According to Gary Fenstermacher and Jonas Soltis's Approach to Teaching, the liberationist teacher is one who wants their students to grow and become wonderful parts of the society in which they live. In my subject area of Social Studies, I hope to create in my students a life long interest in the subject matter. If I teach government, I want them to be active in learning about candidates, always remember to vote, and be able to talk to people about their political views. If I teach history, I want them to appreciate where they came from and maybe pick up a historical novel as an adult. If I teach economics, I want to instill in them an awareness of how the economy can affect them, and what they can do to encourage good economic policies in their nation or community.
The challenge of the liberationist approach is that not every student will be as excited about my subject as I would hope. There may also be push back from administrators, parents, and students who want a more traditional style of teaching. There may be some students who fall behind because they do not see a value in studying.Additionally, this style may not produce the highest scores possible on standardized tests.
The benefit of the liberationist is the betterment of society because I will encourage future generations to be more actively engaged in their communities. They will be excited about learning and hopefully want to continue learning after leaving formal education.
Yes, I think that you have a great point about how difficult it is to have students who do not share in your enthusiasm for the subject. That will be especially difficult as testing and standardization move away from content areas like the social sciences. How will you instill an interest in the topic if the school system seems to suggest that it is not important? You have helped me to consider things in different light.
ReplyDelete