Katie Griesbaum TE 572 Contemporary Issue # 5 Power Relationships the voice

There is much to be said about who has a voice in education and in the classroom. With the current political climate of education I would say that school districts, administrators, teachers, parents and students are starting to have less of a voice; while the voice of businessmen and politicians is growing stronger. When you think about education, who do you feel should have the strongest voice? I believe that education should not be about the politics, but more about the students and teachers and the learning that occurs within the classroom. I would like to explore what an ideal classroom looks like as well as how to give our students a voice by advocating for them. This of course, is not the case in all classrooms. I believe that students are just as much a part of the learning and teaching process as the teacher. As Paulo Friere says, there is no possibility for teaching without learning. As well as, there is no possibility of learning without teaching (p. 103). What Friere means here is that not only is the teacher teaching but they are also learning as they teach their students. In addition the students are not only learning but also teaching. This type of classroom or teaching is called the transformative approach which allows students to have a more meaningful and positive learning experience. It is my belief that teaching utilizing this model is ideal because it gives both the teacher and the student an active voice in the learning process. At times in the classroom students dont have a voice. This could be due to a number of reasons; learning is teacher driven, parents or teachers are not advocates for their students, or students dont feel that it is safe to, or are not able to, express their voice. What is important to remember as educators is Deweys philosophy, We need to accept students for who they are and where they are at (p. 123). Additionally, as teachers we need to be the voice or advocate for the voiceless students and do what is needed to ensure the best educational experience possible.

Katie Griesbaum TE 572 References

Wink, J. (2011). Critical Pedagogy. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.