Ranciere

"In the pedagogical process the role of the schoolmaster is posited as the act of suppressing the distance between his knowledge and the ignorance of the ignorant. His lessons and exercises are aimed at continuously reducing the gap between knowledge and ignorance. Unfortunately, in order to reduce the gap, he must reinstate it ceaselessly." Ranciere continues in this portion of the writing to state that the schoolmaster must not ignore what the pupil already knows. That which he has inherently learned through experiencing the world thus far. He also goes on to state that we are all of like intelligence, that it is not the lack of intelligence that forms the teacher-student relationship but the lack of formal knowledge that composes the idea.

I find this an exceptional reading to provide to students who are, by in large, studying for a Master's degree in arts education. It is vital for any one in a teaching position to remember that students arrive in the classroom with their own set of learned knowledge, and to learn from and appreciate the pieces of formal education they have so far developed. In a large classroom, it can be difficult for a teacher to take the time to figure out what form of learning is most suited for each child. It is also difficult with modern curricula and state set standards to let each child obtain the knowledge in their own way. In this, Ranciere has a vision of the utopian classroom (or teacher-student relationship). With each child being given the tools with which to succeed and the time in which to discover it in a way that is meaningful and permanent. Though I would love to have the freedom in a classroom to provide this type of education (and feel that my students would garner a greater respect for the classroom setting and the education they were obtaining) I don't think the governing institutions would be as thrilled about the relaxed "let the education find them" attitude. Particularly when it comes to state mandated testing and the subsequent test scores. It leaves me to question, is there a happy medium? Is there in fact, a way to combine the traditional role of information giver/information learner in a way that allows each student to obtain the knowledge in their own manner and yet stay on course for overarching course objectives?