Everything I needed to know about Critical Literacy and Paulo Freire, I learned from...Welcome Back
I originally wrote this blog in July 2012 while I was teaching summer semester Communications courses but never got around to publishing. Now, seems as good a time as any. So, here goes...
From July 2012:
I recently acquired Season 1 of 'Welcome Back Kotter,' which I hadn't seen in many years. Perhaps, it was the contents of the literature review for my Master's of Ed thesis, my master's course work, or my classroom experiences and identity as an educator, but I couldn't help but notice that Mr. Kotter's teaching style was years ahead of even much current conventional teaching. As I watched each of the episodes, I not only fondly remembered a show that I had enjoyed as a child but also took stock of my identity as an educator. As a child, I had, naturally, identified with this show as a student. However, as a fairly experienced educator, I now identified with Mr. Kotter, and even at times, Mr. Woodman (a scary thought). Previously, I don't think I had ever truly realized how progressive Mr. Kotter's methods were. He was revolutionary in his efforts to empower and educate his students by any means necessary. In Season 1, Gabe Kotter was a newly minted teacher returning to the trenches of his previous high school in Brooklyn. Due to the style of the show, we are able to see Mr, Kotter's reflective process in three separate manners. He frequently discussed his classroom experiences with his wife. He also often used his students and colleagues as sounding boards for his ideas. And at times of stress, he would engage in monologues where he weighed his options and pondered the outcomes. He was always a tireless advocate for his students who believed in his students' potential, especially when they didn't believe in themselves. He found innovative ways of demonstrating learning aside from standardized measures and made his students see that they could be the equal of anyone.
Thank-you, Mr. Kotter, for the laughs, the inspiration, and the example of a highly reflective educator dedicated to ego and capacity building!
