This is a perfect example of how Freire addresses a problem in a very limited context. A takes two pictures of the world. One as it is and one as he believes it ought to be. Then he comes up with this grandoise, seemingly comprehensive solution to Life, The Universe, And Everything and applies it in a hyper-intellectualized, completely hypothetical fashion. "Wow," we think, "That's a good point. That really is how things are, and this would really help them change to the way they ought to be." So we (and by "we" I mean Dr. Rogers) decide to have a Freire-ian experiment, just to test the waters, and it fails miserably. Or, rather, I fail at it miserably. And here's why. My freedom is limited and conditional. I don't have true educational freedom just because I'm allowed to blog about whatever I want so long as it is pertinent to the class. In fact, even if I were allowed to blog about whatever I want, period, I still wouldn't have any degree of valuable freedom because I'm still being coerced into blogging. And I hate blogging. In my personal opinion, the only activity more inane than writing a blog is reading a blog. But anyway, like all good bloggers, I digress. What I'm getting at is that if I had the kind of freedom Freire writes about, I wouldn't post anything, unless I really felt like it. And my grade shouldn't suffer for my electing not to participate in this aspect of the class. That's freedom. In fact, my grade shouldn't suffer no matter what I do. In fact, I shouldn't even be graded, or given a degree. I shouldn't need a degree. Degrees are for the oppressed. The let the oppressors know that the bearer will never think outside the box and is therefore desireable. In fact, I shouldn't even have to take this class, unless I really want to. It shouldn't be required for me to take this class in order to tutor in the writing center. THAT'S OPPRESSION! And not just that. If I'm not especially interested in Renaissance Lit, but I don't have the attention span for Medeival Lit either, the department shouldn't hold that against me. That's oppression. Who are they to tell me I'm not qualified to hold a BA in English without having fulfilled requirements the oppressors imposed upon me? For that matter, who is Weber State to say I have to pass math in order to obtain a BA? I'm never going to graph a parabola anyway. Why do I need to know how? We got oppression coming out of our ears here. The point I'm making is that fighting the oppressive system of education is a much bigger job that must be carried out on a much bigger scale than just education, let alone just one class. I think Freire would agree with me on this point. Education is the mechanism by which the oppressed are conditioned to accept their oppression without think of it as such. The true problem is so interwoven into the very nature of society as we have constructed it that it would take a revolution on a massive scale just to begin rectify the situation. By offering some small degree of illusory fau-freedom, we are aiding the oppression, if anything.

Not that it isn't fun to try.