prej·u·dice
any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
Anyone who says they are never prejudiced is lying. Everyone forms and opinion about something before hand; be it thoughts about an event and if it will be lame or exciting, or snap judgements made about a person based on appearance, reputation, or even the school they go to.
This is a problem I have a lot, separating the "person" from the "idea."
My "idea" of MCCS was that the students would be juvenile delinquents, that they were scary. I thought more that once about calling in sick. But, I showed up, partly because I knew I was overreacting, partly because I actually enjoy this class (even if it IS at 9:25 am on a Friday...), and partly because I really need my grade to not suffer.
From the talks we'd had in class about proper behavior and avoidance of gang references, I was a little scared that that was what I would encounter. However, aside from being slightly irritated by the repeated mentions of "Gringa" thrown in in the rapid Spanish that was spoken a few feet from where I was sitting, the students were down to earth and fun.
When we talked in groups about our hero that we were going to choose, the MCCS students, Dora and Abel, both chose one of their parents. The more we talked, the more my tense muscles relaxed, and my inhibitions vanished.
I learned a lot that day, and reflecting of Freire's statement that we are all the teacher, and we are all the student, I find this to be true. Life is about giving and receiving, and the constant exchange of knowledge. As mentioned in the prompt, when he writes "teachers" or "teaching" we can think "human beings" and "being."
Our brains do not shut off. Ever. Unless we are dead.
Or vegetables...
Anyway,
“Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and who ever learns teaches in the act of learning” (31).
This class is not about teaching the MCCS students. It is not about the MCCS students teaching us. It is about a mutual exchange of knowledge, experience, and encouragement. As much as we are helping them, they are helping us.
I enjoyed reading what Freire had to say about education, “To teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production or construction of knowledge,” (p. 30) If we see knowledge as something concrete, to be written down, passed on, and never changed, then we have failed. Instead I like the idea that knowledge is alive and ever changing.
In that respect, it is important to remember that every moment in life is a learning opportunity. Every moment in life is a chance to defy our prejudices.
We can't escape them. But we can rise above.
THE END
Anyone who says they are never prejudiced is lying. Everyone forms and opinion about something before hand; be it thoughts about an event and if it will be lame or exciting, or snap judgements made about a person based on appearance, reputation, or even the school they go to.
This is a problem I have a lot, separating the "person" from the "idea."
My "idea" of MCCS was that the students would be juvenile delinquents, that they were scary. I thought more that once about calling in sick. But, I showed up, partly because I knew I was overreacting, partly because I actually enjoy this class (even if it IS at 9:25 am on a Friday...), and partly because I really need my grade to not suffer.
From the talks we'd had in class about proper behavior and avoidance of gang references, I was a little scared that that was what I would encounter. However, aside from being slightly irritated by the repeated mentions of "Gringa" thrown in in the rapid Spanish that was spoken a few feet from where I was sitting, the students were down to earth and fun.
When we talked in groups about our hero that we were going to choose, the MCCS students, Dora and Abel, both chose one of their parents. The more we talked, the more my tense muscles relaxed, and my inhibitions vanished.
I learned a lot that day, and reflecting of Freire's statement that we are all the teacher, and we are all the student, I find this to be true. Life is about giving and receiving, and the constant exchange of knowledge. As mentioned in the prompt, when he writes "teachers" or "teaching" we can think "human beings" and "being."
Our brains do not shut off. Ever. Unless we are dead.
Or vegetables...
Anyway,
“Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and who ever learns teaches in the act of learning” (31).
This class is not about teaching the MCCS students. It is not about the MCCS students teaching us. It is about a mutual exchange of knowledge, experience, and encouragement. As much as we are helping them, they are helping us.
I enjoyed reading what Freire had to say about education, “To teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production or construction of knowledge,” (p. 30) If we see knowledge as something concrete, to be written down, passed on, and never changed, then we have failed. Instead I like the idea that knowledge is alive and ever changing.
In that respect, it is important to remember that every moment in life is a learning opportunity. Every moment in life is a chance to defy our prejudices.
We can't escape them. But we can rise above.
THE END
"We are each burdened with prejudice; against the poor or the rich, the smart or the slow, the gaunt or the obese. It is natural to develop prejudices. It is noble to rise above them."
~Author Unknown
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