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Theater of the Oppressed Workshop Week & Final
Theater of the Oppressed Workshop Week & Final "Exam"
Reflection: Instructor Rationale
What is the Theater of the Oppressed (TO)?
Prep, Performance, and Pondering
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Prep, Performance, and Pondering

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Reflection: Instructor Rationale

The two new learning activities I am implementing with this new approach are:
1. real time and collaborative application of knowledge to improve communication (Day 2)
and
2. deep reflection on how the things they have learned about interpersonal communication and evaluation of the the usefulness of this knowledge (Day 3)
These two activities support the learning outcomes of Interpersonal Communication courses at CCCS and the outcomes for this exercise as I shift the students focus in the following ways:
Shifting Focus
0
Exam Goals
TO Goals
1
Recall
Engagement
2
1 right answer
Many “right answers’
3
Valuable knowledge determined by instructor
Students determine which knowledge matters most
4
Definitional work
Critical thinking
5
Knowledge is fixed
Knowledge is fluid
There are no rows in this table
⁠
May reason for adopting this new exercise was to shape my classroom around the truth that there are many different backgrounds and perspectives in my classroom and that knowledge unfolds differently based on your experiences (
UNC
⁠
&
Funds of Knowledge
⁠
).
I am also trying to give voice to all thoughts in the classroom by giving students the resources they need to prepare their comments before coming to class as well as offering different modes of engagement (oral or written)(
UNC
⁠
).
Day three in particular will be centered on the think-pair-share model where students have time to free write—discuss in a small group—and then report back to the class as a whole (
Why We’re “Speaking Up” About Inclusive Teaching Strategies
⁠
). This allows all students to share their perspectives by setting them up with ideas to share in a comfortable setting of peers where everyone can talk. Slowly zooming out from each individual experience will build a stronger discussion.
In making these value shifts by moving from an exam to a Theater of the Oppressed workshop, I am deliberately working to change what constitutes knowledge, whose knowledge matters, and the reason for learning. After trying this new approach out this semester in our final weeks together, it may even be worth moving this activity.

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