Pedagogy of Hospitality (POH) The internal narrative (updated 11/08/2012) I.

Connected Learning: POH is community-oriented, not individualized learning POH is directed toward the establishment of a welcoming and safe space whereby true knowledge may become manifest. It is about the establishment of this space, rather than being directed toward the presence of the other. The orientation of POH is to build a viable and vibrant support system around the learning process that is as inclusive as possible. It reaches for that wisdom/ knowledge that resides within each student that can make a meaningful contribution to the community of learning which is the class. This educational support system is designed to make the student feel at home in the class. Only if the student feels at home, can class ethos assume the character of andragogy, i.e., adult learning. This implies that the teacher is for the student, rather than adversarial. In this environment, for example, remediation is an ethical good, rather than a moral judgment. POH is a rejection of the idea of a covert curriculum in the class. The pedagogy only builds an overt curriculum with the aid and input of the class. The ethos of the class is open, rather than closed. It is caring, rather than deceptive. In this way, the pedagogy is to be distinguished from schooling. Schooling is characterized by an objectivist mentality that is either/or in mentality; e.g., you either get it, or you dont. In contrast, true education is characterized by an abundance of knowledge approach that sees all things as inter-connected, what we might term an ethic of connectivity. In the POH environment, the task of the teacher is to facilitate the movement of the students from their current state of knowledge to the connectedness of all knowledge. Wisdom refers to that reality of inter-connectivity that defines the character of true knowledge. The connectivity component of pedagogical learning operates at different levels: (1) the teacher is connected to the students; (2) the students are connected to one another as a learning community; and (3) the learning community, including the teacher/students, are all connected to the subject matter of the class. We may say that POH is centered in three individual components: a kind of pedagogical triad the teaching subject, the learning object, and the material being learned. The key element here is to allow a space for the teacher to become a learner with the students, not afraid to say I dont know, or I, too, am a learner with you. In fact, we may term POH as learning with, rather than learning about. This learning with implies a crucial role for patience and humility in the learning process. We may say that these ideas replace mastery as defining elements of the learning environment. Here, the teacher becomes more a facilitator to new shared knowledge, rather than the authoritative figure who leads the students to a pre-determined outcome. It is noted that the authentic community of learning which POH seeks to establish, cross-talk is discouraged. If and when it is allowed, it is done so under very strict guide-lines. Cross-talk is defined as people speaking out of turn, interrupting

someone while they are speaking or giving direct advice to someone in a meeting. Being person-centered, POH remains suspicious of excessive cross-talking in the class because it can so easily, and prematurely, shut off authentic learning. It is interesting to think of the religious term disciple in this context. Disciple comes from a Latin word meaning "learner" and discipline comes from one meaning "instruction, knowledge." From an educational standpoint, POH intends to affirm this key component of religious life, which is to assume the position of being a lifelong learner. From the Christian monastic tradition, one could point to the practice of the vow of stability in this regard, meaning that the disciple vows to stay the course in the learning community, and not run from either his/her own ignorance/inadequacies, or that of the community itself. II. Life-worthiness education Any subject matter can be taught in a life-worthy way. This is to be contrasted with aboutism, i.e., subject matter taught from the object standpoint (this is about). This opens the door to the importance of lived experience in the educational process. POH is founded on the importance of this lived experience setting the context for true education to transpire. This distinction seems especially important in andragogic education, less importance in pedagogic education aimed at children. In essence this means that the more adult the education, the more lived experience of the learner is accommodated in the learning process. In a pedagogic environment, the role of the teacher is emphasized and necessary for determining boundaries and structures. III. The strangeness element in real learning POH represents a rapprochement between objective and subjective components of education. This rapprochement is built on an understanding of the partiality of each of these components of the learning process. Neither a subjective or objective approach to knowledge-building is all inclusive; the two foundational approaches always remain something of a stranger to one another because neither should be allowed to be swallowed up by the other. Because any class intends to take the student beyond where they are at the class entry point, a certain element of strangeness always exists. This strangeness is synonymous with what the student does not know. Since hospitality is always concerned with the stranger by definition, within the educational context, the strange is synonymous with that which is not yet known. IV. Redefining assessment In schooling, assessment means assessing whether or not the student has mastered the objective material presented by the teacher. In POH, this element of assessment takes on a different meaning. The teacher still assesses the student,

albeit in a different sense. Now the teacher assesses the readiness of the student to receive new knowledge, and how quickly. The teacher also assesses the capacity of the student to receive this new knowledge. Ideally, the teacher assesses the calling of each student in the class, and builds the curriculum around that calling. Can we speak of a collective calling? In other words, in POH the teacher assesses the potential for learning, rather than what the student has already learned. In this key sense, POH is future-oriented (potential), rather than past-oriented (historical). IV. Future ideas to be explored and fleshed out A. B. C. D. Calling All pervasiveness of impermanence Beauty and love in education Words and representation in education