Summer School Students cry for more better School

Don't believe students are interested in hands-on work? Don't believe critical thinking skills would aid students in their journey to an actualized education (education pursued due to it's relevance and applicability to life inside and outside of school)? A few students over the past few days have proven those doubts wrong. All students learning in an "oppressive" environment require the skills to demand properly and in an organized manner, and they require hands-on experience learning subject material. If these requirements are not met, students will resort to explicit spoken resistance and blatant physical resistance. Therefore, by creating opportunities for either direct hands-on experience or teaching skills of properly planning and demanding change, teachers can demonstrate principles of liberatory education and hope.

Practically speaking, students need to be taught these skills in a context of long-term action. In order to teach the action theme I could take issues they are having and show them how to resolve them in a cogent manner, which will increase the probability of resolution and change. For instance, if they were trying to convince me to do lessons differently how would they do it? They could resist physically by expressing their boredom through body language (head down, no eye contact, etc.) or they could think strategically and convince of the need to change and demand more student input (perhaps in the form of a student health council). Without understanding the techniques for attaining change they will resort to whatever they have to to relieve themselves of the burden of their oppressive education.

Hands-On experience, on the other hand, turns the whole banking system of education on it's head (especially if there are consistent reflection sessions where students can voice their opinions on the work of the group). Today I told students at a public school in North Philadelphia that we would not be using volunteers in the garden during the month of August to help maintain the vegetables or flower beds. Every class I told was disappointed. At least thirty percent of students had wanted to help and upon hearing they couldn't demanded to know why. The immediate uproar of a student body in summer school, that complains before and during most class work, indicated how upset it was that they couldn't come to the school grounds during the only month they have for vacation to do hands-on work. We need to remember something like that as an amazing compliment and testament to the success of the garden and all hands-on learning. Incorporating hands-on experience into the curriculum must be thoroughly investigated.