Bill Ayers, idealism in education
http://www.chicagoflame.com/news/bill-ayers-idealism-in-education-1.1820589
December 6, 2010
Enduring the demands of teaching is no easy ordeal, as related by
retired professor Bill Ayers and new full-time teachers Cynthia White
and Arlen Hernandez during a discussion called "The Art of Teaching",
held at UIC's Writing Center last week.
Bill Ayers and these new teachers met to discuss the difficulties of
effective tutelage, student challenges, and the politics of working
within the school system. They all agreed that despite the education
they had, nothing could have prepared them for these demands except
firsthand experience.
Asked to participate in the discussion by Future Teachers for Social
Justice, an organization that emphasizes a humanitarian and
multicultural learning environment, White and Hernandez have tried to
reinvent expectations of contemporary teaching inside and outside the
classroom, to become both better teachers and social activists within
the professions.
White initiated a writing program and supervised student-led peer
mediation sessions. Hernandez asked parents to write a 1,000 word
essay describing who their children were. What is the point of these
efforts? "Recognition is a huge part of social justice… [teachers
must] commit to recognizing kids as human beings…not commodities,"
proclaimed Ayers.
White and Hernandez have attempted to procure an independent and
respectful environment for their students by understanding who they
are through the activities they pursue. Throughout the night, Ayers
reiterated this theme by explaining that teachers with background
knowledge of their students create a good learning environment for them.
"Never objectify [students], judge them, or punish them…treat them
with respect, awe, and a certain amount of reverence," Ayers
persisted. He mentioned that culture has expected this process to be
done quickly, but because contextual understanding takes time, the
reality of teaching often does not coincide with the educational
system's demands. Therefore, teaching is sometimes categorized as an
ineffective and inferior occupation.
The conclusion of the discussion was to challenge the
obedience-based, hierarchal, and conformist school systems that
maintain negative attitudes of teaching. Future Teachers for Social
Justice attempts to make this ideal become a reality. "You don't have
to be naïve and willfully obedient to be an idealist," said Ayers.
"An idealist has ideals, but they are striving to live up to them.
The fact that you can't live up to it every day is not a reason to
reject it; it's a reason to hold onto it."
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