Elizabeth Byrne -Giroux

Going into today's class I was uneasy as I couldn't formulate a pre class post. After class I learned alot about my self. I could have taken a shot at what I though Giroux was saying, but due to my lack of confidence in academics in and out of the classroom I didn't do a pre- class post. When we were talking about men and women, I thought to myself "is the reason I don't speak up in class is because I am a girl?" As the class continued I came to the conclusion that I don't think it is because I am a girl. I have grown up always being shy in classrooms and went to a boarding school where everyone was from what i thought, much smarter than me. However, as I continue to write this blog i am thinking- could it be because I am a girl and my inferiority or shyness in classrooms started a long time ago? 

Anyway, now that I have a better understanding of Giroux I think that I may be an exact person that Giroux is talking about. After what Rachel said in class about how she liked how classmates relate theorys to personal experience- I am going to try my best to give examples from life in regards to this essay. When he talks about pedagogy in west and how some where along the way the educational system has abandoned what is at the essence of the U.S - a full participant in democratic society.  When talking about this in the beginning of class really made me think about my role in this country and about how "every vote counts". My mom has registered me as a voter since I was 18 and I never have. I want to start with the fact that my mom registered me to vote-- showing a total lack of interest on my part to be involved with the future of the country in which i am a citizen of. Then in the past two years i have never voted. I know who my parents support and i think well i guess i could just vote for what they thing- but because i dont know much about politics i choose not vote because i dont have a stance either way. This is were the point that education needs to do something about the lack of interest. I am not blaming this on school or education because I believe it all my fault that i do not read more newspapers or familiarize my self with the world around me. However, I do think that somewhere throughout my time in school that i learned that i could do the bare minimum and still get by.  (once i got to college i quickly learned that i was not going to get by with that) Linking myself to teachers, I think that they also believe that they can get by with teaching children the bare minimum they need to pass the proper tests. 

Something else I found interesting was the quote "the limits of reason must be extended to recognizing other ways in which people learn or take up particular subject positions." (387) The things in class that were mentioned were experience, social, interaction, influence, and family. I am having trouble typing what I am thinking and not sure if this is correct link (someone please correct if i am wrong or has a better understanding of this quote) but along the lines of how the boys in the class couldn't see how women were inferior or how  Dr. Tillman or Dr. Cummings would have trouble running the experiment done in class the other day.  Leading to the idea that "critical pedagogy needs to create new forms of knowledge through its emphasis on breaking down disciplinary boundaries and creating new spaces where knowledge can be produced."(386)