You Say You Want a Revolution…
Anonymous Teacher - The Bronx, NY
Thank you for the question. First of all, I do not have an answer for you. Your question very much hits home for me, and the best I can do in this situation is to tell you how I have figured out to live with those conflicting thoughts and what role I see IDEA playing in my own life.
Eight years ago I decided to become a public school teacher in New York City, not because I wanted to be a teacher, and not because I wanted to work in a school. As a young person myself I was somewhat of an activist. Because of my own experiences in public school; the school system was a regular target of my activism. School was an oppressive institution. It was a mechanism of a society whose rules and systems were based in racism, sexism and oppression of the poor. I wanted nothing to do with it, and I railed against it at every opportunity I got.
Once I was away from school, these issues of justice very much became a driving force behind my decision to make my life's work connected to education. I began to see that tearing the system down in a violent revolution would only leave us with chaos and no mechanism for creating something better. After working as a summer camp counselor, I found that my talent was in working with young people and supporting them as they made their own discoveries about the world. I became fascinated with the inner workings of young people's minds and began to see that we all struggle with issues of justice.
I have always been curious. I have always asked questions. But as a camp counselor I began to realize that this curiosity, this inquisitiveness was not only my area of strength; it was my activism. By asking questions I could get young people to challenge the assumptions that were put into their heads. In your question you speak about "seeing the effects of centuries of racism… on [your] students' faces.” Those are the assumptions that I am talking about. When a girl thinks she has to be quiet, when a poor child thinks he cannot be smart, when anyone on the margins of society feels that they do not belong, when a person born into privilege feels guilty or bad about themselves… these are all assumptions that are driven into our heads from a very early age. Augusto Boal calls them “cops in the head.” The revolution I want to be a part of is the one that destroys all of the bad thoughts we have about ourselves that keep us from living fully.
So what does IDEA have to do with any of this?
What I value about democratic education is its emphasis on encouraging young people to follow their curiosity. Implicit in democratic education is the belief that people, if left to their own devices, are intelligent, capable, and good. The problem is, we are seldom left to our own devices. Democratic schools do a very good job of creating environments where young people can be free to follow their curiosities. But for young people growing up in our most marginalized communities, the messages of oppression come in strong and fast. IDEA understands that in an imperfect world such as this one, we need to be encouraging many different approaches to tackle the many different kinds of oppression that people face.
Young people want to learn. All people want to learn. All people want to be free of oppression. IDEA promotes that belief and supports those of us who are committed to it by providing us with resources, lesson plans, research, connections to others doing this work, support for local organizing and a space to share our stories and questions,
The days that you have hope… the days that you see the potential for creating that just society… those are the days that you're not listening to the cops in your head. What does IDEA have to offer you? The notion that as we keep working, as we who are doing this work continue to find each other, we will have more days when our heads are clear.
Keep the questions coming,
Jonah
I'd rather know some of the questions than have all of the answers.
Posted in About IDEA DemEd in Real LifeSocial Justice on May 10, 2010 - 09:10 AM
I am a teacher in New York City working in a very poor community with mostly youth of color. Every day I see the effects of centuries of racism and class oppression show up on my students' faces. On some days I have hope that we will be able to create a just future and I want their schools to be better. Some days are harder and I think the only way out is for their schools to be destroyed. What does IDEA have to offer me?Anonymous Teacher - The Bronx, NY
Thank you for the question. First of all, I do not have an answer for you. Your question very much hits home for me, and the best I can do in this situation is to tell you how I have figured out to live with those conflicting thoughts and what role I see IDEA playing in my own life.
Eight years ago I decided to become a public school teacher in New York City, not because I wanted to be a teacher, and not because I wanted to work in a school. As a young person myself I was somewhat of an activist. Because of my own experiences in public school; the school system was a regular target of my activism. School was an oppressive institution. It was a mechanism of a society whose rules and systems were based in racism, sexism and oppression of the poor. I wanted nothing to do with it, and I railed against it at every opportunity I got.
Once I was away from school, these issues of justice very much became a driving force behind my decision to make my life's work connected to education. I began to see that tearing the system down in a violent revolution would only leave us with chaos and no mechanism for creating something better. After working as a summer camp counselor, I found that my talent was in working with young people and supporting them as they made their own discoveries about the world. I became fascinated with the inner workings of young people's minds and began to see that we all struggle with issues of justice.
I have always been curious. I have always asked questions. But as a camp counselor I began to realize that this curiosity, this inquisitiveness was not only my area of strength; it was my activism. By asking questions I could get young people to challenge the assumptions that were put into their heads. In your question you speak about "seeing the effects of centuries of racism… on [your] students' faces.” Those are the assumptions that I am talking about. When a girl thinks she has to be quiet, when a poor child thinks he cannot be smart, when anyone on the margins of society feels that they do not belong, when a person born into privilege feels guilty or bad about themselves… these are all assumptions that are driven into our heads from a very early age. Augusto Boal calls them “cops in the head.” The revolution I want to be a part of is the one that destroys all of the bad thoughts we have about ourselves that keep us from living fully.
So what does IDEA have to do with any of this?
What I value about democratic education is its emphasis on encouraging young people to follow their curiosity. Implicit in democratic education is the belief that people, if left to their own devices, are intelligent, capable, and good. The problem is, we are seldom left to our own devices. Democratic schools do a very good job of creating environments where young people can be free to follow their curiosities. But for young people growing up in our most marginalized communities, the messages of oppression come in strong and fast. IDEA understands that in an imperfect world such as this one, we need to be encouraging many different approaches to tackle the many different kinds of oppression that people face.
Young people want to learn. All people want to learn. All people want to be free of oppression. IDEA promotes that belief and supports those of us who are committed to it by providing us with resources, lesson plans, research, connections to others doing this work, support for local organizing and a space to share our stories and questions,
The days that you have hope… the days that you see the potential for creating that just society… those are the days that you're not listening to the cops in your head. What does IDEA have to offer you? The notion that as we keep working, as we who are doing this work continue to find each other, we will have more days when our heads are clear.
Keep the questions coming,
Jonah
I'd rather know some of the questions than have all of the answers.
Tags for this entry:
freedom,
questioning,
oppression,
assumptions
