Empowering Education

The article Empowering Education by Ira Shor starts on the topic of the role of education in socializing students. He imagines that teachers should encourage students to question their experience in school and broaden their curiosity. What caught my eye on just the second page of the reading was a quote by Piaget. He says, “If the aim of the intellectual training is to form the intelligence rather than to stock the memory, and to produce intellectual explorers rather than mere erudition, then traditional education is manifestly guilty of a grave deficiency.” What I think this means is that education has a one-way street, from the teacher’s mind to the students. The fault that is happening is deficiency of curriculum which is not intriguing children or creating “intellectual explorers”.
There are different types of curriculum that causes children’s minds to either spark, or decrease a drive. There is a curriculum that encourages the students questioning which is related to real life events and their everyday experiences. This makes them act upon from reflection rather than just a memory of facts. A reason why students drop out, withdraw and give up are for a few reasons. Many students do not like the rules or the roles set out for them. I judge that this means there is a lack of freedom in movement and thought. There must be choices for the students.
There must be some sort of relationship between a teacher and a student. Some teachers should realize that children will work best with a positive relationship. There are many keys to reducing bad behavior and lack of effort from students in the class. Although we must teach children to respect and be responsible, it is a team building process between child and adult. It has become a common knowledge to society that adults are the power in the room. I believe that when teaching, it is impossible to learn from someone you feel afraid of; from someone who yells at you; from someone who doesn’t believe in you; and from someone who believes they have all the authority in the room, that it is impossible to voice your own opinions. Not every child will learn the same way, but every child has the drive to learn.