Nichole Giroux

Education as Giroux explains it, is the answer to gaining greater knowledge and life skills in order to succeed in his critical pedagogy in different democratic spheres. I think that what he writes is not only valuable information but some that can be applied in various subjects. For example, I just finished my Environmental Literature class with professor Phalen and our topic of the course was finding the balance between ecology and democracy. Giroux writes about the importance of politics and ethics. One of the authors wrote about the land ethic which basically talks about finding democracy not only amid people but among the land too. In another one of my classes, American Politics, we were taught that in order to have a true democracy, all people have to understand that they are equal to ANY other citizen of those people… one person one vote. The same can and should be applied to the environment; why do we think we are so superior to plants and animals that we can kill them, move them, and not give them the same rights as humans. Well the same idea that I learned in Politics class can also be applied to this reading. The comments write about the expectation of universal material which strains resources to the limits. Finding democracy among people is important enough but finding democracy (im using this word to mean equality) among the global relationship is much harder.

Naturally, as we have been taught before, every past experience effects how we perceive the next thing. Then too, education systems in place will influence children to think one way or another about “specific cultural narratives” which Giroux points out as very important in filtering what kids might think after they are taught a lesson on school because they are the future owners of our fragile planet.