Paulo Freire group post

Our task was to read(after reading "The Banking Concept of  Education") "Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich" by Henry A. Giroux and discuss then write a summary about how the website (article) complicates, enriches and/or confuses our understanding of the reading.  We decided to each write a short summary and submit to our blogs as a group.

 

Jane Welton

Reading the articles, I found that it enriched my understanding of the readings.  The article our small group read expounded on the article assigned for the class.  In "The Banking Concept of Education" it is written, "In this way, the problem-posing educator constantly reforms his reflections in the reflection of the students.  The students--no longer docile listeners--are now critical co-investigators in dialogue with the teacher.  The teacher presents the material to the students for their consideration and re-considers his [or her] earlier considerations as the students express their own." I compare that to a statement from "Lessons to Be Learned from Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich" which states, "...students learn how to expand their own sense of agency, while recognizing that to be voiceless is to be powerless.  Central to such a pedagogy is shifting the emphasis from teachers to students, and making visible the relationships among knowledge, authority and power.  Giving the students the opportunity to be problem posers and engage in a culture of questioning in the classroom..."  The first article gives a great deal of information and the second digs deeper, giving more details and examples to the first.  It created more understanding of what Freire had to say about the state of the world of education.

 

Patty Riley

Paulo Freires writing was/is difficult at times to comprehend.  In rereading it a few more times as well as reading and rereading the website article I was able to more fully understand what Freire was writing about.   From "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" Freire writes "The educated man is the adapted man, because he is better "fit" for the world.  Translated into practice, this concept is well suited to the purposes of the oppressors, whose tranquility rests on how well  men fit the world the oppressors have created, and how little they question it."  Giroux backs this up with " Central to critical pedagogy is the recognition that the way we educate out youth is related to the future that we hope for and that such a future should offer students a life that leads to the deepening of freedom and social justice. "  The web article gave me a new understanding of what Freire was detailing but although not in much simpler terms at least in more understandable detail so yes, I would say that the web article definitely enriched Freires writing.  It neither complicated nor confused this reader any further.....

Small Group Discussion Question on John Gatto

John Gatto asked the following question about school aged children, "Could it be that our schools are designed to make sure that not one of them ever really grows up?" I believe he means that in the current state of education, kids cannot grow into "themselves" to become well adjusted adults with a variety of useful attributes to offer the world.  They are raised to be drones to serve the needs of society.  The following are four examples from the text that assert this way of thinking...

Gatto shared a lesson about what his grandfather taught him about boredom.  "...if I was bored it was my fault and no one else's. The obligation to amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, and people who didn't know that were childish people, to be avoided if possible. Certainly not to be trusted. That episode cured me of boredom forever, and here and there over the years I was able to pass on the lesson to some remarkable student. For the most part, however, I found it futile to challenge the official notion that boredom and childishness were the natural state of affairs in the classroom. Often I had to defy custom, and even bend the law, to help kids break out of this trap."

Schools want conformity.  Inglis breaks down schooling in six basic functions, including, "The integrating function.  This might as well be called the 'conformity function,' because its intention is to make children as alike as possible.  People who conform are predictable, and this is of great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force."

"Maturity has by now been banished from nearly every aspect of our lives. Easy divorce laws have removed the need to work at relationships; easy credit has removed the need for fiscal self-control; easy entertainment has removed the need to learn to entertain oneself; easy answers have removed the need to ask questions. We have become a nation of children, happy to surrender our judgments and our wills to political exhortations and commercial blandishments that would insult actual adults."  We as adults lack self control because of what we were taught in our youth.  We expect everything to be easy.  When it life is not easy, we feel as if it is unfair.

"School  trains children to obey reflexively;...Well-schooled people are conditioned to dread being alone, and they seek constant companionship through the TV, the computer, the cell phone, and through shallow friendships quickly acquired and quickly abandoned."  This turns people to be servants to the world. 

There were other examples in the text showing how the educational system causes students to become child-like adults.  It is appalling to think that we still follow a system that is known to fail when it comes to helping people become actual successful adults in the workplace.  When will the changes Gatto illustrates, and others of similar value, occur in the realm of educating your youth?

