Teachers as Interpreters: Listening to Every Student

We speak with Dr. Cynthia Ballenger about her recent book, “Teaching is Inquiry: Observation and Reflection as the Heart of Practice,” in which she explores the role of ethnography in inquiry-based teaching and learning, i.e., cultural practices in terms of speaking, storytelling, and conveying information. Teachers can discern a lot more about students if they listen to them in the context of their ethnic/ cultural styles of communicating. Dr. Ballenger also addresses the children she calls “puzzling.”  Each of them has something to offer, she says, even those who seemingly have social-emotional challenges. Overview 00:00-00:58 Intros 00:58-01:45 “Teaching Is Inquiry” 01:45-08:56 Ethnography of education 08:56-11:12 “Every child has something to offer the class.” 11:12-20:45 The “puzzling child”: more stories 20:45-24:10 Cultural and individual differences 24:10-27:43 Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) 27:43-30:17 “Stopping time.” 30:17-31:17 Importance of stories 31:17-34:41 Strengthening systemic support; ethical implications 34:41-36:45 Testing culture as anti-democratic and unethical 36:45-38:13 More reflections on OCD 38:13-38:37 Jerome Bruner on negotiating meaning 38:37- Outro Transcript Click here to see the full transcription of this episode.  References Book “Teaching is Inquiry” by Dr. Cynthia Ballenger Soundtrack by Poddington Bear