Ayer states that teaching is an enterprise that helps human beings reach the full measure of their humanity. He expressed that he wants teachers to figure out what they are teaching for and what they are teaching against. He also states he wants teachers to stick to a path or a structure of teaching. He basically talks about certain ways of teaching that he wants teachers to try or incorporate into their classroom. He stated that teachers now days must think on their own and use their own thoughts and methods without any help or connect the dot. He wants teachers to do this to teach students who are continuing to develop minds of their own.
Ayers writes about how teaching presents the opportunity to teach children to live up to their full measure of humanity. He sheds light on the power that teaching has and how it can result in really great things, but it can also lead to dehumanization and tyranny in some ways. He touches on how metal detectors and drug tests and other examples have made schools today prison-like. This was a different perspective for me because I always just assumed that was for safety, but it does parallel some of the things you see in prisons.
Ayer’s has a very insightful article. I feel like it gave me an opportunity to open my eyes from a bit of a different point of view. One with experience in many different settings. I thought an excellent quote that was said was, “ Education is always for something and against something else.” (Pg.10). I felt that was a small but powerful sentence. I feel it sums up a great part of the article. I think it opens a newer and deeper perspective of teaching. How it comes with many different perspectives, personalities, experiences, and challenges. There are many adaptions that may need to be made in and throughout the classroom. I think this article opens a large window for many different conversations and learning opportunities.
Ayers talks about dehumanization "We know that some schooling is in fact a practice of obedience and conformity." (Pg. 2) and he brings up films as examples such as 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' which is about how the australian government creates schools with the idea of "civilizing the beast", and stripping kids of their identity and culture. Ayer also talks about Francine Prose's novel, 'After", where a school shooting takes place and after the event the school is slowly transformed into a prision, with metal detectors, random drug tests, expulsions, and many new rules all to keep the safety of the students. 'After' follows a teacher who manipulated all the parents to be on his side after the shooting but in reality hes a tyrant, Prose wrote the book and added this teacher whose sliughtly based off of her own childs experiences. I thought this was very interesting and it opened my eyes to my own experiences I had pushed away until now. I feel like in highschool my identity and spirit was stripped away slowly, after many years I stopped noticing the change in my personality and I think Ayers describes this perfectly. The change is so gradual no one notices how impactful it is to students and their wellbeing, especially parents and the students themselves.
After reading Ayers' description of teaching, I believe that teaching is the act of guiding students through the process of learning about our world. A quote that stood out to me the most was when Ayers compared the concept of learning to a voyage of discovery. He says, “This is the humanistic concept of teaching: the voyage is underway, and we are pilgrims, not tourists” (Page 2). If this is true, (and I believe that it is), students should always be encouraged to ask questions, challenge ideas that they are taught, and be given more opportunities to lead their own learning. I can see how this relates to democracy in schools because students should have more freedom to lead their own journey through education. Bettina Love is a famous author and academic who advocates for abolitionist teaching, and she touches on this topic in a lot of her work. When thinking about an education system where students are not given opportunities to lead their learning, I think about two terms Bettina Love uses: “Spirit Murdering” and “The Educational Survival Complex”. Spirit murdering is when students lose faith in their teachers and their capacity to learn, due to discouraging behaviors from teachers. The Educational Survival Complex is the concept that students are left merely surviving in school, and not learning adequately because their school mimics the same inequitable structures of society. I believe that part of what leads to these two things occurring is the lack of valuing students' feelings, and the lack of allowing students to tell you what they need to learn. Every student learns differently, but if we were to have schools that were similar to Ayers' analogy, students' needs might be better met. Ayers brings it all together by saying what we need is humanization, and I think that's a good word to use. If teachers humanized their students more, their voices would probably be more valuable, and in turn they would be more motivated to learn.
Ayers mentions how teaching is supposed to be an opportunity for children to be taught in an environment focused on fostering their fullest potential and humanity. For many schools it seems that this sentiment has been lost. Teachers seemed to take Ms. Trunchbull’s approach to teaching is literally and decided to bully their students into submission. And well it worked, at least for a while until the students learned their worth. As Ayers mentions schools often toe the line of prisons too often and for something that students complain so much about it has to beg the question of who was put in place for and why. His writing feels as though it is a call to action, a cry for teachers to start to question who their actions benefit and why they decided to react that way. Too often schools have taken political sides against their students deciding their worth before they get the chance to argue back, and the job of teachers is to prevent that. So, I feel as though Ayers' message is important especially in a political/economic climate such as ours.
