Empowering Education

Empowering Education

In his book, “Empowering Education,” Ira Shor criticizes the way education had been having been self-centered.  He argues that education is more focused on having students memorize facts and adhering to what he terms as ‘answers to the questions” that their teachers are instructing them to do. The topic is quite controversial because the majority of the students are of a tender age that means they have not attained a level whereby they can decide and make judgments for themselves. On the converse, the dynamic nature of the children of the 21st century is quite questionable. The way children learn, the conditions they are imposed with, as well as the programming activities, is a great debate on how the latter contributes in meeting their childhood needs as well as their experiences that help them become responsible adults.  Shor claims that they should be exposed to what is known as liberal education. The question is: Is the current education system not democratic? If not, what makes it absolute? How should teachers empower students and at what age?  Even though there might not be straight answers to some of these questions, it is imperative to engage in this kind of debate for everyone to understand how to influence a children’s’ environment through free learning.

The first ideology in education is referred to as the “ideology of knowledge whereby there is the transmission of pre-existing knowledge from one generation to another without any discovery or creativity. The teacher, in this case, acts as a filling device whereas the student is the passive element whose role is to listen and digest everything that they are being taught.  Another ideology is the ideology of learning whereby cramming and recalling pre-existing and fixed items. Freire terms this as “banking of knowledge” that is later recorded in the examination papers. Kenshin and Duets, on the other hand, emphasize on the issue of ‘pedagogy’: the difference between learning and development. The two experts argue how to develop analytical learning through supporting children’s’ genuine interests and espousing their sense of wonder.

In his book, Shor emphasizes the issue of standard curriculum. He claims that feeding students with facts without any exploration of nature is not essential. Teachers should instead explore their teachings in depth by offering them to social and historical issues. They should also demonstrate to them how the academic content relates to their experiences an imbalance in the society, (p.17). For an empowered pedagogy to be realized, Shor proposes the following aspects that should be inclusive in the curriculum: participatory, problem-posing, just, dissocializing, interdisciplinary, activist, researching, multicultural, established, dialogic, and practical. Shor mentioned that the above values motivate learners by eliminating monotony in the classroom. They also help students to perceive the meaning of intellectual work, (p. 44) the values also develop the interactive behavior of the students making them, high as democratic citizens. Critical and creative thinking also helps them unlock their cognitive abilities. When the students cram and commemorate what they are being taught, their ignitabilities will be dormant, and they will not be able to think for themselves. Through the idea of active and interactive learning, they will be exposed to the outside world whereby they can create their subjects. They will also be able to derive several answers to some unanswered questions: they will understand why a particular event happens or the reason why it is and so many others.

“Empowering pedagogy for early childhood education, “a book by Dietze and Kashin focuses on the importance of programming in early ages. They claim that childhood pedagogy helps significantly influence children’s’ play and learning habits. One of the ways that they suggest is through starting childhood programs both inside the school and in the society for children to be able to relate what they have been taught to real-life issues. Other programming aspects of learning include representation, use of pedagogical tools, childhood development stages, contemplative questions in learning, and formulating connections. All these tools help to nurture an environment that encourages productive play and shove children’s creativity.

Effective pedagogy enhances students’ voice. Teachers should understand the students experiences through welcoming to their stories, (Niemi, Heikkinen, and Kannas, p. 139)  Learning institutions are known to function better when the students are involved in decision making especially in issues that directly affect their learning.  One of the methods of reification pedagogy is incorporating students in classroom modeling activities. Oh and oh, (2004) have listened to some of the modeling activities that can be used in learning, they include scientific modeling, artistic modeling, laboratory, evaluative, and cyclic modeling. He claims that these activities can be used by students especially in sconce classes to achieve their objectives. “Although there is no a single definition of a model, models are broadly recognized as images, or systems of purposes, situations, processes, and ideas,” (Gilbert and Butler).

Kairos

The word kairos is a worse Greek meaning the right moment. The use of Kairos Public schools (KPS) is an exemplified example of an educational program that runs from kindergarten through the eighth grade. It aims at providing education for students of all ages, race, color, and nationality. The program also offers mentoring programmers for learners for them to become responsible adults and develop their critical thinking. The program has been on the run for about two decades now. It focuses more on boosting students; progress through the implementation of innovative strategies in learning.

High-stakes in learning

The use of stakes in learning institutions is necessary because it puts a measure on how a student has performed in a particular grade. The most debatable type of stake is the graded stake that includes the same test for all students across the

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