Re: coercion & education

Francoise Herrmann (fherrmann who-is-at igc.apc.org)
Fri, 19 Apr 1996 09:50:45 -0700 (PDT)

Hi Phillip,
When one doesn't convince anyone, what does one do when asked:
"Convince me!".? Thinking about coercion and creating coercion free
contexts of learning, I've been wondering how much of the perceptions
and experinces of coercion can be traced back to primary experiences
such as feeding... But then I'm thinking that psychoanalysis is quite
unpopular these days....
The San Francisco Film festival started yesterday. Perhaps
that I'll be in side-channeld touch with you soon.

Francoise
Francoise Herrmann
fherrmann who-is-at igc.org

>
>
> I liked your variables, Francoise, regarding coercion within
> education. Your examples - time on task, reading levels, complexity of
> vocabulary, attendance/absenteeism, portfolio methods of assessment - are
> all wonderful evidences of coercion, since they reflect the methods of
> one SES group which are used for all SES groups. It is an unspoken
> imperative that all children are expected to conform to the school.
>
> Betty is right that there are choices - but the choices are
> always within a narrow band of context - and decided ahead by the
> teacher.
>
>
> Betty's question: However, how do you convince educators that it
> is a worthwhile goal to pursue?
>
> I don't think that 'one' _convinces_ 'anyone'. I think that one
> constructs as much of a coercion-free context as one can, given the
> system constraints that one works within. And then be available to other
> educators who are interested in similar interactions with students.
>
> Phillip
>
> pwhite who-is-at carbon.cudenver.edu
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