For Freire, education is crucial to our participation in the struggle for social justice. The way he talks about the process of education, and the reciprocal relationship between teacher and learner, can be applied both literally and conceptually to all our relationships. We are all both teachers and students. Meaning, when he writes “teachers” or “teaching” we can think “human beings” and “being".
Please bear in mind as you read - this is philosophical writing and a translation. “Correct” and “right” are used philosophically to mean what is intrinsically right or correct in terms of our humanity.
Critical reflection is about connecting the ideas/thinking with the doing and then using the reflection to impact and expand the ways that we do what we do—thinking and doing transform each other.
Thus, Freire writes that “without a correct way of thinking, there can be no critical practice" and “words not given body (made flesh) have little or no value. Right thinking is right doing” (39).
Lynn and I invite you to critically reflect on one or more of the following ideas in relation to our first Friday class with the MCCS students:
“Proper to right thinking is the willingness to risk, to welcome the new, which cannot be rejected simply because it is new no more than the old can be rejected because chronologically it is no longer new. . .”(41).
The ways in which "right thinking" that leads to "right" action encompasses the need to "reject decidedly any every form of discrimination. Preconceptions of race, class, or sex offend the essence of human dignity and constitute radical negation of democracy" (41).
The relationship between the anger/hunger/passion that can feed and drive the struggle against injustice and our ability to equally open ourselves to giving and receiving love: “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 possibly utopias, capable of being angry because of a capacity to love” (45)
As you form and describe relations between the readings and our initial meeting with MCCS students, consider what you noticed in terms of your own social, emotional, and/or physical engagement. Please also include at least one other quote from your reading of Freire and of course any points from the readings in City Kids, City Schools that help you to understand Freire.
Brittany Philpot
ReplyDeleteKnowledge and Beyond
“…to teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production or construction of knowledge”(30). This quote stood out to me while reading because teaching nowadays seems to be focused on just giving the facts and not applying these facts to daily life. It is important to know the facts when learning but also to know how to use them to your advantage. Learning can be done in many different ways but, if you do not know why memorizing these facts that are just being told to you then there is no interest in ever using them in the future. Freire demonstrates how as a community we must think critically and use it to be a part of society to improve it and have a say in how things are done instead of being people who just recite facts and repeat what we heard from our teachers.
During the first meeting with the MCCS students, it was awkward at first to be in a situation normally I would not be in. I did not want to judge the students based on what I had heard from other people because they are just people like me. While showing them the projects we had worked on they seemed pretty interested in what we felt was worth waking up for. When asking them if they had any ideas in what they would wake up for it was similar to the same things I thought were important. Even though as people we all have our differences there still are many similarities that we share together. I really enjoyed talking to the MCCS students and getting to know what they enjoyed and being able to share with them my ideas and comparing it to what they would have done.
In City Kids, City Schools, The story of “Mr. B, “ was interesting because he cared for his students even though they were in a Juvenile Temporary Detention Center School. I’m sure most teachers in that situation would not put that must effort into trying to teach these students but he really shows them that he does want them to learn and get some work done. This kind of support to me is a good message to send these students because even though they are in this type of school they can still work hard and become people who work hard and get a job to better them.
First visit to MCCS
ReplyDeleteBefore we went to MCCS on Friday I asked some of my friends how their experience at the school was. I am not going to lie, the descriptions they told me were kind of making me nervous. Some of them were anxious about going and didn’t really like anything about it. I simply kept reminding myself that they are high school students nothing more, nothing less. I was never intimidated by any other high school students so why these? As we stepped on campus and heard the first few reactions of the students that made me laugh. It really reminded me of the kids I work with at a low-income summer camp back home. I have been working there for three years already and really just love everything about it expect the pay. So I instantly felt relieved and knew I was going to be fine.
