After deciding that I'd wrestled enough with trying to get "Leaves in the Street" to load, and posting my previous entry without it, I went downstairs to get tea. In the breakroom, I ran into Sam, one of the E! teachers. He asked me how the EPSRI gig was going for me and I said I was enjoying it a lot. I asked him in turn how "the process" was going for him? He said that he was honestly finding the discussion somewhat tedious. I asked if he meant today in particular (I haven't been observing this morning, so was wondering if something tough has happened) or just kind of a cumulative effect? He said both, actually. I asked for more detail. 'Well, there's a lot of discussion in which it seems to me that a lot of people are enjoying head-to-head and debate. I'm the kind of person that if you and I disagree, I don't need you to see it from my point of view. But there are a lot of folks-- well, from a third-party perspective, it seems that two people will be talking about something and they're just using different terms, but they don't see that. They're not actually disagreeing."
Just thought that comment was interesting.
This post sparked a massive reaction in me based on my observations of Sam over the last week and I just spent the last few minutes trying to talk it out and sort through the numerous things floating through my head.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways to interpret this off-hand comment that Sam made over coffee, but in particular, there is an implicit criticism of the course and of the way that some people are approaching the course. What I find interesting is that this criticism is also demonstrated in his actions. During discussions where there is a lot of debate about language or trying to come to a consensus about what is actually happening, Sam will often zone out or even physically remove himself from the room.
This is the case particularly for large group discussions, but his frustration with the style of the course and some the people also comes out in some of the ways that he interacts with his group - particularly Nicole. I find it really interesting that this interaction with Dorothy probably came directly after an interaction with Nicole where she commented to Kerry after he left: "He's making me crazy." But I think I'll save that for a separate blog post.