Ayers had a very realistic outlook on the thoughts of education. I agreed with the part says "The student in an authoritarian setting is not expected to think much or discuss much, to contradict or to contest." pg7 and "Teachers turn the recorder on or off as they please. When the tape is full she is finished." pg7. How the educational system teaches kids to not really be themselves rather a group entity that doesn't have any separate opinions or ideas. Teachers shouldn't have a one track mind but preferably have the ability to adapt and change for the student so they can become the best version of themselves. We can both learn from each other it doesn't have to be the teacher is always right and the students are always wrong, that they don't know anything before when they start schooling because we do. What we want to learn is how to make the right choices as we live, to be enlightened and to be given a meaning in our lives and to be happy with what we become.
This chapter of Ayers 2004 discusses how teaching can either be humanizing or dehumanizing. I found the the discussion unique from different articles on teaching. Ayers states that a teacher actively supports something and opposes something else. Therefore a teacher can promote positive behavior or dissuade bad behavior. I would like to become a teacher who promotes positive behavior. Ayers continues to discuss how these active choices impact the culture of the classroom. The authoritarian teaching style historically found in many classrooms, has prevented proper learning and development as well as caused students harm. Much more of education needs to be discussion or experienced based, not lecture and test based.
After reading Ayers perspective and and descriptions I have to say he is an extremely intelligent individual. In the first couple sentences he tells us that teaching is about making a child feel equal and treating them all humanly. He brought up many points that showed what a divide we have in the education system and how much work we really have left to do. On page 10 he states "Education is always for something and against something else." this line really stuck with me and how it relates to minorities in America and how they are still at a disadvantage in our education system.
Ayer believes that education is what drives people to reach their humanity. He talks about how different teaching methods such as a tyrant are easily recognized. He believes that there should be one distinct teaching style and that teachers usually do their own thing.
After reading Ayers views on teaching, he believes that teaching/education helps humans to reach their full humanity. He points out how education can be both humanizing and dehumanizing and I liked that he spoke truthfully about it. Ayers way of explaining what teaching is what stuck out to me most because it feels like he has a true insight of schools and how they can go either way good or bad. I also liked that he mentions teachers should/need to know what they are teaching for and against because I feel like that would increase student teacher engagement and relationships and also showing them ways they can reach their humanities.
Ayers talks about how teaching can be the practice of dehumanizing, which fosters obedience and conformity, or humanizing, igniting courage and initiative in students, and it is a teacher’s job to know what they are teaching for and what they are teaching against. On one hand, authoritative schooling maintains tyrant teachers who produce students who are “object[s] for endless manipulation” (p.7). On the other hand, democratic schooling encourages free-thinking teachers and demands active, thinking humans expected to make big decisions and have a mind of their own. I liked how he described students as pilgrims, not tourists, because it implies that students are not meant to absorb information, but rather make their own decisions and build their own self.
Ayer's article gave me a lot of insight, new perspectives, and understandings. Ayer's definition of teaching focuses on the concept of humanity and how to reach one's highest self. He touches on the points of education and its connection to humanity. There are ways teaching can positively encourage humanity and also ways that teaching can be inhumane in the way it prioritizes rules and principals that are centered around discipline, obedience, memorization, etc. Ayer's focuses on showing the dehumanizing, "prison -like" aspects of school/education and focuses on sharing what teaching should be focused on instead in order to help students reach their fullest form of humanity and learn proper life skills instead of just rules and memorization (the dehumanizing aspects of eduaction.)
He basically talks about certain ways of teaching that he wants teachers to try or incorporate into their classrooms. He stated that teachers nowadays must think on their own and use their own thoughts and methods without any help or connect the dots. Ayer's focuses on showing the dehumanizing, "prison-like" aspects of school/education. I really don't know what else to say.
Ayers talks about helping students reach their full humanitarian potential. Schools have started to fall into this cycle of scaring students into learning. I think that he is trying to warn teachers about this cycle and calling them to break it.
