Crossing Pedagogical Borders in the Yucatan Peninsula

Abstract

A challenging intercultural teaching experience provided an opportunity for engaging embodied pedagogies that facilitated border crossings of language, age, gender, and experience. Influenced by the work of Augusto Boal, the author describes how improvisation, role-play, music, and drawing led seminary students in Mexico into sacred time and space toward relevant learning. Drawing upon the critical pedagogy of several educators yields implications for teaching theology and religion. The essay also invites readers into dialogue about how such border crossings can benefit their own teaching.I begin this article by inviting you to remember a specific occasion when you have crossed borders (literal and metaphorical) in your teaching. This might mean entering into unexplored subject matter, trying a new strategy, or teaching out of your usual context. Pedagogical borders are also differences that teach; differences that we cannot pretend do not exist. The borders can either teach fear and suspicion or an openness and respect that liberates and transforms. Keep this in mind while reading this analysis of my own experience. I will return with questions for you to reflect upon, on how crossing pedagogical borders enhances your teaching as well as theological education and religious studies.With increased global connections in higher education, many professors have opportunities to teach in countries and cultures other than their own. There have been a few forums for educators to process and share their learnings, and I will note some resulting insights (Kennedy 1993;Wimberly 2004). My experience is that theology mostly neglects addressing issues involved in teaching in diverse cultural contexts. I believe that theological reflection on pedagogy that crosses and softens boundaries will change our teaching. A particular teaching experience I had in Merida, Mexico led me to adopt and continue to develop a border pedagogy. "Border pedagogy" is a term associated with Henry Giroux, a leading proponent of radical, critical models of education (Giroux 1992). I will further explicate his border pedagogy as it relates to my teaching experience in Mexico, but first, here is some background.