Re-creating the High School Education System

A recent in class activity combined many of Freire’s theories around education, with the creative minds of my peers and myself.  An integral implication in Freire’s work suggests that the education system we have today, which has been present for decades, is not the most effective and viable system for educating students.  Freire argues that schools cultivate oppression in a number of ways, and students should be given the opportunity to analyze their education and play to their strengths and likes.  In an effort to construct our own contemporary Freirean inspired high school education system, we honed in on several key components such as curriculum, staff, teaching methods and infrastructure, which I will discuss in this essay.

            One of the most critical pieces of any education system or learning opportunity is to be aware of what it is you want to teach.  Having a clear curriculum will aide greatly in teaching.  As we learned amidst our discussion around Afro-centric schools, the curriculum that we currently have in our school systems is not as inclusive as it should be.  There is a need to produce curriculum that is more relevant, rich in diversity and celebratory of all races, genders, and ethnicities.  The curriculum which we created in our in class activity embodied all of these components and providing students and learners with a non-discriminatory curriculum that is not only designed to help people learn, but also to build self awareness and strengthen one’s sense of self. 

            Once we were able to create a new curriculum, then we were tasked with developing methods of teaching and delivering said curriculum.  Freire did not believe in the traditional banking method of teaching, which is essentially your typical teacher to student, exchange of information.  Several of the teaching methods implemented into our Freirean inspired high school system incorporated the robust and widespread technologies used amongst our society today.  For example, online courses or e-learning modules were one of the teaching methods suggested.  There might be videoconference capabilities, allowing the students and teachers to see one another while completing online modules and lessons.  Another form of technology suggested, was that of an iPod, iPad or any sort of smart phone.  This would allow students to download and install various applications related to the curriculum or subject matter they were studying. 

            Although these methods of teaching seem as though teachers are being replaced by machinery, that is not entirely the case.  Much like there is a requirement for there to be diversity in our curriculum, there is also a need to have diversity in the staff delivering the curriculum.  In the days of vocational schools, teachers were often specialized in specific areas and weren’t tasked with being “jack of all trades”, as we see today.  The educators would have the ability to relate their experiences to the curriculum being taught and be relevant.  Our educators for the design plan of our high school would not maintain a dictatorial role, but rather, a colleague type partnership. 

            Some other methods of teaching our revamped high school system included, was hands on, real life approaches.  Such approaches would include things like visits to museums and other sorts of exhibits, by which students could use all of their senses to learn about something.  There were also very simplistic changes, like having group discussions about something and sitting in a circle while discussing.  This allows everyone’s voice to be heard, and encourages dialogue amongst everyone collectively. 

            The infrastructure of our high school was void of any of the semblances of the factory era, which included bells for example.  The design of the building was constructed to have a central hub in the middle for activities amongst the school communally, but had siloed areas for specialized areas of interest and study.

            One of the most common themes seen in our RSA diagram of our Freirean inspired school, was that the voice of the students was seen, heard, included and instrumental in multi-faceted capacities.  The students were involved in developing curriculum; they were involved in the different methods of delivering the curriculum; they were not an object in school, but the most important thing in school.  They were offered variety in what they did and not refused learning or participating in different activities based on the colour of their skin, the race they identify as or their sexual preference – the students were elevated to a more prestigious rank hierarchically. 

            Our high school system allowed for liberal education, which is what Freire theorized about.  It removed an authoritarian approach to education, allowing students to maximize their potential, which was a major theme in Freire’s critical pedagogy.  The students were no longer seen as children, but young adults with valuable things to say and contribute.