Anytime anyone asks me how the class I am teaching is going, I find that I often that my response is often a confused explanation. I usually explain that the class that I'm teaching only meets once a week and only for 2 hours. I find that the communication with my students is very limited outside of our weekly two hour discussion. I have office hours, yet no one ever comes. The only emails I receive from my students are to excuse their absence. During class, it is always the same students that continually engage with the material and the same students that sit quietly observing. I want to know what they are all thinking about the discussion, about the readings, and about the class. (I decided that the next time I teach, I NEED to have a blog set up so that there can at least be the option of having a forum available for students to participate, if they choose to, that is separate from the classroom setting). I find that I ask a lot of questions about the format of the class, how they are progressing with their work and if our class discussions are helpful. I value their opinion and I want them to "get something" out our two hours a week. They usually all nod and agree that they "like it." They don't challenge me, at all.
Very rarely will students question the readings or points of discussion (like when they briefly doubted Edén Torres' ability to speak of her experiences as a woman of color professor) but when they do, it is in such a polite manner that I feel that they are often masking what they really feel. I am a firm believer that it is in those moments of contention or disagreement that the most important and life changing learning happens, so when I ask more direct questions to get the students thinking about their readings of the text, they usually back down or stay quiet. You know when you read something that makes you think about things you may have not thought of before, and your think (or write in the margins), "Well what about this? What about that?" and you're left with nothing? This is what I often feel on Monday nights. I know that we are talking about deep stuff, complex issues; gender and sexuality, race, class, etc, but I cant help but wonder if the reason they do not engage is because they don't find it worthy of delving deeper. Could it be that they do not appreciate or value Chicana feminist theory and scholarship. I ask questions that I hope encourages them to think critically about their questions and/or their readings to elicit, what they seem to be hinting to...but instead, they shut down. I have to say that being that there is only one student who self identifies as Chicana and one student who self identifies as Latino, I can understand their initial hesitation of not wanting to speak generally about the concepts we are discussing. But what does it mean for the other 18 students who sit in the class (many of which are majoring in Chicano Studies) to just read the text and not have thoughts or reflections on what it all means. I mean, they may not be Chicana/os Latina/os, but they chose to be in the class for a reason...I always wonder, did they think it would be an easy A? Do they value the Chicana feminists we are reading who are theorizing from the body, using testimonio and personal narrative? Do they view this as worthy of critical thought? I guess what I am find myself grappling with is, as an Chicana instructor, the subject I am "teaching" is very close to me. I am invested in it on a very personal level. When my students don't say much or don't even seem to have an opinion on what we are reading, I begin to feel self-conscious. Why don't they love it? Is it that they are amazed to the point of silence by the powerful words of Anzaldúa and Moraga? Do the readings facilitate a reflection of their social location? When bell hooks talks about Freire's "conscientization" she translates this as a "critical awareness and engagement." Although Chicana feminist scholarship and Chicana/o Latina/o gender and sexuality speaks to a particular community, this community is situated in relation to the rest of the world. How can I as an instructor create a space that allows for critical awareness and engagement when we all seem to be seated at opposite ends of the table? Is there always an "interconnectedness" that occurs for students and teachers? What is at stake when students feel that they are "distant" from the subject(s)?
This is a very small response to one of your many very big questions (which I admire you for putting out there). I would try very very hard not to assume that the lack of talking means that the students are not questioning or engaging with the material. There could be tons of other reasons they are not talking. In my own teaching, I have found that what feels like a long pause to me isn't really, and the problem was that the students didn't have enough time to formulate and then share their thoughts before I started talking again (usually trying to change tacks to get them talking!). I only figured this out when one of my students very helpfully yelled out from the back "we haven't finished reading it yet! that's all" after I remarked on their lack of response.
Another possibility is that they are feeling challenged and that what they are reading and hearing is difficult. People often react to that by pretending to tune out or disengage to protect themselves--in which case you are making a big impact. Do you think it could be any of these things?
"I mean, they may not be Chicana/os Latina/os, but they chose to be in the class for a reason"
I agree with Meg's second paragraph...
My guess is that for some students, this experience is akin to the white professor choosing to not only INCLUDE material by woman of color on their syllabus, but to also critically ENGAGE with it (this is an example I've been thinking a lot about, because I think I can see myself in it... and I also see my (younger?) self in your example here). To simply BE in a class that focuses on people of color is not nearly as difficult or as challenging (or as rewarding!) as critically engaging with it. but as bell hooks states so clearly, this engagement also forces students and professors of privilege to examine their own privilege, their own implication within that text.
I took an undergrad course on race and ethnicity in the u.s. taught by a woman of color in a probably 70% white classroom. she always did a lot of almost silly activities, things to get us out of our seats and get us moving. i think these activities made us all feel more comfortable in this potentially tense setting.
She also spent a lot of time assuring students that unlearning racism is a life-long process that does not only apply to white people. It's pretty unfortunate that she had to go to such great lengths to create a more open space, but I am grateful to her for it.