In my sophomore year of high school, I joined the tech and multimedia board in my leadership class. I surprised myself when I joined this board because I had no idea how to make communications videos or run sound systems (both critical skills for succeeding in this position), but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone, learn new skills, and be apart of this team whose work intrigued me. By applying my love for working in groups and learning to this unfamiliar task, I was able to adapt and teach myself the necessary skills for success through practical experience. By watching my predecessors work and working alongside them, I was able to develop the same skills while adding my unique perspectives. I gained credibility in this field and developed …show more content…
In his book Education for Critical Consciousness, Freire discusses how the social constructs of society are exposed through the consciousness development of the oppressed. By challenging these constructs and practicing conscientização, the oppressed reclaim the power and grow as conscious beings. Through my exploration in to my interest in communication and working with people, I grew conscious of the STEM heavy career paths that had been imposed on me. If I had never challenged my own perceptions as to what my real interests are, I would most likely be suffering as a Biology major now rather than enjoying my path as a Communication Studies major. The pressures of schooling systems to take certain career paths is toxic and hinders our development as complex conscious beings with unique …show more content…
Prior to my Junior year U.S. History class, which was my first class of the day, I got involved in a minor car accident. There were no injuries or damage, but the incident caused me to arrive late to class. My teacher was known for requiring tardy students to do an embarrassing task in front of the class, which I was expected to perform upon my arrival to class that morning. I was still reeling from the shock of the accident, and I started to cry during the task, further embarrassing myself to the point where I left and sat in the front office for the rest of the class period.
Up until that moment I really enjoyed social studies and history classes, but in that moment, which I deemed as humiliating, my perspectives shifted and I grew to dread going to class everyday and further detest the subject itself.
This experience displays how educators can influence identity development for the better or worse. One negative occurrence ruined an entire subject for me, all because one instructor chose a bad day to try and be funny. While I admit that the car accident was the catalyst, the fact that an adult who I trust put me in an uncomfortable situation, uncomfortable enough to make me associate the subject with a negative view, exemplifies how critical the role of adults play in identity formation in school
This power keeps the behavior of the oppressed well within the set guidelines of the oppressor (Freire, 2000, pg. 47). Critical Race Theory outlines this system of oppression as it relates to white and non-white races. By using the critical race theory coupled with the system of oppression described by Freire (2000), I propose that within the system of oppression, the oppressor must keep its own members in line with the prescribed guidelines by reinforcing the social norms from birth. Freire (2000) suggest that the interest of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed not the system” (pg.34). Identifying as white, therefore, starts at birth when members of the white class work to reinforce social norms that began with our founding fathers at Plymouth Rock. This long history of white privilege was taught to me and I continue to teach it to my children. As an educator of white affluent high school students, I believe we provide college and career counseling based on this white privilege system of oppression as well. Here, I journey even closer to unraveling the myth of white privilege as I encounter the intersection of an affluent white student choosing a career after high
An identity crisis is defined as a period, at which an individual struggles with one's own sense of self. I believe that everyone goes through such a crisis at one point or another; however, I do not feel it is correct to say, everyone goes through this type of crisis entering their first year of college. Now, I am not say that someone can’t have an identity crisis entering college for the first time, for is was made clear in the essay, that some people can indeed, have a sudden realization of either finding or losing one’s self in college. In turn, it is fair to say that most people do develop a sort of crisis when embarking in the college life. It's a time in your life when you experience the world in a new light—and usually on your own.
The first text, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” highlights the importance of liberatory education for students from marginalized backgrounds. Freire points out that oppression dehumanizes both the oppressors and the oppressed, and that liberatory education serves to humanize both. Liberation must come directly from the efforts of the oppressed, as they are the only people that truly understand the nature of their oppression. Education
The best leadership accomplishment that demonstrates my potential to make significant contributions to the campus community and broader society is cheerleading. Cheerleading has made a huge impact on my life and has created many opportunities for me. It has paved the way for my high school career. Cheerleading provided me with opportunities to lead, volunteer, perform and show the athletic ability of our squad.
His works focuses on the awakening of consciousness in people as a way to empower people to believe they deserve change and can achieve it. Freire argues that the development of critical awareness is essential in order for transformational politics to take place in society. He discusses how in order to facilitate in the development of critical awareness of the oppressed, that the oppressed must acknowledge that they are indeed oppressed. This is done through the praxis method, a process where the oppressed has discussion about their lives, realities, and norms with a facilitator. After the discussion with the facilitator they reflect on their experiences and recognized the oppression they’ve experienced. They are now aware of the unequal power dynamics they’ve experience, and can action to change the system of
Identity develops gradually through the adult student relationship as the teacher implements principals for new citizens and empowering characters . Finally, the teacher deployed successful language which she used to achieve her main target and brought in her own culture to the classroom environment .
