Shor & Freire

Besides the fact that I really enjoyed reading the dialogue that Shor and Freire had, I felt that the idea of implementing a ‘Dialogical Method’ of teaching is an effective way to show students that they’re indeed at the center of their own education. Freire explains that dialogue is essential for development. Humans, are different than other intelligent organisms because we have the ability to communicate and assure each other and ourselves in our knowledge; “we are able to know that we know.” (99). A theme in the reading that really stuck out to me was the idea of empowerment and who is the center of knowledge. In lecture-based environment’s, teachers are seen as the center of knowledge where the educator is to teach the educatee. In a dialogue based pedagogy, though the teacher is knowledgeable about the subject that they’re teaching and engaging their student with, they actively engage with their students and “relearn” the subject while studying it again with their students. The teacher is able to always find out new things and rediscover the material they’re already familiar with through working with their students closely; this turns learning into a JOINT act, rather than a solitary act.  By allowing their students to “exercise their own powers of reconstruction,” the teacher allows their students to practice personal responsibility and expression. This way, the student is able to express themselves in a more comfortable environment, one that is accepting of students individual point of views and interests, comments and concerns regarding the subject matter.

I’m interested to see how this could be implemented into a STEM classroom, since the nature of the subject is very information based (memorization and practice). How could I foster positive science and mathematics conversations that students are interested in and could aid in their learning? I have a concern that I will have no choice but to be that teacher that gets up in front of a classroom and lectures, because there is no avoiding that in mathematics teaching.