"One of the most important tasks of critical educational practice is to make possible the conditions in which the learners, in their interaction with one another and with their teachers, engage in the experience of assuming themselves as social, historical, thinking, communicating, transformative, creative persons; dreamers of possible utopias, capable of being angry because of a capacity to love" (45).
It is important in any learning/teaching situation to make everyone feel like they have a right to be there. When people feel like they are lesser than everyone else, it is harder for them to learn; mainly because, even if not in the classroom, they are discouraged from actively thinking. They are told, directly or indirectly, that they are stupid, that other people are better, that they can't do things as good as everyone else. Negative expectations have a great effect on people, whether they show it or not. In a learning situation, negative expectations are extremely dangerous.
At MCCS, these expectations are everywhere. In the short time we spent there last week, I only saw a few things that supported this. The main thing that stood out to me was that there were only a handful of students in the class. In "regular" schools, students are expected to show up to class close to everyday. At MCCS, it seems like a surprise when there is a majority of students on campus. And that's just if they show up, let alone actively participate in class.
I think that in our visit, when we broke into groups, we were able to really connect with the students on the level that this passage talks about. The students were engaged and wanted to be part of the conversations; they wanted to talk about who inspires them; they wanted to know why we put certain things on our projects. Since we had the opportunity to also talk to the students about things we had in common, we were able to start building a sense of community. When one student stood to present, he began with the words "This is my group, and we came up with..." This may not seem like a big deal, but the fact that in such a short time this students had made the connection with the people he was talking with really shows a lot. He felt comfortable with his group; he wanted to be associated with them; he wanted to portray them in the best light he could. (Even if he didn't do all of these things cognitively, they were still present.) We were also able to show that ideas and motivations can be expressed in conversations. It's so easy to learn through talking to people. I love that we have these opportunities.
The other part of this passage that stands out to me is the ending, "dreamers of possibly utopias, capable of being angry because of a capacity to love". This idea stands out to me because to me it's a very basic concept, but it's not this way for everyone. In order to be angry about something you have to have strong feelings for it or about it. Parents will get angry with their children because they care about them and wish for the best for them. When kids put themselves in harms way, or something bad happens to them and their parents get mad, it is probably because the parents love them and want them to be safe. We get angry and upset with the things, people, and situations we care most about.
In City Kids City Schools, in the story Mr. B, Mr. B is able to reach out to his students by having them read things that they can relate to. At one point they are discussing the reading and talking about leaving your past behind you and moving on with life. One students says, "You can't really leave it all behind because whatever happens, it's part of you. You got to deal with it some way" (82). Another students says, "Naw, you got to get up each day and say, 'Here I am world, a brand-new day'" (82). The first student responds, "In your dreams, man. In your dreams it's a brand-new day, but you're waking up in jail - the same old thing and what you did sitting right there with you" (82). These kids can relate to the text because they know how to relate it back to their own lives. They can connect with the characters in the text, and reference their own lives while discussing them. They have a sense of community with each other because of where they are, and they are able to discuss their ideas freely. They are not afraid to refute what others say if they disagree. I think this is something that people in everyday society tend to shy away from. It seems like we don't want to offend anyone by saying the wrong thing or have to defend our own opinions when someone else disagrees. These students are able to speak freely and learn from their conversations.
When you can build a community within a class, you can open the doors to types of discussions and conversations that might never have taken place. When people are confident in their abilities to form, develop, and speak their ideas, we are able to learn on a completely new level. In any learning situation people not only need to be allowed to speak their ideas, they must also want to. The kids in this story are stifled beyond belief in what they are allowed to do everyday, but when it comes to their class room, they are given freedoms that they can't wait to use. We have all these freedoms and them some, yet we still spend so much time in silence.......
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