Talking Points #10

"Empowering Education"
Ira Shor

1)"You must arouse children’s curiosity and make them think about school. For example, it's very important to begin the school year with a discussion of why we go to school? Why does the government force us to go to school? This would set a questioning tone and show the children that you trust them and that they are intelligent enough, at their own level, to investigate and come up with answers.” (Pg. 11)

I liked this quote because it talks about making children want to learn. Most kids feel forced into school and don't want to go on a daily basis. I also like the idea of trusting the children's intelligence. They are smarter than many people think so when you start the school year with a question, they feel like you believe in them.

2)"If the students' task is to memorize rules and existing knowledge, without questioning the subject matter or the learning process, their potential for critical thought and action will be restricted." (Pg. 12)

Children want the opportunity to learn something new and they want the opportunity to question what they are learning. If they are not allowed to question their learning when they are young, how can they be expected to think critically in college? Kids get so excited when they learn something new that they can teach to their families and friends.

3)"In school and society, the lack of meaningful participation alienate workers, teachers, and students. This alienation lowers their productivity in class and on the job. I think of this, lowered productivity, a performancestrike, an unorganized mass refusal to perform well, an informal and unacknowledged strike." (Pg. 20)

I think that this quote shows just how important participation is in schools. The students will not participate if they do not feel engaged. If all students actively participated in all their classes, then they would learn and retain more information. They would also want to go to school if they feel engaged.

I thought that the article was very interesting. I like that he talks about the curiosity in not just kids, but everyone. If curiosity is encouraged then the children learn a lot more. If a kid is not curious about what they are learning, then they'll have no desire to look any further into the topic. My brother came home from school one day and he was so excited about his gladiator project he had for his history class. For the first time, he wanted to do the research and find out more about the topic. My brother hated school for the most part, but that class was enjoyable for him. The teacher had the class participate in the way the class progressed. He did not hand out a syllabus because he allowed the class to decide which way the class was going. He did have some loose guidelines, but the class worked together to learn. I think that Shor would agree with his style.