During Week 2, we had the opportunity to learn about ethical anthropological research, labor issues in our food system, and Paulo Freire’s piece, “There is no Teaching without Learning.” What connections can you make between the readings after our discussions in class?
How would transforming the “banking system” of education affect our own relationships with family, friends, classmates, and/or teachers? How can we build common ground, trust, and respect for one another working and learning together? In what ways would changing the way we learn also influence transformation of our food system?
For those who were able to go to the Child Leader Project volunteer training, can you share anything with our classmates?
Cultivate R'Space 
The readings for this week were interesting because they showed how society is stuck in a perpetual circle of being lectured at and having students pushed through school like parts in an assembly line. We get very little say as to what occurs to us as we are pushed through and we are placed on very specific paths that only allow us to question what we want to do when we enter the college setting. But, even then we are in some ways limited by finance and social structure and other resources as to deciding what college we go to creating more barriers for ourselves. Some say that we can stand up for ourselves and make our selves into what we want, and this is true, but a person scope of what can be done in life is limited to what they see as possible. If they grew up in a situation where they were exposed to little and have been content with that they will never have reason to question what school or society teaches them and will not participate as actively according to some peoples perceptions. But, if they were exposed to a lot and taught to dream and believe in the impossible and constantly challenged by school and the people around them, then they would be in a very different situation educationally once they entered the university system. Until you have experienced something one can not make a judgment or comparison about things. This is a problem in our society because people are so limited in their experiences that they can not even begin to conceive about a different way of perceiving the world they live in to change it until they have come into contact with the knowledge to do so. Until then it is only a grain of thought once experience has occured then an action can be formulated to create a change. These experiences are what help build trust, respect and strengthen the relationship among people because barriers start to come down.
The readings for this week were quite interesting. Like I had said in our Thursday meeting, I was aware about the struggles that farmers had gone through, and I am glad it had received some recognition by this internship. It might not be the wide exposure, but any exposure is better than none. I was also intrigued by the cultural anthropologist, Dr. Cook, who had came to speak to us. I did not know how truly committed you had to be when you were doing research for your subject. I could not believe that she had to emerge herself into the community for more than two years. One thing I wish I would have asked her was how much bias is involved when you are studying a community that is not blessed economically, when the researcher has only been exposed to a life of high maintenance before. Overall, my first true week in this internship was truly interesting and I hope it only goes up from here on out.
I really like what Angel brought up in Thursday’s discussion about farmers and workers that are part of our food system but go unrecognized by greater society. At the same time, it makes sense why this is so as Krystle mentions one cannot “conceive about a different way of perceiving the world…until they have come into contact with the knowledge to do so.” How does that packet of shiny tomatoes end up in the supermarket? Why does it matter? How are we getting affected by this?
We see produce coming from Mexico, Chile, and other parts of South America as well as Florida, Iowa, and other prime agricultural locations (including California). But it goes beyond this, and we do not realize it because of what we learn to notice, value, and think as consumers in this economy. We are trained to notice to bright dollar sign displaying how much it costs, the nutrient content in processed foods, and the brand of the company to make final decision of which one is better quality (even if its the exact same thing but one has better advertisements).
These three things: price, nutrient content/calories, and brands has an impact on the way we relate to food and our food system in the United States. We do not learn to understand how the food got to our table, that’s not important. Just know which brand is better, and now buy organic even if its more expensive because its better quality…is that it? As Freire explains, our education system works to promote this and create future consumers who absorb information and products without questioning or imagining other ways. But by changing the way we learn, the way we interact with our classmates and teachers, I hope we learn how to improve the UCR community.
I was sick so I missed the discussions in class this week. The Arlanza Community Garden event this weekend was a great experience. I was one of the students tasked with the making of the soup, which was endeavor when we realized we were short knives and food. However, cooking with fresh food from the farmers market really brought in lots of flavor. It was great seeing a community come together, especially on such a hot day. I found the workshops very informative and entertaining as well and it even inspired my green thumb. I hope that this type of community garden becomes a normalcy in every community soon.
Yeah Second week was awesome! I really feel that with the introductions at the beginning of every meeting, we are starting to grow stronger and bond as a group.
The readings really hit me because I realized that I myself, was part of the banking system in my K-12 education. For the most part, my education consisted of being dependent on my teachers in order to learn and maintaining discipline and respect toward their authority. As a result, this left very little room for students to input their own ideas and knowledge. But it really shouldn’t be that way. Students should learn from teachers just as much as teachers should learn and expand their knowledge from students.
So going to the Arlanza meeting to plan for the grand opening of their garden and then actually being there for the grand opening was an eye opening experience. It made me realize just how dedicated the children of the Child Leadership Project are to creating this safe space in their community through this garden. They believe that by opening this garden, they’re communities health, and public safety will improve. And they are right! It will definately help their community. And in maintaining this garden, the students will teach their community a lot of great things! And just like Paulo Freire believes that there is no teaching without learning, I came to the realization that that day, I learned more from that event and all the people in the event, then I would have ever learned sitting in a classroom with one lecturer.
The food system can be changed by educating the public. When purchasing food the majority of people in the U.S. are probably ignorant of the quality, labor involved, etc. By educating people we give them a chance to do something about it. Knowledge is power. When we change the way we think it changes our lives. Imagine if the whole U.S. population knew about the current sate of the food system. How differently would they react? How would companies change there ways if there customer’s became concerned over food justice?
Hello everyone,
My name is Cynthia Deleon. Some people call me cyn, cin, sinny, and my family calls me chikiya but, I prefer to be called Cynthia. My home, is everywhere right now pretty much. I lived in Mexico for 7 years of my life, and I truly enjoyed it. When I moved to Corona, Ca that became home away from home. Everyone was an individual and there didn’t appear to be a community feeling, rather a feeling of fear and contempt. As of late, I’ve been living here and there. UCR has become a nice place for me to come to and it does have a home feeling. I really enjoy cutting paper. I seriously sit, listen to music, and cut paper for hours.
