Final Thoughts

Final thoughts are always tough for me because, well, nothing is ever finite. I feel, however, that I did learn a lot during this course. I have experienced two great books, and when I say "experienced", I mean that they made me work really hard, but also made me feel very rewarded, each in their own way. I am talking, of course, about Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Lives on the Boundary. Without reading Freire dry and lengthy prose, I would not have been able to appreciate the informal and engaging language of Mike Rose. However, in spite of being dry and at times repetitive, Freire let me in on some of his revolutionary ideas about the oppressed and the ways they could liberate themselves. I feel that both these books are still relevant today because, frankly, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Mike Rose made me feel less inadequate about my place in the academia by letting me in on the fact that most students come to college underprepared and need more help developing critical literacy than they are getting. With that knowledge, I feel that the pressure is now off... or at least it is not as intense as it used to be. I guess this knowledge also made me feel less alone and more a part of a larger whole, so to say. Ways with Words was another interesting reading that helped me widen my horizons. Things that other people do -- or say -- will never cease to amaze me, but guess what? People do things differently, and usually (but not always!) there is a method to their madness. I will try to be more open-minded about things... and I think this is probably what is most meaningful to me at this point, being more open-minded and accounting for all the differences between the ways people do things and LEARN things. 

It's been a really great class.