My High School Experience vs. Gatto

I would have to say that my high school experience mirrored that of  Gatto.  I was bored in high school, I didn't try very hard.  It was the same routine, day in and day out.  People were put into groups and basically stayed within the bounds of that group all through school.  If you follow the routine, and keep your nose out of trouble, you can barely scrape by and do just enough to pass.  Teachers taught just enough to get everyone by and didn't really give extra attention to those who needed it.  All you had to do was pass the course, even just barely. 

It seemed as if the system was catered to a special breed: a breed of good people, good citizens, and to make each person his or her personal best.  I believe, just as Gatto that the system of school is meant to make good people and good citizens, but I disagree that it makes people their personal best.  As I stated before, in my experience, I didn't do my personal best.  I was not filled with knowledge nor was my intelligence awakened.  I just wanted to get through the academics by taking "easy A" courses and focused on my social life instead.

I believe that school did not help me grow up.  I feel that it left me as a child, following blindly the rules.  We were taught that all you had to do is go to class and just show up and do the minimum required.  It didn't take much effort as long as you did not bring attention to yourself you didn't have to participate much in classes.  I got along with school by taking easy classes and staying out of the limelight.

Formal Paper #2 Final Draft

Dedication to Inspiration

The two teachers that we have studied in the second unit of this class have contrasting teaching styles, yet they desire to inspire similar lessons upon their students.  Mr. Jamie Escalante from the movie "Stand and Deliver" and Professor John Keating from the movie "Dead Poets Society" are both dedicated teachers.  Their goal was to open the minds of their students and instill lessons that they could use in their lives beyond the classroom.  They had a profound impact on the lives of their students.  They were both positive examples of good teaching.

Mr. Escalante was an exceptional teacher because he was inspiring.  During a class, Mr. Escalante asked his students, "Did you know that neither the Greeks nor the Romans were capable of using the concept of zero?  It was your ancestors, the Mayans, who first contemplated the zero."  He goes on to tell them that they have math in their blood.  He wanted his students to know that people just like them had the ability of making strides in the world of math.  During a staff meeting at the school he says, "Students will rise to the level of expectation."  He believed that if he instilled value to what his students were trying to accomplish, they would certainly meet or exceed expectation.  Later he tells his students, "There will be no free rides, no excuses.  You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion.  Because of these two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do.  Math is the equalizer...You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else."  He tells them that the only thing that he is asking from them is desire.  He had enough desire to share and was willing to do what he could to help his students succeed.  He believed in them.

Professor Keating also used the example of history to inspire his students.  On the first day of class, he led his students to the foyer of Welton Academy and told them to look at pictures of former students.  As the boys took a closer look, he told them, “They're not that different from you, are they?...They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable?…But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it?”  He then whispers, “…carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”  This exercise was Keating’s way of telling the boys that they did not have to wait to have extraordinary lives, they could work towards extraordinary at that moment because it was already in them.  This is an exceptional lesson for anyone to learn, especially at a young age.  Professor Keating knew his students did not have to wait to be great.

Mr. Escalante was not afraid to let his confidence in his students be known.  He did whatever it took to convince others of his desire of having his students succeed.  When Ana announced that she was dropping out school, Escalante took action.  Mr. Escalante decided to have dinner in the Delgado’s Mexican restaurant with his wife.  Ana introduced Mr. Escalante to her father as her math teacher.  Escalante used the opportunity to tell Mr. Ramirez about the importance of Ana going back to school.  Escalante invited Ana’s father to sit with them at their table.  Without skipping a beat Escalate said, “You should get another waitress.  Ana can be the first one of your family to graduate from high school, go to college.”  Delgado pointed out that Ana’s mother, sisters and brothers all worked for the family business.  Escalante told him, “She can help the family more by getting an education…she should make her own choices…Ana could go to college, come back, and teach you how to run this place.”  Ana’s father did not take the advice too kindly.  He told Mrs. Escalante, “Your husband comes into my restaurant, eats…and insults me!”   She quietly replied, “Excuse my husband, Mr. Delgado.  He just wants what is best for Ana.”   The meeting worked because Ana returned to class.

