Wheeler

Haley Wheeler
Ms. Knudson
UWRT 1103
September 07 2016

Vignette #1
What surprises me about this article is the notion that there are different types of literacy
other than the standard. I had always been taught the dictionary definition of literate and have
never been introduced or exposed to thinking that there are different ways that you can be literate
beyond just knowing how to read and write. The reading helped me to really think about
Americas schooling system and about the standard student and teacher relationship, as well as
compare it to my own experiences with both high school and my recent dive into the college
experience. Has the school education system always been like this? Is this a real concern for both
students and teachers? If so, then why havent we changed our ways? Why is this the standard?
Is this what Americas education system believes is proficient in educating young minds? The
reading agrees that students should be taught and be able to think critically and even be
encouraged to do so in their schooling environment. Thinking critically allows students to open
up and take on new perspectives. An example would be with the poem My Papas Waltz,
where at first glance I thought the poem was about an abusive alcoholic father, but with a second
glance, and a new attitude, I realized that one could interpret the poem as a hard working father
taking time to dance with his young son after a hard day of work (Thinking Critically). Such The
idea is to reject cultural norm, dont go with the flow of society, because clearly not everything
that is standard is the best especially when it comes to our current ways of educating students.

Wheeler

I grew up being taught that the teacher is the ultimate being and that he or she knows
everything and you need to do your best to learn from them. I also grew up getting told that it is
never the teachers fault when you cannot learn through the one and only way they teach. Its very
refreshing to know that in college you are truly encouraged to speak your mind and think outside
of cultural norms and to be told that the teacher is not the only person in the classroom capable
of teaching anyone. Youre told in high school that you have your freedom of speech and
freedom of expression but then when you try to truly utilize your rights or do anything that veers
of the track of standard youre shut down. Now think of that compared to college. 3 months ago I
was expected to ask permission to go to the bathroom and now Im not only encouraged but
expected to go against cultural norms and act like an adult with actual valuable opinions and
knowledge to help educate everyone around me. The teachers are not the only people in the room
with knowledge to share, just as Paulo Freire states, Education must begin with the solution of
the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are
simultaneously teachers and students (The Banking Concept of Education). Although I agree
that schooling is the spitting image of the banking concept, I always believed that this thought
of schooling becoming a useless practice of memorization and spitting it back out on a test was
an opinion shared only by students. I never thought that teachers and adults shared the idea that
were stuck and forced to partake in this awful way of schooling, although one could argue that a
teacher could easily change the way they teach and still relay the same information but in a way
that enlightens and intrigues the students rather than putting them to sleep or making them want
to gouge their eyes out with a spoon. Why is change viewed as bad while conformity so strongly
encouraged? Why is it that students are taught that the teacher knows all and that they know
nothing until the teacher graciously bestows knowledge into them? The banking concept of

Wheeler

teaching is the reason that students these days can move along through schooling without
retaining a single piece of information. This concept is taking the joy out of learning and making
a world full of conforming young adults who go through school without knowing that not all
ways of learning are incredibly boring. Students are oppressed because those who oppress them
are the ones that are scared of the accomplishments that they are capable of doing if they are
taught how and why you do something and the meaning of knowledge versus just learning
something to spit it back out and earn a passing grade.

Wheeler

Works Cited
Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts
for Critical Thinking and Writing. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 1992. Print.
Deans, Thomas. Writing and Community Action: A Service-learning Rhetoric and
Reader. New York: Longman, 2003. Print.