The Power of Puck: When Teachers Just Don't Wanna Play

• In Event: 58.068 - To Hell With Good Intentions: Illich and AERA

Abstract

Teacher education programs too often produce unimaginative teachers who are limited by “effective pedagogies” and imposed curricula. This paper offers a story of a classroom of teachers who are challenged to theorize how education can be conceived in new ways and the difficulties that arise in that task. Puck, a fictional character in Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, is then used to compare how similar his role in bringing complexity to the story is similar to theorizing the complexities in education. Readers are left with the challenge to see, and even be, Puck in their roles as educators.

Author

• Joseph Kyser, The University of British Columbia