After getting over my 5 minutes of being uncomfortable I started to get excited to meet the kids. I expected them to need that push and maybe a little more determination to get the work done, but they proved me wrong. Both the young boys in my group were already planning when and where they were going to be transferring. They really taught me even more about how to keep an open mind. I have been taught to not judge a book by its cover or not judge someone until you meet him or her for yourself but this teaching got practiced when I stepped into this situation. Freire says, “Critical reflection on practice is a requirement of the relationship between theory and practice” (30). This stood out to me because without this reflection I may not have realized all that the kids taught me in just one visit. They broke the expectations I had for them and completely reminded me that I still have a lot to learn. Freire goes deeper into this thought of how we all learn from each other and practicing our education in real situations. After this experience it really makes sense. Because we can be taught hundreds of wonderful values in our ethics or religion classes but without experiencing and reflecting on what we have done we will not really learn from it.
Robin Goldschmidt
ReplyDeleteSeptember 18, 2011
CLQ: Thinking for Change
Blog Response 4
Many of things Paolo Freire states in The Pedagogy of Freedom I think are very important to education and how it should be established. The biggest aspect I agree with him on is the idea of how tightly linked the teacher and the learner are. Everyday people take part in teaching/learning no matter of position, age, race, or gender. I believe this is such a close link because I have seen this in the classroom or want to see this in the classroom. In the past I have seen that the material I was able to understand the best was the one that I was able to teach to others. Conversely, I have also noticed that the material I just tried to absorb and not understand, I was never fully able to grasp. I believe the statement made by Paolo Freire, “Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and who ever learns teaches in the act of learning” (31). In order to fully understand a subject one has to be able to learn the subjects and then be able to teach and discuss them with your peers. He also mentions that it is the right or correct thing to do, to teach only if you fully understand the subject instead of reiterating it verbatim to the main source. In most schools around the country you can see teaching is based more on having the students remember the answers and facts and not on the way the answer was reached. Also, emphasis is placed on conveying messages without fully understanding them. However, in order to learn and grasp aspects fully one needs to fully understand the subject to the point that they could inform others on this subject. When we went to the MCCS school I kind of got the feeling that much of the learning was done by having the students learn a certain aspect and then conveying the message in front of class to the other students. It seems like it would make them more confident and able to speak in front of a crowd and give them a greater understanding of the aspects trying to be taught. Another interesting thing stated by Paolo Freire is the aspect of, “Critical reflection on practice is a requirement of the relationship between theory and practice. Otherwise theory becomes simply blah, blah, blah and practice, pure activism” (30). So, basically in order to fully understand a subject trying to be conveyed one needs to understand how it’s done and how it had been reached. The idea of right thinking also was resonated with me, as it is important to think about things in a humanitarian way, and how it can best benefit other humans. This is also an important aspect to add to education as things should be learned that can be lead to benefits and help other humans in the process. What I noticed when we were at MCCS is many of the students did not think that education was very important or liked to listen to others talk to them. However, it seemed like there were some that knew this was their last chance to receive an education and diploma, so they were trying to learn and then hopefully teach others the importance of acquiring an education.
