I reread my chapter on Freire just now, and I really wish that I could assign myself the Revisiting a Research Project now that I've read it and experienced the African American Literature panel today.
Half of my students in the African American Literature panel presented today. The Asst. Dean of Students, Angela Walker, was in the audience at the end, but she was there for the Q&A session. All of these presenters stood in front of the room for the Q&A session. Many of these students will be future teachers, and she asked them some interesting questions about how they would take the literature they read in this class into their future classrooms. She also asked them how did these works personally affect them. This Asst. Dean happens to be African American and worked at a Historical Black College before she came here.
I thought about Freire's quote on page 82--"In the final analysis, what is expected of those who teach by speaking or writing, by being a testimony, is that they be rigorously coherent so as not to lose themselves in the enormous distance between what they do and say"
Her question really asked them to respond to this quote in a personal way. Their responses were sincere and personal, and I could see the distance closing in right before the audience's eyes. The literature wasn't out there for them, but it was inside of them as they explored through these discussions what impact African American literature might have in their daily lives as teachers and/or as citizens of the world. Through their discussions, they explored how such literature made them better human beings.
She kept asking them questions, and they kept exploring through these thoughtful responses as a community of presenters. I thought of this idea of essaying to be, and I was fascinated to see what was unfolding through these series of exchanges.
Freire has truly helped me and, I would like to believe these students, to essay to be by opening this class to a larger university community. I wish that I had the opportunity to thank him.
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I have to say that reading Freire inspires me to do much more for my writing. Also, it also teaches you, if you have read passed his seminal text, how to approach the classroom and better ways for teaching. I relate to his words, his goals, and his visions for how class and teaching should be. Perhaps one day we will see all this come true
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