Chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Chapter two of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire, was easier to understand than the first chapter. In the beginning of the chapter, it seemed as though Freire had a blanket opinion that all teachers were the same. He refers to “banking concept of education” in which teacher are all knowing and students ignorant. It is the job of the teacher to spit out information at the students and they are to take it in and memorize it without thinking why this information is so. While reading I felt that he was accusing all teachers of this. I agree that when I went to high school a few of my teachers really did follow this concept. As long as I memorized my terms and could write them on paper, I passed the class. I can’t remember anything from those classes because I didn’t think about what the concepts meant to me and the world. Freire explains that this is a problem. Education should not be something we just accept.

Freire later introduced another form of teaching called, “the problem posing method” which is essentially the banking concepts opposite.  “The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. This method makes students and teachers equal in the learning process. Concepts that are taught are not accepted as fact, but are explored and discussed. Concepts gain value and are not just words but have a place in the world.

I agree that the problem posing method is the better method to use in fact it is the method that we are now taught in college. Teachers should not have all the answers and should not be perceived by students as such. In reality, like the text implies, if we study a concept deep enough, we find that we do not come to one conclusion but find many aspects that lead us to question even more. This is the beauty of education. It never stops.  With this method in action, schools become a place where students learn to inquire for themselves and act, which later leads them to become successful citizens in the real world. 

Paulo Freire: Chapter 1 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, chapter one, explains how to become human beings. We live in a society that that has a distorted view of what it means to be human. There are two types of people in the world, the oppressor and the oppressed. 

            The oppressor, in the act of trying to be “human, “ dehumanizes the oppressed. The oppressors believe they have freedom. (Which they don’t) The oppressed on the other hand start to believe they are of little worth and see no other way than to be under the rule of the oppressor. It is ironic because they (the oppressed) are the key to restoring humanity. In order to achieve humanity, the oppressed need to fight for their freedom, which is responsibility and the right to self govern. This conquest is not impossible but the oppressed must overcome their lack of confidence and ACT!

            The oppressed must overlook their current situation and see themselves as powerful figures.  In order to do this, they need to continuously reflect on who they are and what they are doing to act. By acting, they become the oppressors of the former oppressors. If they are not acting correctly, they will switch roles and become the new oppressors. If the pedagogy is rightfully achieved, the (former) oppressors will sympathize with the oppressed and all will be equal.  At the end of the reading it briefly revealed who exactly the oppressed and oppressors are.  The oppressors are teachers and the oppressed are students.

So what does this all mean? I believe it means that our education is changing. It used to be that teachers were the leaders and students saw the teacher as a feared authority figure. Teachers taught by lecture. One-way communication. Education has come a long way since then. We have found that classrooms work more effectively when teachers and students work together (as the reading states) “re-creating that knowledge.” This knowledge comes from constant reflection and action. The goal of the classroom is to attain freedom and human equality.  If teachers and students work together and create a space where two-way communication, positive feedback, and an uplifting atmosphere coexist, students will be successful in their role as a learner and creator of knowledge.

This text was very difficult to understand and I still am not sure if have a clear idea of the point this text was trying to make. I did like nor understand the reasoning behind people having “objective” and “subjective” views. It says that they cannot exist together or apart and they contradict each other, therefore they do not exist. And yet society needs to have an objective view in order to correctly act.

I also did not agree with the portion that explains the oppressed as being a flock that does not make a decision without everybody else agreeing at the same time. If we look at it from a classroom perspective, there are small groups of students who group together and generally agree on a choice before voicing it, but somewhere along the line, an individual had to express an opinion in order for there to be action. 

I thought this informational text danced around a simple concept and was very repetitive explaining it. The level of diction was unnecessarily high and was probably put in place for the purpose of confusion. I felt oppressed! It seemed in some ways, a false representation and over exaggerated interpretation of the educational system.

Common Core State Standards for Reading

I studied the reading literature and informational text standards for 8^th grade to get a deeper understanding of what each standard entailed and if the students in my classroom were up to par with the standards. I also read over the reading foundational skills for 5^th grade (the highest grade standard).

First off, I want to say that I am a fan of Common Core State Standards. I believe that schools all around the country should strive to meet similar goals. It would be convenient for students to move to a different state and not be far behind or ahead in the curriculum (easier on the teacher too). I also believe that the standards are broad enough that a number of classrooms can be at different levels of understanding while achieving the standard. Like the website states, “Teachers are thus free to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment and experience identify as most helpful for meeting the goals set out in the Standards.” Not all teachers are created equal. Some teachers will help their students to achieve the higher end of the standard, while other teachers reach the lower end. The gaps in the standard can be positive or negative depending on the work ethic of the teacher.

