January 28th, 2008

When I initially read some of Freire’s letters, I had a very difficult time connecting with what he had to say.  However after our class discussions with Rhina and the background information Caren shared, I am beginning to understand him more and more.

As I read the fourth letter, I enjoyed his perspective on the important attributes that an educator should possess.  The two that I connected with the most were humility and lovingness.  I feel that all educators should possess humility.  I absolutely love Freire’s quote “…No one knows it all; no one is ignorant of everything”.  (p.72)  This made me reflect on my career as an educator.  Every student has brought something special to my classroom.  None of those students knew it all and none of those students were ignorant of everything.  Each child brought something special that they shared with their peers and with me whether it was cultural diversity between them or a skill that could help a classmate.  I treated each student with respect and dignity.  I listened and learned from them and enjoyed every minute of it.  That is why I believe I also connect with the lovingness attribute.  I agree with Freire that these two qualities go hand in hand.  I think that to be a loving teacher means not only to love the students and the process of teaching, but to love the collaboration and peer work that naturally goes along with it.  Sometimes it’s hard to love all of these different aspects of teaching for one reason or another (ex: conflicts with colleagues, politics, etc). 

I think overall in the world we live in today, students need their teachers to be at their best.  I believe it is crucial to show students humility and lovingness as well as all of the other qualities that Freire named in his fourth letter.  Our students not only need to see positive role models at home but at school as well.  Each child deserves a warm and welcoming, risk free environment in which to learn.  Free of judgement and is adaptable to their needs.  I take it as a personally responsibility as an educator to provide this for each and every learner that enters into my classroom.