Post 5: What Can be Learned from CTIN 290
Something Freire emphasizes in Pedagogy of the Oppressed is the importance of a student-teacher relationship where the teacher is willing to learn from the students as well. It’s the first step in breaking down the teacher knows all, student knows nothing power dynamic which enables the oppression of marginalized groups.
“Education must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students.” (Freire 72)
Initially learning about this ideal pedagogy, it seemed like such a foreign concept. I’m so used to school being about meeting requirements, following rubrics, and doing whatever it takes to get the high grade. Up until recently, teachers have determined who I am and what I should aspire to be. Reading about and seeing the effects of such control, I see the importance of learning environments where students can advocate for themselves and bring new ideas to the table.
I didn’t realize it right away, but I have a class this semester which is pretty close to this “raison d’etre of libertarian education”. CTIN 290 Digital Media Workshop taught by Peter Brinson. It’s a course all freshmen in Interactive Entertainment take in the spring semester where we study video production, creative processes, and how other media applies to game design. Our classes involve many discussions, especially pertaining to the generational differences between the professor and his students.
From the outside, it’s very bizarre. Peter teaches us about film and media, and we teach him about memes, anime, and weird internet kinks. Now I know that isn’t exactly what Freire had in mind, but I swear there’s more to this than a bunch of teens explaining this video to a well intentioned professor:
The other week, we had to create a video with the prompt: explain memes to aliens. During in-class critiques, Peter quickly realized that our approach to humor is vastly different from his. He even explicitly announced he learned a lot that day about Gen Z culture. My peer’s approach to these assignments are pretty nontraditional, yet Peter knows his role isn’t to tell us that’s wrong. He gives us feedback based on our video editing, pacing, and tone, but almost never on the content itself. The grades are purely based on participation too, meaning us students genuinely feel encouraged to create, experiment, and develop more personal pieces.
The other day I sat down with Peter to talk about his approach to teaching. I wanted to understand his pedagogical philosophy, and further how such a teaching style is beneficial to higher education. While I regrettably didn’t record our discussion, here are some of the main points I’d like to highlight:
- He already has the confidence that his students are ambitious and competent.
We’re accustomed to deadlines, and our competence as students has already been proven by the fact we’re attending such an elite program. He notices how in a creative field such as games, students already create pressure and drive by comparing themselves to others. To emphasize grades and sticking to strict rubrics adds only more pressure, while simultaneously putting restrictions on the type of media we should/shouldn’t create.
2. Higher education is about discovering new kinds of ideas
In some areas like the sciences, getting to new things requires more foundational knowledge. Students often objectively know less and need more groundwork before effectively contributing to their fields. However once the basics are covered, we should be encouraged to make new things — meaning we shouldn’t just follow our mentors. Some amount of general education is required to navigate the world and find specialties outside one’s niche too. It’s a whole other discourse to explore what topics are necessary and can be objectified, but the big idea here is that new things won’t be created by following the structures which have already been established and used.
3. Peter, and by extension the majority of USC Games faculty, don’t have a formal background in education
Up until recently, I held the belief that having teachers trained in teaching is very important. And while I still somewhat believe that (especially as it applies to primary education and younger children), I’m starting to understand why non-traditional teachers are beneficial. Teachers are often trained to uphold the institutionalized barriers that restrict education. Even teachers with good intentions can inadvertently oppress students just by following the status quo. In an imbalanced and harmful system where marginalized students are continuously oppressed, it takes someone outside of the system to start making a change.
4. Education and game design are the same thing
In his words, both are just “getting people to understand a system and narrative”. Teachers and game designers both operate with the motive: how do you present things so that people will learn them? I think this ties in with the previous point. Perhaps his classroom success comes from having experience in game design, not a background in institutionalized academia.
I want to acknowledge again that these philosophies are best applied in a higher education environment where students have chosen their specific field of study. It’s easier given the expectation that students want to be there and that they want to learn. Similarly, higher education is more likely to bring in professors who have less formal education training, encouraging their students to think beyond the classroom space. Unfortunately tying progressive learning to college makes this kind of education inaccessible to many — an issue that is important to recognize but outside the scope of this post.
CTIN 290 is evidence that when school is taken out of the equation, learning can thrive. Peter doesn’t train his students to succeed in game design school. He teaches us the tools which we use to become better game designers. It’s a class that doesn’t have the predisposition for what a traditional educational course should be, and as a result our classroom space is constructive and meaningful.
The key in all of this is trust. Coming from such a rigid academic environment, Peter establishes trust between himself and his students through open dialogue, respect, and a willingness to learn. He wants to understand us and our motivations just as much as we want to understand what he’s teaching. This equilibrium of want is something I haven’t seen much in my traditional academic upbringing, but is incredibly important for students to truly express themselves and grow. Creative outsider perspectives are needed to start reforming education, even when it manifests in ridiculous fifteen minute discussions on the significance of anime girls in meme culture.
