How does Kumashiro define ‘commonsense?’ Why is it so important to pay attention to the ‘commonsense’? What commonsense understandings of curriculum and pedagogy do you bring with you into this course?

Common sense or ‘what everyone should know’.

Cultural norms = common sense

Teaching norms were different, expectations were different

Assumptions, expectations, and values = common sense

We raise questions about the norms, about what we are doing and how we are doing it, to search for a better and never settle, always more forward.

Kumashiro defines common sense as ‘what everyone should know’. Or more to the point of the story of his teaching experience in Nepal, cultural norms. Kumashiro talks about how his experience as a student in the education system and how much different it was as he was in school to become a teacher. And then the jump from looking from a teacher’s perspective in America or western culture to Nepali culture, where his assumption, expectations, and values were all challenged and questioned.

I believe it is important to pay attention to common sense and the role it plays in the school system because I believe life experience, social factors, and maturity (along with other factors but those came to mind) play roles in what common sense really is. Common sense to person A can be senseless to person B.

When relating this information to pedagogy and curriculum, like Kumashiro mentions ‘We raise questions about the norms, about what we are doing and how we are doing it, to search for a better way to do things. Never settle, and always moving forward.’ Once an idea or way of doing something becomes second nature where autopilot comes into play, maybe it is time to question oneself if it could be changed, adapted, or altered for the better. Can the way we teach a classroom change from year 7 to year 8 as a teacher? Is there another way of interpreting outcomes and indicators to better serve students to achieve success?