I think that the community at UCR can improve. This university has a lot of potential to grow and do awesome projects. Not much is happening right now, other than initial steps, which are in part, the most crucial, to reforming this campus. There aren’t too many opportunities for students to feel connected to the campus or to get empowered, and invested as a collective to make a change. Most, just come and go. I think Education is like most things. It is what you make of it. I try to make it the best possible by being engaged and thoroughly participating in a classes that truly interest me. Some professors enjoy teaching more than others and that also plays impact on the quality of education.
I believe that a Community Garden is extremely important in all senses. A community garden unites, feeds, educates, and comforts. By relying on our own communal work to grow food, we step away from the reliance on the industrialized system and can once again reconnect with tradition. I believe that once a person loses that sort of origin feeling, a disconnect within themselves occurs. A community garden is a learning experience for anyone who participates in more way than one. How to grow biodiverse sustainable agriculture would be the ideal.
Wow. I find that these readings were very insightful on the labor divisions in this country, where we pride ourselves in our unequivocal level of equality under the law. Yet when we come to red about the conditions people face in farming, the harsh labor and inhumane treatment they face due to the fact that they are immigrants, stirs anger and distrust in our political system. Where is the equality? When an immigrant, even if they are undocumented, goes through abuse and low pay for the hard work they do for our community, it makes you think that you are reading about a third world country with complete government control. But this is happening here, in the US, and we need to do something about it.
This week was about how we are all stuck in in a system where it’s all about one way of teaching and learning. It’s surprising because I had never really thought about it until the readings in class. In my opinion the transformation of the banking system of education would dramatically impact our relationships with other classmates and teachers. I feel as though we would have a bigger connection with out class mates because we would sort of rely on them to learn something new and they too would look to us for some kind of knowledge. It would make the bonds stronger because we would have more conversations with each other. The same for teachers. I am not very sure how it would affect our relationship with family. The only problem with this is that I don’t see it happening anytime soon because of classroom sizes. It would be impossible to happen within a regular class.
I went to Arlanza community, and wow! It was a powerful meeting. I would never of thought or expected so many people to be there. They really want a garden and so many people want it to happen. I was surprise to know that a little kid (or teenager) was the one to bring the garden back.
I think the banking system has definitely affected my relationships in general but I think the most notable one is the one with my parents. My parents were almost kind of firm believers of the banking system and I need to buy into it if I ever wanted to succeed. They used to be firm believers that knowledge was facts found in books and that if I memorized them all, I would do well in life. So I’ve always had this presence pushing me toward the banking system (which I definitely think is the case with a lot of people and their parents). I think transforming the banking system of education would make school feel less like an assembly line and more like a place of free learning and questions and critical reflection. I think transforming the banking system would not only transform how we learn but what we learn about, allowing issues like our food system to have a greater placec in our education.
Although I am a first generation child I was fortunate enough to escape the banking system because if I struggled with a subject my parents could afford a tutor. However, despite this, my parents were firm believers in the banking system. They constantly totally me that my teacher/tutors were right, knowledge was power and that success come from you, the individual, and not from those teaching you (teachers were aids to success but not YOUR success). I feel that although lectures are not the most “fun” form of education is necessary. We learn from others and they pass down their knowledge to future generations. Moreover, it doesn’t mean that lecturing is the only form of education we should impose in a classroom. A discussion and application is ideal. But, the questions that arise is when and how should we facilitate these novice ideas without compromising the importance of lecturing/explanation of course material. I believe that we utilize all three tools we can achieve a better learning system. In same regard that we learn from teachers, I believe that teachers also learn from their students and by working together the education system. Furthermore, those passionate about the food system will then have the knowledge and power to step up and change the food system….It only takes one person to start rally people and start and a revolution. And I think we are building momentum by pursuing this garden 🙂
The connection that I could make from Week 2 readings is that in order to make a change in our society we have to educate ourselves. Change would not come easy it required a lot of self-motivation and a plan of what should be change. Our society is composed of hard working men and women and sometimes we do not stop to think about it. For example, farm workers, we do not stop to think that they deserve a decent life too. We want to earn a good wage they want the same thing that we want. With this week readings we were able to reflect on this. We have to be more considerate with does who work to serve us. By educating our self’s we could beginning to make a change. First at home with our love ones, friends and then as they all learn from us they will teach others what they have learn. Is all a cycle if I educate myself I could educate others it becomes a chain because we are all connected. By educating our selves we could also change the food system. We could change our eating habits if we learn that our food is not healthy. By educating ourselves we could bring change in every aspect of our lives. I was able to attend the Child Leader Project Volunteer training. It was amazing to see so many people there being involve in the education and hobbies of the children in the community. I never expected to see such of a response of the community members. Mom’s and teenagers involve trying to make a change in there community.
Dr. Cook brought on really interesting concepts. Complete sincere immersion into a community is necessary to conduct effective research. Once that society accepts and trusts the observer, it will carry on without disturbance and one can note the social differences between the cultures. I thought the concept of omitting information kind of controversial though.
Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppresed,” discusses the impediment of our current education system on the creativity of the individual student, how teachers fall onto the role of the instructor and how they both affect the actual understanding of content for the student.
“Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other” (Freire Ch2.) Banking in education obstructs critical awareness of the information being presented to the students and promotes a sense of reliance. This is critical because similarly, we as consumers have to rely on supermarkets and other food sources to provide nutritional value and heatlthy foods, not all deliver.