Blog Post 6

Chapter 8 of Educational Foundations talks a lot about the banking concept of education.  Much like depositing checks into one's bank account, teachers are sought to deposit checks filled with knowledge into the minds of their students.  The problem with this is that students are not being communicated with, but are instead being lectured and being told the difference between right and wrong.  The learning abilities of these students are not being judged on how they come to certain conclusions, but is instead being measured by whether or not the students are able to temporarily regurgitate the information they are fed, back onto a formal assessment.  It is this concept that leads on the idea that teachers do not necessarily care whether or not the students are comprehending the material.  This, above all else, puts students at a disadvantage when it comes to being able to articulate what it is that they are learning in school.  "Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence.  The means used are not important..."(Freire 114).  A prime example of this is when parents ask their children what they did at school that day.  Many people would say that it is a rebellious child that says "nothing", but what if they actually don't have the faintest idea until they cram for the test the night before.  Personally I find nothing that is influential about the banking concept of education.  By this I mean that students have nothing to take away from this style of teaching other than being able to obtain knowledge through 5 hour-cramming sessions, if you consider that a skill.  A classroom is made for both  student and a teacher to learn and feed off of each others' ideas.

One of the main things that I was able to take away from visiting Beachwood Middle School was how different a 7th Grade history class is from what I experienced.  Although Material may still be the same, the technological advances made in the past 6 or 7 years has allowed new ways of learning to progress in today's classrooms.  Just from observation and walking around the classroom while students worked, I was able to get an idea of how these new tools were being implemented into their curriculum.  Students were using laptops to write blogs and share their own ideas on the contents in which they were submerged.  Talking to the teacher in the class room, he was able to share with me the fact that textbooks weren't used during lessons.  7th grade history teachers in the local community were able to develop a webpage or "web quest" in which the students would be able to learn the same material, but in a more fun and interesting way.  Not only using the technology that was generally frowned upon while I attended middle school, but the students also had the luxury of learning at their own pace.  Upon completion of the web quest, it seemed apparent that students were able to retain more knowledge than they would a regular textbook.  This goes along with the idea that students should be able to understand the material and be able to articulate their thoughts and ideas on the matter, as appose to simply regurgitating information onto a formal assessment. On top of all of this, classroom discussion seemed to be more apparent as a result of the students' understanding of the material.  The teacher emphasized the fact that he never wants to lecture his students, reiterating the fact that the information during a lecture could simply go in one ear and out the other.  His style of teaching allowed students to conceptualize the information in front of them, and formulate their own ideas and views pertaining to the subject at hand.  This to me makes me wish I was in 7th grade now as appose to 6 years ago.  But then again don't we all?

For me, sexual orientation is in no way a deterrent of whether or not a person is able to be in my life. I have had numerous friends that have come out to me saying that they were gay-a fact that I have always been quite proud of.  Attending an all-boys high school forced me to see that all different walks of life should be able to coexist.  That being said, I think we can all agree that a school atmosphere, high school especially, can be one of the more unforgiving places for a young person to express who they are on the inside and out.  Eric Rofes talks a lot about gender roles, and how they affect an individual in an academic setting.  Not only was my high school an all boys school but it is also a jesuit institution.  The school itself, I felt, did an outstanding job at making sure that all students felt comfortable with learning in the confines of 150 Morrissey Blvd.  It was the students themselves who determined whether or not it would be easy for members of the LGBT community to feel welcome.  I can relate to Rofes when he says that he would always assume the role of a peacemaker.  With divorced parents I have naturally taken on that role myself, and I guess it has carried over into my every day life.  One of the beautiful things about my high school was that no one person was forced into a single group of friends, it was a brotherhood.  But with such a tight-nit group of course there were going to be situations in which confrontation would arise.  Not one day would go by where the word "fag" would not be tossed around the cafeteria or playing field.  In these situations it would normally be a question of "manhood" that came into play.  It was almost as if being gay would take away from a boys masculinity, when in reality there are homosexual professional athletes who compete at the highest level with more masculinity than some could ever imagine.  The question is, why does being gay take away from a persons character? or even their drive to succeed?  In other words making them feel like less of a person because of their sexual orientation.  When in reality, members of the LGBT community are attending school, social events, and playing sports for the same reason as a person that identifies themselves as straight.