Gulls regurgitate fish into the gullets
of their young. Since they have to transport
their catch over distances (during which their killings might be pirated by
other birds), this is a crucial survival strategy. For the most part, the fish
are not pre-digested, nor are the seeds and other fare birds regurgitate into
the mouths of their young. Granted, this
image might be (to use a gustatory word) disgusting
in the context of teaching. Let’s work this metaphor.
According
to a proverb variously attributed to Lao Tzu and Maimonides, “Give a man a
fish, and he eats for day. Teach a man to fish, and they eat for a lifetime.” The cover art revises that to a more inclusive
gender-neutral aphorism (although it does use the plural “they” as a singular
pronoun—more on that in another post).
In
teaching, there are significant differences between ramming information down
others’ throats (thus silencing them and making the material undigestible) and
arranging fishing expeditions. Yes, as a
teacher I transport that which might nourish my students across time and space—the
works of Plato, Shakespeare, Dickinson, Lao Tzu, Woolf—but to lecture extensively
is literally to predigest and regurgitate my point of view into my students. Then, according to traditional classroom
practices, I peck-peck at them with one-answer questions so they can regurgitate
what I said into the test booklet.
More
palatable is the image of giving students fishing poles and then sending them
out to “catch” what they can on their own.
But if I give them all the same kind of fishing pole and bait, they are
likely to return to drop their fishing lines into the same (can’t resist) school of fish and return with either
nothing or the same fish over and over.
In classroom terms, this is to assign prompts, which, too often, amount
to micromanaging student minds for more efficient assessment. See our link on Prompts,
Proctors, Pornography.
So,
there are different fish for different folks. And different fish are caught
with different strategies—hooks, various baits, nets, spears, hands, et
cetera. In my classes, this translates
into showing students a range of techniques for plumbing Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for example. We will interpret the same passage from a
feminist point of view, and then compare that to how the passage would
translate from other critical approaches that include Queer Theory, Marxism, Rhetoric,
Structuralism, Deconstruction. Our
harvest will vary with how we
explore. Going on fishing expeditions
together, we catch more than we could solo.
Some
people prefer to fish in streams with body boots—others drop nets in the ocean.
And those who invented fishing poles (which are as vastly different as a string
suspended from a stick to a digitally managed mega-reel on a tuna boat) invented
them for their particular geography, resources, and needs. Once we venture into literature with the
usual tools, I encourage students to invent new tools that better serve their
individual talents and needs. Do you
study the Bible? Then take a biblical
approach to our reading. Do you love
Harry Potter? Then compare one of his ventures to that of Ishmael in Moby Dick. Are you interested in running for political
office? Cull quotes from Shakespeare’s
history plays for your speeches. In
short, create your own fishing gear from the materials in your life.
And
what to do with the fish? That will
determine whether we fish, how, and by what means. For some, the serenity of sitting in one
place with a dropped line, soaking in dawn and stillness is enough. Sitting with a book in one’s lap in a beach
chair can be bliss. For others, the excitement of the hunt is sufficient—once the
quarry is caught, it can be tossed back into its waters. Once the grade is earned, the leased book can
be returned to the bookstore. Chefs
plating tuna sushi; sculptors, photographers, poets embodying a rainbow trout; lacrosse
players studying the swimming patters of quoi; musicians, caregivers, Uber
drivers who listening to audiobooks between fares; trainers dancing with dolphins—so
many fish, so many ways to relate with them.
To
teach is not so much to give students the fish, nor to just settle for giving
them the equipment to catch them.
Ideally, a teacher helps students to identify their own fish, to create
their own harvesting gear, to do fish
in their own unique ways.
Works Cited
Blog Links: Prompts, Proctors, Pornography