Reading, in my opinion, is the most effective way to gain knowledge. Looking over the reading standards, I was impressed to see the word “analyze” in almost every single one. This verb tells us that students should not just read, but they should reflect, examine and make connections to what they read. This skill is essential for citizens who live in the real world (real world meaning to have a job, or important responsibility.)

In the CCSS I also ran across some things I did not like. One in particular is the goal learners are supposed to meet by the end of the year. For 8^th graders, they are to read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of their grades text complexity band. I am not totally sure of what a complexity band is, but I do know that each book in a school library shows what reading level it is. Just because a student is in 8^th grade does not mean they are incompetent if they have trouble reading 8^th grade level books. The books are given a reading level based on the level of diction it uses. There is more to a fiction novels than vocabulary. Books at a 5^th grade reading level contain complex situations that cause the reader to think of a solution. These books can be about characters that are older than ten and experience problems that 13 and 14-year-olds do.  I am new to the whole education field but I hope the tools that are used for determining whether a student is with the standard are not solely measured by vocabulary.

Discussion as a Way of Teaching

Discussion is one of the greatest tools that can be used in the classroom if it is used correctly. After reading chapters one and two from, “Discussion as a Way of Teaching,” I have learned a great deal about what discussion can do for students if teachers give specific guidelines and direction.

When I was in middle and high school, I hated the days where we would have a huge class discussion for a whole class period. Even though I had been keeping up on the reading and homework, I felt inadequate. There were those few in my class who knew everything and when people like me wanted to speak, I felt like they would just rip me apart and I would not be able to defend myself. Those people were of course not practicing the disposition of hospitality! In the reading many things were said that were once my beliefs, such as, a fear of looking stupid in front of peers for not knowing enough about the subject, or spending so much time rehearsing what to say in your head that by the time you want to say it, the discussion has moved on.  If my teachers had gone over the dispositions of discussion perhaps I would look at discussion as a positive experience.

As a future teacher of English I found that my mind set for implementing classroom discussion has been off. When I prepare to have a discussion as a class activity, I usually write down points I want the students to hit in order to guide them toward a specific direction. Now I know that discussion is not supposed to reach one conclusion. It is a chance for us to explore all sides of a subject and change the opinions of others or allow students and teacher to have a more open mind view.  As chapter one said, “It wasn’t my duty always to make connections for students.” It was awesome to read and realize that just because I am now a teacher and not a student, it is not my job to know everything, but to learn along with my class.

Introductory Letter Assignment

Hello! I am Whitney Leavitt. This is my 5^th year at Eastern Washington University and I am currently enrolled in English 493: Teaching Literature to Adolescents.  I am also known as Ms. Leavitt at Shaw Middle School! This will be my 3^rd quarter in the classroom and in January I will be a full time student teacher for 11 weeks! I am so excited but also very nervous. I still feel so young and I have so much to learn, but I know I will grow from this experience.

Seeing that I am placed in an eight grade English classroom, many of the lessons that are going to be taught revolve around adolescent literature. This year, the students will be reading, The Giver, Daniels Story, Number the Stars, Devils Arithmetic, Torn Threads and many other short selections from Springboard.  With these selections we analyze the elements of fiction, study vocabulary, and relate situations in the story to personal and current problems. The goal is to read between the lines and find a deeper meaning; putting ourselves inside the shoes of the characters rather than just being an innocent bystander. Going along with my literature experience in the classroom, I am of course a student myself and have had many courses where I have to read a piece of literature and write a paper on a specific topic or break it down and go over the words with a fine tooth comb, looking at a text in more ways than one.

As a potential teacher of English and Language Arts, I believe a strength of mine is having the ability to create a lesson in a fun way that is both educational and engaging to students.  Another strength would be checking for understanding. Many students are afraid to ask for the help of a teacher and would rather leave a worksheet blank or sit silently during discussions. I always walk around and help the reluctant students and am aware of the students who are not participating and find ways to help them be involved. A weakness of mine would be that I do not know everything! But good thing teachers don’t need to, I have ways of helping students find the right answers rather than just giving it to them (in some cases I really don’t know the answer!). I also have a tendency to not see a text in more ways than one. There has been a few times where I have discussed a text with the class and have been surprised to find that students see it differently than me. Lets just say in a classroom, students are not the only ones learning something!

By taking this course I hope to be a more efficient reader.  I want to be able to pull out themes, look at them from every angle and relate them to the world we live in. I also want to build my vocabulary and apply it to my every day language. I hope to learn reading and comprehension strategies that can be used in the classroom. I want to be more aware of the literature that is around me and use these tools as an important supplement to the classroom.

In this course I want to develop a three-week unit plan.  I want to be well rounded in the different beliefs, attitudes and cultural perspectives in adolescent literature. I want to have either read or be well versed in literature that would appeal to students in the secondary level.

LETS GET STARTED!