Ayer’s viewed education as a way of teaching students to be humans. However the school systems see it more as breaking down their personality’s and what makes people unique to force them into conformity and dehumanize them. He talked about girls having sexual impulsed beat out of them but sexuality is a natural part of the body but is considered wrong. He talks about how prison like the metal detectors are and drug tests. However I was once explained that schools train you to be workers. That is why lunches were scheduled at specific times. Why we walk in lines and sit basically in assembly lines. We are trained to be workers in a style of working in a factory. We all do the same thing and if we can’t keep up if we are different we are treated less than human. The teachers goals are to help us change and grow and to be good humans but time has not been kind to that because bias and dehumanization comes into play and throws the whole system off.
Ayers is both idyllic and realistic in his approach to perceiving the education system in the western/modern environment. I appreciate the balance of views because when the underbelly of the American the school industry appears in my narrative as a teacher, I want to be well aware and prepared to take on these challenges with an enthusiasm for freedom and love. It's important to have a core, a lighthouse so to speak, that reminds us why we are educators/teachers in the first place: to liberate and enlighten those of us that care to learn about our world and our place in it. Without this foundation, it's easy to become swept up in the systemic habits of our current industry and lose sight of our purpose as educators. Every teacher could stand to read this every year at the beginning of the curriculum just to put themselves back at that pinpoint where we can feel confident in our success with helping our community grow through shared knowledge. I really noticed the duality in teaching when Ayers compared school as a means to educate and train, discuss and instruct, and what we teach for and against, providing striking samples of where education can become oppressive. I'm grateful to have these red flags so that amidst the turbulence of our political atmosphere, I can still come back to my lighthouse and use a strong moral code to successfully empower those around me with truth and facts for their minds to critically digest and use for their well being. Where there is corruption, there is healing and renewal, and Ayers spoke to both of these forces being possible and it's up to me to choose where I belong - and I'm thankful for reading this article because I know now that I want to protect the sanctity of education as a public good.
I really enjoyed reading Ayers' perspective on teaching. By his definition, teaching helps humans reach their full measure of humanity. He mentioned different ways to teach and his perspectives on them such as the authoritarian approach and how he believes they "wear the mask of a teacher, but [show] us the face of the tyrant" and how students cannot discuss or contradict but simply be obedient to their instructor (Ayers 5). He also notes how schooling can be the practice of dehumanization and uses examples from history as well as more current events such as the rules that schools have started to implement surrounding school shootings and how the increase in "zero tolerance" policies leads to more suspensions and expulsions. I really liked the way that he called schools "both the mirror and the window" because of the way schools can give us confidence and optimism but also give us fear and mindless conformity as well as how they are full of inequities while many students share common hopes and aspirations (8). He also spoke about democracy and how from a democratic lens, the authoritarian approach is backward and teachers should not destroy a student's individuality, sense of community, or undermine democratic living since democracy demands active, thinking human beings.
Ayers way of thinking is so intricate and in-depth. He talks about lots of things that I didn't even begin to consider when it comes to thinking. He brings up topics like dehumanization, ethicality of our decisions, turning a blind eye to the system, and many more things. The part I especially like is when he talks about the opposite of morality being indifference, not always immorality. However, I feel like being indifferent to the shady things breaking down the educational system is immoral. Having a lack of interest and simply not caring about the way the next generations are brought up is immoral. Even going by how Ayers describes education as helping humans reach their full measure of humanity, if someone has no sympathy to the hinderances riddling the education system then I agree that this is immoral.
Ayer states that education is the fundamental foundation of humans life and how we learn and interact. Education is an opportunity for children to learn in a meaningful settings to grow as individuals for the leading future. Many schools don’t practice the traditional teaching by letting students learn and project their ideas but more so to recite and pass the class/test.
Ayer speaks about teaching by explaining how it should be a tool to help students reach their own full potential and explore their strengths and weaknesses in a way that helps the grow. He says that the goal of this could be labeled as humanization, with dehumanization being what we are trying to avoid. Dehumanization is what he uses to describe the aspects of teaching that encourages only obedience and conformity, which leads to students feeling as though their unique qualities are unwanted and unuseful.
