“THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A NEUTRAL EDUCATIONAL PROCESS. EDUCATION EITHER FUNCTIONS AS AN INSTRUMENT WHICH IS USED TO FACILITATE THE INTEGRATION OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION INTO THE LOGIC OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM AND BEING ABOUT CONFORMITY TO IT, OR IT BECOMES THE PRACTICE OF FREEDOM, THAT MEANS BY WHICH MEN AND WOMEN DEAL CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY WITH REALITY AND DISCOVER HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF THEIR WORLD.”
-RICHARD SHAULL, FOREWORD TO PAOLO FREIRE’S PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED
-RICHARD SHAULL, FOREWORD TO PAOLO FREIRE’S PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED
STUDENTS COME INTO THE CLASSROOM WITH ASSETS AND KNOWLEDGE THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THEM AND ESSENTIAL TO THE LEARNING OF EVERY MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY. THEREFORE, CREATING AND HOLDING SPACE FOR THOSE VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES MUST BE BUILT INTO EVERY CLASS PERIOD, AND INTO EVERY ACTIVITY AND ASSESSMENT.
THIS EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN SHAPED BY THE SOCIAL-HISTORICAL CONTEXT THAT THEY LIVE WITHIN. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES, ONE ANOTHER, AND THE RELEVANCY OF THE EDUCATION THAT THEY ARE ‘RECEIVING/CREATING’, STUDENTS MUST BE GIVEN THE TOOLS TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE AND CHALLENGE THE NARRATIVES THEY’VE INHERITED.
THE FOUR AGREEMENTS OF COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS REQUIRES THAT STUDENTS ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OWN POWER WITHIN THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF GROWTH AND REFLECTION.
IN BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER STUDENTS, STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO EXPLORE THE MULTIPLE FACTORS OF IDENTITY INCLUDING: ETHNICITY, GENDER, CLASS, AND VARIOUS OTHER SOCIAL DETERMINANTS THAT SHAPE THEIR EXPERIENCE AND SENSE OF SELF.
ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO CHALLENGE THE VALIDITY OF CERTAIN SOCIAL ‘NORMS’ SO AS TO RECOGNIZE THE WAYS IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS EITHER CHALLENGE, REINFORCE OR OPPRESS OTHERS DEPENDING ON HOW THEY ARE SITUATED IN RELATIONSHIP TO THESE NORMS.
STUDENTS THEN CAN UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR OWN ‘POSITIONALITY’ CAN IMPACT THEIR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE: IN WHAT WAYS IS THEIR SENSE OF SELF SHAPED BY CURRICULUM (THAT THEY MAY OR MAY NOT SEE THEMSELVES REFLECTED WITHIN). THEY ARE ASKED TO REFLECT HOW THE PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH OF EACH TEACHER AND SUBJECT MATTER SHAPES THEIR OWN SENSE OF VALUE AND EFFICACY WITHIN THAT SYSTEM. AS CONSUMERS OR PRODUCERS OF KNOWLEDGE, STUDENTS ARE SITUATED DIFFERENTLY, AND THAT RELATIONSHIP TO LEARNING IS INFLUENCED TREMENDOUSLY BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE INSTITUTION (THE ‘TEACHER’).
THEREFORE, THOSE WHO WOULD FACILITATE ‘COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS’ SHOULD BE, THEMSELVES, CONVERSANT IN NOT JUST THE VOCABULARY OF EQUITY, THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACE AND RACISM, AND THE CREATION OF OTHER SOCIAL NARRATIVES, THE INSTRUCTOR PARTICIPATES IN EVERY ACTIVITY AND MODELS AND SHARES EACH WRITING ASSIGNMENT AS AN OFFERING AND ACT OF LOVE.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IS SECONDARY TO THE COMMUNITY GOALS OF DEEPENING DIALOGUE AND EXPLORING SOLUTIONS TO INEQUALITY AND SOCIETAL ISSUES. THAT STUDENTS RECOGNIZE THAT THEY ARE THE INHERITORS OF THE PREVIOUS GENERATIONS’ WOUNDS: THEIR INABILITY TO CONFRONT AND SUSTAIN CONVERSATIONS THAT EFFECTIVELY CHALLENGE INEQUALITY. STUDENTS’ OWN CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IS NURTURED AS EMPOWERING CIVIC PARTICIPATION AS WELL AS A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY NOT MET SUCCESSFULLY BY PREVIOUS GENERATIONS.
