Reflection 2

This is my worst one in my opinion... a little embarrassing.
Thinking back I think I woke up early the morning it was due and spit some unintelligable-ness onto paper. I encourage you to skip it haha


I am stance-less. I am full of opinions, yet stance-less. (Is that possible?) When reading Paulo Friere I agreed with most things he said. Does that make me pro-Frierian education despite the fact that the education system- what Friere would refer to as “banking” style education- has far from failed me? In the eyes of mainstream society I am an education success story. A teachers-pet for most of elementary school followed by the standard four year stint in high-school in which I achieved a decent average, caused few problems on school grounds (aside from a few uniform infractions) and was a favored student by most teachers despite my ever-apparent adolescent attitude problem. Granted, I maintained this admirable grade average with little to no effort on my part and my laziness and lack of developed study skills because of my coasting through high-school has left me somewhat disadvantaged in a University setting despite my still decent CGPA. Reading Friere has caused me to question my 16(ish) years of education. Was I too willing of a “receptacle?” Did I let the information seep in without criticism then throw up all of these “deposits” back onto paper with little effort and then all too willingly basked in the glory of being an above-average student in the eyes of my teachers and my parents?
I have been stewing with Friere's ideas of education and wondering what that could have meant for my own school experience. As much as I have fond memories of high-school as I had endless time for my social obligations unlike some of my peers who used their recreational time to study just to stay on the passing side of the grade curve, I don't doubt now that I could have benefited from being challenged. If there was more room for dialogue between myself and my teachers as Friere proposes, perhaps they would have realized that I was not being pushed to my full potential and not being challenged at nearly a level that would make schooling a justifiable use of my time. Yes, I enjoyed the ease at which I completed the tasks that were delegated to me, and yes, I enjoyed feeling smarter then a lot of my classmates but at this point in my academic career I am wishing I had room or reason back then to develop the study skills that I know now are necessary for my further success.
However, I argue that the way this “knowledge” is disseminated to children is appropriate given the insurmountable task that is given to educators. Elementary school for the most part is simply a vehicle of socialization. Children learn to stand in line, learn to wait their turn, learn to respect authority and for a lot of children it is their first experience with sharing. Friere argues that the way school is carried out on a day to day basis is not conducive to the learning needs of all children. Sure maybe some children are more patient then others, and some kids have longer attention spans, and some students need more physical activity to break up the day, but it is unreasonable (although appealing) to think that one teacher can create a learning plan that teaches children such necessary life skills that will be perfectly effective for every child. This is simply in my opinion an unreasonable notion. It is an unfortunate yet indisputable truth that some children will succeed within this school system and some will not. But it is also an unfortunate and yet indisputable truth that not everyone needs to get the high marks that come with success in this setting that are necessary for higher education. Not everyone is meant to go onto higher education.
In this way, I agree with some aspects of what Friere is saying about the nature of the education system and concede his points about a more dialogical learning style but unfortunately due to the underfunding that is epidemic in almost all publicly funded schools coupled with the ratio of students to teachers this is likely not going to change anytime soon. It is unfortunate but as long as there is a class system within society (which will likely be forever) there will always be children who are placed at an advantage within social systems (such as school) and kids who are disadvantaged in it. And I can not bring myself as a University student, to complain too heavily about a system that has done nothing but keep me easily a few steps ahead in the game to that of my less academic-ly inclined peers. Perhaps excelling at raising my hand and standing in a straight line is the early indicator of scholarly success?


Hey... I warned you.