“Authentic reflection considers neither abstract man nor the world without people, but people in their realtions with the world”

Freire claims that reading is ‘intertwined with knowledge of the world’ means that reading is educating yourself and being aware of the things that are going on around you. Knowledge is power and reading is a way to understand the deeper meaning of things. Freire also goes to say that ‘language and reality are dynamically interconnected’ (pg.20), conveying that language is one way to better understand our reality and using it as a tool to conmnect us to the world. With this said, this point connects to Friere’s point that teaching adutukts to read and write is a ‘political act’ because it is important to understand the policies and the issues in order for adults to participate in democracy and have a voice in what is happening that directly impacts them. Literacy is the foundation of understanding and this connects with language and being able to communicate with others. Freire details his experiences of ‘reading’ and how this was the beginning of his understanding of himself and the world around him. “Surrendering myself to this effort, I re-created and relived in the text I was writing the experiences I lived at a time when I did yet read words” (pg.20) This illustrates Friere’s growing appreciation of reading and his engagement to the words, connecting this to his experiences as a child… “I see myself then in the average house in Recife, Brazil, where I was born, encircled by trees….in their shadow I played, and in those branches low enough for me to reach I experienced the small risks that prepared me for greater risks and adventures” (pg.20) Here Friere shows that he is starting to form a deeper understanding of his surroundings as he recognizes that this is the beginning of his experiences ‘surrendering himself’ as he carries with him the knowledge of reading and language. He beautifully portrays this by saying, “The texts, the words, the letters of the context were incarnated in a series of things, objects and signs…in perceiving these I experienced myself, and the more I experienced myself the more my perceptual capacity increased” (pg.20) He says over and over again that the ‘texts, words and letters of the context’ is helping him to see the world the way that he wants to see it, a unique perspective specific to him. That is why it is important to engage in the words and the texts because it gives us a different perspective, maybe something we have experienced and maybe something entirely new to us, but either way, it helps kids and adults alike to better understand themselves and their reality.

Language in every aspect is powerful and is a tool that is used to understand others and to understand yourself. With language comes communication, and this is th very foundation of how we understand others and the way they feel and think. “he formed a commitment beyond himself: a commitment to listening to the perspectives of others” (pg.2) In order to understand people, we have to communicate, we have to listen and be engaged in what they are saying. We need to be open to understanding a different perspective in order to gain perspective. Calderon says “If we faculty engage both ourselves and our students in perspective-taking as a component of empowering education, we can use our classrooms to practice creating an equitable democratic society” (pg.3) This means that we need to be more engaged in the student’s perspective and try to walk in their shoes to understand their needs and how we can better educate them. The education system is structured in a way where we have the Banking Model in place, where the students are the banks taking in information and the teachers are the depositors and this does not work because the students are not grasping the deeper meaning of the language they are studying. “Thus the way we faculty run our classrooms and the way we connect those classrooms to our communities can truly affect whether our teaching and learning practices advance a more diverse, socially just and democratic culture.” (pg.3) And getting to a more ‘diverse, socially just and democratic culture’ is essentially the goal of education. To give our students the tools and knowledge they need to understand themselves and take that understanding and take it into the world, giving them a voice in society and infusing in them a sense of culture that helps them to appreciate their reality, and using language to their advantage. “Perspective taking” is important to better educate students, who are future members of society and it is critical that we take the time to teach them to have a sense of self, their own personal agency in order to be the best that they can be.

To be honest, this is what I’ve been dying to read because ever since I was in high school and going into college I have felt that the educational system that continues to dictate my perspective on success needs to be changed. It has to be. We need to give equal opportunity for all and recognize that our differences it what contributes to better understanding ourselves and others. Personal agency takes center stage in challenging the individual to be better than what is dictated by this educational system, provides a new way of thinking, perspective taking. In also allows for cultural sensitivity, understanding that being rich in one culture and mixing of cultures help to give us a sense of community and of course, perspective. Education is the most important thing that we can pass on to future generations. Education in all aspects is important because knowledge is power and it should encourage people to be better than what they are; reach their true potential. Education is a huge part of my life and huge part of who I am today and it’s because I believe that I have had the personal agency to engage myself into it; to listen to the words and the texts that I have experienced and learning from them rather than pushing it to the side. Not everyone is the same and it is important to re-structure education in order to help each person see that getting an education isn’t about your career or money, it is truly about LEARNING and honing into those concepts in order to give you a better perspective of how the world is and what it has come to be and using those tools to better understand yourself and others and using the knowledge gained to empower yourself and empower those around you and also gain appreciation of your reality.