Full Description
Combines theory and practice to inspire teachers to embrace a sense of surprise in their classrooms.
What would your classroom be like if you could see it as something surprising, novel, and fresh in every moment? What are the unique gifts that students and teachers alike bring to classrooms? Through a combination of robust theory, in-depth scholarship, and practical exercises for teachers, A Pedagogy of Surprise is a vital resource that allows teachers to explore how they can bring a sense of wonder, surprise, and gratitude into their experiences of the classroom. It will delight and inspire anyone with an interest in using contemplation, mindfulness, and reflection to enhance teacher wellness. Topics include how a phenomenology of surprise can inform and enhance the teaching and curricular experience, the gift economy as applied to the classroom, the meaning and scope of gratitude practices in curricular settings, and applications of surprise, gifts, and gratitude to teaching. The final chapter includes inspiring visualizations that teachers of any grade can apply to feel more gifted, surprised, and connected within their classroom milieu.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Surprise
1. Making Room for Surprise in the Classroom
2. Teaching with Surprise
3. The Four Pillars of Surprise
Part II: Gifts and Gratitude
4. The Gift Paradigm
5. Why Gratitude?
6. The Tragic Side of Gratitude
7. Four Gratitude-Based Metaphors
Part III: Applications in Teaching and the Classroom
8. The Grateful Teacher: Exploring a Gifted Orientation in Classrooms
9. Six "Gift Aporias": Core Conundrums in the Practice of Gratitude and the Gift in the Classroom
10. Gift-Based Visualizations
References
Index
