Reading Response 4

Education is a political act.

This phrase struck me as both surprising and a known truth. It is something that we simply do not speak of in American teaching. While it is assumed that teachers are inherently political, it is taboo to acknowledge their political leanings. Freire speaks to the democratic versus the authoritarian, and the lefts permissiveness to the point of lawlessness and the rights lack of freedom of its citizenry. He speaks to the balance we as educators must keep. The authoritarian speaks first, and subjugates their students to the rhetoric of the teachers choosing, while the liberal gives up all authority and allows the students to control leaving all sense of order at the door. This is why we can not be afraid of utilizing our authority, while allowing our students to have a voice. Keeping order in our classrooms is essential to providing an adequate learning environment. We must do this while keeping the students interests in mind. Everyone needs breaks, everyone needs a voice, we must hear our students and work with them for the best learning environment possible. Long past is the "my way or the highway" rhetoric. Those ideals did not work for the students at the time, and they will not be effective for students today. We must adopt a "we are in this together" approach and embrace success WITH our students, not in spite of them.