Diversity Education Conference

I also went to the Diversity Education Conference and thought that the keynote speaker, Bill Ayers, dicussed some very valuable topics for teachers. He believes that believing you know everything as a teacher can be very dangerous. I think this as well because we can learn from our students too. Ayers went on to explain that teachers are not the ultimate vessels of knowledge but that the best teaching involves a dialogue in which teacher and student learn together. I thought that it was interesting that he made the same observation that we did in class about Hollywood movies. These movies tend to follow the same pattern with one teacher that is the "savior" and has to sacrifice something for the good of their students. I think that this could discredit the students. I also agreed with Bill Ayers belief that their are negative effects of labeling students, such as "at risk." He mentions that labels should be resisted because it stifles the student's potential. I think that labels can also cause teachers to form judgements right away about what the students can and cannot do. There are some vaild arguments for why there is a need for labels but I just wonder if they do more harm then good. One thing that Bill Ayers spoke about that inspired me was that teachers should be passionate about something in their lives so their students can model after them.