Ultimately, what is missing from these modern calls for disruption in education is an acknowledgement of the humanity of students and the societal perils many of them have to negotiate. This was well before any app, coding system, or pedagogical trend had come along and claimed to carve out a pathway to societal utopia. Baldwin, on the other hand, was demanding the disruption of this “ideal citizenry” through transgressive education. The difference, of course, is that Baldwin was not worried about preparing students for “the jobs of the future.” Too many modern educational calls for disruption tout themselves as progressive and revolutionary, and yet ultimately do not see students so much as they see future employees. James Baldwin, “ A Talk to Teachers,” 1963ĭespite the edgy tone that accompanies ubiquitous calls for “disruption,” I have yet to hear any EdTech expert or 21st century education guru refer to disruption in the transgressive sense that Baldwin was evoking 54 years ago.  The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change and fight it – at no matter what risk. If a society succeeds in this, that society is about to perish. “The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions… What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society.

Teaching to transgress education as the practice of freedom

He asks us to be witnesses of his love in a world of darkness and despair. And now, Christ turns to each one of us without exception and asks us to do the same. Christ was asked to pour out his blood on the cross for love of me. Christ Loves Me: Through his Incarnation, Christ emptied himself of his heavenly glory for me! What would life be like without the Mass, without the Eucharist, without confession, without the Gospel (where we discover the path to follow), without the Church and the teachings of the Magisterium? But there was a price, a terrible and costly price for all of these benefits.This fact should be a source of great peace and confidence in my prayer-Christ does truly know what is going on in my heart. He knows not only our names, but he knows our thoughts, feelings, dreams and fears, and even our deepest desires. Christ made our souls! Christ knows our innermost selves. Although, as human beings, we are the fruit of our parents’ love, our soul was made and shaped directly by God. For them, a name reflected who you were your meaning as a person. For the Jewish people, to call someone by his name was to touch his deepest identity, his inner core.  Christ Knows Me: “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (Jn 10:3). Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to know and love you. My heart longs to be flooded with your grace so that I may fully accomplish your will in my life. Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you so much for your generosity and patience in being with me today. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.  But they will not follow a stranger they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. Sunday, Ap– Christ Knows and Loves His Sheep

Alice through the looking glass book