Generally speaking, I feel as though critical distance is something I have a fairly good grasp on. It feels very similar to critical reflection, which is something I am extremely comfortable doing. As such, I don't think I learned anything particularly "new" coming out of this weeks readings. More or less, I simply had what I was already aware of reinforced and further contextualized.
For me as an educator though, critical distance is always something I'm aware of, though I don't believe I use it as effectively as I could. In the past, I've had a bit of a penchant for wanting to be the student favorite. Everyone had that one student teacher they really liked growing up; I always want to be that guy. In all honesty, its worked rather well for me. I've always managed to effectively build up a rapport with most of my students. A lot of this came from my utilization of critical distance. I would often deliberately try and view myself from the perspective of my students and do things that I gathered would make them appreciate me more as an authority figure; whether it be making a joke in a strenuous situation or something similar to that. While this worked most times, it often lead to issues I've made note of in weeks prior when educators try and be friends with their students: it can create a lack of respect. Often in these classes the students would get so used to me being friendly with them or making jokes, they wouldn't take me seriously when I asked them to do something, or they would simply make jokes at me expecting me to play along.
I think scenarios such as this speak to the double edged sword that using critical distance can be. On one hand, it was effective in making students enjoy my presence in the classroom. On the other, it worked against my authority and respect in said classroom. Critical distance is a great thing, when you use it effectively. Had I spent my time trying to look less at how my students view me as a person and more how they viewed me as an educator, I could have done much more to help them while still maintaining a level of respect. It is this notion of looking through the students eyes (as in Brookfield's chapter this week) that's gotten me in trouble in the past, yet all I need to due is tweak my theory in using it (similar to what Hooks argued) in order to use it effectively. There has to be a balance, and in order to get that balance going forward I think I need to change the reasons I want students to like me. Instead of them liking me for being the goofy, joker of a student teacher, I want them to like me for being the useful, friendly student teacher who could tell when they needed help and could give it before they asked for it. To this, I need to reevaluate how I use critical distance.
Thanks for reading, cheers!
- Ken
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