Professor Keating also had confidence in his student’s abilities.  In contrast, Professor Keating did not pursue his students outside of the classroom, his students pursued him.  In one example, Neil Perry went to Keating’s small, crowded office for advice of a personal nature.  He began by saying, “I just talked to my father. He's making me quit the play at Henley Hall. Acting's everything to me.”  After some explanation from Neil, Keating inquires, “Have you ever told your father what you just told me? About your passion for acting? You ever showed him that?”  Neil desperately tells Keating that he can’t talk to his father.  Then Keating advises, “Then you're acting for him, too. You're playing the part of the dutiful son. Now, I know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. You have to show him who you are, what your heart is!”  Neil pours his heart out to Keating, doubtful that his father would even take his feelings into consideration.  Keating encouraged him to try to talk to his father, to prove to him how much acting meant to him by telling him, “It's not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion! You show that to him, and if he still doesn't believe you - well, by then, you'll be out of school and can do anything you want.”  The play was set to take place the next day and Neil was nervous about talking to his father.  Neil desperately asked, “Isn't there an easier way?”  Keating told him, “No.”  I believe that Professor Keating gave Neil good advice about living his life in a way that he could be true to himself.  This showed his concern for wanting his students to succeed.

Mr. Escalante had high expectations that his students would try hard to accomplish their goals by making decisions of their own.  He had his students sign a contract specifying terms for spending extra time working for his class which included time in the morning, after school and weekends.  He wanted to make his expectations clear and made sure that each student had their parent sign it so he could hold his students to his rules.  As each student entered the classroom, Escalante collected the forms.  Pancho did not have his paper signed.  His excuse was that he was going to be busy during the weekends working for his uncle.  Later, Escalante drove Pancho’s car and used the opportunity to teach him a lesson.  Escalante told him, “No one cruises through life, Pancho. Wouldn't you rather be designing these things than repairing them?” He drove his car roughly saying things trying to make his point.  At a certain point in the ride he calmly asked Pancho, “Right or left?”  When he didn’t get an immediate answer, he asked him again, this time in desperation, “Right or left?”  Pancho hurriedly yelled in a panic, “GO RIGHT! GO RIGHT!”  Escalante turned right and screeched to halt in front of a dead end sign.  He told Pancho, “All you can see is the turn, you don't see the road ahead...”  He wanted him to see the big picture, not just what was in front of him.

As an exercise to teach his class about having the strength to be themselves, Keating stood on his desk and asked the classroom full of boys, “Why do I stand up here?...I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.”  He added, “Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.’  Don't be resigned to that. Break out!”  The students took turns climbing onto Keating's desk to see a new perspective as he told them, “Now, don't just walk off the edge like lemmings! Look around you!”  The message Keating repeatedly tried to teach his students was to look at life through fresh eyes.

Mr. Jamie Escalante from the movie "Stand and Deliver" and Professor John Keating from the movie "Dead Poets Society" were both dedicated teachers.  Their goal was to open the minds of their students and instill lessons that they could use in their lives beyond the classroom.  They produced new ways for their students to see the world.  They taught their students that they can overcome hardships, arise from struggles, and do extraordinary things to create something better in their own worlds.  In most instances, I believe the students learned much from the lessons they were taught.

Formal Paper #2 Rough Draft

Dedication to Inspiration

The two teachers that we have studied in the second unit of this class have contrasting teaching styles, yet they desire to inspire similar lessons upon their students.  Mr. Jamie Escalante from the movie "Stand and Deliver" and Professor John Keating from the movie "Dead Poets Society" are both dedicated teachers.  Their goal was to open the minds of their students and instill lessons that they could use in their lives beyond the classroom.  They had a profound impact on the lives of their students.

During a class, Mr. Escalante asked his students, "Did you know that neither the Greeks nor the Romans were capable of using the concept of zero?  It was your ancestors, the Mayans, who first contemplated the zero.  The absence of value."  He goes on to tell them that they have math in their blood. During a staff meeting at the school he says, "Students will rise to the level of expectation."  Later he tells his students, "There will be no free rides, no excuses.  You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion.  Because of these two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do.  Math is the equalizer...When you go for a job, the person giving you that job will not want to hear your problems; ergo, neither do I.  You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else."  He tells them that the only thing that he is asking from them is desire.

