Prompt for 11/11

 Williams: “Is Thinking Good for Its Own Sake?”

Re-phrase Williams' definition of intrinsic goodness in your own words. Then, based on this definition, create a list of at least 20 things that are intrinsically good. These must be different from the ones that Williams listed. Finally, write about a time in which you experienced something that was intrinsically good. *CHALLENGE* Choose one of the items from your list to intentionally enjoy within the next week. You are not required to write about this experience, but feel free to if you so desire.

If something is intrinsically good, it’s good in and of itself. 

20 things that are intrinsically good:

God

love

education

rest

friendship

family

prayer

art

worship

poetry

life

music

reading

exercise

smiling

crying

rain

creation

work

happiness

This week, I have experienced the intrinsic value of rest. Life has been getting really mundane lately... Monday and Wednesday, I work. Tuesday, I mentor at the New Life Ranch. Thursday, I have Passion. All of these things are good, but it’s really easy for me to just go about my week just checking things off my to-do list. It’s hard to remember Colossians 3:23, which says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” It’s also VERY easy to fall into the typical trap of not being able to maintain grades and homework, a social life, and a healthy sleep schedule. The fallout for me is my sleep. Sunday afternoon, I took a nap. I felt completely fine and healthy before it, but I woke up feeling terrible. My throat, head, ears, and stomach were simultaneously revolting. Monday, I went to work as usual. Tuesday, though, I went to the nurse. She explained a lot about my sickness to me, and told me it was imperative for me to get more than enough rest. I didn’t go to New Life, and I called into work today. I have spent every day this week after class laying in bed doing basically nothing. I’ve kept up with homework, but for the most part, I’ve enjoyed days of resting in the Lord. Rest has so much intrinsic value that I often take for granted. Although I would prefer being healthy, it took being sick for me to remember that God wants me to rest. Psalm 127:2 says “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” I am His beloved, and this week He has given me sleep. Not necessarily to make me well, but just because rest and sleep is very good in and of itself.


Thought Questions
1. Have you ever gotten a "blessing in disguise" (ie being sick) that allowed you to experience something intrinsically good?
2. Can something intrinsically good also benefit people? 

Prompt for 11/4

Question: How does Freire help you rethink your definition of education?

Freire’s banking concept is really weird to me because I can’t say I’ve ever really felt victimized by the education system, I guess because it has served me so well. A section of the reading that particularly stood out to me was:

• the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
• the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing;
• the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
• the teacher talks and the students listen -- meekly;
• the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined;
• the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply;
• the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher;
• the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adapt to it;
• the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his or her own professional authority, which she and he sets in opposition to the freedom of the students;
• the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects.

Again, I’ve never felt purposefully oppressed by the education system or my teachers, but this at least gave me something to chew on. Some of these points I don’t agree with. I think I can safely agree with the first point, that teachers teach and students are taught; however, I’ve had very few classes in which I felt like my teacher thought they knew everything and we knew nothing (although I can recall some teachers who were that arrogant). Another point I don’t necessarily agree with is the teacher always talking and the students meekly listening. While this has been true sometimes, I definitely had some classes throughout my primary education in which class discussions were encouraged. The rest of Freire’s descriptions basically fit into the category of education I have known my whole life. In that case, it made me think about how active teachers are and how passive students can be in this system. There are some exceptions of course, a handful of teachers who like to challenge the system and keep students engaged. The majority, though, seem to follow this pattern pretty well. I don’t like thinking that I have been merely an object in which teachers have deposited information into my whole life, but Freire’s ideas surely do make me question if I have been. With the system remaining as-is, I think the best thing we can do as students is to keep an open mind, and try to take everything with a grain of salt, to a degree. I don’t necessarily mean questioning everything we are told, but actually caring enough to examine the facts given to us. This will, to some extent, help keep us clean while participating in a system that no longer seems quite so spotless.


Thought Questions
1. Have you ever felt victimized by the education system?
2. Have you ever challenged the current education system?

Prompt for 10/28

Experimental College is extremely different from John Brown. The classes are student-led, and they aren’t for credit. It seems more of a community enrichment program than anything, which is their goal I think. It’s basically members of the Haverford community sharing their knowledge, interests, and skills with each other. Students are teachers, teachers are students, etcetera. I’m not really sure how I would do in this program... I’ve spent my entire life in usual classroom settings. I don’t really understand how ExCo classes are taught, besides that anyone can teach them. I respect my peers enough to learn from them, but I don’t think I would like having someone my age explicitly called “teacher,” while I’m still a “student.” To me, we’re all learning constantly, and I don’t feel like a lot of people my age are so far ahead of me that they are qualified to impart their wisdom onto me. I think the ExCo system would definitely fail at JBU. It’s a good concept, but no one would pay tuition for it. It has more of a club/interest group feeling than anything.


Thought Questions
1. Do students have authority over other students?
2. How could some aspects of ExCo benefit JBU?