Yeah... I'm Oppressed

Hmmm…a week where I am completely free to write about anything I want. Although, of course, not completely free since it still has to relate back to tutoring in some way. Simply because I live in the oppressed world that I do, the only thing that I really want to write about is… Freire. Personally, I love reading extremely radical material, although it is completely unrealistic for the world that we live in, simply because of the liberating feeling that it gives me. I always wonder at the possibilities if it could be true. Then, the second I put the paper down, reality hits me and I’m back to living in the murderous, anti-individualistic world of today (speaking in plainly Freireian terms, of course). However, although Freire’s philosophy simple cannot practically work in the world we live in today, I do agree with the general line of this thinking. I have never liked the public schools’ grading system simply because I think it excludes those individuals who cannot or are unwilling to conform to it. To be successful in the world we live in today, getting good grades in high school and doing well at the university level is essential. Because of this, children have to, at a very young age, learn the skills necessary to be a “good student”. If this education process in and of itself does not occur, then the individual in question will be constantly harassed and pushed by teachers to change their thinking to be more in line with the curriculum. In my opinion, our education system of today isn’t about how much a person actually knows, but how much effort they are willing to put forth to learn how to write a good essay, do well on tests, or complete assignments the way that teachers want them to. Even if a classroom is discussion-oriented, the students will still have to be graded in some way so that they can prove to their instructor that they got something out of the course. Their “grade” is determined on how well they mastered the material that is deemed important by the teacher.
This system, to me at least, seems to discourage creativity and the individual thirst for knowledge that certain people have. On the flip side, though, I understand that many students, probably the vast majority of students in the world we live in today, might never exert the effort needed to seek out knowledge for themselves. Especially with the plethora of video games and television shows that comprise our media base, there is simply too much entertainment for students to willingly put aside to learn about the world around them. The question is, then, where should the line be drawn between what material students should be forced to learn in schools (oftentimes against their own desires) and how much time should be given for students’ individual interests and pursuits? Perhaps the ideal solution to this balancing act can only be found in hypothetical situations like Freire’s education system and don’t belong in the real world at all. It would be nice if everyone could be trusted to sit down and pursue their personal talents with a passion and devotion that only some of us are blessed with, but in our modern twenty-first century world of today, that is just not going to happen. Perhaps, then, the human race does need to be oppressed to a certain extent to make sure that our society gets somewhere and doesn’t stagnate into a world with a surplus of free time. But conversely, students should be stimulated enough so that they can cultivate their own talents and interests, instead of being forced into a system that tells them exactly what to learn and how to learn it.