Grumet’s piece, for me, was inspirational. It was empowering to hear someone’s voice, reflect upon it, and then in turn, find your own. She helped me become more in touch with the words on the page and encouraged me to find meaning and strength in them. After reading her article I was more connected and engaged during the readings thereafter. It caused me to read and reflect and agree or disagree. It was truly an interesting experience. I used to write, when I had (or made) the time. I used to find it peaceful and cathartic. But, I have stopped in the past couple of years, and coincidently have had a hard time understanding the true meaning and reason behind events, situations and relationships in my life. This is why her work and her words helped me so much. I have become very conditioned to read and “reflect” and then proceed ahead. Not to react, feel and let those feelings dictate the next educational or emotional journey. I am very glad that I took the time to really read Grumet’s work and let it move me to genuine and real reflection. Her words and the way it affected me truly stayed with me all week and let the inner voice inside me have more legitimacy and standing. This, I believe, is a really good thing. The list of quotes and words of Grumet’s are those that hit me the most and impacted the way in which I think, feel, and reflect on readings and educational experiences. I want the list of her words attached to this, so that I am always reminded of those that had such an impact on my educational and personal outlook.
GRUMET- So you see, it is both things: inner and outer, personal and public, spontaneous and considered, mind and body.
To reread the journal is to see oneself seeing.
Teaching must also reverse the process of generalization by returning the world to the specificity of lived experience.
Nevertheless, autobiographical method invites us to struggle with all those determinations. It is that struggle and its resolve to develop ourselves in ways that transcend the identities that others have constructed for us that bonds the projects of autobiography and education.
In summary, any writing and reading of our lives presents us with the challenge that is at the heart of every educational experience: making sense of our lives in the world.
for we read to recreate meaning not repeat it.
Pinar’s work, again, struck a cord with me. I felt like, “yea, you’re right.” Our entire educational system has been rocked because of this notion of assessments and testing. Teachers have lost their authenticity and many times, their passion and reason for beginning a career in education. Pinar reminds us that curriculum is always academic, but highly social and subjective as well (Pinar, 43). He references that we, as an American people and education system, have become consumers of “educational services,” not active members of participating and creating our own educational experiences. We have seen education as something to acquire when presented to us. Not something we help create as we experience real, in-depth, authentic, conversations and lived life experiences. When he discusses allegory, I believe he really discusses constructivism and how critical this is to educational experiences for all learners. He talks about how these intense conversations can dictate and help us navigate the next path or educational journey. Essentially, curriculum should be open and able to change as the conversation and experiences occur. We should not be bound by standards and tests, but instead, lead discussions that bring us to the next meaningful conversation and/or life experience. Together, you experience, learn and grow as time and experience allows. Not by standards or time constraints and forced experience that you script and hope a child understands and internalizes. On page 54, he talks about the “guidelines” or education and states, “This is why school curriculum guidelines must never be more than guidelines, inviting reformation according to the professional judgment of the individual educator.” He goes on to say that “teachers must be free to follow wherever their imagination and instincts lead them, acutely aware that knowledge structures both instinct and imagination” (Pinar, 54). I feel like we are doing education such a disservice because of this swing towards grades grades grades and tests tests tests! We have taken the creativity and basics of education away from schools and teachers. We have ruined much of the foundation of education. Pinar ends the chapter with a strong statement. He says, “we have school reform. To deny the past and force the future, we teach to the test” (Pinar, 66). I believe this statement is powerful and must be reflected upon. The original building blocks of education and our educational system has been lost. We are not using the past to encourage the future; instead we are forgetting the past and creating the future out of our own standards.
Chapter 1, from revisiting Michael Apple’s work Ideology, Curriculum, and the New Sociology of Education, was interesting to me. It took all that Grumet and Pinar references and dove deeper to look at the sociology behind curriculum and how different people of different socioeconomic backgrounds, culture, family dynamic/status, historical standing etc. perceive and receive education completely differently. Apple references that “curriculum was expected to bring about the same behavior in all students (25). This notion/thought process believes and perpetuates the cycle that all children get the same thing from the curriculum and that all students have the same access to it. This view forgets that children need to create their own meanings and live in a world that greatly impacts what and how they learn. Apple looked at society and who children were and how they were raised in order to understand where they are as learners. In the 1970’s there was a shift from students failing out of school to schools failing the students. This is interesting because our education system used to be set up to cater to the needs of the privileged and high society folk, but took an important turn to look at all kids and all learners. However, this outlook and new swing made education more concerned with those under privileged or less capable/disabled and focused on helping those children become successful. However, in my opinion, none of this really encompassed all kids and all learners. Good intentions, with little critical reflection and monitoring of what was being lost during this educational shift. Apple refocuses the reader at the end of the chapter by referencing the politics of knowledge and education and how it impacts all of us. Personally reflecting upon chapter one makes me think that we have never truly dealt with the political aspects of education and that it’s not considered when creating a statewide standard based education system. I also think that this is and will continue to be a major issue in education until we start letting the past navigate and influence the future.
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