Moving From “You and Me” to “We”: Blurring the Lines Between Professor and Student to Create a Truly
Collaborative Classroom Experience
Jillian Flood, Psychology, Iona College
Caitlin Greatrex, Economics, Iona College
Gravity Goldberg, Education, Iona College
Josh Klein, Criminal Justice, Iona College
Dorothy Leone, Speech and Communications, Iona College
Abstract: Moving from “you and me” to “we” is both a philosophical stance towards teaching and learning
as well as a thoughtful and intentional shift in the classroom. Participants in this session will redefine the
term “collaborative" in the higher education classroom from a multi-disciplinary perspective. They will
brainstorm boundaries that are created between professor and student and identify effective techniques to
remove those boundaries. The session will challenge participants to create an inclusive classroom by
considering not only the physical environment, but also the choice of language and projects used within
that physical environment. By the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to describe a number
of ways higher education pedagogy can incorporate everyone in the classroom as learners, including the
professor. By moving towards a “we” classroom, we offer students a seat at our table, an opportunity to
construct their own knowledge, and a chance to participate with us in the complicated work of our
respective disciplines. The benefits include active and engaging learning experiences that help the students
and the professors construct new knowledge to offer their fields.
Literature Review
If we know that teaching is more than telling (Vygotsky, 1978) and that students are not empty vessels to
be filled, then we must stop using transmission models of teaching (Rogoff, 1995). Instead, we must offer
participatory approaches to our students where they are constructing their own knowledge by using texts,
experiences, and multimodal tools to create knowledge, not simply download someone else’s (Alvermann, 2002;
Rogoff, 1995). The consequences of a transmission model lead to a domesticating education, where students are
prepared to be docile workers and not critical thinking contributors (Freire & Shor, 1986). Pink (2010) claims
“Routine, not-so-interesting jobs require direction; non-routine, more interesting work depends on self-direction” (p.
22). What are we preparing our students for? Most of our need to direct our students’ thinking, learning, and even
their physical bodies stems from the “othering” (Heath, 1983) that takes place in most university classroom settings.
To “other” is a form of separating ourselves from those we wish to reach, to create distance from those we actually
want to bring near. By attempting to stop “othering” our students, we break the cycle of thinking in dichotomies (us
and them, learned and learner, right and wrong). As we bring students into our “disciplinary club,” we are not
lowering our own esteem but raising theirs. By calling on students to become members of our field, by pursing
answers to some of our most urgent challenges and questions, we move away from a domesticating educational
experience to an empowering one (Finn, 1999). In our classrooms, we should be seeking ways to offer our students a
seat at our table and to participate with us in the complicated work of our respective fields. As professors in any
discipline, it is vital that we collaborate with students, stop “othering” them, and blur the lines between learner and
learned.
Goals and Objectives
Participants in this session will redefine the term "collaborative" in the higher education classroom from a multidisciplinary perspective. They will brainstorm boundaries that are created between professor and student. Following,
they will evaluate how educators can begin to break these walls and weaken the sentiment of "us" (the professors)
and "them" (the students). This design of an inclusive classroom will detail three themes: the physical classroom
environment, language used within the classroom, and class projects. Participants will be challenged to think of
themselves as active learners within the presentation. By the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to
describe a number of ways higher education pedagogy can incorporate everyone in the classroom as learners,
especially the professor.
Description of Practice
We will briefly describe models of classroom collaboration. Participants will list how the professor is and is not
included in a traditional collaborative learning environment. Then we will brainstorm how to re-evaluate our
definition of collaboration, this time including the professor as an active learner. First, pictures and videos of
classroom spaces from different disciplinary areas will be viewed and we will quickly re-arrange our presentation
space. We will then analyze how a classroom's environment can be altered to physically include all members of the
class in the learning community. Following, we will model how a professor, or presenter in this case, can change his
or her language to create a "we" classroom. Lastly, we will all participate in a brief project together that supports a
sense of unity or "we.” At the conclusion, projects and assignments generated by undergraduate and graduate
students across different disciplines will be shared with a brief discussion about how this could be taken up in any
classroom. After engaging in three different "we" classroom experiences, participants will be asked how they can
challenge themselves, or rather "we" can challenge "ourselves," to think more about being a part of the learning,
truly being a "we."
Discussion
Moving from “you and me” to “we” is both a philosophical stance towards teaching and learning as well as
a thoughtful and intentional shift in the classroom. Changing our language practices, our physical setting, and our
class projects requires attention to our desire not to “other” our students, to bring them near and to invite them into
our club. We must assume they will meet our expectations, we must trust they can contribute, and we must support
them as they support one another (and even us at times). Rogoff, Goodman Turkanis, and Bartlett (2001) have
shown us how learning happens in practice with community members. Dewey (1938) taught us that we learn from
experience not solely from listening or watching. By moving towards a “we” classroom we can offer every person
who walks through the classroom door an opportunity to participate and experience our discipline at our table. The
benefits include active and engaging learning experiences that help the students and the professors construct new
knowledge to offer their fields.
References
Alvermann, D. E. (2002). Effective literacy instruction for adolescents. Journal of Literacy Research, 34 (2), 189208.
Brice-Heath, S. (1983). Ways with words. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Indianapolis, Indiana: Kappa Delta Phi.
Finn, P.J. (1999). Literacy with an attitude. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Freire, P. & Shor, I. (1986). A pedagogy for liberation: Dialogues on transforming education. Westport, CT: Bergin
& Garvey Publishers.
Pink, D. (2010). Drive: The surprising truth of what motivates us. New York, NY: Penguin.
Rogoff, B. (1995). Observing sociocultural activity on three planes: participatory appropriation, guided
participation, and apprenticeship. In Wertsch, J. V., del Río, Pablo, A. Alvarez (Eds.) Sociocultural studies
of mind (pp. 139-164). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Rogoff, B., Goodman Turkanis, C. &, Bartlett, L. (2001). Learning together: Children and adults in a school
community. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.