Freire 9th Letter of Inspiration

A.White

2/26/2015

Prep for TESOL Materials:

“I believe that one of the affirmations to be made is that in both the animate and inanimate world, the fundamental condition of life is that the condition of relationship, relationship to oneself and to the surrounding world,” Freire, p. 136.

This comment really captures the essence of relationships as a driving force to how and why we interact the way we do. Awareness around how you communicate your human and social needs will impact interactions with others. Thus, Knowing how we interact comes from knowing ones’ self. I really believe this to be true as well. I also, would like to add an element of sensory input and output to this discussion on relationship building techniques. I think if we are aware of our vestibular, auditory, and physical needs, we can exercise our ability to be better listeners, and use better communication to fulfill our relationship needs. So then, language learning becomes not only a linguistic acquisition and sociolinguistic practice, but also a sensory integration practice and awareness of oneself, in relation to interacting with others.

“It is this that characterizes our moving around in the concrete world of daily life. We act in it on the basis of bits of knowledge that, having been learned throughout our socialization, have become automatic habits,” Freir, p. 139.

There were so many options for quotes to pick. I chose this particular quote from Freire because I just attended an amazing conference on sensory processing disorder, which relates to the information Freire is presenting in his Ninth Letter. Developed by A. Jean Ayres, PhD. SPD, more simply, discusses how our sensory system works together to make sense of the world. Our five senses, touch, smell, vision, hearing, and taste are information seeking functions, meaning, we learn by using our senses. And in the teaching field I work in, teaching children with autism, I know that things like lights, sounds, clothes, etc. things most people ignore, may totally distract my students. In order to teach my students, continuously finding balance of sensory input and output needs is necessary, and the only way to send academic information, cognitively.  I am fascinated to come home and read how Freire would like teachers to deconstruct their automatic and traditional methods of learning and teaching to function epistemologically because I practice this everyday where I work. It makes you understand the context of the student learning ability in their daily life, real quick, when you take a look at their sensory sensitivities and functions.

            Freire, P. (1998). Ninth Letter. In Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach (pp. 135-154). Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.