Pedagogy of humility?

I tried to argue in last class that one of the main obstacles to schools becoming educational institutions, is their reliance on the false dichotomy of teachers and students. Should students only learn in school, and should teachers only teach in schools? Is it reasonable to organize schools with such prescribed roles and responsibilities? Would schools be more educational if students where given increased responsibility for their own learning and that of their peers? Why not teach students how to teach? Why has the strong evidence supporting peer counseling and tutoring been largely ignored in organizational and programmatic reform in schools since the origin of compulsory public schooling? Why has the rich research evidence that strongly suggests students most often learn more effectively and efficiently(less resistance to learning) from the instruction of and discussion with peers than they do from their classroom teacher, which has been acknowledged by so many main stream researchers and educators, so widely ignored in so many of our schools? In my own practice, I acknowledge that whatever success I have had as an educator is founded upon my recognition that it takes a "classroom" community to learn. By classroom community, I mean a collective of diverse people sharing some common goals, and accepting shared responsibility for learning and supporting one another through discussion, cooperative work and study inside and outside of class. My approach to teaching, is to recognize the agency, expertise, and abilities of my co-teachers (students). This is not to say that I am not a leader or authority in the classroom, it is just that I accept that I am not the only leader or authority in the classroom? I acknowledge my tendency/weakness for being bombastic and pedantic, and for enjoying the sound of my own voice while I lecture (I do contend that lectures can be critical and meaningful learning opportunities for students and teachers), my respect for my students and their experiences is a powerful check on my class becoming a cult of personality, as so many classrooms in schools and the academy become.I participated in a recent three year national SSHRC study which investigated teacher and administrators conceptions of student "at riskness,"and programs and approaches to working with youth identified as "at risk," which confirmed and strengthened my belief in the possibility of blurring the roles in schools.The following is an short excerpt from a report (Price & Portelli et.al,2005)I co-wrote for a large urban school board after an intensive series of observations, student, teacher, and administrator interviews, and surveys.In the quantity of favourable educator and student interview responses the Peer Tutoring Program was clearly recognized as the program that was considered extremely important for “at risk” students. Further, in quality the educators' and students' responses exploring the importance and effectiveness of the peer tutoring program were the most enthusiastic and detailed in regards to what the school is doing that works. The program was recognized for filling “gaps” in ESL, LD, and counseling support for a wide range of students. The program is described by both educators and students as being of a high quality, with a meaningful training curriculum, intensive faculty monitoring/tracking and evaluation system in place. Both student participants and “recipients” speak highly of the program and describe benefits they receive from the program in salutary terms. Participants, who are often students who have experienced academic difficulty, and were identified by participating educators as “at risk” of academic failure” describe in rich detail how the program has given them insight into the learning process, added motivation, and self esteem. They talk of feeling proud of their tutees, and the relationships that they have built. Teacher evaluations of the program which are completed for all participants during each report card period are overwhelmingly supportive and positive.During the three years we worked in this school our research team had to intervene in the middle of the project at the level of the school and the board to preserve this meaningful and successful program. At the conclusion of the project the program was eliminated, and the teacher responsible for creating and monitoring the program transfered out. Students as Teachers:why not?