Hello Everyone. We will not be meeting in groups this week, but I'd still like you to pose some thoughts/questions to this thread.
The readings for this week's class are very much a set. Peart's Op-Ed provides a glimpse into the lived realities of youth of color in the section of Harlem where the Brotherhood/Sistersol has carved its mission. Chapter two from Freire's classic, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, provides some of the pedagogical backbone of this and many other programs, and the piece by Wilcox, Taylor and Candelario gives us insight into how Bro/Sis adults and youth do what they do. In anticipation of our class time with Dr. Wilcox, use this space to start thinking about what else/more you'd like to know about this organization. And/or use this space to pose questions that you would like to discuss further in class or receive assistance in understanding.
The website http://www.brotherhood-sistersol.org/ has a lot of information, but could we learn more about the process of the Rites of Passage? Also, it appears that there is only the one facility in New York. Are there any thoughts about expanding the program to other cities? Finally, how can we use this mentoring process in our classrooms, schools, and communities to promote a sense of self and potential among our students and youth? What are some of the key aspects that have made Bro/Sis successful?
ReplyDeleteThe Bro/Sis organization seems to have a profound impact on the participants of the organization. From the Wilcox article it seems that they are provided with the encouragement, challenge, and support needed to create the spark to empower these individuals to become agents of change. I wonder how well these students then navigate the system of school? From what I personally know about schools in urban areas, they tend to be very much like Freire describes as a banking system. Educators deposit information into students that they believe know nothing about a given topic, that what they are teaching is golden. These teachers also teach in ways that continue to promote dominant forms of cultural capital. I wonder how Bro/Sis students are able to adapt to the very polar contexts that they are apart of? The contexts of a banking system of education, and then to a context in which they are encouraged, supported, and challenged to be themselves and to come to know that they have a voice.
ReplyDeleteAre there particular characteristics that define the oppressor and are there particular characteristics that define the oppressed? Are these characteristics universal? Can they be carried through time, place, and groups? What are the characteristics that define category "oppressor" and category "oppressed"? If categories are like metaphors, never fully precise and yet often more precise than perfection, what ongoing dialogue must we have in order to liberate ourselves from categories so that we can become more fully human?
ReplyDeleteOne of the LC members of Bro/Sis, Emmanuel, states that "Education systems can be racist but education itself isn't" (Wilcox 25). This realization from someone who the education system has probably failed is extraordinary. My question is probably the same as others and I can't seem to think about anything else....Can this be recreated elsewhere? The perfect combination of place, timing, students, staff members is hard to come by. Is there any hope of recreating this in schools, in every day teaching methods? Although I agree with the dehumanizing effects of the banking method discussed by Freire, I don't know if the problem-posing education method can truly work everywhere. Can a country with so many standards, curriculum guidelines, and standardized tests really rely on an educational method that is centered around 'going with the flow' and basing each lesson on the one before? Is there a happy medium or middle ground between the two approaches? Or will schools have to remain a 'bank' and after school programs be the place to express oneself fully?
ReplyDeleteI’m curious to learn more about the ways in which the Bro/Sis facilitators help members process their newly gained awareness of systems of injustice and social degradation. For example, the essay “With Pen and Paper” describes one member’s introduction to the powerful role of language in the Lyrical Circle (LC):
ReplyDelete“Abe remembers being told that ‘nigger,’ ‘bitch’ and ‘faggot’ cannot be used at Bro/Sis because they are ‘offensive, disrespectful, or propagated negative associations and stereotypes of people of color.’ (BHSS does not otherwise censor youth language and these words are used in LC pieces when appropriate.) He goes on to describe what this standard meant to his growth: ‘This was important in my development as a writer because it made me tighten up my lyrics and have actual substance instead of following the typical commercial rap pattern of insulting others and celebrating misogyny, and street gang culture. It instilled in me the fundamental principle that my words have incredible power and I should be politically aware and conscious of how my words not only affected those who heard them, but deeply impacted me.’ ”(23)
For Abe and other LC members, does the awareness of the power of language pose a certain level of risk? Does such awareness ever alienate them from their close friends and family? Have any members of Bro/Sis attempted to confront folks directly outside the brownstone walls in an effort to liberate them from the language of oppression, only to be met with mockery and violence?
Can I just interject an intermission in these discussion questions to say that you are asking EXCELLENT questions about Bro/Sis - thoughtful, real, and serious questions that we have to entertain for both the systems we work and for the systems we hope to work in. Keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteLC provides students with a safe-haven where they are free to share their thoughts without fear of any repercussions. I wonder if this type of outlet could be provided (and beneficial) for students in other school districts? Do you think a program like LC could be provided for students in your school, and if so do you think they would be willing to participate? I agree with Freire that problem-posing education allows students to be creative thinkers, however I also feel at times banking education is important as well. Students need to understand the fundamentals for a given subject in order to engage in the material. I wonder what others feel about this predicament, whether one is better than the other or if both can be used for a single group of students. Also, can we incorporate these theories into a classroom of diverse learners? And which would be more suited for this situation?
ReplyDeleteI read about the Liberating Voices/Liberating Minds Institute (http://www.brotherhood-sistersol.org/programs/spread-the-word) that Bro/Sis hosts, but I'd like to hear a little more about what this looks like. What are some of the specifics of the professional development curriculum? Who are the participants? How have they come to Bro/Sis? Is it mostly public school teachers? People of color or white?
ReplyDeleteI would also love to hear more about the International Study Program. (http://www.brotherhood-sistersol.org/programs/summer-leadership-program) What kind of impact does it have on the students who attend? How many students go each summer? What types of research and service projects do they complete?
And, just curious to see what you guys think - does BC's teacher education program follow a banking system or a problem-posing system? I think maybe a little of each, depending on the professor and the class?
The Freire chapter uncovers banking education as oppressive. However, as teachers we believe that the information in our content area is important for students to know in order to succeed in the world. How would a classroom that where the teacher shares the important information in his/her content and the students are able to interact with this information and the world to gain meaning look? Can this be accomplished in every lesson?
ReplyDeleteThe LC provides students from the inner city the opportunity to express their voices. What training do the leaders of these organization need to connect with these students and give the students the best opportunity for success? Does this program connect works students do in this setting to work they are required to preform in school?
For some reason, when I read the Peart article I kept thinking about the movie we watched and how stress impacts AA female premature birth rates. I wonder what kind of an effect that same type of stress has on males such Nicholas Peart in the long run. When I read about things like this I always think about my own relation to the police. Even though I have numerous police officers in my family (father and stepfather included), I am still very aware/wary of the police wherever I go. It's like an evolutionary adaptation. Just like we pass on an instinctual fear of spiders and snakes, people of color in particular teach their children to fear those who should be our protectors.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading the CES article I was a little taken aback by the statement: Teaching and learning should be personalized to the maximum feasible extent. Would this change the way teachers are educated? How much more effort would it take to personalize classrooms? Do you think it is possible for a teacher to have direct responsibility for 80 students?
ReplyDeleteAlso the article stated: The school's goal should be simple: that each student master a limited number of essential skills and areas of knowledge. Doesn't this sounds like a vocational school? How is it different?
After reading the Peart article, I was thinking of the movie we watch in class talking about the impact of stress on premature birth rates in black women. Black women already have a so many daily pressures and adding the stress of knowing their future child could be harassed by the police for no reason just adds to it. I really wonder where this stigma and stereotype that blacks are prone to doing bad things. It's been a good 60 years or so since segregation and discrimination have been "eliminated" according to law. However, how is it that growing up now, there is still this mentality that blacks are up to no good. Where is the root of the problem and how do we solve this problem?
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