EPISODE 1
Talk Less, You’re Going to Hear More
LENGTH: 34:28 | AIR DATE: 12/09/2020
Is it a teacher’s job to talk or to listen? Season 2 of our #Millenniheirs podcast kicks off with two teachers from two very different generations finding common ground in the classroom. Host Jessie McGuire talks to Antoinette Byam, a baby boomer in Brooklyn who has been teaching for decades, as well as Ramon Tejada, a Gen-Xer and design assistant professor at Rhode Island School of Design. To hear more, listen below and subscribe to ThoughtMatter on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud.
BIOS
Antoinette Byam
“I have enjoyed teaching and learning with children for 31 years now. No day is ever the same. Children remain the best part of any population to work with as they see the best of everyone and see no reason not to believe that most things are possible. For that reason I remain a strong fan of theirs. In addition to teaching, gardening remains an enjoyable experience, for many of the same reasons that teaching is.”
Ramon Tejada
Ramon Tejada is a (New Yorkino / American) designer (as Estudio Ramon) and educator based in Providence, RI. He works in a hybrid design/teaching practice focusing on collaboration, inclusion, unearthing and the responsible expansion of design a practice he has named “puncturing.” Ramon is an Assistant Professor in the Graphic Design Department at RISD.
SYNOPSIS
In this episode, we discuss education and raising the next generation of critical thinkers, especially as the pandemic has forced us to adapt to an entirely different learning and teaching experience. Whose voices need to be amplified? Can critical thinking happen in isolation from other people? How do we approach critical dialogue with curiosity instead of judgement? How do we create a “questioning citizenry”?
Antoinette and Ramon share an infectious passion for teaching. By questioning their own role as educators beyond the formal school curriculum, they aim to create an open space for sharing critical thinking and challenge narratives that have monopolized education for so long.
We have to be careful that the curriculum is not running away with itself and we've forgotten that there is a purpose, that what we're doing is creating a questioning citizenry, which is really what education is.
Antoinette Byam
Antoinette encourages the curiosity of her 5th graders by introducing them to the complex Mayan numeral system to acknowledge the advanced intelligence of an ancient civilization as the foundation of the digital technology that governs our lives today. Similarly, Ramon encourages his students to explore alternative forms of design cultures that have either been ignored or have never been annotated in books, to better reflect on their own cultural identity.
Tirelessly asking questions even when one doesn’t have the answers is an honest, authentic way of learning without faking it. Society teaches us to fix things fast and furious without taking the time to understand the real needs of each student. Taking time to listen, getting to know each other and developing trust is a lifelong learning experience that makes Antoinette and Ramon hopeful for a younger generation – one that engages with the critical issues of today by imagining solutions with a direct and open view.