"Paulo Freire: Chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed"

The first thing that stuck out to me in this article was the concept that teachers talk to much in the classroom. And while I do recall learning many things from what my teachers have said aloud there is the flip side that students should use their own voice and questioning to learn. If teachers don't allow the students to speak at all they may never be truly invested in the topic. As we learned a couple weeks ago discussion plays a huge role in the classroom. Students response and discussion is imperative to ensure your students are actually learning. I have experienced teachers with very monotone and uninteresting voices that makes going to class seem like the last thing I want to do. If those teachers gave the opportunity for others to speak it would bring more focus and differentiation to the classroom.

Another ideal Freire brings to light is that teachers are teaching memorization not actual learning. And while this may be true in some aspects I believe it can also be a learning tool. I have been doing theatre my whole life which requires a lot of memorizing. Songs, dances, and lines all have to be memorized and once you have those things memorized you can start adding emotion, feeling, and characterization. This is also true with learning. You must first memorize something, say the Gettysburg Address (like everyone did in the 8th grade), and once you know WHAT Abraham was saying you can go back and dissect WHY he was saying these things.