Ayer's perspective on teaching has fundamentally reshaped my understanding of this noble profession. According to Ayers, teaching transcends the mere transmission of a curriculum; it is a profound endeavor aimed at nurturing students into well-rounded individuals. This paradigm shift made me appreciate the depth of responsibility that comes with the role of an educator, a realization that had eluded me before. The analogy between the school system and a prison, echoed by various voices, underscores the systemic nature of educational institutions. This comparison prompts contemplation on how institutionalized structures can influence and permeate different facets of our lives, including the educational enterprise. Ayers' insights encourage a critical examination of these systems and a recognition of the broader societal implications embedded within them. In essence, Ayers has illuminated the transformative potential of teaching—highlighting its role in shaping not just academic knowledge but also contributing to the development of individuals as conscientious and empowered members of society. This nuanced perspective serves as a call to action for educators to embrace the profound impact they can have on students' lives and to continually strive for a more holistic and student-centric approach to teaching.
Ayers article was about he believes that education helps humans to reach their full humanity. I like that he brings up the prision-like aspect of school/education, this is something that when I was going to school I felt to be so true and I talked about this a lot when they asked how I felt about being a student at my school. I think that the dehumanizing of students was where it changed my perspective on school, I am someone who liked knowing exactly what I was going to do and what I was going to learn and I just worried about making it to school each day, but as I read the article I realized I liked the freedom even though the comfort of stable school was something I looked forward to.
I enjoyed Ayer's article because his entire principle revolves around the importance of education. He believes knowledge equates to humanity and it's something every child should have a fair chance at. His progressive ideas about the similarities between schooling and punishment institutions like prison were super insightful. He sees that what kind of education a student receives can have a serious impact on who that child becomes in the future. Corrupted teaching will lead to less educated adults in the future in the same way a rounded education will create rounded individuals
Ayer states that teaching is an enterprise that helps human beings reach the full measure of their humanity. He expressed that he wants teachers to figure out what they are teaching for and what they are teaching against. He also states he wants teachers to stick to a path or a structure of teaching. He basically talks about certain ways of teaching that he wants teachers to try or incorporate into their classroom. He stated that teachers now days must think on their own and use their own thoughts and methods without any help or connect the dot. He wants teachers to do this to teach students who are continuing to develop minds of their own.
ReplyDeleteAyers writes about how teaching presents the opportunity to teach children to live up to their full measure of humanity. He sheds light on the power that teaching has and how it can result in really great things, but it can also lead to dehumanization and tyranny in some ways. He touches on how metal detectors and drug tests and other examples have made schools today prison-like. This was a different perspective for me because I always just assumed that was for safety, but it does parallel some of the things you see in prisons.
ReplyDeleteAyer’s has a very insightful article. I feel like it gave me an opportunity to open my eyes from a bit of a different point of view. One with experience in many different settings. I thought an excellent quote that was said was, “ Education is always for something and against something else.” (Pg.10). I felt that was a small but powerful sentence. I feel it sums up a great part of the article. I think it opens a newer and deeper perspective of teaching. How it comes with many different perspectives, personalities, experiences, and challenges. There are many adaptions that may need to be made in and throughout the classroom. I think this article opens a large window for many different conversations and learning opportunities.
