Rhina’s Critical Pedagogy

I was up late last night catching up on your blogs as well as your book talks and what a time I had! I am, once again, wowed by you all (Freire would say “humbled). I don’t know if you realize it as you read each other’s stuff, but there is a lot of thought-provoking, insightful, meaningful, progressive, and challenging writing happening. It almost felt like I was in church (not the Catholic kind in which I grew up, but the TV kind for me) while reading because I kept exclaiming out loud things like, “Yes!” and “Wow!” and “That’s great!” I also found myself feeling overjoyed at times and deeply moved or saddened by some of your struggles and then at times seriously searching for how to encourage you in your confusion and learning.

On my end, I’m learning so much about my own practice and ways I can improve upon it. This is the most constructivist I have been in my teaching. Providing you with learning opportunities and then giving you your reigns to hold has proved to be incredibly gratifying. Because of it, I can see how each and every one of you is learning about the power of your own thoughts and even the power you hold as a teacher. You’ve always had a lot of power and it is apparent to me that your realization of that power is forcing you to be responsible for how you use it. Thanks to each of you for engaging yourselves, remaining positive, trusting the process, being flexible, taking risks, challenging each other, and, most of all, for being dedicated to the children who walk through your doors everyday. I am loving this journey with you.

It was enlightening to find out that you are not yet a citizen of the US. How do you think that influences your view of the American education system? How does your background from your native country affect your thinking?

In response to your question about being a US citizen, Caren…I’ve thought about that a lot. I’ve done a lot of questioning and reading and studying and I also taught in a public school for 7 years. Overall, I think it’s wonderful that the US offers every child a free education along with transportation to and from school (which keeps many children out of school in many countries around the world). I also believe that the US has a wealth of information and expertise on quality education. However, the opportunity for this high quality education is not accessible to all and the success of individuals is rarely dependent solely on the amount of effort or hard work that they put in. This is one of the reasons I do what I do.

The other reason I have a passion for what I do is because I have seen how little people can have. In many parts of Africa, poverty is far more visible than it is here. I’m not implying that one kind is worse or better than the other because I believe that every human being should have the right to live a worthy life in which their human needs are met, be it food, shelter, love, free thought, etc. We are equally important in our individual and collective efforts to become better human beings. I think it’s necessary to bring awareness to young people about these issues so that they may make responsible choices. I don’t have a whole lot of faith in most politicians who are so concerned with maintaining their power, wealth, and status that they justify decisions that allow human beings to continue to live in poverty. Allowing fellow human beings to live in poverty while having the means to stop it is just wrong. So I hope to do my part by challenging myself first, and then teachers and their students to become aware, care, and make responsible choices when they affect human beings. That’s how being born in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania, and growing up in Kabwe, Zambia, and going to higher ed. in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, affects my thinking concerning educational issues.

I’ve been savoring your blogs and feeling more endeared toward each of you the more I get to know you. I’m glad that the online course has given us this opportunity to share our thoughts in this format. There’s no way we could have had enough time for each of you to share as much as you do during a class meeting in person. Your blogging has inspired me to share my journey of growing, as a teacher, with you. I’d like to make my blog a place where I can share my own thinking and learning about my work with teachers. I do my best to live what I teach and in all my teaching – with little kids and big kids and grown ups – I continue to learn how to do what I do better.

I’m reading the book “Teaching to Transgress” by bell hooks so I’ll probably refer to it often as I read. I have created a page on this blog to also respond to the book as you might respond to the ones you’re reading on the Wiki.

This is my newest blog page on which I hope to share my thoughts with you. I look forward to a great semester learning about all kinds of online ways to communicate. Here we go…