FYS provides CSB/SJU valuable educational benefits

While writing my thesis, working as a TA and during my own education experience at CSB/SJU, I have grown to have a great appreciation for first-year seminar (FYS) and its academic potential.

My thesis examines critical pedagogy in relation to Minneapolis Public Schools; however, critical pedagogy has a lot of potential in higher education as well. While reading numerous books by critical theorists Paulo Freire and Henry A. Giroux, I came to realize that my FYS class was formatted in a way that replicated critical pedagogy and it had a lot of positive effects on my college experience.

What is critical pedagogy? In essence it is a dialogue-centered and democratic classroom environment. I know some of you are probably still confused, so let me tell you what my FYS class looked like.

Each day my FYS professor, Dr. Greg Schroeder, moved all the desks into a circle so we could all see each other. Throughout the year my professor lectured maybe a dozen times and was only there to moderate and ask questions.

Us students were graded on participation, completing the readings and essays.

So what was the result of having a class like this?

First is that my professor turned our classroom into a community. My FYS classmates and I still talk to each other today. We have a Snapchat group and are still in contact with each other.

The second is that it taught us how to participate in class discussions. As a TA, and a student, I see so many students not participate in class discussions, and I can sense some professors are getting frustrated.

Dr. Schroeder taught my classmates and I that our presence and voice in the classroom was valuable. The professor also made an environment where we all felt comfortable to speak while at the same time pushing us to speak.

I came to college with crippling anxiety and was terrified to talk or say anything. It was through this FYS class that I learned my presence in the classroom was valuable and that I had something to bring to the class and so did my classmates.

That is what critical pedagogy is. It is building a classroom community where everyone is on the same level.

Dr. Schroeder sat at a desk like the rest of us and just asked questions and only said anything else if a student asked him a question.

He was a student just like the rest of us, maybe even more so. And participating in this kind of classroom completely shifted how I saw and participated in college for the next four years.

When dialogue is the core method of instruction right away, it sets students up for success in college. With Dr. Schroeder acting as a student himself, it created a democratic environment where we all felt like we were understanding complex issues and questions together while building community.