Creativity in Knowledge
The Knowledge of Power Program (KIPP) charter school is a
non profit organization whose mission is to provide free open enrollmentthat is dedicated to preparing students in undeserved communities for latersuccess in college life.
My focus will be on the KIPP King
Collegiate High
School located in San
Lorenzo , California
Surprisingly, King Collegiate
High school
High school is supposed to prepare students for college, but
as I mentioned in previous blog posts, schools are focused on memorization and
multiple choice tests with one answer. Instead of teaching how to do well on
the standardized tests KIPP King
Collegiate High
School
Teachers at KIPP are keeping their students engaged by
asking questions that will allow them the power to critically think. One
student Rose Elmer comments that, “Here at KIPP, I am challenged and it is difficult, but I like it”. Teachers are asking thought provoking questions
and expect their students to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate a line of
reasoning, a concept or problem relative to one’s own perspective and the
perspective of others to arrive at a deeper understanding of their own. The
school discusses topics of social justice issues that are happening in our
society today, especially issues that relate to them.
For example, in Jared Kushida’s Global Politics War and
Peace class students are discussing social justice issues questioning if the United States
is justified in extraditing criminals from other countries. Here’s how the
class discussion went:
Kushida: How does sovereignty play into this? You
were saying that if it's affecting us, then we should bring their criminals to
trial. But Colombia Colombia
Student A: Not really because they're not our people. They should be tried in their own courts.
Student B: But if their own court is politically corrupt, doesn't theU.S.
Kushida: A moral obligation I would totally agree. But is that enough? TheU.S.
Student B: But if it affects us and our economy, if it's an economic and political threat . . .
Kushida: There could be some reasons for U.S.involvement, but my big stopping point is this: Can a nation declare anothernation unworthy of trying its own criminals?
Student A: Not really because they're not our people. They should be tried in their own courts.
Student B: But if their own court is politically corrupt, doesn't the
Kushida: A moral obligation I would totally agree. But is that enough? The
Student B: But if it affects us and our economy, if it's an economic and political threat . . .
Kushida: There could be some reasons for U.S.involvement, but my big stopping point is this: Can a nation declare anothernation unworthy of trying its own criminals?
By having conversations that make students
think about the world in a different view and not just the United States sugar
coated version; students are learning the perspectives of other people,
important issues that affect different people, and can have their own opinions.
Critical thinking is different from what standardized
tests have taught in the multiple choice test generation. Paulo Friere a lead
advocate for critical thinking would agree that instead of students waiting for the banking concept of education to allow them to
receive, fill and store useless facts in the deposits of their brains (Freire,
P. 2000); students should communicate their understanding of the material and
formulate their own opinions. His theories including the banking concept of
education have created a model of how teaching critical thinking should be.
In the article, “Have we been
KIPP-notized?” by researcher David Markus, one critique I would have to agree
with is that KIPP King Collegiate High School may be excessively set ontheir mission to deliver their students to college armed with the tools ittakes to succeed. No reasonable effort is spared and no hours are long enough to achieve this transformative result. It seems a little extreme to force
students to succeed through drilling the school’s mantra of, “Work hard, be
nice.” The pressure to succeed may be alarming for many students who previously
in their education away from KIPP have never had the motivation to be driven to
go to college. Teachers put all their time into helping students succeed even
if it means having classes going beyond the school day.
But at least students are prepared for college, working hard to achieve an education that allows them to be creative critical
thinkers in which they are open to others’ perspectives and opinions rather
than one set answer.
Reference List
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy
of the oppressed. Continuum
International Publishing Group
