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October 2019 – Page 13 – Weekly Writing & Blogs

Month: October 2019

Final Project

Michael Tresoikas

Randall Cream

WRT 120
03 October 2019

Students Learning at West Chester University

Throughout history, classrooms and teachers have been thought of as the ideal setting for learning and success. Many individuals, believe, to achieve academic success, you must choose this route. During my years in school thus far, I have always learned with the help of a teacher or educator. As I grow and become more mature, though, I realize that this is not the only way I can achieve academic excellence. In regards to Freire, his beliefs are that the standards for education are very simple. Teachers should be there to guide and help but the ultimate outcome should be left up to the student. The student must take responsibility for their success and what they need to do to achieve this. In order to do this students need to take the initiative to communicate with others, learning from them.

In the typical classroom, the teacher is the person that goes over the information with the hopes that the students’ are retaining it, as referenced by Freire, “ the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply” (Freire page 1). In actuality, most students are not understanding it or retaining it due to their attention span, as well as boredom. In my past experiences in school and in the classroom, I have found that I learn best when I am communicating with others and learning as a group. Therefore students enjoy talking to each other and teaching one another as opposed to having a professor go over the material and the student possibly not retaining the information. This works well because the students understand each other, which in turn, can help boost moral. Students generally feel at ease when they are with their peers because they do not feel as intimidated which could inhibit their learning capabilities. When students talk to each and go over work, it helps them to retain the information and create a deeper bond with their peers.

As referenced by Freire he states how students have no say in anything and how teachers are everything in the learning environment. As stated “The point of departure of the movement lies in the people themselves. But since people do not exist apart from the world, apart from reality, the movement must begin with the human-world relationship” (Freire page 6). Frieire is expressing his beliefs about how students have no say in their own life, their own decisions, and their education. Due to the circumstances of our education system, students have no say, so allowing students to meet weekly will allow them to utilize their skills that they were stripped of. Therefore, implementing communication groups will help students prepare and thrive in school. Students should be assigned to groups in the beginning of the year and should meet every week to talk about what they obtained in class. Doing so will help students convey what they learned, helping each student teach the subject, letting them know if they are well-versed in it. Also,doing so will give students the opportunity to hear different perspectives and information they failed to obtain during class.

Alongside the weekly meetings, students will communicate outside of the classroom on a video project, of which they will work together. The video will consist of the students working together and using their creative side to help in the aid of learning. The video will be a project that will be about what the students learned in class, then taking the subject and expanding on the subject to show that the students are understanding it. As stated by Freire “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interests of the oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed”(Freire page 2). Having this group video assignment will give students the opportunity to express their creativity which they aren’t able to use.

In conclusion, students do not only learn in the classroom which has been done for decades but can learn successfully in many other ways. Students must be the one to empower and liberate themselves of the professor and the old ways of teaching ways. They can learn quicker, more efficiently from one another and to help retain the information better. Another form of learning is to actually do it, this is why hands on educating is an effective way of teaching. When you are physically doing something, you are learning it without even realizing. Lastly, we can get insight from each other about their past and learn from their mistakes. In reference to Freire, the role of the student is up to them and they have the freedom to change the learning process, they can form new ways of learning to emancipate themselves from the oppressor.

Final Writing Project

Meghan Kidd and Samantha Pawluczyk
Randall Cream
Writing 120
October 6,2019


The Future of West Chester University


At West Chester University, the campus is divided into two major sections, academic and residential. This style of campus can be very effective as to how students and professors interact and learn from one another. Although, with this layout, students and professors are only able to see each other in class or for office hours rather than around campus and in common areas. According to Friere, society believes that professors can only teach students. Although, students have the ability to teach their professors inside and outside of the classroom and vice versa. Both of these groups shed light upon different lessons and create a more knowledgeable environment for one another. If West Chester was redesigned, adding multipurpose buildings, mandating on campus living for professors, and requiring all students to live on campus during their entire duration would make the overall experience more beneficial.
A coffee shop is defined as a cafe serving coffee and light refreshments. This kind of environment is a relaxing place that people of all ages can visit in order to unwind and destress. This kind of place is great for building connections between people because it is a relaxed and casual setting. If West Chester University were to redesigned their campus to center around a coffee shop, this could be beneficial for both students and professors. Having a coffee shop accessible to both students and their professors would help for them to see one another in a different settings other than the classroom. This shop would show professors what their students are like outside of class and they would see students with all of their sports equipment, instruments, tired eyes, and exhausted minds. On the other hand, students would see their professors with their graded papers, spouses, children, or with a friend. These two groups of people would have to understand that the opposite has many other challenges and priorities on their plate, besides in that one given class that they spend an hour and a half together three times a week. Supporting Freieres theory, professors and students will be able to have intellectual or casual conversations where they will ultimately create stronger bonds through teaching. This coffee shop would work to mold together a better university. It is important that students and professors share a different interaction in a public environment because it creates better relationships.
After creating this coffee shop, it would need a constant influx of customers. These customers would be the students and professors that are mandated to live on campus. During their entire duration at West Chester, all students and professors will be mandated to live on campus. The main point is to create deeper interaction between students and professors. By creating this housing rule, professors could change their office hours. It should be taken into consideration that professors have lives too, but if they have longer or more flexible office hours, they will be available to students more often. Perhaps, during the week before finals or major exams, students may want to ask questions at odd times and will need to access their professors. Some students any have night classes and are unable to meet with their professors at given times. However, if the professors lived closer to campus they would have more flexible hours to meet with students.
Along with professors, students living on campus while they attend the university will also help to create stronger relationships. It is common to see freshmen and sophomores living on campus, but after that most students move off campus. This means they are a bit further from common places like Lawerence, the Rec Center, and on campus eateries. Although, if it were a requirement for all students to remain on campus, it would create a new dynamic and possibly bring students and professors closer. By having all students live on campus, those who originally lived off campus would spend more time around campus and could help newer students get used to the community. This would help to mix on and off campus living and create stronger bonds. This would also help off campus students to be around campus more often where they would spend more time at places like the library, Lawrence, and dorm rooms.
Currently, West Chester University is divided into two major sections, academic and residential. If it were to be redesigned, adding multipurpose buildings and requiring on campus living for both students and professors would help to create a better environment. These few changes would help to bring West Chester’s community together, especially for students and their professors.

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