Peter McLaren

“The critical educator endorses theories that are, first and foremost, dialectical; that is, theories which recognize the problems of society as more than simply isolated events of individuals of deficiencies in the social structure.” Education is not so inward focused but outward focused. This article was very interesting because it pointed out many things about the education world. We tend to, as society, categorize people and stick certain people in blocks thinking that is the only way people function. We discriminate, even when we do not notice and it is easier to allow for people to be stereotyped because it is what we are conditioned to. Education is socially constructed  meaning “that it is the product of agreement or consent between individuals who live out particular social relations (of class, race, and gender) and who live in particular junctions of time. . . . Constructed symbolically by the mind through social interaction with others and is heavily dependent on culture, context, custom, and historical specificity.” Education is based on location, students, and teacher dynamic. Each of these (class, race, and gender)plays a role in the process. For example, when it comes to education in the classroom among the students the teachers are “more likely to value the opinions of a middle-class white male student, than that of a black female” and we cannot really answer why that happens other than prejudice.

“Teachers need to recognize that power relations correspond to forms of school knowledge that distort understanding and produce what is commonly accepted as truth.” It all comes down to how we view certain aspects of the world and it is up to each teacher to recognize their views and flaws in themselves in order to educate. Another thing the article pointed out is that resistance theorists challenge the schools ostensible role as a democratic institution that functions to improve the social position of all students—including those groups that are subordinate to the system. They question the processes by which the system reflects and sustains the logic of capital as well as dominant social practices and structures that are found in each class, race, and gender divided society.” And I think this is interesting because we want to be different in how we teach and be open to every child but it is hard to not let experiences weed their way into our approach to them. We just have to be aware and willing to step apart from that and just focus on the students as a whole.