‘WE ARE THE ONES WE ARE WAITING FOR’.
THIS EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN SHAPED BY THE SOCIAL-HISTORICAL CONTEXT THAT THEY LIVE WITHIN. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES, ONE ANOTHER, AND THE RELEVANCY OF THE EDUCATION THAT THEY ARE ‘RECEIVING/CREATING’, STUDENTS MUST BE GIVEN THE TOOLS TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE AND CHALLENGE THE NARRATIVES THEY’VE INHERITED.
THE FOUR AGREEMENTS OF COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS REQUIRES THAT STUDENTS ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OWN POWER WITHIN THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF GROWTH AND REFLECTION.
IN BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER STUDENTS, STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO EXPLORE THE MULTIPLE FACTORS OF IDENTITY INCLUDING: ETHNICITY, GENDER, CLASS, AND VARIOUS OTHER SOCIAL DETERMINANTS THAT SHAPE THEIR EXPERIENCE AND SENSE OF SELF.
ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO CHALLENGE THE VALIDITY OF CERTAIN SOCIAL ‘NORMS’ SO AS TO RECOGNIZE THE WAYS IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS EITHER CHALLENGE, REINFORCE OR OPPRESS OTHERS DEPENDING ON HOW THEY ARE SITUATED IN RELATIONSHIP TO THESE NORMS.
STUDENTS THEN CAN UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR OWN ‘POSITIONALITY’ CAN IMPACT THEIR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE: IN WHAT WAYS IS THEIR SENSE OF SELF SHAPED BY CURRICULUM (THAT THEY MAY OR MAY NOT SEE THEMSELVES REFLECTED WITHIN). THEY ARE ASKED TO REFLECT HOW THE PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH OF EACH TEACHER AND SUBJECT MATTER SHAPES THEIR OWN SENSE OF VALUE AND EFFICACY WITHIN THAT SYSTEM. AS CONSUMERS OR PRODUCERS OF KNOWLEDGE, STUDENTS ARE SITUATED DIFFERENTLY, AND THAT RELATIONSHIP TO LEARNING IS INFLUENCED TREMENDOUSLY BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE INSTITUTION (THE ‘TEACHER’).
THEREFORE, THOSE WHO WOULD FACILITATE ‘COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS’ SHOULD BE, THEMSELVES, CONVERSANT IN NOT JUST THE VOCABULARY OF EQUITY, THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACE AND RACISM, AND THE CREATION OF OTHER SOCIAL NARRATIVES, THE INSTRUCTOR PARTICIPATES IN EVERY ACTIVITY AND MODELS AND SHARES EACH WRITING ASSIGNMENT AS AN OFFERING AND ACT OF LOVE.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IS SECONDARY TO THE COMMUNITY GOALS OF DEEPENING DIALOGUE AND EXPLORING SOLUTIONS TO INEQUALITY AND SOCIETAL ISSUES. THAT STUDENTS RECOGNIZE THAT THEY ARE THE INHERITORS OF THE PREVIOUS GENERATIONS’ WOUNDS: THEIR INABILITY TO CONFRONT AND SUSTAIN CONVERSATIONS THAT EFFECTIVELY CHALLENGE INEQUALITY. STUDENTS’ OWN CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IS NURTURED AS EMPOWERING CIVIC PARTICIPATION AS WELL AS A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY NOT MET SUCCESSFULLY BY PREVIOUS GENERATIONS.
‘WE ARE THE ONES WE ARE WAITING FOR’.