Shor: Empowering Education Quotes

This article was very long…but it was very thought provoking and I loved the topic.

“Piaget urged a reciprocal relationship between teachers and students, where respect for the teacher coexisted with cooperative and student centered pedagogy” (Shor 11). 

I love love love psychology. If I didn’t want to be a teacher I always said I would be a school or child psychologist. Seeing Piaget in this article made me very happy! This is the fourth time I’ve learned about Piaget in the last two years. I love his style. The fact that reciprocal relationships were mentioned as well obviously relates to last week’s article, Kliewer. Reciprocal relationships between students and teachers are so important to have. Feeling comfortable in a classroom and having a mutually respectful relationship so students can have a better attitude towards education. No student  should ever be afraid to speak in class and a reciprocal relationship is helpful. Teachers and students mutually gain from the relationship. 

This article was very long…but it was very thought provoking and I loved the topic.

When Shor introduces empowering education, he says it is “a critical democratic pedagogy herself and social change; it is a student centered program for multicultural democracy in school in society. It approaches individual growth as an active, cooperative, and social process, because the self and society create each other" (Shor 13).

Students need to ask questions to further their knowledge and collaborate with each other. Our country is based off of democracy, where every person has a say. If a teacher builds lessons based on only part of the class, students are not getting as much out of it.

“People are naturally curious. They are born learners. Education can either develop or stifle their inclination to ask why and to learn” (Shor 12).
This is one of my main beliefs. Teachers should not only teach students how to calculate 2+2, but also teach them to function in society as an individual and think analytically about the problems that they are facing, school related or not. School is not the only thing on a student’s mind. They could have a lot going on. If they are taught how to deal with these problems. No question is a stupid question. Every question asked is because a student is trying to acquire knowledge that they did not have previously. It is the job of a teacher to respond to that curiosity and help them learn whatever they ask.

“Education is more than facts and skills. It is a socializing experience that helps make the people who make society” (Shor 15).
This reminded me a lot of Vygotsky’s beliefs in psychology. He believed that social interaction was the best was for students to learn. As Caitlyn mentioned in her blog, student interaction and socializing was looked down upon at most schools because it seemed like students were misbehaving. A lot of the times this is the case, but it is not always true. Students have to think out loud and help each other and talk to each other, not only to feel comfortable in the space that they’re in, but to get the most out of their learning experiences. If a student wants to come to school every day and is excited to learn, they are obviously less likely to have a bad attitude towards learning.