Reflection 3: Oppression In My Education

Paulo Freire refers to current education systems as operating under the “banking method” (P. 72) in that teachers deposit information, which the students memorize and store into their bank. Students are treated as receptacles that receive information for future retrieval, but do not possess individual ideas or contribute any original information or creativity (Freire, 1970).  Freire writes of the ways that this educational method is oppressive to students and how this reinforces the oppression in society. In examining my own student life, I can find evidence of the oppression of students in the educational system that supports Freire’s theory.

Freedom Writers: A Review

This is the trailer from the film, Freedom Writers. This powerful film is based on the true story of a new teacher named Erin Gruell who was assigned to an inner-city high school plagued by gang violence and racism. The students in her English class were pushed through the school system without being expected to learn, with the assumption that they are incapable of learning. Throughout the film, Erin struggles to connect with her students, to make them believe that they can succeed, and to show them that their lives, experiences, and knowledge is valuable, all while attempting to unite them and to overcome to racial segregation and gang violence that is part of their daily lives.

Reflection 2: Rising Tuition as a Saint Mary's Student

The current trend of lowering government contributions to universities has corresponded to continuously rising tuition costs for Nova Scotia students, as the universities now need to get a larger percentage of their funding from tuition amounts. In 1979, the Government of Nova Scotia supplied universities with 81% of their operating costs, with student tuition accounting for 15% of these costs (Leroux, 2011). 20 years later however, the Government has dropped funding for university operating costs to 47.6%, with students covering costs on a similar level at 41.3% (Leroux, 2011). As a university student, this shift translates into my education experience in negative ways such as increased student loan debt upon graduation and less time available for studying and recreation due to working more hours to pay for tuition. On the other hand, I have also viewed some positive effects of this shift such as increased motivation to achieve good grades, and the personal responsibility to graduate and gain employment in order to repay debts.

Pierre Bourdieu "Sociology as a Martial Art" Video

" I often say sociology is a martial art, a means of self-defense. Basically, you use it to defend yourself, without having the right to use if for unfair attacks". Pierre Bourdieu

Reflection 1: Pierre Bourdieu's "Cultural Capital" in My Life

Pierre Bourdieu is a French sociologist who introduced the sociological concept of cultural capital in his work, which has since been examined by other sociologists. Roy Nash(1990) describes Bourdieu's cultural capital as social assets transferred within a culture that are seen as worthy to produce power and status. Nash emphasizes that Bourdieu views the school as the most important site for the reproduction of social classes through the transmission of cultural capital (Nash,1990). Class-based cultural capital has impacted my own education in ways such as the high expectations of my parents, the availability of educational resources and materials, and the personal embodiment of valued personal characteristics and attitudes.