Professor Keating leads his class to the foyer of Welton Academy and tells them to look at the pictures of some former students.  He tells them, “They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”

Ana a meek, quiet, shy girl announces that is her last day of calculus class.  Later that day, Mr. Escalante decides to have dinner in a little Mexican restaurant with his wife.  The brick lined interior is scattered with small tables.  Few pictures adorn the walls.  You can see the kitchen staff working in the kitchen through a small window as the sounds of cooking is masked by the Mexican music softly playing in the background.  After they finish their dinner, the restaurant owner approaches the table and asks about the meal.  Escalante points out a discrepancy in the check.  Mr. Delgado, the restaurant owner, calls to his daughter who is dressed in a light blue ruffled off the shoulder dress accented by white lace, and speaks to her in Spanish.  She introduces Mr. Escalante to her father as her math teacher.  Escalante uses the opportunity to tell Mr. Ramirez about the importance of Ana going back to school.  Escalante invites Ana’s father to sit with them at their table.  Without skipping a beat Escalate says, “You should get another waitress.  Ana can be the first one of your family to graduate from high school, go to college.”  Delgado points out that Ana’s mother, sisters and brothers all work for the family business.  Escalante points out, “She can help the family more by getting an education…she should make her own choices…Ana could go to college, come back, and teach you how to run this place.”  Ana’s father does not take the advice too kindly.  He tells Mrs. Escalante, “Your husband comes into my restaurant, eats…and insults me!”   She quietly replies, “Excuse my husband, Mr. Delgado.  He just wants what is best for Ana.”   Ana returns to class.

Neil Perry stops by Keating’s office to have a conversation about a personal matter.  He begins by saying, “I just talked to my father. He's making me quit the play at Henley Hall. Acting's everything to me. I- But he doesn't know! He- I can see his point; we're not a rich family, like Charlie's. We- But he's planning the rest of my life for me, and I- He's never asked me what I want!”   Keating inquires, “Have you ever told your father what you just told me? About your passion for acting? You ever showed him that?”   “I can't”, Perry responds.  Keating asks him, “Why not?” Perry replies, “I can't talk to him this way.”  Keating tells him, “Then you're acting for him, too. You're playing the part of the dutiful son. Now, I know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. You have to show him who you are, what your heart is!”  Perry says, “I know what he'll say! He'll tell me that acting's a whim and I should forget it. They're counting on me; he'll just tell me to put it out of my mind for my own good.”  Keating says, “You are not an indentured servant! It's not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion! You show that to him, and if he still doesn't believe you - well, by then, you'll be out of school and can do anything you want.”  Perry informs him, “No. What about the play? The show's tomorrow night!”  Keating advises him, “Then you have to talk to him before tomorrow night.”  Desperately Perry asks, “ Isn't there an easier way?”  Keating tells him, “No.”

Mr. Escalante had his students sign a contract specifying terms for spending extra time working for his class which included time in the morning, after school and weekends.  He wanted to make his expectations clear and made sure that each student had their parent sign it so he could hold his students to his rules.  As each student entered the classroom, Escalante collected the forms.  Pancho did not have his paper signed.  His excuse was, “My uncle offered me a job operating a forklift Saturdays and Sundays.  I’ll be making time and a half.”  “So what”, replied Escalante.  He smugly replied, “Two years in the union and I’ll be making more than you.”  Later while Escalante is driving Pancho's car, he tells him, “Kemo, I don't wanna let you down but the money I'd be making will buy me a new Trans Am.”  Escalante tells him, “No one cruises through life, Pancho. Wouldn't you rather be designing these things than repairing them? Can't even do that, things got fuel injection” as he grinds the gears to the car.  “Kemo, you're gonna strip my gears, man!”  “Don't panic, Johnny, just watch out for the other guy”, as he grinds the gears again.  Calmly he asks, “Right or left?”  When he doesn’t get an immediate answer, he asks again, this time in desperation, “Right or left?”  Pancho hurriedly yells in a panic, “GO RIGHT! GO RIGHT!”  Escalante turns right, and screeches to halt in front of a dead end sign.  He tells Pancho, “All you can see is the turn, don't see the road ahead...”

While standing on his desk Keating asks the classroom full of boys, “Why do I stand up here? Anybody?”  Dalton answers, “To feel taller!”  Keating rings a bell with his foot, “No!  Thank you for playing Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.”  He adds, “Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Don't be resigned to that. Break out!”  The students take turns climbing onto Keating's desk to see a new perspective as he tells them, “Now, don't just walk off the edge like lemmings! Look around you!”

