Jabberwocky Pedagogy
It may not be the easiest phrase to pronounce or understand, but I’ve always been an intentional, meaning-focused educator, and the easiest, quickest path forward is often not the most rewarding one.
I like long backpacking trips in the wilderness, meandering gravel roads, street food in tiny Thai villages, research projects that drive new advances, and films that strike such chords within us that people shift their perspectives.
So what is Jabberwocky Pedagogy?
Jabberwocky is an allusion (a reference to, not something made up imaginatively) to Lewis Carroll’s poem about a boy who ventures into the forest to battle an imaginative creature. The poem is written with mostly “nonsense” words, words that simply did not exist in 1871, when the poem was included in Carroll’s famous novel, Through the Looking Glass. What is cool about the poem is that because it was written in a form and structure that does intuitively make sense to those fluent in English, readers can assemble meaning from the poem. By the end, we somehow can both celebrate our own remarkable understanding of the poem and celebrate the boy’s achievement in his quest.
The poem is a metaphor for undergoing pursuits that may be daunting, confusing, and isolating, but overall WORTH IT. Through diligence and an imaginative approach, the hero can be successful.
Now, what about “pedagogy”? pronounced (ped-uh-goh-jee)
Wikipedia notes that the term “refers to the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners… Pedagogy is often described as the act of teaching.”
For me, the term, “pedagogy” informs the various ways that teaching and learning is carried out in my business practice. It’s a term that has always defined the way I teach.
The word comes from Greece, made its way into the English language like many other Greek words, and has been used to describe teaching methodology for hundreds of years. Pedagogy is most specified through its focus on the connection between the teacher and the student and that the social and psychological needs of the learner should drive the instructional content and approach.
Thus, education should be student focused, individualized, and tuned in to enable both the teacher and the learner to pivot, as needed, as learning evolves.
How lessons should be carried out depends on the way the learner learns, what skills the person needs first and last, and what motivates and can build momentum for the learning journey.
The phrase “Jabberwocky Pedagogy” hints at the togetherness of learning, the need for imaginative play, collective problem solving, critical thinking, and acute awareness of what skills are needed for the specific scenario at hand.
While I certainly have not “seen it all,” I am a skilled educator with decades of experience working with diverse ages and propensities for learning. For those students who struggle to learn, especially in public institutions, where the setting may not suit their learning needs, approaching a scholarly task is equivalent to heading into a dark forest to battle the Jabberwock. I offer tools for these learners and help them align with others who can be alongside them in their quest to learn.
Executive Function Skills can be taught explicitly. When we align explicit instruction with creativity and enthusiasm, lessons are more enjoyable, which helps students show up. When we tune into students, developing lasting authentic relationships, we become the mentors that many students desperately need today.
I’m here to help folks battle their Jabberwocks and delight in the journey.
Parents and caregivers, know that I will be alongside you, too, and that this is a necessary aspect of coaching. I help parents determine systems and structures at home that support kids and result in more ease and joy in your private realm.
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