The Skillful Teacher

particular learning tasks might be accomplished. In my own case I
will not negotiate the teaching of critical thinking—that’s why I’m
in the classroom. But I will negotiate how students demonstrate
such thinking if the assignments I have set are dissonant with their
learning styles, personalities, or cultural formation.
Adopting some of the classroom assessment techniques discussed
in Chapter Three is one important way to demonstrate responsive-
ness. In my own teaching the CIQ has been crucial in this regard.
Each week it provides a running commentary on how students are
experiencing their learning and my teaching using words and exam-
ples that spring from students’ own experiences. In class, or online, I
can talk out loud my reactions to these publicly disseminated student
comments, say how they’ve challenged or confirmed my assumptions
about the best ways to teach the class, discuss any discrepancies that
seem to be emerging between what I expect of learners and what they
think I expect of them, and generally show that I take their opinions
seriously enough to solicit them in the first place and then respond
publicly to them.