Final Blog - 3 things that I think will stick with me.

 I really loved taking this class this semester. I experienced a whole range of emotions. I started the course four weeks late, which required some adjustments, but in the end I really enjoyed how the course stimulated our thinking and brought out the best in us in terms of thinking and critical thinking. We read a lot of articles and watched several documentaries, each as interesting as the last. I learned a lot in this course. The ability to express ourselves freely demonstrates that this is a democratic space, even when we disagree. Plus, I really enjoyed sitting next to Grace, Gavin and Amara who I passed yesterday in the school hallways. This became our unspoken rule and we formed a dynamic group. Overall the experience was fantastic, although it took a long time. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Stevos' flexibility in completing our academic tasks. Several authors have influenced me, such as Finn, Shalaby and others. However, if I had to pick three to do the journey, it would be Khan, Jean Anyon, and Renky & Bertolini.

                                                        Khan: The broken Model 

What amazed me most about Khan is the idea that learning should not be seen as a uniform process. I constantly reflect on the importance, for students, of building genuine understanding, not just skimming the surface and leaving gaps. The full and perfect implementation of this idea would constitute an unprecedented educational revolution.

 

                                             Jean Anyon: What counts as education Policy?

What struck me about Anyon is his argument that schools cannot be understood independently of economic and social factors. Essentially, schools must be studied intrinsically in their relationship to capitalism. This led me to reflect on how access to a school like FASRI depends on family resources, tuition fees, and the broader inequalities that exist outside the classroom. His work reminds me that educational policy also concerns the daily living conditions of students and contributes to the exclusion of the majority.

 

                                               Renkly and Bertolini: Shifting paradigm

Those 2 authors invite to shift from a deficit-based approach to a strengths-based approach. I appreciate the idea that schools should start with the skills students already possess, rather than focusing first on what they lack. This resonates with me because it aligns with a welcoming, restorative, and strengths-based approach. I was also able to observe some of this at FASRI.

It was very difficult to choose just three things from everything we saw during the semester. With a clear heart, I think these three things marked a significant point in my development as a human being, as a student, and as an aspiring teacher. This course taught me many things that a grade cannot summarize, as Patrick Fin says in "Literacy with an Attitude". We know we've learned when we feel different from how we were at the beginning. So, on that note, I say thank you for this wonderful experience.

Thank you to Dr. Stevos.

Thank you to my classmates.