On this week’s episode, Dr. Thia Wolf shares about public sphere pedagogy.

Thia is a Professor of English and Director of the First-Year Experience Program at California State University, Chico, where she has worked since 1989. Prior to her appointment in the FYE program, she coordinated a variety of writing programs, including the first-year composition program and the writing across the disciplines program.  Since 2006, she has been collaborating with faculty in several disciplines to embed public dimensions in first-year classes. Her publications have focused on collaborative learning and on public sphere pedagogy. More

Students need to have an experience when they come to college that … gives them a sense that education is for the rest of their lives, it’s to help them do things in the world.

I noticed that the curriculum of first year students looks a lot like the curriculum in high school … I would say that it sends the “Not ready for prime time” message.

When [students] go public with their work, they have to stand by it, and really remarkable things happen.

We don’t give students opportunities to experience and reflect on how the curriculum is part of them and how they are affecting it.