So, I want you to continue to think about what Freire is saying about education as something much broader than what we normally think of which is formal education. If we think about our ability to be both teachers/students in all aspects of our lives, Freire's points are still very applicable. If we are curious, then we also have to maintain a certain kind of openness to new information, and to experiences that challenge what we think we already know. This is a way of being which, I for one believe is a vital ingredient for moral growth as individuals and as societies.
Let's go back to an important concept that Freire poses in the beginning of last week's reading. He writes: "One of the biggest difficulties about this [the fact that we are always vulnerable to the transgression of others, meaning we can be violated by the unethical choices of others] ethical grounding is that we have to do everything in our power to sustain a universal human ethic without at the same time falling into a hypocritical moralism" (25). He goes on to say that this universal human ethic "calls us out of and beyond ourselves" (25).
Think about the idea of how we build understanding and trust of our shared humanity in relationship to Freire's concept of education, especially as he describes in this week's reading. Find places in the text that help you to understand the implications of his views in relationship to how we might build our capacity to find universal ethics related to human rights while not becoming "authoritarian" or dogmatic. Next, are there any ways that your service experience may already be deepening your understanding of this possibility or the complexity thereof? Or how do you anticipate that it might? Or ?
