Gatto gives the six lessons that are common in school teaching and expresses with his own experiences through these six lessons of how schools and teachers control the students. Expressing how the students are trapped inside boxes and that they should listen to the people higher than them. Two of the lessons are how the students are constantly being watch and the grades that the teachers give are saying what the students are worth. School is a place to build up subordinates for the society to build and the students become like machines, to listen and obey. He thinks that school does not give as much development as it would to the students if the students could have been home school or in "de-institutionalized schools" to give better "learning" to the students. The curriculum is not helping the students much, the students are stuck in the institutions without becoming "fully human" and the students are learning "bad habits" from the 12 years of schooling.
Through the article, I agree with Gatto a lot and how the students are not growing that much through the 12 years of schooling. I do not find it weird that he had won the teacher's award because of the way he wrote the six lessons. Even though (I think) he disagreed with the lessons, he still does it and tries to make it better for the students. Like how to teach the students and what kind of lessons he would give them are his choices and his power over the students. But then for one of the lessons about the bell-ringing that its lesson is that "no work is worth finishing", which I find it interesting. If the bell causes the work to be not worth finishing, then how can the students think deeply from the teacher's lessons or are the students even thinking deeply? I find the power lies within the school, curriculum and teachers and less about the students so that is why the students are unable to grow and develop as they should. In many of the lessons Gatto gave and with his own experiences, the power on what and how the students can do anything in school or outside are from the teachers and the work given to them. I agree with his last few paragraphs that school is like a prison, that the students lose a lot of time or waste of time and they could have been spending time with their families or building their or to become self-sufficient.
Second Chapter of Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Freire
Paulo Freire critics the "banking" model of education and "problem-posing education" and how it affects the the relationship between the teacher ("narrating - subject") and the students ("patients - listening objects") and the authority power in school. The banking model is where the teachers talk and the students just listen and memorize. Then there's the "Problem-posing education" where the students can solve the problems so that will help them solve when they leave school. Then Freire talks about the dialogical relations and if there is more talking between the teacher and students, the teachers and students can learn and develop from each other. But similar to Gatto's lessons, the oppressors (the teachers) are taking over the students knowledge and their minds, shifting and changing the information learned, and adding their own perspective but with Freire, it is more equal between the teachers and students. The way that Freire says that the teachers use to control the students is the "banking" concept where the teachers have the students "receive, memorize, and repeat" what they had said and by doing that, the students become machine-like and unable to develop their own. However, the "banking" system have contradictions about reality, that it is a necrophilic development where the students are being taken control, and having their creative power to be suppressed. However, if the teacher can learn from the students, then the balance of the relationship between teachers and students are equal, where the teachers are students and students are teachers. Then with the problem-posing education, the students and teachers are able to "become" and making a process of the world and humanization.
I think we are in a banking education but we are also the problem-posing education and there are some good things with it even though Freire thinks we do not develop as much to "fully" human, it is like saying we should be perfect-ish. In S.O.F, I think the teachers are making the students think a lot and develop our own independence in thinking through the problems given to us. I think the problem-pose education can possibly work in the schools so that the students can think by themselves more and to know more of what the society is planning to use them for. Because right now, I think with the subjects we are learning, many kids need directions from the teachers and textbooks rather than thinking how they can solve with what knowledge they already have. Many of the students are creative but I think its kind of depressing when we go into the society, the talents used are just a tool and might not be enjoying. I think schools are how it is now, just students memorizing and repeating are because from the society and economic issues.
Additionally, the need to dominate the students thinking which turns education "into practice for domination" than "practice for freedom". Restrictions that made the relationship between the teacher and students are the higher ups and the curriculum and making it unbalance. There are always these sets of rules applying to the school, teachers and students that made the whole equality different. Even though the teachers are the ones who are giving us the knowledge, the students are also teaching the teachers how to make their teaching lives better. Well, it depends on what schools the students are in because different schools have different standards and thus, creating a group of machine-like teens. Additionally, like Freire said to have the everybody become fully human, the students, teachers and everybody need to be aware and awake of the situations. I agree with what he is saying because a lot of students do not listen to what is happening in the world and instead learn and listen through the teachers a lot. And I feel that the students need to be better empower in finding awareness about anything and if the teachers would be able to tell the students to make a difference, even if it is little. If the students want to change what is happening with education, then there is a chance that the models of education, the banking and problem-posing can be changed to make the both better or combine both of them.
"Culture of power" is Delpit's main point in how this affects the education, schools, the power class levels, and the students' minds. America is diverse and if the kids are able to learn about the code of living in the American mainstream, then they can learn about the "power relationship" of the culture of power to help themselves to become expert (and from learning through the teachers). Different social class levels: poor, medium and rich, have different kinds of schools and the different cultures produce unfairness/inequality in how the students are educated differently. And the power that are use to develop the kids need to be change, to change to more equal and for the kids to share about the diversity they have. Additionally, Delpit suggests that school need to think more about the parent's situations depending on the class level and that there needs to be more parents voices included for the children's best interests in schools. At the end, she leaves five issues addressing about the culture of power and sort of a way to tell people what to do to erase these issues.
I think with the diversities and cultures in America and the social class levels affect how the education are placed in the children because different cultures have different standards and with the parents working (poor and medium-class), they might not be available to help the children. The teachers need to extract and share their experiences and "expertness" to the children so the children can create their own expertness and able to decode the codes and rules in playing these culture of power games. And reading her opinions, the political and economic parties play in the effects of education because money (economic) seems to be a problem and the students have to be smart to be able to survive with politics or just surviving in the society. The word "power" has been repeated many times to show that education is trying to produce power for the students to have. Even thought she said she wants the students to think critically for themselves...but her point on culture and power makes sense because I think education is for when moving into society, they can play the rules and games easier but also for all the students to have equal standing on learning as much as they could/should.
Mr. Fanning
The goals that Mr. Fanning tries to put in S.O.F. are to develop "critical thinkers", have the seniors graduate and helped the students to create goals for themselves even if it is personal goals (and the teachers will help the students in achieving those goals). He said that in S.O.F., there are have and have-not students that blends and are friendly with each other but for some other schools, it is different. Education is very important to him as it can help you learn, and "education will allow you to buy your own car". And having the students to become critical thinkers, they can learn more on their own and become "life long learners". And having the student to create goals help in making their own decisions and . He wants to help change the students but he knows he only have this much power and control. He wants to rather than "having the old factory producing clones" - students, he wants to "produce individuals" - students.
I think developing critical thinkers is what education is about because we are trying to learn about knowledge and on the highest level of that is the truth about anything. And I thought the goals were a "thing" that can connect the teachers and students better. It is like Freire's chapter that teachers become students and students become teachers, where the relationship need to be balance in order for there to be mutual trust. Similar to Lisa Deplit's article, if the teachers and students does not connect well, the students are going to back away from education and that will be bad. I think that all the schools should start considering in putting "education" first priority and developing critical thinkers and learning about the codes to help the students in being aware of the world. Even though schools are not just education, I think Mr. Fanning's goal of having critical thinkers are a must for the students to grow instead of reading from textbooks and memorizing or using the banking model of education too much. It might be bad for the higher power people because they cannot use the student "clones" if the students are developing as critical thinkers.
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