Chapter 5: Facing Life’s Crises as an Educator: The Blind Leading the Sighted

Cover of "Inclusive Pedagogy in Practice: Perspectives from Equity-Minded College Educators" includes a green Elon University Center for Engaged Learning tag in the top right corner and a green footer that reads "Open Access Book Series". Background image is of an abstract watercolor painting with indigo, greens, and yellows.

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doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa9

ISBN: 978-1-951414-17-7

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ISBN: 978-1-951414-16-0

Tiffiny Sia

In this chapter, Tiffiny Sia discusses the connections between her personal story and her professional approach to motivating students. She shares her experience going from a sighted college freshman to a blind college professor. Sia provides a fresh set of ideas and strategies for educators thinking about how instructors and students alike can face life’s curveballs, dips in motivation, and crises. She discusses catastrophic thinking, misconceptions, and mindset, demonstrating her commitment to the idea that instructors can impact students’ lives in lasting and positive ways. The author connects her personal story with her professional approach to helping students succeed.   

Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa9.5

Discussion Questions

  1. This chapter opens with two techniques for getting students to correct misconceptions and connect with prior knowledge of material: “Expanding on an Exemplar” and “Imagine & Correct.” How might these techniques apply to your field? 
  2. Sia writes about her experience pre-diagnosis as a student who did not have the language to understand her behaviors or articulate her needs. Did this story remind you of any students from your teaching experiences?
  3. Sia describes her strategies for hearing from a diverse range of students in her classes, including students who may not proactively speak up during a Q&A. What strategies do you use for that purpose? Which new strategies for hearing from a diverse range of students can you commit to trying?
  4. This chapter identifies several unhelpful mindsets: “passivity or learned helplessness,” “a detrimental combination of distrust and apathy,” “the thoughts that lead nowhere good,” and “catastrophic thinking.” Which of these mindsets remind you of your own experiences, your observations of your students, or both? What questions, prompts, and exercises, from this chapter or from your own experience, can you use with your students to explore new ways to deal with challenges?