Chapters One+Two

I really liked how in chapter one the author described teacher education to be an ongoing process. Even though I am going to graduate in a year, I feel that I will never be done learning. I will also be doing continuing education throughout my career, but I feel like even after I get my masters and everything else, that I will continue my learning process as the years go on. One important part of this ongoing process is reflection. In being a teacher, one must constantly be reflecting: reflecting on how the students reacted to material, reflecting on you delivered the material, and whether or whether not each of these things was successful or not. If one activity did not work or the way in which you delivered material it is important that you go back and modify the lesson so that the next time it will be successful. This is reflecion-on-action as the book states it. But more importantly, I believe that a conscious and reflective teacher should have the ability to reflection-in-action, that is having the ability to locate and identify problems that may occur on the spot, and modify them in that exact moment.

Also, in the section about Transformative Intellectuals, I truly agree with the notion that teachers should also be critical pedagogists. I also agree with Freires idea of the effects that sociopolitical factors have in the classroom. For example, in being a teacher it is important to understand and know your student. Not just understand the behavior that they have in the classroom but also truly understand their life at home. That is, their cultural background, their income, their family structure, etc. etc. All of these factors that were just listed make up a student and how they act in school. Some teachers may see 'Johnny' as lazy, doesnt want to work, never listens, etc. But what most teachers fail to do is understand what is happening at home. Johnny may be from a family that lives in poverty which means that there may not be a stable source of food that comes to the family. For this reason, Johnny may be distracted in class because he is wondering when he is going to eat his next meal because he has not ate in a whole day. Taking in to account every aspects of each students life can create a better understanding of their behavior in class.