Theory, Practice, Knowledge- Don’t be Neutral.
In We Make the Road by Walking, it states that Freire has always been very theoretical in his writing, but Horton is very simple and straight-forward. Freire’s theoretical approach made people question the ability of his work and his ideas to be applicable in North America. Many people forget that regardless of this country being a first-world country, the opportunities some people have are very limited. Regardless of the two philosophers working with two different environments, they have similar ideas. “Underlying the philosophy of both is the idea that knowledge grows from and is a reflection of social experience” (xvi).
Understanding that practice, theory, and knowledge have a relationship is Freire’s goal. “Without practice there’s no knowledge” (97). “But practice in itself is not its theory. It creates knowledge, but it is not its own theory” (98). He is trying to explain that one needs a theory, or an idea, to practice and gain knowledge from. Without a theory, one will have practice, but no real purpose. From practice, one gains knowledge on the theory or idea. “Then having a certain scientific understanding of how the structures of society work, I can go beyond the common-sense understanding of how the society works-not to stay at this level but, starting from this, to go beyond. Theory does that” (101). Theory allowed Freire to gain knowledge on societal structures and develop from it. The idea that “knowledge grows from and is a reflection of social experience” (xvi) helped Freire and Horton critique the misconception of everything can be learned through paper and pen. WOKE is an example of a group who is trying to shed light on education. They taught us the method of “social biographies”. This helped us look into our past and understand how it makes a difference in our education today and the theories and ideas we develop.
I have personally used the method of social biography by understanding my parents’ roots, and why they immigrated to the U.S. My mom has two college degrees, but due to the patriarchal system in India, she decided that she would not want to raise a family in that environment. My father, uneducated past high school, agreed that education is a right and opportunity that everyone should have. Knowing that my mom has a master’s degree in accounting, something she is passionate about, and is unable to use it makes me upset. She had the rare opportunity to get a high education, but once she had it, she was told that she could not work as an accountant because that is a man’s job. This history makes me want to be engaged in school and take all of the opportunities I can to be more educated. Also, this class has allowed me to use theory from class into practice at my service learning. Yes, I could learn about education equity or racial equity through a textbook and discussion in class, but to actually see how it impacts people in the community is not an opportunity I am given every day. “…knowledge always is becoming” (101).
“Academicians, politicians, all the people that are supposed to be guiding this country say you’ve got to be neutral” (102). Horton states that “…there can be no such thing as neutrality. It’s a code for the existing system” (102). Neutrality does not mean one is in the middle of the spectrum. It basically is a way of ignoring what is happening by agreeing with the dominant. If one is neutral, one is agreeing with what is already. “Neutrality is following the crowd” (102). Everyone has to pick a side, regardless of being 100% on that side, but you should be able to justify why you picked that side. He also states that if “you say you’re neutral in what you do, you aren’t that concerned with it” (105). Meaning that being neutral means it is not important enough to you to pick a side and explain why you picked that side.
Freire agrees with Horton by saying, “This is why neutrality is the best way for one to hide his or her choice, you see” (103). It is almost the lazy way of getting out of something. It is an excuse. “Then instead of saying I am with the dominant, I say that I’m neutral” (103). I took this as not wanting to claim you agree with the dominant side, because like Horton said, it would be like following the crowd. In regards to education, a teacher shouldn’t impose their ideas on their students, but they should also not say they are neutral. The teacher should discuss the issue in a broader sense, while including his or her choice.
In my opinion, people who remain neutral with decisions that need to be made about structural issues are lazy. They do not want to confront the problem and don’t want to deal with any questions or repercussions that may come. For example, people who remain “neutral” about education equality decisions are not being neutral because they have literally zero feelings on it, but because they agree with the current decision. They do not want people to ask why they believe the structure in play right now is a good structure or why they agree with it. And if they say they don’t agree with the structure, they need to come up with reasons and evidence on why it’s bad. At my community partner site, YMM, I feel as though many of the women remain “neutral” in the aspect of being “the other” because it’s just easier. They have accepted the fact that they are the other. They sometimes get some motivation to work through the stereotypes of the structural issues that are affecting them, but at other times they lose hope and believe the generalizations behind them. YMM is a very strong group that can change the structural issues, but sometimes neutrality [for] them is easier.
My passion and desire to work with others in the community comes from my parents. They have always been there for anyone and everyone, regardless of them being a stranger or family. I inspire to be as kind of selfless as they are. I finally understand the feeling they get when they have been of service to others. To know that I could be changing someone’s life is very moving for me. Our colloquium class has many themes, but the ones that have stood out to me are marginalization of “others” and the social structures that are implicated in processes which contribute to people being recognized as “the other”. For the past three academic years at YMM, I had always felt like I had a purpose with them. This semester I did start to think that they wouldn’t need me, but sometimes just one person says something about how nice it is to trust someone with their child, and all of my doubts fade away. WOKE really allowed all of us to feel vulnerable and in a way weak by having us share our social background. I never would have realized that opening up and almost creating a theory on why and how you are where you are would allow me to feel safer; Knowing that everyone was in the same position as me felt good. Connecting back to YMM, if everyone there could feel the security I feel every day would make me feel good because I would know we are all on the same level. Colloquium this semester has enhances my passion and career goals by allowing me to practice theory from a classroom in the real-world. I was able to take everything I learned in practice and create the knowledge I currently have. Service learning at YMM has made me want to take my medicine career further and go into free health clinic work and work with families who cannot necessarily afford proper healthcare.
