Fake News

How do you think we could empower our Colombian students to critically spot fake news?

The fake news have taken a great strength with the arrival of globalization. Any person with a  spirit of sabotage, simply diffuses a fact, exaggerating it, energizing the social networks, until it becomes viral and without any veracity.

It is inevitable to blame those who spread fake news, but to some extent it is also the fault of the people who believe in that news without first making sure that it is indeed reliable. It is when the role of the teacher is very important from the early academic stages, but not only the teachers but also the parents. They are responsible for making thinking not that basic, but in depth. According to Stephen Brookfield, that is to say that people must move outside of usual / typical mental frameworks, Generate perspectives and responses unusual.

On the teacher's side, there is a lot that can be done in the classroom. Being a facilitator of learning, a guide for students, a person who directs them to their own knowledge with doubt and the desire to go further, is more important than a grade. The critical pedagogy addresses those issues, and according to one of its main promoters Paulo Freire, who posited that the most important thing is to give the individual the possibility of looking for what he really wants to know. The freedom of decision on educational issues and the ability of people to think divergently in order to change society and make the theory being applied and not be that beautiful part that simply shines in the texts and debates as an instrument of people who only have good a good speech.

To sum up, thinking critically is a very useful mental tool. We need to be aware about what going on is around us. We need to go beyond in order not to believe in fake news, and specially we need to change our minds and recheck the information we are given. Being a critical thinker is a process, but it is required to be carried out continuously, and letting people know that a strong mind is possible if we really aim to get it.

Where is the outrage?

Henry Giroux’s lecture points out the larger corporate and market main forces now shaping all aspects of education, politics, culture, and everyday life in North America. In his talk, there is a special emphasis on the role that critical pedagogy plays in defining not only traditional spheres of schooling but also a crucial form of public pedagogy that is at the heart of contemporary politics.

In the way I see it, Giroux's lecture is absolutely clear in terms of relating what he says with his life and current situations. I could say that he wants to communicate basically how the role of democratic education has been devalued in favor of a pedagogy of economical interests  and repression. It is inevitable not to think about the changes that education has experienced all over the years, however, and despite of the fact that many issues have been solved, and the role of students is currently more appreciated, education has turned into a business. New ways of teaching and learning have appeared, the newspapers, television programs, cable television, cell phones, the Internet and other commercial sites are really worth it. Neverthless when education becomes so dependent of external factors the creation of a human being who considers himself as a basic product, buyer, autonomous and largely free of any social obligation, is at stake here. This is a human being without ethics, a concern for others and indifferent to human suffering. And the pedagogy that promotes these values ​​and produces this theme is authoritarian and rootless in its production of savage economic relations, a culture of cruelty and its distortion of democracy.

One of the most important challenges that education currently has, is basically teaching how to think. Some teacher are focused just on sharing information without following some relevant processes that involve not only having as much knowledge as possible, but also knowing what to do with it. The fact of owning a car not only implies boasting of it, but being capable of handle it, which is similar to the thinking process. Henry Girous also points out how relevant being a learner while teaching is. Learning and growing intellectual and personally is necessary to keep evolving and comprehending that education is as dynamic as the students themselves and that it is essential to learn from them and in the other way around.

On the whole, education needs to be reevaluated. We need to be aware of our roots and to implement the critical thinking from our lessons as teachers. That is not about filling a blank paper, it is to let them know important things in order for them to react and use that in favor towards a social change. Then it will be possible to give an answer to: Where is the outrage?

Reflections About Stereotyping

All over the years stereotypes have existed and will exist forever. Stereotyping itself is a natural process in which people and places are characterized. However, Negative stereotypes are absolutely rough. When talking about customs and the way people look, it does not harm anyone, while talking about people’s behavior, social troublemakers , and so on, it is a difficult mark to take off.

That is to say  Colombia which  is a clear example of overgeneralization caused by a negative stereotype that affect the Colombian people in many ways. Being Colombian and going to a foreign place is such a nightmare. We could be drug dealers, violent people, and maybe we are trying to set up a new drug cartel. We have to deal with those false characteristics because we went through really hard past situations that finally  left a mark on us. We all are not drug addicts, not even drug sellers, and we do not take violence as a sport. Those stereotypes very often make people discriminate us, and look Colombian people down.

Stereotyping is just an attempt to link everyone’s characteristics which is impossible. Some people could fit on some stereotypes, nevertheless not everyone does. Coping with it only requires being brave enough and letting people know by your own actions the real person you are. Categorization is not always worth it, and humankind is dynamic, we are constantly changing that is why stereotypes lack of reliability and validity.