Class as community

I think something we are all loving about this class is that it’s experiential — we’re off campus, out in the field, and learning in different ways than just taking notes while the professor lectures at the front of the room.

But the experiential learning is about more than the field trips. It’s about the process and how the 11 of us — nine students, two instructors — are creating our own sense of community as we work through this course.

I think that doing good work in the community is not about being the smartest or the most ambitious. It’s about listening well and relating to others in ways that go beyond a transactional relationship. Caring about people. Being kind.

In lots of little ways, it feels like we are putting some of these ideas into action in this class. We have dedicated time in class to share reflections on what we’re learning, and dedicated space online (that is, this blog) to have conversations with each other. The traditional professor-student hierarchy is upended a little as Gabriel and Jo learn alongside us and we learn from students’ experiences, too. Sometimes we talk about our feelings and things get a little personal, and that’s okay. We take breaks from the course work and go for walks in the sunshine, because sunshine is important.

I know these things seem small, but they add up to a culture of learning where I feel like I can participate as a whole person, not just a “student.” This course is about more than just the content we’re covering — it’s about how we interact with each other and the environment we’re creating as we go.

I don’t know if this kind of environment can “scale up.” It’s a lot easier to have this kind of camaraderie with nine students than it would be with bigger classes. But I feel privileged to be among those nine, and I wish more SPPG students had the chance to learn like this.

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