Educators serve students better by listening to families than prescribing to them.

Evidence

I’m embarrassed to say that prior to my introduction to Freire, I thought that I was doing a fine job as a teacher, prescriptively providing an invaluable experience for my students. After reading Freire I felt shaken awake, no longer sure that I knew what was best for my students and their families—in fact, I was now sure of the opposite, that I didn’t know what was best for them. Rather, I learned what was best for them through conversations with families, in which I closed my mouth and opened my ears. I began to hear students’ families’ stories and learn what their hopes and dreams were for their children. — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1225

Categorization

• XREF: Pairs with ch14’s finding that traditional teacher authority dismisses student knowledge; offers a concrete practice: closing your mouth and opening your ears. — connects to: Shared teacher authority keeps power but redirects it toward democratic student partnership — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 744; Liberating educators dialogue with people rather than explain action to them — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 127

Broader Connections

• Liberating educators dialogue with people rather than explain action to them #corroborates (0.90) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 127