After a nice "break" on the farm (by 'break', I mean only having to spend 1-2 hours a day on chores, as opposed to 8-10) after a fast and furious start last week, today we picked right up where we left off.

First thing this morning, I learned how to drive a tractor. No, they didn't show me. No, I didn't receive instruction beforehand. No, I didn't get to read some sort of manual. They gave me the keys and told me to do it. At first, I was quite intimidated, I must say. But, learning which levers to pull, pedals to push, and knobs to turn by actually sitting up there and doing it really ingrained the whole process into my memory. My instructors for the morning, Neil and Charles, showed an abundance of patience for me and really let me learn through first-hand experience.

Then, in class this afternoon, I was able to witness this pedagogy as we discussed actual teaching methods. In it, we discussed the concept of "problem-posing education" as opposed to "banking education", as described by P. Friere in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. This whole idea of 'problem-posing education' is one in which the typical roles and relationships between the teacher and student are erased so that the teacher "is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach". In the 'banking' method, Friere writes that the teacher is like a person depositing money in the bank, and the students are the depositories. "Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat."

In America, probably >90% of the teaching that goes on in schools, universities, and other institutions is similar to the 'banking method'. While there is merit to this style, it is largely hard to digest. I must admit I'm very appreciative of the style that is taught and used here at the farm. It encourages both hands-on activity and open dialogue so that the teacher-student relationship is practically interchangeable.

And tomorrow I hop on that tractor to mow the pecan orchard. Solo.