I must constantly endeavor to look for the invisible as well as the visible.  I must examine my actions for even the most minute influence. Maybe all i need to do is shift my focus just a little, and i will see in a whole new way.  In a world where i am more and more likely to come in contact with people who have different experiences from mine, it becomes more urgent that i become aware of the impact of my actions and more urgent that i become better at shifting my focus in order to understand.

For me, critical and feminist theories encourage me to go beyond the evident and to look for what else is there.  If you would like to see how some Americans are endeavoring to learn about folks from another culture instead of just accepting media stories about these folks, visit the website for Voices in the Wilderness at http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/

In classrooms, I must be patient enough to examine the impact of my actions, my assignments, all of  my pedagogy. In our conference presentation, "Critical educational and reflective thinking in Educational  Psychology,"  at the Midwest Association of Teachers of Educational Psychology, my colleague Doug Cooper and i reflected upon what educators might be missing if we don't take a more critical stance in examining our practice.