Natasha, a student in a course on critical literacy that I taught this past spring had a post on her blog titled “quotes to inspire critical literacy…” She said that she tries to pick quotes that have some reference to education or math, the subject she teaches, or some life lesson. She also invited students to bring in quotes and offer them up for class discussion. Inspired by Natasha’s post, I decided to try a new segment on CLIP using Quotable Quotes.
Thank you so much to Sonia Nieto for sending the following quote to get this segment started…
“To study is not to consume ideas, but to create and re-create them.”
Paulo Freire (1985) author of The Politics of Education: Culture, Power,and Liberation.
Paulo Freire’s quote is very true in education and critical literacy. Children’s literature can create lively discussions about a book’s main idea and other ideas linked to the topic. In a classroom where I work we try to teach students not just read a book and think, “oh I learned something new”, but rather to connect the book to themselves and the world and the possibilities the book suggests. Paulo Freire was a great truth-seeker and philosopher. He didn’t want information to simply fill the minds of people, but really get people thinking and engaged.