ReplyDeleteAyers talks about dehumanization "We know that some schooling is in fact a practice of obedience and conformity." (Pg. 2) and he brings up films as examples such as 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' which is about how the australian government creates schools with the idea of "civilizing the beast", and stripping kids of their identity and culture. Ayer also talks about Francine Prose's novel, 'After", where a school shooting takes place and after the event the school is slowly transformed into a prision, with metal detectors, random drug tests, expulsions, and many new rules all to keep the safety of the students. 'After' follows a teacher who manipulated all the parents to be on his side after the shooting but in reality hes a tyrant, Prose wrote the book and added this teacher whose sliughtly based off of her own childs experiences. I thought this was very interesting and it opened my eyes to my own experiences I had pushed away until now. I feel like in highschool my identity and spirit was stripped away slowly, after many years I stopped noticing the change in my personality and I think Ayers describes this perfectly. The change is so gradual no one notices how impactful it is to students and their wellbeing, especially parents and the students themselves.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Ayers' description of teaching, I believe that teaching is the act of guiding students through the process of learning about our world. A quote that stood out to me the most was when Ayers compared the concept of learning to a voyage of discovery. He says, “This is the humanistic concept of teaching: the voyage is underway, and we are pilgrims, not tourists” (Page 2). If this is true, (and I believe that it is), students should always be encouraged to ask questions, challenge ideas that they are taught, and be given more opportunities to lead their own learning. I can see how this relates to democracy in schools because students should have more freedom to lead their own journey through education. Bettina Love is a famous author and academic who advocates for abolitionist teaching, and she touches on this topic in a lot of her work. When thinking about an education system where students are not given opportunities to lead their learning, I think about two terms Bettina Love uses: “Spirit Murdering” and “The Educational Survival Complex”. Spirit murdering is when students lose faith in their teachers and their capacity to learn, due to discouraging behaviors from teachers. The Educational Survival Complex is the concept that students are left merely surviving in school, and not learning adequately because their school mimics the same inequitable structures of society. I believe that part of what leads to these two things occurring is the lack of valuing students' feelings, and the lack of allowing students to tell you what they need to learn. Every student learns differently, but if we were to have schools that were similar to Ayers' analogy, students' needs might be better met. Ayers brings it all together by saying what we need is humanization, and I think that's a good word to use. If teachers humanized their students more, their voices would probably be more valuable, and in turn they would be more motivated to learn.
ReplyDeleteAyers mentions how teaching is supposed to be an opportunity for children to be taught in an environment focused on fostering their fullest potential and humanity. For many schools it seems that this sentiment has been lost. Teachers seemed to take Ms. Trunchbull’s approach to teaching is literally and decided to bully their students into submission. And well it worked, at least for a while until the students learned their worth. As Ayers mentions schools often toe the line of prisons too often and for something that students complain so much about it has to beg the question of who was put in place for and why. His writing feels as though it is a call to action, a cry for teachers to start to question who their actions benefit and why they decided to react that way. Too often schools have taken political sides against their students deciding their worth before they get the chance to argue back, and the job of teachers is to prevent that. So, I feel as though Ayers' message is important especially in a political/economic climate such as ours.
ReplyDeleteAyers had a very realistic outlook on the thoughts of education. I agreed with the part says "The student in an authoritarian setting is not expected to think much or discuss much, to contradict or to contest." pg7 and "Teachers turn the recorder on or off as they please. When the tape is full she is finished." pg7. How the educational system teaches kids to not really be themselves rather a group entity that doesn't have any separate opinions or ideas. Teachers shouldn't have a one track mind but preferably have the ability to adapt and change for the student so they can become the best version of themselves. We can both learn from each other it doesn't have to be the teacher is always right and the students are always wrong, that they don't know anything before when they start schooling because we do. What we want to learn is how to make the right choices as we live, to be enlightened and to be given a meaning in our lives and to be happy with what we become.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter of Ayers 2004 discusses how teaching can either be humanizing or dehumanizing. I found the the discussion unique from different articles on teaching. Ayers states that a teacher actively supports something and opposes something else. Therefore a teacher can promote positive behavior or dissuade bad behavior. I would like to become a teacher who promotes positive behavior. Ayers continues to discuss how these active choices impact the culture of the classroom. The authoritarian teaching style historically found in many classrooms, has prevented proper learning and development as well as caused students harm. Much more of education needs to be discussion or experienced based, not lecture and test based.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Ayers perspective and and descriptions I have to say he is an extremely intelligent individual. In the first couple sentences he tells us that teaching is about making a child feel equal and treating them all humanly. He brought up many points that showed what a divide we have in the education system and how much work we really have left to do. On page 10 he states "Education is always for something and against something else." this line really stuck with me and how it relates to minorities in America and how they are still at a disadvantage in our education system.
