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How to escape education's death valley | Sir Ken Robinson

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The opportunity for reflection and action is not something I take lightly. I think the only way to ensure growth and success in our students is if we take the time to reflect and plan. This reminds me of the TedTalk I watched for the Group Memo this week. Sir Ken compares the Death Valley in California, to schools today. He communicates that things are not dead, just dormant. We need to change the conditions surrounding our “Death Valley”, in order to see something grow. If you want to see change happen, you must be willing to create change and see it grow over time.

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I most closely resonated with the quote discussing authentic thinking among the teacher and student. This chapter outlined several components about teacher-student relationships, conformity, and communication. I feel as though communication is the bridge that either joins or separates teachers and staff from the students. For example, I work with a student who consistently talks to voices she hears in her head. Now I understand this is a mental health component in addition to her classification, however it impedes her ability to learn. Instead of shying away from this student and how she communicates, I had to get creative in ways to still reach her and offer authentic communication that would make sense to her. Although this is still an on-going process, it is my job to find a way to reach that student regardless of the stipuation.

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Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Chapter 2 Summary| Paulo Freire| Critical Pedagogy

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The text in Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Freire encompasses several facets about teaching practices and those who are oppressed or overlooked. I will admit, I find the material challenging to read and understand at times. I find I am a student in my own classroom being asked to read text that "does not make sense". So I ask myself, what would Miss Burzynski say to that student. She would say something along the lines of "if you need help, ask for help or use a strategy to help you". I used some strategies such as re-reading the text and listening to Dr. Masood Raja.

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What has this text allowed for you to consider that you haven’t considered before or reconsider in ways that you might never have reconsidered without this text?

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Freire posits that “praxis: [is] reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (1970/2000, p. 51).

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Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning. The teacher’s thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the student’s thinking. The teacher cannot think for her students, nor can she impose her thought on them. Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication. If it is true that thought has meaning only when generated by action upon the world, the subordination of students to teachers becomes impossible (Friere, 1970/2000, p. 77).

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Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed

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Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed