Comments on: Activist Classroom

By: Bill Farren

Bill Farren — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:18:02 +0000

Jabiz: I’m hoping that sooner than later, people like yourself, who want to teach about ideas that are not in the mainstream, will be able to do so as independents, outside of any traditional educational institution. Like I wrote about earlier on my blog, the catch right now for an independent teacher seems to be in getting some kind of accreditation/certification so that students who want to take classes from them can get school credit. I believe this is already possible for home schoolers providing they submit the appropriate paperwork. I think it may be possible for someone to make a living by courting the homeschool community and making a name for oneself. 100 students at $500 per class (with almost no expenses) would provide a decent salary, especially if one is living in a cheap country. ($500 seems cheap to me. Charging considerably more would not be out of line, especially if the class is innovative and engaging–as they should be, right?) Setting up, say, 4 classes of 25 students each would not be too difficult using tools like Moodle and other Web 2.0 tools. Not being in the classroom would be tough for me, but with decent bandwidth and things like Skype and video, genuine connections can be made betw/ students-students-teachers.
I think it’s just a matter of time before this happens. I read every day about parents that are fed up with what their children must endure in the name “of getting educated”. Students and parents want more options these days.
Cheers.

By: Intrepidteacher

Intrepidteacher — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:03:30 +0000

@Liam I love this line:

There can be no denying that teaching is a political act. And I may make a T-shirt out of it in the future. I agree with much of what you have to say, but my question is that even when teachers choose to be “activist” educators, how do they dealing with administrations that benefit from the status quo. The globalized big business power structure does not want the masses educated enough to overthrow it.

So even if one chooses to teach the kids how to examine the power structure they are being fed into, we must do it subversively or else face the consequences.

I guess my point is that this shouldn’t be the case. Why can’t we build schools outside of the system?

@melanie I am not tied to the term activist, but I think the very nature of the power structure forces anyone who doesn’t agree with it on the outside.

you said, “Why reinforce the very idea of a norm or status quo..” because we have no choice. It is ever present. But I like the idea of not being outside and simply teaching. that is why i am so excited about teaching kids without the structure of a “real” school.

I love the idea of 50-100 kids stopping by my Intrepid Classroom, to talk, to chat, check out the literature and go away feeling they can change the world!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:19:39 +0000

If you haven’t already, check out Mike Wesch’s stellar: Anti-teaching: confronting the crisis of significance
http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?p=168

And all of danah boyd’s posts (though she is focused on social networking and academic research she is an activist educator)
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/

My only question is how productive it is to define those who wish for change as “activist” - some have argued that we need to reframe approaches to social or cultural change along normative terms. Why should we define ourselves as OUTSIDE of anything? Why reinforce the very idea of a norm or status quo (yes, it exists - without question) but … you see what I’m talking about.

By: liam

liam — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:52:09 +0000

There can be no denying that teaching is a political act.

Whether your politics (and the politics of the institution you’re working for) are reinforcing or challenging the status quo is the key element that divides “activist” teachers from “non-activist” teachers (don’t like that term, must work to replace it with another.) I feel, educators choose whether to teach their students the skills to succeed in the world as defined by the status quo (ie skills to get a job, communicate, etc.) or whether to teach their students the skills to see the inequities of the current status quo and give them the skills to change the status quo (ie skills to not only get a job, but also skills to look critically at the messages and power structures constantly working on them and then have the knowledge, confidence and self-empowerment to work toward changing those inequities.)

For me, teacher as change agent and this cycle of praxis (as Freire terms is) is at the heart of why I’m training to be an educator.

Great post. We need more of this critical thinking about education and teaching in the blogo/twittero/wikio/2.0/sphere. Keep it coming!

By: Clay Burell

Clay Burell — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:13:54 +0000

Jabiz, I love the idea. I only hope you have more luck than I do trying to get over-homeworked students to make the time to do anything involving learning separated from grades. That’s my devil.

Keep going on this. It’s a great idea.

Clay

By: Bram

Bram — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:32:04 +0000

I’m fortunate in that I teach in a Quaker school whose mission includes the statement “preparing students not just for the world that is but for the world that ought to be.” This mission almost directs me to include activism and social justice in my classroom. In my tenth grade world history course, we look at the wealth gaps that exist in the world today and talk about how and why they exist, as well as what could be done. I teach a class on different interpretations of the idea of the “third world” over the last 200 years. In that class, all students do a major service project about fair trade and ways that the school community can become more involved in fair trade and other more socially conscious spending habits. In my Modern Middle East class, students are all involved with two service learning projects that promote peace education in Palestine.

In terms of obstacles, the only one is time. It’s tough to get through the curriculum as well as do as much activism as I want. But by “getting through curriculum,” I mean that students need to have enough information and understanding about the issues before they can become activists.

Best of luck with your project. By incorporating social justice into the classroom, it becomes such a more rewarding place.