Hello All,
 If kids were free to express themselves, what would they say? What could I find out about kids? Just last week, I had an experience with a student in my school that will forever challenge my understanding of the oppressed and of oppressors as well as what dialogue and perspective really mean. I attended a “wax museum” exhibit put on by the third graders at my school. Each student was dressed as an individual they deemed to be a “freedom fighter” and had a paper “button” at their feet labeled with their assumed identity. Students were dressed as Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Visitors to the exhibit were to step on the button to hear each child’s speech and step on the button when the child completed their spiel.

One student, the older brother of my former first grade student, was representing his father. I had met his father and spoken with him over the phone, so I thought it might be interesting to learn about him. The child was enthusiastic to share with me and I was enthusiastic to hear from him. This is an energetic and friendly child who is spending his second year in third grade. He is from Burma. He began to speak about his father. He explained that his father was the president of his university, the great-grandson of the President of Burma, and a Karen warrior who fought for freedom and justice for his people. The child shared rapidly and then stopped, returning to his frozen position. How often do words follow this “wax museum” model? It was not in the “model” for me to question or share my reactions. The words are shared but the dialogue about how these words affect others (I was moved in incredible ways and my perspective greatly challenged. How much I have to learn about the stories of the families of my students! And of my students themselves!) or how they challenge and perplex the speaker is not always voiced. Mutual trust between dialougers is something that must be intentionally sought after and engaged in by both parties, yet I believe that with humility and in love, it is possible. I believe that the interaction between young children is a fertile ground for mutual trust to flourish and this is an interaction that I want to witness and be inspired and challenged by. I taught this child's little sister for a year and I never knew any of what her older brother shared with me in twenty seconds. What he CHOSE to share. How often I sat with both children as the little first grade encouraged her brother to read basic words when she could fly across the page and fill her head with stories. . . How many phone calls did I exchange with her father about things such as her reading progress or if I could drive her home from an after school event? How little I listened to who he was!

 This semester I want to listen to my students. I want to hear their voices. I plan to carve out time after school once a week to just delight in the stories of my kids. Who are they? What are their perspectives? What stories do they want to share? How do they want to share them? I would like to have just a small group of former and current students to run alongside in this project. I think that if as a teacher I learned to listen to my students stories, I would be a much better educator and partner of students and their families. I think it is important for me to start this outside the classroom context so that I don't feel like I am trying to get across a specific standard or have kids stand in line quietly in the hallway. I want kids to be freed up and be themselves. I feel like I know a lot about my kids. . . but maybe I only know what I ask them. Maybe I only know what I want to hear or what they think I want to hear.

 As I was reading for our Critical Pedagogy class, I was struck by the chapter in Pedagogy of the Oppressed about dialogue and the role of mutual trust in dialogue. When a child experiences what it is to be known and honored rather than deposited into and directed, I believe there is an opportunity for unparalleled growth. My students’ stories have the potential to “transform the world” if only they are shared, heard, and honored (87). What might it look like for “mutual dialogue” to exist between my students? How can students learn to seek the “constructive elements” of words (87)? In reality, who am I to teach six and seven year olds anything about the power of dialogue. Children are often those who most genuinely “love the world,” “love life,” and “love people” (90). They are therefore well equipped to enter into dialogue. Without this dialogue, “there is not communication, and without communication there can be no true education” (92). If I call myself an educator, is it not my first and foremost goal to promote communication?

 I don't know yet exactly what this work might look like. I am hopeful I can create a vision for it alongside my kids. I look forward to hearing if anyone has any recommendations of further readings around this theme. Today I had an exciting turn of events in that one of my 2 team members at school voiced that she would be interested in working alongside me in this work. She was a Kindergarten teacher last year and taught many of my students. She also has her masters in Multicultural Education and a real passion for Critical Pedagogy. I look forward to what this could look like. . .