I think an important part of this conversation is to talk about the power education holds. “When rich children get empowering education nothing changes. But when working-class children get empowering education you get literacy with an attitude. It's exactly the kind of literacy that the folks feared who outlawed Bible reading for common people three hundred years ago. There is an important difference, how-ever. Three hundred years ago people could only imagine one social setup, the ruling class and the rabble. The fear was that literacy would make the rabble aware of the injustice they suffered, and they would attempt to overthrow the ruling class violently and take its place-same roles, same rules, only a switch in actors in the roles.” (Finn) From the preface, we talk about how education used to hold people back. It was used to keep people unaware, thinking they would overrule the top class if they were to become aware. Now seeing where we are, we can see that it hasn’t happened. But we’re still not quite caught up on education, especially literary.
“Today we understand that many social setups are possible. Roles and rules can be transformed so that there is greater justice and equity. We understand too, after two centuries of experimenting in democracy, that change is possible without violence. People can become conscious of injustice and inequity, and through disciplined, focused, and strategic action, they can bring about change. Such action both requires and promotes powerful literacy in those who struggle for justice and equity.” (Finn) I think this quote is another good example of why education is powerful. To bring change we have to understand what is wrong. In order to really dig deep at the roots of systems we need to be able to understand history, and how to break apart what we’re reading.

Comments

  1. Tiaja G.October 20, 2024 at 5:12 PM

    There was a quote I heard that said "There is a world of knowledge out there and we have the opportunity to study some of it." It completely reframed my mindset on learning and how valuable it is to the world we live in and sometimes struggle in. I love that you highlight that fact that education is they key to those social injustices that some may face.

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  2. JordanTaylorOctober 20, 2024 at 6:23 PM

    Hi! I liked the quote you chose. I almost picked that one to talk about in my blog. I think about how different PC is, and it is just up the street from RIC. They are so different but not even 10 minutes away from each other!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michelina IronsOctober 20, 2024 at 9:44 PM

    I also think History is extremely important in the education system. I learned from the Holocaust museum in D.C. that we learn History so that it can never repeat itself and we can fix the injustices of the world. This is why I chose Secondary Education with a focus on History.

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