Monday, March 30, 2020
applying the power/connection grid outside of family dynamics
So unsurprisingly enough I decided to focus a lot more of my blog post to the two out of text book articles as they were more interesting and I felt like had a lot more to offer than the book this week. I also chose to take a closer look at Gender and Family interaction as opposed to vowels and nail-polish as I had already been exposed to that piece last year with my previous anthropology class. Overall I find gender to be one of the most interesting topics to talk about as it seems to be a topic that many people are very guarded about, for good reason as no one wants to offend someone else, but gender is one of the topics that has the greatest impact on language development as well as how languages evolve and change over time. Anyway now onto the Gender and Family article. I overall found the article to be full of some very interesting topics but one of the largest ones that stood out to me was the power/connection grid. I find it interesting as it effects the dynamics of each individual family as a whole but also can always be changing and fluid as families can easily become closer or more distant to one another and in some cases can also have their power become more equal or hierarchical. I find this interesting and actually thought of what other circumstances other than just family could this grid be applied to. I think it has a reach much further beyond just looking at family dynamics and one of the most obvious to me was in the classroom. I feel like this translates very easily as in some classroom the teacher has total control and are very authoritarian in their control not letting students give much feedback which in turn also makes them kinda distant with one another and the teacher as they do not get to have that connection that allows them to feel included into discussion with one another. On the flip side there are classes like ours I feel like that allows us to easily be equal with one another. I feel like there are a number of different reasons for this but I think it makes us a much more connected classroom than the ones where the teacher lectures and the students only take notes. In our classroom, I never feel like I am being forced to talk or stay quiet and instead it is only up to each person's individual choice if he/she wants to speak. this I feel like also makes it a very equal space for everyone. In my opinion, having been in both styles of classrooms, I feel like this style where we are all equal for the most part and are able to freely bounce ideas off of one another and are not directly limited by the idea where the teacher lectures and the students only take notes and do not get a chance to drive the conversation; to be a style where ideas are given a chance to be shared more readily and can actually be changed as well as challenged in a way that really fosters intellectual thinking and discussion that is lacking in the other style.
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That's actually a smart redirection of the power/connection model, Brian. Let's see what others have to say about it!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the comparison to that of a classroom setting. In my opinion, you hit the nail on the head with that one. This can be tricky to envision, but you illustrated it well. We, as Americans, definitely do conceptualize relationships along a "mental" axis.
ReplyDeleteI think another reason it is so hard to talk about gender when it comes to linguistic patterns, is that it is such a difficult web to unravel. And like you said, you risk offending someone trying to figure it out. It makes it very hard to have a conversation about it. One thing I think is different between classroom dynamics and family dynamics is fluidity. The atmosphere at a family dinner table can change rapidly and constantly. Some days there might be a lot of laughter and conversation. On days when little Timmy is grounded or dad had a bad day at work it might be silent and tense. Classroom atmosphere's tend to be more consistent. Once you establish a procedure in a classroom it can get hard to put the genie back in the bottle. A particular empathetic class may behave well if they sense the professor has had a rough day, but it depends on the class. If your class is discussion based like ours it would be very difficult to make it into a lecture based class with minimal participation.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool connection between the power/connection grid and classroom dynamics. I'm wondering about the possibility of having closeness AND a hierarchical set-up in the classroom. My first reaction is that, like you said, discussion-based classes are the best because the students have the ability to frequently participate and drive discussion - similar to what the professor does. But hierarchical classes have their purpose (especially in settings like elementary school where the students are very young and are not ready to lead a productive classroom discussion). They also are pretty common in settings where the students have a LOT of new objective content to learn. Do you think its possible that a hierarchical classroom can lead to closeness for those who enjoy that type of setup? I don't think like this necessarily, but I definitely know people who prefer to learn in a more structured way, with less discussion and more lecturing.
ReplyDeleteI too found the power/connection grid interesting, and I think your redirection of it is great. I never would have thought to apply the grid to other aspects of life but now that you have I feel like I'll constantly be doing it now. As far as your comparison between our class and other classes goes I also agree. Our class is structured in a much more conversational manner which not only allows for multiple points of view to be shared but also, as you mentioned, doesn't put pressure on any one person to speak. There's also no real wrong or right answers in a class like ours which I think contributes to the feeling as well.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you compared the power/connection grid to a classroom setting, I never would have thought of it in that type of way. In my opinion, I thought it was clever comparing a classroom’s structure to family dynamics. It’s all about the way you go about things, and how much you gain out of the situation. I enjoy going to class having an open conversation, not feeling the pressure for the need to respond. I learn a lot more effectively when ideas are being bounced off one another. This can relate to family dynamics in many ways.
ReplyDeleteThe comparison you make, Brian, is fantastic. It's something that I never thought of, but it makes great sense and aids in comprehension of the ideas that you, and others in their posts, have put forth. I also think we can apply the grid to other things in love. What exactly? I can't tell you right now, but it's something to keep in mind.
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