Welcome to Generation Back Talk: that's you!
When I was little, the older folks always said that if you disagreed with those in authority or always had something "smart" to say that you were "back talking." Well, I think there isn't enough back talk these days. One of the goals of a college education is to help you find your "voice" in the world and to develop your critical thinking skills. But too often it seems that students don't take charge of their own learning, or that they sit and wait to be spoon fed what they think are the right answers. I wonder if that's because you haven't yet found a comfortable medium for your voices? Or maybe you're just concerned that you don' t have the "right" thing to say? What will you say, I wonder?
This is your space to discuss the topics we are covering in class. While I'll always give you a prompt to blog on, feel free to jump off of conversations we've had in class, something interesting that caught your eye in a reading, or past experiences that seem relevent. The goal of this blog is simple. We are trying to create a community of writers and thinkers by providing you with an alternative way to discuss the "life of the mind". While the writing we will do here is very informal, I encourage you to still take it seriously.
It is your voice, after all. And no one can really silence you but yourselves.
-- JG
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Whisper, talk, shout, let it all out. Just don't keep quiet!
2 comments:
I agree with Freire's opinion on the teacher/student relationship. The teacher is usually the only one who deposits information. The student then stores it long enough to take a test and then forgets about it the next day. I do not agree with "teachers teach and students are taught." I feel that they both experience and learn different things. That makes them both capable of teaching one another something they may not of known other wise. I also feel the teachers have so much knowledge of what they are teaching, they do not explain it well enough for the students to learn the material. Students usually do not say antyhing about it because it can be very intimidating to tell a teacher you think their way of teaching is not good enough. Everyday of class my teachers read information off of a screen while I sit there hoping class is almost over. I think they should organize a more interactive enviroment for students to learn. That way students will not be sitting there half asleep not learning anything.
I also agree with Tamara and Freire in many aspects. I believe that kids go to class, sit there just to get attendance credit but not really absorb anything that the teacher is saying. If they are absorbing it, its only long enough for the test to come and then they forget it all once they have the grade. Kids feel that they aren't capable of being as knowledgeable as the teacher, so they shouldnt speak up with questions of comments for fear of being ignored or made fun of. This gives you no room to be creative and your identity is nothing significant. You are then thought to be the same exact person with the same exact thoughts and feelings as everyone else around you in the room.
Post a Comment