Improving Class Discussions/Cultivating our Bayan

Early November, we attempted our second Socratic Seminar in our English class. One goal was to increase our capacity to effectively use Socratic Seminars; we are experimenting and learning as we go. After the seminar, we used Flipgrid to collect our feedback about how to improve class discussions in general and how to make or Socratic Seminars more powerful. Listen to our feedback below.

The specific aim of this Socratic Seminar was to discuss how to improve the Bayan Learning Community. As a jumping off point, we used our experiences this semester, the documentary Precious Knowledge (see the post "Exploring Precious Knowledge"). We also used selected passages from the journal article "Dangerous Minds in Tucson" by Professor Curtis Acosta, one of the teachers featured in Precious Knowledge.

We had a long and often heated discussion about how to  improve Bayan,  and we came up with several tentative ideas. For instance, there’s talk about adding a third course to the cohort (currently, scholars take a Personal Development and English class), including more history topics, and having more opportunities for meaningful socializing.

Click on the images of Bayan Scholars hear their suggestions about improving discussions and building our program. If you have any ideas about Socratic Seminars or ideas about improving Bayan, we’d love to hear from you; comment below!

- Salamat to Jonny H. for his able assistance authoring this blog.

Exploring Precious Knowledge

Early November, we watched the film  Precious Knowledge, an educational documentary filmed in 2011 by Dos Vatos Productions. The documentary focuses on the ban of the Mexican-American Studies (MAS) Program in Tucson, Arizona. This film includes stories of the students who were a part of MAS. Filmmakers spent an entire year in the classroom and community filming this innovative social-justice curriculum, documenting the transformative impact on students who become engaged, informed, and active in their school and communities.

Precious Knowledge gives viewers an inside look in the classroom of two Raza studies program teachers, Curtis Acosta who teaches literature, and Jose Gonzalez who teaches American Government. Acosta and Gonzalez taught students about their history and culture, and challenging them to reflect, realize and reconcile with their status in US society.