Smith1

Student Smith

Professor Bianco

UNST 121G

13 October 2005

R.A.I.D No. 1

1. What are the most important ways in which Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and the movie The Matrix, relate to each other and to the concepts of knowledge?

  • Body and mind exist in different realities.
  • Both see people as asleep or otherwise unable to truly experience life.
  • Would everyone want the truth to be revealed to them? Is there something to be said for Do you know if your everyday experiences really depict reality? Have you felt more “awake” at certain times in your life?
  • What difference is there between the life of the Just and the life of the Unjust person?
  • Does being chained make the things you see less real in your present reality?
  • References: (Kreis; Partridge).

2. What parallels do you see, if any, between Plato’s description of the elements of the cave and Paulo Freire’s articulation of ideas such as “Empowerment” and “Critical Consciousness”?

  • Most of the general population has not delved into their consciousness or have not been awakened.
  • Reality is created by the people who put you there, you are meant to be part of brainwashed or uninformed masses.
  • Education should work toward freeing the mind.
  • The physical setting in which “minds” exist inhibits conscious thought processes.
  • Empowered person is Just person.
  • Empowerment must come from within, cannot be received form outside source.
  • If you want to move forward with “Critical consciousness” you must reject what you have already accepted as your reality.
  • References: (Freire; Heaney; Kreis; Partridge).

3. What do you think of Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences as compared with, say, standard IQ tests or other standardized tests? What kind of intelligence(s) were you identified as having, when you took the Multiple Intelligence inventory? Do you think the inventory was accurate? What, if anything, does this tell you about your best methods of learning?

  • MI tests give options to forward your education as an individual, while standardized tests only test to see if you can memorize certain information
  • Students should be learning valuable information about themselves, instead of learning how they compare to others in terms of tests
  • Standardized testing trains students to think a certain way instead of helping them find out how they learn best
  • Knowing your own intelligence will add to the group as a whole, by allowing each student to come to conclusions in a manner that is best for them.
  • References: (Gardner).

4. You were asked to read any three of the readings by or about bell hooks, Paulo Freire, Martin Buber, John Dewey, and Maria Montessori. Based on the ones you chose to read, what major points did you find to be the most significant that the three had in common?

  • Comprehensive work toward positively transforming lives, greater good of community and world.
  • Teaching objective always dependent on situation, environment.
  • Nurturing intellect of pupils and promotion of self- realization.
  • Teacher and student jointly responsible for growth.
  • References: (Burke; Freire; Kreis; Montessori).

Work Cited

Burke, B. (2004) 'bell hooks on education', The encyclopedia of informal education,

< Last updated: January 30, 2005.

Freire, Paulo. Chapter 2. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum Books, 1993.

Gardner, Howard. A Multiplicity of Intelligences: In Tribute to Professor Luigi Vignolo.

1998/2004. < A Multiplicity REVISED.pdf>.

Heaney, Tom. “Freirean Literacy in North America: The Community-Based Education Movement.” Thresholds in Education. 1989

Kreis, Steven. “Plato: The Allegory of the Cave.” The History Guide: Lectures on Modern

European Intellectual History.2000.<.

.

Montessori, Maria. “Inaugural Address Delivered on the Occasion of the Opening of One of the

‘Children’s Houses’.” The Montessori Method. Trans. Anne E. George. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1912. >.

Partridge, John. Plato’s Cave and The Matrix. 3 Mar. 2003.

<>.