Thursday, February 14, 2013

Protect my Planning Period


Freire advocates for Critical Pedagogy to engage students and teachers in “learning through teaching” relationships.  I agree that teaching is researching together with the students and their parents or guardians.  Teaching is praxis –which Freire equates with learning in the world and about the world, through reflection and action upon our immediate reality.-  Several authors such as Luis Moll and others have researched Funds of Knowledge and cultural capital, which could potentially aid teachers in engaging in meaningful learning with their students.  This is because in order to be an effective teacher, I must first learn about my student –and I learn that with my student.—In the process, I learn about effective ways to help the student discover and learn the subject I am teaching.   In such processes I inevitably learn more about myself and act to change, to modify, and to adapt.

During the USA Presidential Election Campaign in 2012, a candidate made an unfortunate comment expressing his disdain about a teacher’s choice to “help the student understand how he or she (student) learns.”  Most politicians have the nerve to legislate about education while knowing nothing about the subject.  In fact, one of the traits that separate effective learners from students who struggle is their ability to capitalize on their strengths while compensating for their weaknesses in the process of learning.  Understanding one’s learning styles is among the first steps to becoming a successful, effective learner.  Such understanding is more likely (and better) accomplished through interactions with someone who has a deep understanding of learning and the subject matter at point.

When I was teaching, I used my planning period to learn about my students through reviewing their work and talking with the students’ families.  I also thought about theories of education and human development.  I wrote extensive notes –and questions—to the students while keeping a teaching journal with events that transpired in class.  I examined test results and my comments on students’ progress and used such data to further teaching and learning activities in an outside the classroom.  I was able to plan thought-provocative activities to be conducted in the classroom.  I elicited the help of parents (or guardians) to engage in conversations that helped the student at his or her particular developmental stage –in terms of subject-matter standards and learning in general. 

Most teachers know there is more to teaching than what meets the eye.  Some of us refuse to play the role of babysitters that some administrators –and parents- want to impose us.  Yet, few people outside the teaching profession understand what is involved in teaching.  That’s why I cringed when the administrators insisted in using my planning period to conduct “school-wide businesses” such as those I have described elsewhere.  We teachers should be more vocal and show those who do not understand our teaching role that the teaching profession needs to be respected and given the time and resources we need to continue our work towards educating (yes, educating!) the children we are responsible to teach.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Learning, hunger, and critical conscience

M. Gadotti ("Reading Palo Freire") quotes Freire's memories of his own learning as largely unsuccessful because (Freire) was always hungry.  He couldn't learn because of physical hunger.  I remember as part of a food chapter to teach Spanish, I assigned the students a "Food Log" where they recorded every food and drink they had during a period of two weeks.  They were to list their entries in Spanish, noting how much of both, foods and drinks they had every day.  They listed the days in Spanish, wrote the date in Spanish for each day (using the Spanish format, which is different from the English way to note the date) and practiced such new words as "spoons, cups, bowls, glass, packets" to measure their food consumption.  With their gathered data they were to apply the "Scientific Method" to conduct a mini-descriptive analysis of their diet for the two-week period, using internet sources such as government nutrition websites (Myfoodpyramid.org...) and websites of popular restaurants like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Subway to determine caloric intake and other nutritional information.  They also used labels posted on some of the products consumed at home and school.
The students tallied their data, charted it and presented their information in graph form.  They then described their results in basic Spanish and wrote conclusions and recommendations to better their diet.   I helped them with cognates such as "proteinas, vitaminas, minerales, calcio, carbohidratos" and taught them new words like "porciones/servings."  We practiced structured sentences requested by each student as they went on with their analysis.  In English, we discussed the importance of good nutrition in all ages, especially at their present age, activity levels and occupation as students.  Yet I sensed a deeper problem behind some of the students' analysis.  I found that most of the students did not eat breakfast (and dinner) at home, and several did not eat at school either.  Some said they just "left home too quickly and did not have time to grab their breakfast"; others said they did not like what their mothers left on the table for them.  Many described being provided breakfast bars or having boxes of cereal and milk and not feeling like eating either.  Others listed "crackers/ cookies / a burrito" as their sole meal.
I was troubled by the findings, which led me to theorize many students could not learn because they were hungry.  With the hope of helping solve this problem, I discussed this information with the principal, who told me he couldn't force the students to use the cafeteria to supplement their lack of food at home.  I requested permission to provide food to the students myself.  My principal allowed it, as long as the food was "part of teaching culture or language."   
Looking back, I regret my lack of time to conduct a general meeting with the parents to share the results.  In my defense I have to say that our teacher days in the school were filled with duties and responsibilities that left us struggling to fulfill our basic teaching duties.  Planning periods were used for meetings to discuss such important issues as being good pals and working together to meet the goals of the school system.  We were sent on five-minutes assignments to "observe" fellow teachers conducting their classes, then we were to report back to the group what we saw.  We had less than one minute to tell our fellow teachers our observations before the group moved to new businesses.  I had to attend pep-rallies conducted during my planning period because, in the reasoning of the school's leaders, "all teachers should be doing the same duties."  When I argued that everyone else had planning periods, the assistant principal just said I had to go to the pep-rallies because she said so.  In fact, the only time I was able to conduct a meeting with Latino parents was when I took personal leave which allowed me to devote time to plan it.
What does Freire say about teachers' rights?  I have to find the quote, but I will paraphrase now.  He said teachers who do not have political conscience to protect their own rights are less able to help their students to develop critical literacy. 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Goals of the game

An adult educator, Freire considered the rights of students living in poverty in Brazil.  I've been mulling over the application of his theories on "regular" education, that is, in the education of children and adolescents.  Is it even possible to advocate for the rights of such students without discussing this with  their parents?  This points to the absolute necessity of parental involvement, or better yet, community involvement in schools. 
The goal(s) of education in the USA is/are blurred at best, making it difficult to ascertain what is in the best interest of the student.  I once attempted to study "the rules of the game" of parental involvement in a school I taught only to end up more confused.  There is no game without communication, and communication between Latino parents -which I was studying- and the teachers at the school was almost non-existent.  In addition, no one seemed to understand the goals of the educational system in terms of a real education of the child.  So many people have denounced our educational system as test-oriented, confirming Freire's vision of current education as a "Banking system," I will not stop to discuss it here.  I will, however, continue to explore the questions that puzzle me about my role as a teacher in the education of children towards producing "free" students:  Children free to explore, free to learn, free to build themselves as projects of life.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Purpose of this blog

January 20, 2013
I am a retired teacher and want to explore teaching and teachers' rights in Georgia, USA.  I will be posting my reflexions on Brazilian educator Paulo Freire's books as well as what I find about legislation affecting teachers in GA.  I cannot wait to start!