2019 Teach Talks @ Williams Libraries

Teach Talks @ Williams Libraries

 

Card Games, #critlib, and Cake: Play as Critical Pedagogy in the Library Classroom

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Williams College
Schow Science Library

 

Many discussions of critical and feminist pedagogies are largely theoretical. It is a serious topic, with serious implications. But who is to say that we can't have a little fun now and then? By connecting these theories with playful approaches to pedagogy we can find ways to invoke the youth of our students, uncover implicit understandings, and leverage prior knowledge and innate skepticism with new modes of inquiry. We provide space for discovery, reflection, and metacognition by disrupting expectations of the library classroom experience. It isn’t as simple as child’s play, however. Upending our traditional instructional framework in this way requires lots of planning, preparation, creativity, and most importantly a willingness to fail.