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1882
Volume 38, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0890-2917
  • E-ISSN: 2031-0242

Abstract

Abstract

This essay is a product of my own passion for teaching (a poem traditionally seen as inaccessible) to community college students, an often-overlooked demographic that is rarely exposed to the rich fields of medieval literature and history. After outlining the importance of finding value in the inevitable ‘failures’ and uncertainty of scholarly work and connecting this process to , I trace out the conflicting value systems that have long structured the post-secondary education system: the vocational and liberal arts models of education. I explore ways in which itself and our modes of teaching it can bridge the gap between these models and help us to reconsider what is valuable in our own labour as instructors. Furthermore, careful attention to these issues can also aid us in teaching our students to value their own scholarly labour and begin to trust their own abilities to navigate challenging texts — and to reap the rewards of doing so. The last section of the essay offers practical steps toward integrating into the community college teaching environment in a way that is pleasurable and rewarding. Ultimately, I argue that should be considered an open, accessible poem that speaks to the struggles most of us experience. We are all ‘Piers people’.

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/content/journals/10.1484/J.YLS.5.143541
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): education; failure; labour; Pedagogy
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