As stated by Watts, Diemer, and Voight (2011), “Critical consciousness (CC) describes how oppressed or marginalized people learn to critically analyze their social conditions and act to change them” (p.44). An ethnic studies curriculum helps foster critical consciousness because students are required to think critically about the experiences of different ethnic groups. Instilling this knowledge in students of color is imperative because “young people in urban areas are often marginalized from larger societal discussions and from public policy decisions that deeply affect their lives” (McIntyre, 2000, pp.129-130). Students of color, who understand and are able to engage with the sociopolitical environment surrounding them, can work to promote
One of my memorable academic experiences at Antioch was reading Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed in Liberal Studies Seminar. Freire (1970) articulated how education can be liberatory, but lack of access to it can perpetuate oppression (p.54). His work taught me that I can not teach students to be liberated, I must help provide the tools for them to liberate themselves. In my work I aim to integrate education theory, social justice and developmental psychology to create the best possible circumstance for my students to grow into liberated and intelligent leaders of the
My work as an assistant dance teacher at WA Stage School allowed me to develop leadership skills, build confidence and learn how to collaborate with others. By working together with the teacher in charge, I learnt the necessary collaboration of others to run a successful class, as well as the importance of helping others. I learnt from her own experiences as a dance teacher and developed the confidence to teach the class certain aspects of technique and choreography. I learnt how to use my own initiative and how to lead in certain situations where guidance is necessary. Witnessing the
The curriculum taught in schools has a huge effect on a developing person’s identity. Through schooling we tend to call into question the things that we believed to be true as children....
This writing goes into an in-depth discussion of how students are not receiving the education they truly deserve, but are instead having mindless noggin’s for teachers to put their own ideas into. Freire says “But since people do not exist apart from the world, apart from reality, the movement must begin with the human-world relationship”(page 66). He is trying to explain to understand others, people must first experience the world in a way by exercising their own creativity because “Only through communication can human life hold meaning” (page 58). He is trying to allow a supportive way that both teachers and students need to re-create an understanding to continue a relationship and establish knowledge. Yet, it is hard to create something like this because no one can be open to an idea of allowing students to go on their own. He states, “No one can be authentically human while he prevents others from being so”(page 66). With this quote he brings to light the truth that oppressors use what they think is morally correct in society to still keep its status quo because it benefits them. Just as in a sense that my art college wants to reap the benefit from college students to take pointless classes, even though they do not help them with their
“Critical Theory is a theory seeking emancipation and change in a dominant social order” (Baran & Davis, 2012). Critical theory is a social theory that deals with different aspects of society. It tends to critique cultures that include: media, advertising and consumer culture. Moreover, Critical theory is also used to study how education is dealt with using information technology and it also concentrates on social relationships that are social, political and economic. The critical theory is known to be one of the theories that have been defined in different ways by different theorists depending on how they understood the theory. This paper will mainly discuss the literature review of the Critical theory and how it can be applied to television. To be precise I will focus on analyzing or criticizing feminism in a television series known as “Sex and the City”. I chose to criticize feminism on a television series because I believe that this is a serious issue that is being debated all around the world today.
I have studied Marxist theory in almost all of my literature classes for the past four years. I have become quite familiar to it, but I am always taken aback when the topic of false consciousness arises. According to Dictionary.com false counsciousness is “any belief or view that prevents a person from being able to understand the true nature of a situation.” Another definition I found compelling states that “when an ideal functions to mask its own failure, it is a false ideal, or a false consciousness, whose real purpose is to promote the interests of those in power.” (Tyson 56) Looking at those two definitions I believe it is easy to find the best false ideal of all, the idea
There are social struggles that are observed in society. Those same struggles are also noticed in public and private schools. They stem from inequalities in race and socioeconomic class. By using the lens of critical social theory and critical education theory, those struggles are recognized and interpreted. In my next chapter, I will discuss what methods of data collection I used in my study and the specifics of my study.
...Identity (Re) Construction and Student Resistance. In D. W. Butin (Ed.), Teaching social foundations of education : contexts, theories, and issues (pp. 109-126). Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.