Week 3: Presuming Competence vs. Assuming Knowledge

There is a big difference between presuming that someone (in this case someone nonverbal) is competent, and the good teaching practice of not assuming that students know everything. When 'they' recommend that we not presume student knowledge, that is not the same as not assuming competence. Even when we assume that our students don't know 'anything', that generally just means that we aren't assuming that they have knowledge of the content or concept we intend to teach. We are still assuming that they are capable of learning, communicating, and reacting in appropriate and socially acceptable ways. As soon as we are confronted with a non-verbal student, however, those presumptions become shaky. Until recently a person who could not communicate in an accepted way, i.e. by talking or, to a lesser degree, using ASL, was presumed to be stupid. The end. The notion of presuming competence is nothing more or less than showing those who struggle to communicate in a way we understand the respect of assuming that that is just because we haven't learned their 'language' yet.