Leslie Moreno Moreno 1
English 114A
Professor Macklin
8, November 2011
Argument and Analysis
. Have you ever been in a classroom where all anyone did was listening to the teacher talk for an entire hour? Where there ever teachers that did not permit a single student raise their hand to answer a question? In “From Talking to Learners to Talking to Them and with Them; From Listening to Learners to Being Heard by Them” by Paulo Freire, he states that there should be democracy inside a schools classroom. That a student should have the right to his/her own opinion. He says that teachers should teach the learners how to have a democratic classroom so the learners could become democratic themselves.
Paulo said that a teacher should let democracy be allowed in a classroom and that the students should have the right to speak their mind and have opinions on the subject that is being talked about. Paulo says that if teachers talk to learners about democracy them the learners will start speaking about democracy and then the teachers could listen to them speak about democracy. He said, “Speaking to and with the learners is an unpretentious but very positive way for democratic teachers to contribute in their school to the training of responsible and critical citizens, which we need so badly and which is indispensable to the development of our democracy.” One way that a teacher could show the learners how to be democratic would be by using real life experiences going on and discussing it in class so that the students could have their own opinions.
Paulo Freire is basically saying that there should be a democratic school where the students can be heard and the teacher can teach them how to have their voices heard. I agree that students should be allowed to speak their mind but it seems as though we already do. Whenever I’m in a class and the teacher is discussing they always ask the class what they think about whatever it is that we are doing. In my English class my Professor always asks us what we think of the readings and how we can interpret them. The problem isn’t the teachers teaching democracy the problem is the students opening up to talk their minds and have their opinions heard. Some students hold back from discussing or speaking their opinions in class and they aren’t heard, the question would be why?
I know that in my English class I don’t talk and I don’t even try to be a part of the discussion. I can’t say I’m scared to speak my mind because I’m not. I can’t speak up because I feel like my response will be wrong and I won’t say the right thing, I feel embarrassed because most of the time I don’t quite fully understand what they talk about in class. Even though I know that my classmates aren’t judge mental and that they will listen to others opinions, I just can’t talk. Maybe because I lack courage or because I feel unsafe to talk something keeps learners from speaking their mind. I can’t help but wonder that the problem is inside every one of us and that maybe the cause is our own minds. “…such as the disposition to listen to others---not as a favor but as a duty---and to respect them…that nevertheless does not deny anyone who differs in opinion the right to express his or her disagreement…”
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