ReplyDeleteCaroline
DeleteAyer believes that education is what drives people to reach their humanity. He talks about how different teaching methods such as a tyrant are easily recognized. He believes that there should be one distinct teaching style and that teachers usually do their own thing.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Ayers views on teaching, he believes that teaching/education helps humans to reach their full humanity. He points out how education can be both humanizing and dehumanizing and I liked that he spoke truthfully about it. Ayers way of explaining what teaching is what stuck out to me most because it feels like he has a true insight of schools and how they can go either way good or bad. I also liked that he mentions teachers should/need to know what they are teaching for and against because I feel like that would increase student teacher engagement and relationships and also showing them ways they can reach their humanities.
ReplyDeleteHannah
ReplyDeleteAyers talks about how teaching can be the practice of dehumanizing, which fosters obedience and conformity, or humanizing, igniting courage and initiative in students, and it is a teacher’s job to know what they are teaching for and what they are teaching against. On one hand, authoritative schooling maintains tyrant teachers who produce students who are “object[s] for endless manipulation” (p.7). On the other hand, democratic schooling encourages free-thinking teachers and demands active, thinking humans expected to make big decisions and have a mind of their own. I liked how he described students as pilgrims, not tourists, because it implies that students are not meant to absorb information, but rather make their own decisions and build their own self.
Ayer's article gave me a lot of insight, new perspectives, and understandings. Ayer's definition of teaching focuses on the concept of humanity and how to reach one's highest self. He touches on the points of education and its connection to humanity. There are ways teaching can positively encourage humanity and also ways that teaching can be inhumane in the way it prioritizes rules and principals that are centered around discipline, obedience, memorization, etc. Ayer's focuses on showing the dehumanizing, "prison -like" aspects of school/education and focuses on sharing what teaching should be focused on instead in order to help students reach their fullest form of humanity and learn proper life skills instead of just rules and memorization (the dehumanizing aspects of eduaction.)
ReplyDelete- Allison Bruehs
DeleteHe basically talks about certain ways of teaching that he wants teachers to try or incorporate into their classrooms. He stated that teachers nowadays must think on their own and use their own thoughts and methods without any help or connect the dots. Ayer's focuses on showing the dehumanizing, "prison-like" aspects of school/education. I really don't know what else to say.
ReplyDeleteAyers talks about helping students reach their full humanitarian potential. Schools have started to fall into this cycle of scaring students into learning. I think that he is trying to warn teachers about this cycle and calling them to break it.
ReplyDeleteAyer’s viewed education as a way of teaching students to be humans. However the school systems see it more as breaking down their personality’s and what makes people unique to force them into conformity and dehumanize them. He talked about girls having sexual impulsed beat out of them but sexuality is a natural part of the body but is considered wrong. He talks about how prison like the metal detectors are and drug tests. However I was once explained that schools train you to be workers. That is why lunches were scheduled at specific times. Why we walk in lines and sit basically in assembly lines. We are trained to be workers in a style of working in a factory. We all do the same thing and if we can’t keep up if we are different we are treated less than human. The teachers goals are to help us change and grow and to be good humans but time has not been kind to that because bias and dehumanization comes into play and throws the whole system off.
ReplyDeleteAyers is both idyllic and realistic in his approach to perceiving the education system in the western/modern environment. I appreciate the balance of views because when the underbelly of the American the school industry appears in my narrative as a teacher, I want to be well aware and prepared to take on these challenges with an enthusiasm for freedom and love. It's important to have a core, a lighthouse so to speak, that reminds us why we are educators/teachers in the first place: to liberate and enlighten those of us that care to learn about our world and our place in it. Without this foundation, it's easy to become swept up in the systemic habits of our current industry and lose sight of our purpose as educators. Every teacher could stand to read this every year at the beginning of the curriculum just to put themselves back at that pinpoint where we can feel confident in our success with helping our community grow through shared knowledge. I really noticed the duality in teaching when Ayers compared school as a means to educate and train, discuss and instruct, and what we teach for and against, providing striking samples of where education can become oppressive. I'm grateful to have these red flags so that amidst the turbulence of our political atmosphere, I can still come back to my lighthouse and use a strong moral code to successfully empower those around me with truth and facts for their minds to critically digest and use for their well being. Where there is corruption, there is healing and renewal, and Ayers spoke to both of these forces being possible and it's up to me to choose where I belong - and I'm thankful for reading this article because I know now that I want to protect the sanctity of education as a public good.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading Ayers' perspective on teaching. By his definition, teaching helps humans reach their full measure of humanity. He mentioned different ways to teach and his perspectives on them such as the authoritarian approach and how he believes they "wear the mask of a teacher, but [show] us the face of the tyrant" and how students cannot discuss or contradict but simply be obedient to their instructor (Ayers 5). He also notes how schooling can be the practice of dehumanization and uses examples from history as well as more current events such as the rules that schools have started to implement surrounding school shootings and how the increase in "zero tolerance" policies leads to more suspensions and expulsions. I really liked the way that he called schools "both the mirror and the window" because of the way schools can give us confidence and optimism but also give us fear and mindless conformity as well as how they are full of inequities while many students share common hopes and aspirations (8). He also spoke about democracy and how from a democratic lens, the authoritarian approach is backward and teachers should not destroy a student's individuality, sense of community, or undermine democratic living since democracy demands active, thinking human beings.
