Freire's book Pedagogy of the Oppressed has fundamentally changed who I am and what kind of leader I want to be. Having worked in the public school system for 20+ years, I learned early on in my career that the system was flawed. I felt small and incapable of being an agent of change. Becoming a Montessori teacher moved me in the right direction. It allowed for more educational freedom, but I still felt barriers and walls remained in place, preventing me from fully moving away from the oppressive depository model.
I see myself reflected a lot in the banking model. In my teacher training, the authoritarian banking system was the only model presented. Since it is what I experienced as a child in the public school system, it is all I knew in the first half of my career, so I am guilty of perpetuating the oppressive system. The transformation process for me began with my Montessori teacher training, which is much closer to the problem-posing system. Recently, however, I have come to realize my self-actualization still has not been fully realized as I continue to run into barriers and walls as a Montessorian in the public school system. These two very contrasting systems seem to interact like oil and water.
My journey has led me to where I am today - continuing my transformation while joining many other revolutionary leaders already on the path to creating educational freedom for all. The following is an overview of just a small number of revolutionary leaders, besides Freire, who I will be looking to to continue my transformational journey.
bell hooks
Hooks takes Freire and Hanh's work and expands on it to challenge the banking model of education, focusing on educational freedom for all and the belief that all people deserve the right to find self-actualization. In the chapter called "Language," hooks (1994) reflects on how the language of the oppressor oppresses those "just learning to speak." She discusses how oppressive language "limits and defines" and can be used as a "weapon that can shame, humiliate [and] colonize" those who are learning how to name their reality. But at the same time, hooks also claims language can be a liberator (p. 168).
One of the most profound quotes from the book:
The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility we have the opportunity to labor for freedom, to demand of ourselves and our comrades, an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively image ways to move beyond boundaries to transgress.
This is education as a practice of freedom. (hooks, 1994, p. 207)
hooks on Freire:
Donna Hicks
"Think of the difference we could all make if we knew, from a very young age, that we had the potential to contribute to the well-being of the world as well as our own personal fulfillment" (Hicks, 2018, p. 75). Hicks (2018) claims that leaders must promote a growth mindset by connecting with and demonstrating our own dignity and growth mindset (p. 77). Leading with dignity requires work on ourselves, vulnerability, trust, empathy, and responsibility. Hicks provides an overview of how to do this as well as how to create an environment that cultivates and celebrates dignity within ourselves and with others. Creating and implementing a Dignity Pledge can help organizations achieve their goals (Hicks, 2018, p.175-182).
The transformation that occurs with a consciousness of dignity helps us gain perspective - it allows us to take a step away from our usual point of view so we can better understand why we do what we do, why we feel the way we feel, and why we think the way we think. It is about more than learning - it is about developing ourselves in a way that makes us wiser rather than smarter. The consciousness that it brings enables us to see our blind spots and ways in which we are held back from living life in full extension - expressing all of our talents, fulfilling deep connections with others, and engaging in a life that has meaning and purpose. (Hicks, 2018, p. 7)
Zaretta Hammond
Hammond (2015) promotes a focus on relationship building and interactions instead of a focus on standards and curriculum. "This reality stands in contrast to the dominant factory model of schooling, with its focus on the technical aspects of curriculum coverage and testing to sort and label students" (p. 72). She suggests creating "communal, cooperative settings" and "maintaining healthy relationships" to establish trust and connections between the teacher and the students (p. 73).
Like Freire, Hammond (2015) states that this relationship begins with listening within a dialogical framework (p. 77-80). She also stresses the importance of becoming an ally or establishing a learning partnership with the student. This becomes a "relationship of mutual support as partners" (p. 89).
"The ultimate goal...is to help students take over the reins of their learning" (Hammond, 2015, p. 100).
This is a critical step to move from the banking model to the problem-posing model. Students become independent learners with choice and agency. Leaders have to step back and provide the tools, dialogue, practice, time, and a process for reflection to help the student assume this control. The leader also uses feedback and lessons to help the student reach this goal (Hammond, 2015, p. 100-101).
Peter Senge et al
This book provides many articles and arguments relating to educational freedoms and reforms. Section IV focuses on "the importance of valuing all learners and treating them with dignity" (p. 176).
Lucas (2012) discusses case studies focusing on recognizing and celebrating the child's dignity. He also focuses on the impact of teaching and leading with dignity in an environment that encourages activities and practices that challenge students while also recognizing everyone's strengths and limits using a dignified and dialogical approach (p. 177-181).
Other articles in this section describe how leaders can support and inspire learners despite physical and learning differences (Basford, 2012, p. 195-199) and how leaders can influence change simply by changing their verbal and non-verbal signals and language used in the classroom (Dutton et al., 2012, p. 204-206).
The boy ... still remembers what he learned about electricity. He also remembers the feelings he had - of his personal passions being genuinely interesting to others, of helping others learn, of being seen. The teacher may not remember that particular lesson, but she remembers other times when she made a special connection - sometimes with a student, other times with a mentor, parent, another educator, or someone else - and came away changed. (Senge, 2012, p. 3)
Alfie Kohn
Kohn (1993) provides an in-depth look at and argument for abandoning behaviorist models of rewards and punishments and instead focuses on relationship building and dialogical theory to guide children to grow into good people. His underlying focus is on shifting from an oppressor/oppressed approach to working with children to a collaborative and reflective practice centering on choice, dignity, and positivity (p. 228-245).
Internalization by itself- even the kind identified as introjection- satisfies someone whose chief concern is to get a child to do something without the adult's having to stand around prodding him with bribes and threats. Like a wind-up toy, a child who has introjected a particular value will stay in motion after the controller has left the scene. No wonder those who direct and profit from a particular economic system prefer a self-controlled'-not just controlled - work force. (Kohn, 1993, p. 251).
These are just a few of the books that will guide me on my personal journey as I dive in head first to the educational revolution! Now is the time for ch-ch-ch-ch-changes to happen, and I am so grateful to be a part of this transformation.
Bowie, D. (1972). Changes [Song]. Hunky Dory. Trident.
Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin.
Hicks, D. (2018). Leading with dignity: How to create a culture that brings out the best in people. Yale University Press.
hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Routledge.
Kohn, A. (1993). Punished by Rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A's, praise, and other bribes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Lira, A. (October 9, 2014). bell hooks on Freire [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNm38AdciTc
Senge, P., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J., Kleiner, C. (2012). Schools that learn: A fifth discipline field book for educators, parents, and everyone who cares about education. Crown Publishing Group.
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