John Sansone
ReplyDeleteThinking For Change
Reflection 4
9/21/11
“Critical reflection on practice is a requirement of the relationship between theory and practice. Otherwise theory becomes simply “blah, blah, blah,” and practice, pure activism” (30). While reading Paulo Freire’s, Pedagogy of Freedom I was particularly struck by this quotation because it made me think about both the textual context and the students at MCCS. Freire makes a great point because it is true without understanding both theory and practice one cannot fully engage in the practice therefore it means nothing. When I first got to the MCCS campus I just took a deep breath and said there is nothing to be worried about we are all students and teenagers. Keeping this in mind I had no problems interacting socially with any of the students. I understood however that many of the kids would have rough exteriors therefore trying to act tough and be intimidating. This only was a front that I felt I could breakdown and truly get to know the individual behind the rough exterior. During the first break I took my chance to try and talk to some of the boys who were speaking Spanish. Before I asked them a question they were talking amongst one another in Spanish which I know quite well because my first language was Italian growing up. Italian and Spanish are almost identical for me this allowed me to understand their conversation, which can be summed up in one word “violent.” I then asked the one of the boys “how do you guys like MCCS?” He quickly replied, “Shit well t ain’t paradise that’s for sure.” I thought the best way to get an honest answer from any of the guys would be to be as real as possible and don’t be scared to ask anything. By doing this it showed I wasn’t afraid of them and it illustrated how I felt comfortable around them. Therefore in relation to the first quotation I believe that for the MCCS students to get engaged and excited about school, teachers must instructor them how to grasp both theory and practice. If this is not done correctly they will simply lose interest and go back to their bad habits. Instead if we take the time to give examples that are practical to them they can interpret the goals we uphold for them in order to leave MCCS one day. “When we live our lives with the authenticity demanded by the practice of teaching that is also learning and learning that is also teaching, we are participating in a total experience that is simultaneously directive, political, ideological, gnostic, pedagogical, aesthetic, and ethical” (32). Paulo Freire stresses that everyone is a teacher and a student because we are all continuously learning new techniques and information everyday. I think that this quote describes how being true to ourselves can lead to great things because we are acting out on our own personal convictions and ideas. When we are being authentic those around us take notice and we en up being a good example. Through originality we are able to teach and learn with our peers because there are no barriers instead all ideas and everyone who is willing to learn are accepted. When this takes place in the classroom both the student and teacher are learning through one another in a bueatiful cycle that can be disrupted. Therefore when this total experience is taking place students can get inspired to exceed in the classroom and take the information they learned and go out and teach it to others. I am very excited to be working with the MCCS students because Friday truly defined for me what service learning means and how we can really make a difference in our community. Thinking and using our imagination for change through demonstrating non-violence and exploring the arts we can hopefully turn a negative situation into a positive one this semester.
Teach not Tell
ReplyDeleteIn the CKCS Mr B is an example of an ideal teacher in city schools. "Mr.B strikes a neat balance between nurturance and challenge…He settles on his knee beside him one arm around the back of Ito's chair the other on his desk. He envelopes Ito, leans close and listens." (p. 30) From his interactions with the students to his body language and presence, everything about him reveals a sense of sympathy, caring and genuineness towards the students as if they were his own kids. At this moment Mr. B brings himself down to Ito's level and gives him all his attention. He didn't stand in an authoritative position, he wasn't distracted by other students, and he didn't lack being "present". Sometimes kids just need someone like Mr. B who shows love and the willingness to listen. Mr. B throughout his class encourages, empowers and enables the students to think out loud and independently.
I think in the U.S we are so caught up with our busy schedules we forget about being present. We get use to multitasking and as a result we don't give our all. Our lives are so fast paced we become robots hustling to complete different tasks at one time. We loose our grip of being present and just simply taking and enjoying life one step at a time. ( Sorry a little off topic but I just wanted to emphasize my point of being present)
"To teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for production or construction of knowledge" (p. 30, Freire), this is exactly what Mr.B does. In todays society I think some teachers and professors in college think they know everything and talk to their students as if they are more superior than the students. I think sometimes this is why students fail to learn because teachers are so used to transferring what they know or what they think they know, instead of encouraging, empowering and enabling the students. I think part of the problem is because we have been subconsciously influenced by this self-motivated egotistic society. If some teachers and professors were to bring themselves down from their pedestals and actually engage, indulge and whole heartedly invest in the students well-being then maybe we can all learn a thing or two.
Friday class was fun. It reminded me of my childhood and middle school in the city. I could relate to them and had no problems interacting with the students. In the beginning of the class I thought a few of the male students needed a reality check. They were in many ways rude and disrespectful, interrupting the other students who were trying to listen. I can tell some of the boys wanted to make it known that they were rebels in a way and didn't want to be told what to do. I think that was their initial behavior because they didn't really know us and maybe they wanted to seem "cool". I think once they get comfortable with us and we form a bond they will be more engaging hopefully.