I see this 'voice' that I have been talking about as 'saying' the speaker
has Knowledge (Truth or at least closer to the Truth than most) and is
transmitting this Knowledge (Truth) to all properly prepared and respectful
recipients. In a setting where the belief about knowledge is that all
meaning is constructed by humans, the authority of such a 'voice' has no
basis or grounds, thus the 'voice' would have little status and less
negative impact. Hence, the fact that the 'voice' has such a silencing
impact on other students may be due in part if not largely to the fact that
most schooling represents knowledge as something that can be absolute and
exist outside and independent of human knowers. I think that this is only
barely under the surface in comments such as the following rather accurate
description by Lisa:
>Certainly the idea of "status" comes into play with a person's
>ability to speak up. Not only whether they are the "student" in a
>student-teacher relationship, but whether they are an "A" student, or
>barely passing the class, whether they are regularly late b/c they
>work before class, whether they are differently abled, or bring an
>infant to class.... there are a zillion different variables that may
>play into a person's "status" in the classroom. My view is that a
>student with a good standing in the class would be more likely to
>speak up -- their thoughts have probably been reinforced in the past
>with good grades, feedback from the instructor, etc.
I think that because in science the field has been dominated by males the
'voice' of the cult of science that I'm talking about is decidedly macho,
but that does not mean that only males use it. In my classes it seems that
women with this 'voice' have essentially the same effect of silencing
although there may be evidence that it is responded to with more antagonism
than submission when the 'voice' is used by the female members of the class
as opposed to when it is used by the male ones.
I don't want to get into another macho form of argumentation; i.e., mine's
bigger than yours, but I do think that the worship/elitism of science that
has been cultivated in our society for several hundred years now makes the
non-science student's response to the 'voice' of the cult of science
something different than it is in other disciplines. ...not necessarily
more, although maybe it is more, but certainly different. I agree with
Phillip that this probably happens in other disciplines*, but I think that
we should not leap to the conclusion that what we find would be the same
thing were we to look in, say, my class in conceptual physics and then in
someone else's introductory class in history.
*I recall a recent discussion with a student about an intro class in Music
populated by both music majors and non-music majors and the level of
intimidation felt by the non-majors when the prof catered to the music
majors.
I'm sorry to say that my access to e-mail will be spotty for the next
couple of weeks, so I may not be able to respond quickly to comments, but
by all means feel free to continue the discussion. I'll respond as soon as
I can.
Thanks.
Dewey
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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr. Phone: (208)385-3105
Professor of Physics Dept: (208)385-3775
Department of Physics/SN318 Fax: (208)385-4330
Boise State University dykstrad who-is-at varney.idbsu.edu
1910 University Drive Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570 novice piper
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