Reflection On The Freire Engagement

The Freire Engagement Assignment performed in class the week of May 30th was, in my opinion, an exceptional introductory activity that helped facilitate class discussion as well as some level of reflection about the course materials and subject matter. For this activity, students were to think about the words “difference” and “diversity” and then write out a list of words they associated with these terms. Then, they were to pick five words on their list that they found particularly important and write them on the white board at the front of the room. When this was complete, students were to review the words on the board, determine a means of categorizing them, and then discuss their categories they made with another student and then with the rest of the class. Something I was able to glean from this activity related to how people think about difference and diversity. Difference describes the ways in which something or someone may be unlike me …show more content…
While it seems so commonplace within education, this activity and the succeeding discussions in class have caused me to view social studies under a different lens that I feel provides me with a better understanding of what the topic truly covers. To state it simply, I believe that social studies describes the study of human beings and how they function within society. It seeks to understand the human condition through the lenses of human interaction, cultural trends, and events in history among other factors that influence society. To me, this is important because it provides explanation as to why certain practices or social issues like racism, sexism, and homophobia exist within society. And if we are able to better our understanding of what motivates these issues, it can become easier to determine the best way to rectify and even eradicate