowledge I had previously had on “common sense” was given from a different perspective which was nice to see and read. From what I read, I felt Kumashiro described common sense as different practices and approaches that are done every day, that just turn into first-hand knowledge. What I mean by this is, for example, the article discusses Nepal’s schools and their practices and teachings. When a new teacher comes in and tries to switch things up, it is hard for the students to adjust because their way of teaching has always been a particular way. Within the article it says, “The lecture-practice-exam approach to teaching had become so ingrained in the practices of Nepal’s schools as to have become a part of common sense.” (Kumashiro, 2009, p. 2) Which I think resembles how the way common sense was described within this article, which is how common sense is considered to be first-hand knowledge that people learn each and every day. For example, I would think it common sense to me is emptying your hamper into the laundry room every day because it’s something my mom has had me doing since I was able to walk. For some people, however, that wouldn’t be common sense because they don’t do laundry till Sunday, so why empty the hamper every day before then? Overall, from what I got from this article common sense is sound, practical, and judgment based on everyday matters or actions. I think it’s important for people to pay attention to common sense because in some situations it may cause people to be offended or hurt if you don’t understand their judgment or practices within everyday matters. I also think it’s important for people to pay attention to common sense because it allows people to think of different solutions until they find one that works and just becomes first-hand knowledge to them. I also believe if everyone pays attention to common sense, it will make life easier because everyone can have the same conclusion to different matters in life. For example, this could be useful during work. When employees have a problem, If everyone had the same common sense all the problems that begin in the workplace will be dealt with the same or in similar ways. When I came into this class on the first day, I would say my common sense understanding of curriculum and pedagogy that I brought with me was I knew that the curriculum is a set of guidelines for what teachers need to teach in a school year and I also knew that pedagogy is the approach to teaching. Other than that, I have been reading the curriculum and trying to create my own pedagogies and listening to different professors’ ideas for approaches to teaching and I certainly can’t wait for this class to help me fully understand the curriculum and help me understand the different approaches to teaching successfully.