Entrace Slip - Pedagogical Sensitivity

"Jeff learns that it is not good to seem smart among his peers, and Siri seems to feel special and yet also seems to feel embarrassed for feeling special." (p. 4). I find the above quote intriguing, as it is an indicative of the notion that teenagers' percepton is most dominantly influenced by their peers' perception of them. There is no sense of the outer world or reglistic/practical life as of yet, their innocent minds seem to be dominated by their constant desire to fit in and seek their peers' approval. This poses a challenge for teachers/educators and requires additional tools in the teachers' toolkit. In other words, teaching is above and beyond knowing the subject matter, teachers are expected to be "pedagogically sensitive". Pedagogical sensitivity requires that teachers are not only aware of the class atmosphere, relationship between students, and their impulsive feelings, behaviors, and attitudes, but also take them into consideration as they teach. For example, asking one self what needs to be done or can be done in order to promote peer-peer encouragement as needed in the above case. 

In order to incorporate the above which Van Manen refers to as "pedagogical sensitivity" into the tact of teaching, we need to become reflective of our actions and plans, as Manen describes: "[Reflection] converts action that is merely appetitive, blind, and impulsive into intelligent action." (p. 6). Reflection is not limited to official documentation, but getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, expecting unwanted/unexpected situations, and being ready for almost everything is all part of the reflection process. In addition to being self-reflective, teachers are to be open-minded, flexible, adaptable, understanding, and most importantly selfless, as least for the time they spend in classroom settings. Selflessness allows one to be calm, open and less-reactive in situations where anger and frustration can easily take over.  

The above tact of teaching is what Manen views as 'practical wisdom'. It is one of the mandatory skills for teachers that can't be taught in the Teacher Education program, instead they are acquired and learned by being in classroom settings via experiments and experiences, as Manen agrees:

"Tact can neither be reduced to some kind of knowledge base nor to some set of skills that mediates between theooy and practice. Rather, a third option is offered in the realization that tact possesses its own epistemological structure that manifests itself first of all as a certain kind of acting: an active intentional consciousness of thoughtful human interaction." (p. 15).