Teaching Beyond the Curriculum

Abstract

Charles Sanders Peirce, arguably America’s preeminent pragmatist philosopher, decribed a “community of interpreters.” Such a community shares habits of thinking, which is the the foundation of social being. We do not think alone; we think together—even if we disagree. This is because even if we disagree, we are participating in a mode of semiotic behavior, and semiotic behavior is by definition shared. The “community of interpreters” differs from any community whatsoever through its ability to reflect on its habits. In this way such communities equip themselves to alter their social arrangements. This paper takes up Peirce’s semiotic in order to demonstrate how teaching can cultivate communities of interpreters and present the advantages of such an approach. To do so, the paper introduces Peirce’s “sheet of assertion” (e.g., whiteboard, butcher paper, smart canvas, etc., in current instructional practice) as a pedagogical technique for cultivating shared habits of thinking and doing. Through examples drawn from classes in media history and theory as well as development of community-based technology projects, I show how application of a Peircean logic creates actionable possibilities for ethical, responsive pedagogy in the 21st century. How we teach now—whether in person or online—benefits from insights presented by Charles Sanders Peirce.