We all have heard from our classmates the typical:
''I'm sorry, I may be wrong about this, and in my own personal opinion, without trying to offend anyone, and without trying to spark a debate...wait, remember this is my own view, okay guys?''
This is usually said hand in hand with anxiety and trembling, this is a sign of how badly critical opinions and thoughts are treated in the classroom. And it's sad to see this kind of situation between adults in a college class.
Teachers always tell us that there's no question that is stupid, that our opinions are important, as long as they're said without the intent of harming somebody and are said without being carried out as facts. They always tell us that our voices matter, specially in subjects where debates and critical thinking and participation is required.
It's sad and pathetic that so many people have taken their own interesting and innovative views and opinions and twisted them so they fit with their peers' views so they can avoid being judged. Like come on, dude. It's 2020, if somebody snaps at you over a controversial opinion while in class, they are not worth it, and they are not well in their head.
Sometimes I just wanna shake my classmates and tell them to participate and say their thoughts without fear, there's been situations and cases where I overhear them talking about the topic so passionately after class, but in class they never said a word from the fear of being judged about it.
Another interesting topic about participating is the fact that some teachers use it as a requirement for their class. This is always good as it motivates shy students to talk more but some teachers never specify what kind of participations, and never really make an effort to let students know that they can say whatever they want.
Unfortunately, there's students who literally participate for the sake of getting that 10%.....which is fine by me. And usually they participate out of nervousness of not knowing what to say, which can also be solved with a little session about participation (maybe? just a thought.)
Always had this kind of feelings at school and other contexts. It's terribly tiring to go around fearing what people might think about the things you do or say. Not only at school but also with our family and friends. I've been working on this problem for while and I'd say it isn't just a matter of stop fearing. There's a lot of work to do with one's self confidence and past experiences. Also, I don't like it when teacher's consider participation for the evaluation. There's quiet people and that's okay, you one cannot change the students personality.
ResponderBorrar