Empowering Education by Ira Shor

Reflection/Extended Comment

Wow can’t believe this our last post L

This week’s article Empowering Education by Ira Shor seen to me a little repetitive but at the same time, I feel that it was a great choice as our last reading for the class, because it summarized what we had read so far from others authors in this semester. This week I would like to do a short reflection from Ira Shor article and extended comment of Julianne post. I decided to do an extended comment post, because after I read Julienne post, I liked the quotes that she picked, how she explained them and the connections she made with her service learning and our class were right on point.

Reflection

In empowering education by Ira Shor, the author talks about how important is for school to have curriculum that makes children want to go to schools, creates skilled critical thinkers and active citizens. One of the point that Shor made that I liked the most was when Shor talks about how he wants students to become active agents on the way their learned. Shor calls for a partnership between teachers and students; because Shor feels that if student are include in the decision making of their own education they will be more eager to come to class. They will have a voice, they will be active citizens and I couldn’t agree more.  

Extended comment

In her blog post julienne talks about an article that she read in one her class by Jean Piaget who like Shor is against the traditional way of schooling, that memorizing facts is not learning, instead learning come from experienced. She explained that in her service learning’s class the students seems like they don’t want to be there, because they are being force to learn information that is not interesting to them. I feel that maybe is not what they are being teach and it has to do more with the way that they are being teach, you did mention that, the teacher is very authoritarian maybe that’s why they seems so disengaged from the class.  

 Another point that julienne made, is the important of having student start the conversations and develop ideas instead of having the teacher lectured the entire time. Like Julienne, this reminded me of our classroom, where participation is valued a great deal also where our teacher does not impose her believes. We all have a voice in our class, I agree with you julienne if our class were more traditional, I do not think we were been as close as we are.

One of the quotes that Julienne picked that caught my attention the most is the following;

"Existing orthodoxies resist change because the standard curriculum represent more than knowledge; it represents the shape of power in school and society." (pg. 34)

Julienne connected this quote with the article, The Silence Dialogue, by Lisa Delpit. I think you did a great connection with Delpit; “there are codes and rules for participating in power” there is a “culture of power” and sadly they are the ones making all the decision of how and when things get done.

Point to share; Julienne you did and amazing job with your post as usual, as you can see I did not use your whole post, I didn’t want to take all of your ideas.