I may know just enough Freudian psychology to recognize that this is probably projection, but I think all teachers get a little annoyed when they are observed by a supervisor. I’m certainly not immune to that feeling. Even in my 20th year as a teacher, I still get a little bent out of shape when I’m told that I’ll be observed. And the weirdest part is that I’ve almost never found it to not be helpful.
My department chair observed a lesson on counter-hegemony in my Ethnic Studies class this past week. After two days on cultural hegemony, there was this lesson on counter-hegemony rooted in the example of conscious hip-hop. Students listened to Glory by Common and John Legend, analyzed it, and posted thoughts to a discussion board in Canvas. After a follow-up class discussion about it, they listened to I Can by Nas, and analyzed it with a partner. Wrapping up that whole topic, I asked them to think back two weeks to our discussion about cultural appropriation, and to think-pair-share the following question:
I chose these two examples on purpose so that students would see there isn’t one, definitive answer to the question. After discussing that point, I asked them about another example by playing the music video for Work by Iggy Azalea.
Here’s where I was reminded that having an extra set of eyes in the class can be really helpful. Even though I had brainstormed this sequence of questions and examples with two colleagues, it wasn’t until playing the music video in front of 22 freshmen that I realized a different video should be used. The official music video for Work is… suboptimal.
When discussing the class with my department chair, he had a great suggestion to use Iggy Azalea’s Saturday Night Live performance instead, because it was the “radio edit” of the song and it did not have the same visuals.
I’ve already downloaded that video and will use it next year.