Reading 10

Morgan
Schooling always involves power relationships and the privileging of certain forms of knowledge. (274)

Critical pedagogy involves recognising how existing curriculum, resources, and approaches to teaching offer students a perspective on the world that serves to marginalise certain voices and ways of life. (274)

The point here is that there is a whole set of social relationships (linked to capital, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality) that structure people's experience of involvement in the production of space. (279)

One of the lessons that children learn from an early age is that space is both enabling and constraining. (281)

I love the concept of critical pedagogy. Not only for questioning that which are social constructs for today but ALSO to analyze the changes that occurred based on past shifting social constructs. While I fully agree with the concept of questioning and analyzing situations from a variety of perspectives I don't think that people fully explore the ramifications of changes in social constructs. "Children have learned that space is both enabling and constraining," but they do so without really evaluating how and why places are enabling and constraining.

How do the implications of space with genders formulated early in life affect a student's interests in specific disciplines?

Inside is often the domain of boys while inside is the domain of girls. Similarly boys spend a lot of time hanging upside down and climbing and experiencing natural phenomenon that make math and science intuitive by the time they enter the classroom. I spent most of my childhood outside with a male cousin near my age and I often wonder if those experiencesw fostered understanding and interest in math and science for me.

How can students interpret space as a social text at different ages?

I remember at a young aget that this same cousin I played with was allowed to do things I was not because I was a girl. One of these was playing baseball. Baseball was the domain of boys even though I was better than Fred at most of the skills required. I believe that this is why I hate baseball even to this day :)

How do the experiences of youth in social situations affect them later in life?