Milly Robinson
October 7th, 2013
This weeks reading was Chapters 4 and 5 from Defacing Power. The power and structure of North End Elementary school and Fair View Elementary School's 4th Grade classes were examined. At North End, the students were disciplined to follow rules without understanding why the rule was put in place. The students had to obey all authority without question, and were punished if they rebelled. Tasks as simple as waiting in lunch line were infiltrated with strict standards. In comparison, at Fair View, a much higher socioeconomic town, the students were given rules and it was explained why these rules were important. They even got to establish their own rules. This sense of empowering the students and giving them voice was in stark contrast to the ways of North End, and I favored this style much more. However, as we delved deeper into discussion, Fair View's system of normalization was perhaps not the most effective way to educate the students. By establishing the students on similar levels as the authority figures, the students will not be able to understand structure. In North End, however, the students more authoritarian system, although it is controlling, teaches them obedience and accountability. How do you think that these systems compare in terms of effectiveness? Do you think that there is a medium where the two styles could combine effectively?
Yeah, I can see the pros and cons of both variations of pedagogy at the two schools. Haha, to be honest I felt a lot happier reading into Fair View's case study than North End's, especially because it started off with the teacher setting up that whole thing with the Connecticut Mastery Test's head, and the students were putting him on the spotlight. But, as it turns out, these students are also limited by undisputed 'values', as the North End students are by undisputed 'rules', and now I'm not as crazy about the teaching style at Fair View.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone read Freire yet? Heard of him? In my first year writing course, we're reading about Paulo Freire's dispute against what he calls the 'banking concept' of education. The idea is that teachers basically pour knowledge into students' empty head, without taking into consideration what students already know. I think that's kinda what is going on in both the classrooms. Freire's solution to the banking concept is to abandon it and take upon 'problem posing' educational practices, which would help students develop critical thinking skills. From what I read, it's the idea that teachers and students are learning together instead of one learning from the other, while also leaving both parties with questions all the time.
I wouldn't say that problem posing pedagogy is the middle point between the normalization and authoritarian practice, but I think it's definitely something that kinda overturns a really problematic idea that a teacher is supposed to teach the student and not the other way around. I mean, teachers and professors can't know everything. And I think this form of pedagogy rightfully complicates learning instead of leaving it as this simple process of taking in knowledge.
Either of you agree with this problem posing type of education? you might have to read a little up on it to get a better understanding.
What you brought up about Freire is very interesting, but I don't understand how exactly it would work to have the students and teachers learning together, simply because there is most likely an intellectual difference between the teacher and the students. For example, if a 4th grade class is learning multiplication, how would this system work? What could the teacher learn from the students? I agree that it is extremely important for students to develop critical thinking skills, but I think there must be a balance between teaching students direct facts (like in math and science) but also teaching them how to think and develop their own ideas. This does not mean that it should not be explained WHY what is taught in math and science is important. I think that, like in North End, students should understand power and where power comes from. But I also think that students should have the opportunity to learn and understand the rules that they are following. I think that balance is crucial towards obtaining an education to its full potential.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Freire isn't specific about his idea of problem-posing education... haha. I think that critical thinking development has potential to be incorporated into math and science, too, despite them seeming to be pretty direct subjects. I took Statistics last year in high school, and it was really awesome (although the teacher was whack) because it was a new kind of math I wasn't used to, where interpretation really matters, and people interpret significance differently based on their own backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't have a concrete way of integrating critical thinking into other math and science subjects like algebra and chemistry, I think it should definitely be explored as a possibility.
I haven't read any Freire yet, but the title of his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, reminds me of Boal's most famous piece, Theater of the Oppressed. Both thinkers were Brazilian and both books were published around the same time. I wonder if Freire's work was also a result of the South American coups, or a result of hundreds of years of colonization. At the very least, he was Marxist just like Boal, which is how he developed his theories.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about Freire other than what I've now read on Wikipedia, but it seems that even math and science would be approached the same way in the classroom as languages, literature and social sciences because it would be completely different. You brought up a really good point, Milly, because that's how most folks would consider Freire. Tying it back to North End and Fair view, reform would not be enough for any public school in the United States, no matter what the SES. Perhaps what Clarissa Hayward was trying to say that both types cannot be "tweaked" or even balanced to create a more perfect learning environment. Maybe teachers, administration, and the Department of Education need to step out of the box and approach education in a completely new way. Normalization is just as toxic as authoritarianism, if not more. So why not try something completely out of freedom? Freire discusses education being not about acquiring and retaining information, but uses the term critical consciousness and suggests education is supposed to be about becoming more and more human. That makes a lot of sense while looking at the dehumanization of students and teachers, especially at North End. Makes you wonder what the meaning of educating the masses is if education is, as Freire and Hayward suggest, a tool of oppression.
Thanks for mentioning Freire, Jeff! I am totally going to pick up his work now.