ReplyDeleteAyers way of thinking is so intricate and in-depth. He talks about lots of things that I didn't even begin to consider when it comes to thinking. He brings up topics like dehumanization, ethicality of our decisions, turning a blind eye to the system, and many more things. The part I especially like is when he talks about the opposite of morality being indifference, not always immorality. However, I feel like being indifferent to the shady things breaking down the educational system is immoral. Having a lack of interest and simply not caring about the way the next generations are brought up is immoral. Even going by how Ayers describes education as helping humans reach their full measure of humanity, if someone has no sympathy to the hinderances riddling the education system then I agree that this is immoral.
ReplyDeleteAyer states that education is the fundamental foundation of humans life and how we learn and interact. Education is an opportunity for children to learn in a meaningful settings to grow as individuals for the leading future. Many schools don’t practice the traditional teaching by letting students learn and project their ideas but more so to recite and pass the class/test.
ReplyDeleteAyer speaks about teaching by explaining how it should be a tool to help students reach their own full potential and explore their strengths and weaknesses in a way that helps the grow. He says that the goal of this could be labeled as humanization, with dehumanization being what we are trying to avoid. Dehumanization is what he uses to describe the aspects of teaching that encourages only obedience and conformity, which leads to students feeling as though their unique qualities are unwanted and unuseful.
ReplyDeleteAyer's perspective on teaching has fundamentally reshaped my understanding of this noble profession. According to Ayers, teaching transcends the mere transmission of a curriculum; it is a profound endeavor aimed at nurturing students into well-rounded individuals. This paradigm shift made me appreciate the depth of responsibility that comes with the role of an educator, a realization that had eluded me before.
ReplyDeleteThe analogy between the school system and a prison, echoed by various voices, underscores the systemic nature of educational institutions. This comparison prompts contemplation on how institutionalized structures can influence and permeate different facets of our lives, including the educational enterprise. Ayers' insights encourage a critical examination of these systems and a recognition of the broader societal implications embedded within them.
In essence, Ayers has illuminated the transformative potential of teaching—highlighting its role in shaping not just academic knowledge but also contributing to the development of individuals as conscientious and empowered members of society. This nuanced perspective serves as a call to action for educators to embrace the profound impact they can have on students' lives and to continually strive for a more holistic and student-centric approach to teaching.
Ayers article was about he believes that education helps humans to reach their full humanity. I like that he brings up the prision-like aspect of school/education, this is something that when I was going to school I felt to be so true and I talked about this a lot when they asked how I felt about being a student at my school. I think that the dehumanizing of students was where it changed my perspective on school, I am someone who liked knowing exactly what I was going to do and what I was going to learn and I just worried about making it to school each day, but as I read the article I realized I liked the freedom even though the comfort of stable school was something I looked forward to.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Ayer's article because his entire principle revolves around the importance of education. He believes knowledge equates to humanity and it's something every child should have a fair chance at. His progressive ideas about the similarities between schooling and punishment institutions like prison were super insightful. He sees that what kind of education a student receives can have a serious impact on who that child becomes in the future. Corrupted teaching will lead to less educated adults in the future in the same way a rounded education will create rounded individuals
ReplyDeleteForgot to include my name- Nayla Bemmerzouk
DeleteVictoria T.
ReplyDelete