Mr. Jamie Escalante from the movie "Stand and Deliver" and Professor John Keating from the movie "Dead Poets Society" were both dedicated teachers.  Their goal was to open the minds of their students and instill lessons that they could use in their lives beyond the classroom.  They produced new ways for their students to see the world.  They taught that them that they can overcome hardships, arise from struggles and do extraordinary things to create something better in their worlds.

Further Drafting Exercises

We received numerous worksheets to help us write our second paper.  They centered on exercises that prompt us to richly illustrate parts for our paper.  For me it was hard.  I am not a creative writing person.  It is difficult for me to try to break out of my bubble.  Try as I might, I am barely stretching out of my comfort zone.  It is tough and excruciating.  I feel like I am banging my head on a wall. 

Trying to go around and around to describe scenes in an interesting way is not easy for me.  I am literal.  I read EXACTLY what is written; there is no reading between the lines with me.  Tell me what you mean and mean what you say. Trying to describe scenes in the movies is more like word for word dialog with me.  I concentrate on the words and not necessarily on the way they are spoken or the body language of the person speaking.  

As I rework my paper in my mind, I am slowly going crazy.  I need to find the happy medium.  One where I fulfill all the parameters of the assignment AND where I feel like I did a good job.

Refine Your Draft...

The two teachers that we have studied in the second unit of this class have contrasting teaching styles, yet they desire to inspire similar lessons upon their students.  Mr. Jamie Escalante from the movie "Stand and Deliver" and Professor John Keating from the movie "Dead Poets Society" are both dedicated teachers.  Their goal was to open the minds of their students and instill lessons that they could use in their lives beyond the classroom.  They had a profound impact on the lives of their students.

“Stand and Deliver” takes place at James A. Garfield High School, a real school in Eastern Los Angeles in the 1982.  It was a coed public school in a poor area in the west coast.  The students were disadvantaged and lacked discipline. 

“Dead Poets Society” takes place at Welton Academy, a the fictional east coast prestigious private prepschool in for boys in Vermont in the 1959 where tradition, honor, discipline and excellence was the school motto.

At Garfield High, the educational standards are set low.  Most students are not expected to attend college.  They come from working class families whose parents did not go to college themselves.

At Welton Academy, tradition of families attending the school for generations is a common theme.  As a prep school, it is primarily meant as a place to prepare for college, usually an Ivy league school such as Harvard or Yale.  Most students plan on going to law or medical school.

At Garfield, students lived at home with their families where they had many responsibilities such as taking care of family and jobs.  They lacked textbooks, higher end classes and money for technology such as computers. 

At Welton, the boys stayed in dormitories, concentrated on their studies, and had many options for enriching extracurricular activities such as the school paper, drama, rowing, and fencing.  Welton was primarily a high society upper class population.

Jamie Escalante quit a good job from a company to become a high school math teacher.  He originally was supposed to teach a computer class, but the school was promised funding for computers for the past two years and did not have computers yet.

John Keating was a former student of Welton Academy where he was part of many extracurricular activities including the secret Dead Poets Society.  He is introduced as a new English professor.

Jamie Escalante demanded discipline from his students at Garfield High.  He spent a large amount of time ordering his students around, usually by raising his voice.  He used ridicule and threats as a scare tactic to put his students into submission.  I think this is because the students lived under tough circumstances and he knew that this was the only way to get through to them.  He also took the time to speak to parents to try to convince them to follow his lead in what he thought would be the best for his students.  He controlled his class.  He had each student sign a contract to make his expectations clear.  He made sure each student and parent signed it so that he could hold his students to them.

John Keating had a different approach.  It was opposite.  He exercised his dominance in a more indirect way.  He led his students in exercises to open their minds because he wanted them to think for themselves.  His ways could be considered unorthodox in comparison to the teachings of the other professors at Welton Academy.  He didn't just want his students to follow his lead, but allow each individual follow where their own mind would have them go. Keating wanted his students to think for themselves.  He didn't approach the students or their parents outside the classroom.  He didn't confront them.  The students usually sought Keating out instead.