Bearing Witness as an Orientation in Understanding Teaching and Working With Teachers

• In Event: Fight the Power: Intersections of Teachers Lives With Policies and Politics

Abstract

This presentation fuses the philosophical and the practical. I will put forward an orientation – bearing witness – that can enhance inquiry into teaching and the process of working with teachers and teacher candidates. The orientation fuses a sense of wonder at the marvelous work many teachers accomplish despite numerous challenges in our time, with a sense of concern at how contemporary policy fails to recognize the dignity of these teachers and of the crucial role they play in education. Bearing witness constitutes one approach to foregrounding why teachers are not interchangeable functionaries but singular human beings who, with the right support and preparation, can play a holistic role in the education of young people, especially those historically denied adequate educational provision.

Author

• David T. Hansen, Teachers College, Columbia University