(take 2 at trying to publish this blog...deep breaths)
AGREEMENTS
A few years ago I read a very short book entitled "The Four Agreements" by don Miguel Ruiz. For any of you who frequent the book stores I am sure that you have seen this book at some point in your travels or perhaps some of you have actually held it, and may have read it. It was passed on to me by a close friend, and now I pass it on to you all. So what does Ancient Toltec philospohy and literacy have in common? Better yet, how can making agreements with ourselves better us as future educators?
I left last class feeling a bit upset that I was claiming "CONSPIRACY!" like I was 18 again wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt with "Mother should I trust the government"on it or like Fox Mulder chasing the stars . The truth is... I simply wish schools were funded equally. Thats a start. I don't think blacks, native Americans, and hispanics will ever assimliate well until they are no longer disenfranshised by the way schools are funded. So what do we have to do in the meantime? Much of what we have read so far is to prepare us to teach all walks of life. We must make a concerted effort at-as Langston Hughes said best-"play(ing) it cool and dig all jive". This weeks reading was broad and simply gave us an overview of the tribulations students face when reading, but neither article specified ways in which to specifically engage students. I "dug" Beers' statement about "struggling with the text" because after all, each day will be a struggle and it depends on how well-equipped we are for that struggle. This leads me to "The Four Agreements".
To paraphrase Ruiz, an agreement is simply a pact we make with ourselves on a daily basis in order to make ourselves more aware our what surrounds us. If we agree to do something, then we must honor it, so in short you can say the book is about honoring ourselves with tactics to make our lives a bit more smoother. Ah yes, a self-help book!. No! The four agreements are literally quite sensical. They are: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don't Take Anything Personally, Don't Make Assumptions, Always Do Your Best. Now, ask yourselves how can these "agreements" benefit us as teachers? Read them over again. No, seriously let them soak in. One more time, perhaps the second one hasn't settled. Ok, good. In terms of teaching literacy or just learning how to teach it, how can these agreemens help us understand the rest of the course and our case-study? Lastly, what are your agreements that you make to the world on a daily basis and why.
I strongly urge you to read this little book. Its isn't like reading Dostoevsky or Virgil. Many of you can breeze through it on the potty. Soon we will learn strategies that are specifally geared for literacy. I thought it would be fun to perhaps highlight some strategies behind those strategies and I look forward to reading what your all have to say.
Eric
I nominate Jack to be next weeks Sherpa and check this out: http://www.miguelruiz.com/index.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Great post, Eric. It is shameful the way that schools are not funded equally here. New York City, which has waited over 10 years for equal funding, has just had funding cut—by the city and the state instead of increased as ordered by the courts; Randi Weingarten is fighting back:
Keep the Promises
And thanks for the Miguel Ruiz link - I had heard of his book but not read it so you've given me some motivation.
Anita
Thanks for recommending the Ruiz book--it sounds like these are life strategies any teacher could use. I ordered a copy through interlibrary loan--the Westchester Library System has quite a few copies.
http://www.westchesterlibraries.org/
I enjoyed reading your post, Eric. I agree that there is a lot of information about what kind of struggles we will face, but not very many solutions. It seems the schools that are in need of the most help are getting the least. Those in power do what it takes to stay in power, such as getting the vote, by catering to the majority. Taking away funding for poor test scores might seem like it would encourage schools to do well, but if schools don't have the tools to be successful, then they will continue to do poorly and continue to not receive aid. I have read "Four Agreeemnts" and it is an excellent book. It provides a way of thinking about how we can make changes that will influence how we interact and work with others.
Thanks for this reference, Eric. I'm not familiar with this book but would like to check it out. The four agreements sounds like excellent ways to be in the world. I've been thinking a lot about conspiracy since that class ... and I believe truly that you can have a systemic interpretation of power, as Delpit offers, and still believe in the power of working with others for change. I do believe there is something we can do in the meantime. We can join with other groups from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, local parent teacher associations, educator groups like Rethinking Schools or Educators for Social Responsibility to chip away at the systems that have evolved to be the way they are. And we can live, responsibly, on a day to day basis with the idea of agreements such as these. Thanks for your inspiration on this.
Post a Comment