Kuma Chapter 8

Consciousness-raising was a section in this chapter I found to be relevant in my own theory of teaching. Like it said that traditional grammar teaching is almost the idea of tabula rasa, or blank slate. I do not agree with this idea, I do not believe that teacher's are the only knowledge holders in the classroom... I feel every body in the classroom plays a role in teaching and learning. I believe that students come with information equipped for them to build upon and make connections, we are learning facilitators in that if we raise the students consciousness about what they already know and tie it into what were talking about in class they will have a better grasp on the knowledge and will make more meaningful connections to the information around them. Consciousness-raising is drawing the learner's attention to the information they should be grasping, so instead of filling in the information on a blank slate you are actively promoting them to be self-taught and give them the opportunities to learn as much as they want... giving them the tools to succeed. This ties into the bigger picture of this chapter talking mainly about heuristics because heuristics refers to the process of self-discovery on the part of the learner, the teacher gives them the tools they need but its up to the learner to take the information in, and that's what consciousness-raising basically is. If all teachers taught in this manner I feel it would provide a better learning atmosphere for all the students in the classroom.