Education has always been a vital component of human history and our identity, so defining what education is, or what it should be, has been a field of countless debates for many generations; however, the current education system of today has imposed a wide array of problems. Students are fundamentally assessed on their memorization skills rather than developing both societal and individuality within the students, which is significantly much more important. Therefore, in order for education to prepare students for their true needs, it should be understood not only as the facilitation of knowledge but rather the end goals of such ideas being shared; a form of interconnectedness in the world. Conclusively, an essentially viable education system should foster a student’s recognition of the importance of their individuality and bring such skills towards the overall benefit of the world.
This essay will build upon the pedagogical methods of Paulo Freire and John Dewey and how by applying such methods will the overall effectiveness in the classroom become much more apparent in the student. Subsequently, what we ultimately receive is a student not only ready to tackle the challenges ahead in his life but one who will have an overall greater appreciation for the world itself.
To become educated is to not merely learn the good and the wrongs of the world but to develop as a person that can help others grow. When we speak of the world, this educated individual, will not only help the society in which he is residing in but also help different people, cultures, and different forms of education throughout the world; leading towards the more connectiveness of people as an extension of the world. This can be in some sense compared to the section of John Dewey’s creed where he states that:
I believe that the only true education comes through the stimulation of the child’s powers by the demands of the social situations in which he finds himself. Through these demands he is stimulated to act as a member of a unity, to emerge from his original narrowness of action and feeling and to conceive of himself from the standpoint of the welfare of the group to which he belongs.
We will refer to Dewey as the first step in the entire picture. Such is one of the important aspects of such education, in that the first variable should introduce the student to feel the sense of importance to the group early on in his/her academic life. Now, this sense of importance should not be merely told to the student, but rather he should conceive such feelings immediately within a group. The intent should be profound within the teacher when assigning interactive tasks to everyone, such as when cultivating a garden. All students will plant different types of seeds, such as squash and beans, and each child will take turns caring for the plant and when the time comes to cultivate the plant each one will have a proper role to fulfill. You may be asking as to why this is even important? Early habits can translate towards a better individual in the future, racism and greed start off as a seed but also perseverance and kindness; therefore, that seed can grow and become even greater, such is the same in the environment in which children are raised. That is why early cultivation of a student’s character, will help them have a better understanding towards the importance of helping each other.
The most important aspect of such education is to raise the student in a matter in which they will also have to be knowledgeable of the outside world around them. That is why Paulo Freire’s analyses of the “critical consciousness” is a vital variable in the development of student’s minds. The emphasis of the problem-posing method in Freire’s is an important addition towards the overall foundation of an entirely different educational system. Freire makes an important distinction where the traditional teaching methods are the “banking concept,” in which students are essentially empty jars filled by knowledge of the teacher; the problem-posing method, however, is different and is defined by Freire as:
responding to the essence of consciousness… it does not dichotomize the activity of the teacher students: she is not “cognitive” nor “narrative” at another… whereas banking education anesthetizes and inhibits creative power, problem posing education involves a constant unveiling of reality… students as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge.
The teachers will, as Freire suggests, critically “liberate” the students through the methods of dialogue. Such emphasis will enable students to not only interact together for the task at hand but will translate towards the individual working towards the greater good not just for themselves but for everyone else as well. We can combine both the interactive and critical thinking’s pedagogical methods and form the first combination of this education system, which will lead not only towards dialogue but an active dialogue. Rather than merely discussing and or the students doing activities the professor will ask the students questions pertaining to the specific activity. Utilizing our previous example regarding the planting and cultivation of fruits, the professor can ask the student initial questions, how do you plant seeds? How do you pick and tell when they are ripe? Then they can proceed towards more societal questions involving the group around him/her. Such as why do you think planting is good for you? What about your class? Or perhaps even ask question in the realms of do you think it is important to work with one another? Now these questions should not be merely asked, but rather ask them in the correct time and place, such as after the task is done. The purpose of asking these questions, is that it invokes the sense of communal organization among the students and hopefully bleed into their future life regarding their importance of the community. But also express the individuality of each student and how their certain skills are good for everyone else; say one is good at planting and the other cultivating, the student will readily know that his other peers are dependent on him to both express his/her individuality and be the important link towards the class-community. One of the questions that such analysis brings up is “What about if a student simply is an introvert by nature and does not do well with others?” Being an introvert myself, I can readily see the difficulties such student will possess in working efficiently with others; however, I do firmly believe that with time and patience the student can develop such skills and traits needed to work with others effectively.
Education should not only foster a student’s individuality but also dissect the communal organization among all of them, only then will they hopefully be able to achieve more compassion and understanding among everyone. Education should not be understood as a different component of human society but rather the extension of the world. The main difference of this education system, from Freire’s model, is that the “critical consciousness” is to not solely think for themselves but to think about everyone else. Such attributes would arise from applying the interactive model that Dewey presents in his creed, leading towards the students for the greater good of the world. The student should feel compelled to work within the community that he or she is in, and the same time express the importance of his/her certain set of skills in the overall connections of the link. Subsequently, the student should be able to think critically about the situation being presented to him through the methods of interactive dialogue as mentioned before. What we find is a take on what I believe can become a solution towards the many problems we have in our education system today. However, only time will tell when students will be able to look back and say that their education did spark and cultivate their sense of community, and most importantly, their individuality as a human being.