Mariah McCune

Fulbright TGC IFE Guiding Question and Reflection

Guiding Question:
How do you leverage curriculum in a way that empowers voice and agency while still respecting
cultural and community norms?

Reflection:
When I crafted this question in Washington DC during the symposium, I had monumental
acts of students using their voices in mind–big speeches, rallies, etc. However, I realized just
how narrow that was and how little that empowered all of my students, especially those who
were shy or more reserved. Moreover, it neglected to acknowledge the many ways that students
can assert their voices: speaking is definitely efficacious, but what about empowering their
voices as writers and artists as well? In short, it became apparent that my initial vision was
unrealistic in the day-to-day business of teaching. Instead, I needed a vision of empowering
student voices that worked both inside the classroom and outside the classroom, in formal and
informal experiences.
During my IFE,I decided to reframe my thinking to focus more on the idea of discourse
strategies within the classroom that gave students the courage and skills to share their thinking. I
realized that this was not only more practical, it was also something I could share with other
teachers both in my own community and abroad. In short, it was replicable.
What I didn’t know before arriving in Ghana, but what worked well in my reframing of
my research focus, was the fact that Ghana is actually undergoing an enormous transformation in
education. Since 2017, organizations like Transforming Teaching Education and Learning
(T-TEL), and the Ghanaian Ministry of Education have been revamping their education system
to put greater emphasis on Professional Learning Communities and on creating a
student-centered learning environment in lieu of the “sage on the stage”–or “chew and pour” as
T-TEL described in Ghana–model of teacher-centered classrooms. Many of the Ghanaian
teachers are experimenting with the same discourse strategies that I use in my own classroom in
the US, and seeing the contrast between classrooms where these were implemented and
classrooms where these were not, helped reaffirm the importance of discourse strategies as a
means of increasing student voice and ownership in their learning.
At the root of discourse is the relationship students have with each other and with their
teacher. There has to be trust on all sides that the classroom is a safe, judgment-free zone where
students can share their thoughts and opinions without being laughed at or attacked. Without that
relationship, authentic discourse will not happen. The bravest of students might be willing to
share, but their commentary is usually superficial and safe. In the meantime, those with less
gumption will sit quietly, hoping that their teacher does not call on them to share. I did not have a
tremendous amount of time in Ghana with the students at Nkoranza Technical Senior High
School, and so my lessons took that into account and focused on relationship building, asking
students to apply some of the principles of English to sharing about their homes, favorite foods,
families, and aspirations. This is also where I begin my own classes each year in August, and
serves as the foundation on which students can engage in deeper, heavier topics later in the year.
One of the most frustrating parts of this is that I know that relationships take time, and I also
knew that I had a small amount of time to connect with students in Ghana. In many respects, I
felt like I arrived at the Nkoranza Technical Senior High School, blinked, and found myself back
in the USA. Another barrier that complicated relationship building was class size. The classes
that I observed and taught had 30, 40, sometimes 50 students. Keeping track of their names, their
individual interests, and their needs was a daunting task, especially in the limited time that I had.
In my own community, we also struggle with overcrowded classrooms in some classes, and this
is an area in which Ghanaian teachers and American teachers have to work extra hard to build
relationships with all of their students. This realization gave me a sense of solidarity with the
Ghanaian teachers as we are facing some barriers to empowering student voices in common,
albeit perhaps to varying degrees.
I knew when I crafted my question that relationships were essential to empowering
student voice; however, I encountered some unanticipated variables that complicated my
straightforward notions. Something I had not expected in this exploration was how much the
notion of hierarchy and control would impact classroom dynamics and ultimately influence the
way in which I interpreted my observations and experiences through the lens of my research
question. As our Ghanaian guide Gideon Sarpong explained, the power dynamic in Ghana is that
those not in power (students, employees, etc.) must obtain permission from the person in charge
(teachers, bosses, etc.) before they are allowed to speak. This is true in classrooms and
boardrooms. At first, I saw this as an insurmountable problem: at its purest form, discourse
occurs when students feel empowered to speak their minds freely and where the relationship
between teacher and student is much less about control and more about the teacher as facilitator
to the student’s individual learning journey. However, I also reflected that many of my students
came with the same understanding of power and control in the classroom–weren’t they, after all,
in the habit of raising their hands and waiting patiently to be called upon even if they just needed
to use the restroom? While to a lesser degree, the community in which I was raised wasn’t all
that different to that of Ghana in terms of having a hierarchical structure that can stifle student
voice. To put it simply, increasing discourse challenges traditional notions of control, and that
thought had never occurred to me before Ghana.
Classrooms with strong student discourse are often noisy and may appear on the outside
as chaotic and out of control. However, in those messy moments, authentic learning is
happening. Students are making meaning through their productive talk, processing in real time
what they are learning and drawing connections to experiences and background knowledge that
are relevant to them. But increasing student voice does not initially have to begin with an all-in
commitment to whole class and small group discussions; in fact, it rarely works that way
effectively at the start because students haven’t established those relationships yet. I think there
is a happy medium with smaller steps toward increased student discourse along the way that can
work to empower students in a way that still respects the more traditional teacher/student
relationship. For instance, Think, Pair, Share allows the teacher to pause their lecture and give
students a moment to talk to one another and share their thinking. This allows them to practice
making meaning on their own, exercising the art of speaking their minds, and exposing
misconceptions or breakdowns in learning that the teacher can then correct in subsequent
lectures. Alternatively, 4 Corners is a good way to have students ponder themes or ideas and
express their opinions on the provided prompts in a way that affirms both similar and different
viewpoints within the class. Finally, having students compose a paragraph response/reaction to
their reading is another way to engage students and give them space to practice using their
voices.
Practice is an operative word. Asking students to just talk to each other, especially when
they have never been asked to do so before, does not merit many tangible rewards. This is further
compounded by social and cultural inhibitions that impose unspoken rules in a community about
what can and should be said. Something that I struggled with at Nkoranza Technical Senior High
School was not having an internalized understanding of the unspoken rules to Ghanaian culture; I
know my own community’s unspoken rules well enough that I can maneuver around them and
anticipate them in my lesson plans, but I did not have that advantage in Ghana. At that moment, I
realized that increasing student voice in a culturally responsive way necessitates that the teacher
has a full and rich understanding of the students’ culture and the culture of the community in
which they reside. To be artful communicators, students have to know how to ask clarifying
questions, think critically about what they’re learning, and communicate effectively through their
chosen medium, whether written, drawn, or spoken. But to be artful communicators in their
communities, they also have to know how to manage their delivery and tone in a culturally
respectful manner. It’s a thin line to walk, and teachers across the world are managing it artfully.
When I had crafted this research question in Washington DC, I felt like the answers I
would get would be clear and straightforward. The answers that I found in Ghana were anything
but that. I had not anticipated the many layers and nuances to this question, and I know that I
have only scratched the surface in this brief reflection. However, this experience did reaffirm
certain best teaching practices, and it helped humble me about how much I have yet to know and
learn about the art and science of teaching.