First of
all, I am very impressed with this group of educators. They put together a SEVEN-week unit
plan. So, a three-week unit plan should
be nothing!?! I am even more impressed
with how they got their groups of seniors to participate, to make the effort to
learn about canonical literature and the other classics so as to pass the
Advanced Placement exam. Being the
disadvantage school of the area, North High School took full advantage of what
was available to engage the students in critical pedagogy. Disengaging from the traditional application
of “multiculturalism,” Morrell, et al, sought for their students to share
common conclusions and understandings of a piece of literature, music, or film,
drawing from the everyday experiences of each other.
I really liked that the unit plan infused hip hop music as a
way of bringing kids into the lessons of poetry. Teaching such applications as meter, rhythm,
and cadence can be dry if only a classic poem is given as an example. The class was given the opportunity to present,
perhaps, their favorite piece of music to the class and how it relates to
classic poetry, something they are likely to take with them beyond school. And who could possibly dispute the “public”
viewing of popular movies, such as A Time to Kill, and giving the class
a chance to agree on the outrage of the unspeakable violation of the
daughter.
The overall critique of this application of critical pedagogy
has to be satisfactory. It moved the
seniors to action while they still had time to make a difference. What made this possible was a civically
minded girl in the class who, no doubt, had been given a voice during that
semester and the courage to ask her classmates, “What are you going to do about
(the injustice)?”
Each one of these activities I would try in my classroom,
regardless of where it is taught. To get
students engaged in critical pedagogy, any students, may need to start with an
outside interest, such as music, or sports, or drama.
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