He believed in the deconstruction of a person so they could be rebuilt as the system they were put into chose. He wanted students to be able to really do anything. He wanted to have complete control over their lives by splitting them up by learning ability, have them be able to switch from one learning mode to another and not care too deeply about anything. He wanted them to be submissive to their superior, and that their superior is solely in charge of what they will learn. He wanted to be in charge of how the students viewed themselves and based on what he said they would determine their own self worth. Finally he wanted students to learn that they are always being watched and because of that they should learn to act accordingly. He wanted to be able to transform students into respectable members of society by taking away anything that made them an individual. He wanted to turn the school system into a machine.
I have to say i completely disagree, or maybe i am conditioned to disagree. It sounds like it would work but it would be used for all the wrong reasons, although there really aren't any right reasons for using it. By making each student the same as the next, he would have successfully removed any creativity and productive thinking from our society. The ideas and inventions would be severely limited and possibly even stop. Ideas like these are equivalent to those of a monarchy. It gives the power to the single person and everyone below him holds practically no power. Change and progress go hand and hand and by limiting one you limit both. He never thought about the impact of his actions.
Freire:
Freire was the exactly the opposite of Gotto. Friere believed that children were blank slates and that it was the teachers jobs to fill them up. He believed that the student should be able to teach the teacher as well as the teacher teaching the students. He believed that by going to school and teaching but keeping an open mind to the students, then the students will react in a more open and accepting way to their ideas and feel open enough to come up with their own. He wanted students to still understand that the teachers were more powerful and were still superior to the students, but they should be able to talk to the students.
I thought that by giving the students an equal chance to make points and by giving them the freedom to understand what the teacher is saying and maybe make their own points, they will have more confidence and have more respect if they do it right. By talking to the students as human beings and by teaching them as human beings, they will be able to be individuals and contribute more to society in terms of ideas and inventions. Things they couldn't come up with if they were conditioned by the schools and the teachers. If they were brainwashed and treated like cattle being herded through a system, then nothing is really learned but to listen to the higher power and do as they say. I don't think that is a very productive way of learning.
Delpit:
Lisa Delpit believed in looking at what the students know and what they are being taught at home and then working with them from there. She works with first graders. She said that many lower income families aren't teaching their students simple things like the breakdown of the words and what they mean. The teachers were just assuming that the students knew that stuff and because of that they weren't able to ever really learn as much as they could. Because of that they had a severe disadvantage and started behind the other students who were taught that stuff at home. She proposed 40 lessons for children who wouldn't normally understand the work. It was a slow pace, but it was meant for the children be able to understand what was going on at a deeper level.
I thought she had some really strong ideas. She wanted all students to have an equal and fair chance when it comes to learning and succeeding later on in life. She knew that not all children got the same support at home and because of that she wanted to make sure that they would get the same education at school. She wanted them to be able to look at words and not just understand them, but know what they mean and how they work. She wanted to start at the root of the problem so measures like John Gatto's don't have to be taken. She targeted the lower income families where the families taught the kids how to survive instead of how to contribute in a conversation. She wanted teachers to be able to understand this and because of that she wanted them to be understanding and patient and have faith in the students.
Manley:
He said that his teachers kept his students in line by humiliating them and forcing them to do things that they wouldn't be comfortable with so they would learn it better. He made him stand under the flag for 30 seconds while everyone would stare at him if he made an error. He then went on to work at another John Gatto school where the students did exactly as the teacher asked and never had any ideas except for the answer. He was told to not be personal with them and not say anything about himself and not expect the same in return. He didn't like that of course though. He believes that there is a sense of equality and fairness between the students and teachers. He wants the students to participate and actually enjoy the class.
I personally like that idea. I feel that school isn't about equality among teachers and students at all. But i feel there should be a certain open mindedness to it. The teacher should be open to listening to students when they are trying to contribute ideas, not when they are trying to correct them with their own ideas. Total control is never a good idea because it only leaves room for rebellion, and brain washing students only leaves them the way you want them and usually without creativity or anything really special or important to contribute to society. They just kind of get by on the mediocre jobs. Manley enjoyed giving that length of freedom because he knew what it would do to a students self esteem and just overall attitude towards class and school. Its the little things that always make the difference.
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