Re: Culture, Politics & Pedagogy: A Conversation w/ Henry Giroux

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[peacelf]

cont 3. Honestly, I felt the same way as you prior to my understanding biases, prior to my work in predominately black central city schools. These biases literally affect the social order, by debilitating non-white-males with low value and sense of self worth. Some of this has been addressed in recent years with multiculturalism, but it still falls short of fully understanding and appreciating "others." If you are at all curious about critical pedagogy, I can recommend some readings.

peace

[peacelf]

To assert "neutrality" is--to put it bluntly--to be ignorant of how values influence society. For example, take any history or American Lit text and count the pages of chapters on white male accomplishments or stories. Then count all the others. In my school, 73% of the text was devoted to white male accomplishments and authors, leaving 27% for all others. This is clearly a bias.  Now, if you are white and male, you may not find anything unusual about that. Yet, if you're black or female

[peacelf]

Manchu, thank you for your service. However, I am again asserting that being "objective" is a myth. There is no such thing as objectivity. Every human being has a bias. Every textbook is biased. We all bring a myriad of biases based on values, beliefs, religion (or lack thereof), and especially political. That is what Henry Giroux and others prove in their published research. Personally, I have a MA in Ed theory, specializing in critical pedagogy. cont.

[ManchuDan22]

Peace, of course you can be neutral, IF you understand your particular bias, and guard against its influence. Are you saying you can't control how your biases affect your discourse?

I'm a retired Infantry officer who supports the war against the obscenity that is Islam, and an atheist.

Yet in my high school civics class, I'm VERY careful not to assert my opinion, only facts, because I'm fully aware of what my bias is.

Are you saying that's not possible? Sounds quite self-serving.

[peacelf]

If you agree that we all have biases, then why don't you understand that we cannot be "neutral" or "objective." There's no such thing. I would suggest you read more about culture, values and mores that influence people daily.

By the way, I'm not a liberal. I am a radical democracy advocate. And, in that sense, I am for building an informed society. If I indoctrinate students at all, it's with multiple sides to issues, not just the standard center right and center left.

peace

[ManchuDan22]

Peacelf, agreed, we all have biases, but when you are in the classroom, you must make every effort to suborn them to an objective and neutral attitude.

I have seen many "liberal" teachers who feel very comfortable in using their position of power in the classroom, to indoctrinate their students. (VERY common in Universities.

Your pseudo-Marxist vocabulary betrays you as someone who would define other's biases as wrong, while yours being truth.

Good teachers lead, they don't push.

[peacelf]

I have heard that argument before, that I am biased, etc. Everyone is biased, and very few people realize it--including you. That's my point. However, one should expose "biases" for what they are and discuss them critically, so the the learner can chose which biases s/he wishes to support or discard. That's radical democracy.

peace

[ManchuDan22]

Peacelf, do you actually teach? Because, by god, I hope not! Your prejudice and bias is unbelievable.

"indoctrination" "imperialism" "directs the masses" (what a conceit you have) "compliance and apathy" You're contempt for people is clearly on display!

"Let the students know and understand how politics plays a role in their education and let them make the decision for themselves."

And who will provide that "understanding"? You? with your obvious bias, you're just as bad.

[ADubonInc]

You're mispronouncing his last name.

[florydory]

Often when people hear Giroux's (or even Montessori's) ideas, they think of them only in context of schooling as THEY KNOW IT. We are not talking about removing negatives from a system and leaving a vacuum. What people DO NOT KNOW are the meteoric changes that occur when education matches the actual developmental needs and timeline of the human being. It becomes a completely different equation. It IS possible to educate toward a healthy full potential, but most people have not seen it yet.