Poetics of Pedagogy – November Packet

Poetics of Pedagogy

Exploring teaching as an art of timing, attention, and aesthetic resistance

Teaching is an art, and like any art, it requires rhythm, patience, and sensitivity. This month’s packet invites educators to explore pedagogy through poetry, philosophy, and reflective practice—reminding us that teaching is both ephemeral and enduring, precise and improvisational.

1. Kim So-wol – Azaleas (진달래꽃, 1925)

When you go away,
weary of me,
I shall let you go, saying nothing.
I will scatter armfuls of azaleas
on your way,
step by step,
as you walk away.
Tread gently on those flowers
on your way out.
When you go away,
weary of me,
I shall never shed a tear.

Guiding Question:
How does this poem speak to timing and letting go in teaching?

Reflection Prompt:
What parallels can we draw between the cycles of students coming and going and the tenderness in this poem?

2. Ko Un – from Ten Thousand Lives (만인보, 1980s–2000s)

Mr. Pak the ferryman
He rowed his boat every day,
taking people across the river.
No one remembers
how many crossings he made.
I remember.
He ferried me too,
one rainy evening.

Guiding Question:
What does Ko Un’s attention to ordinary people suggest about pedagogy as recognition?

Reflection Prompt:
If each student is “a crossing,” how does teaching become the art of remembering many lives, briefly encountered?

3. bell hooks – Teaching to Transgress (Ch. 2: “A Revolution of Values”)

“To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin. There is no aspect of the teacher–student relationship that should not be informed by a mutual willingness to respect, to listen, to respond.”

Guiding Question:
How does hooks redefine teaching as an art of care and resistance to mechanistic education?

Reflection Prompt:
What resonates for you between hooks’ vision of teaching and the voices of So-wol and Ko Un?

Activity: Calligraphy Practice

Select one key phrase from each text to practice in Korean or English:

  • “I shall let you go”

  • “He ferried me too”

  • “Respect and care”

Focus on:

  • Timing – stroke by stroke

  • Attention – ink, pressure, breath

  • Resistance – allowing imperfection, slowing down

Reflection Prompt

What is your teaching voice shaped by?

  • Is it fleeting, like blossoms?

  • Multiplying, like countless crossings?

  • Rooted in care, as hooks insists?

What trace does your teaching voice leave behind?

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