Assessment of Horton’s Approach and Rational
Horton was interested in education for social change, he advocated that education be grounded in the learner’s experiences and included the use of questions to stimulate self-examination as well as examination of social systems. Horton’s approach to adult education has several key features. The key features in Horton’s approach are leadership development, social analysis, experience, learning and social meaning. (Pyles, 2013) Myles Horton’s organizing framework is a transformative approach anchored in the belief that societal change necessarily entrails a change in consciousness. (Pyles, 2013) Horton and his cohorts believed that people themselves are the authorities on their experiences and thus on their own learning needs and educational agendas. (Pyles, 2013)
The groups rational behind choosing the Myles Horton’s transformative approach was rooted in the shared belief that change comes as a result of a raised conscious of the individuals affected by the issue or problems being discussed. (Pyles, 2013) Horton’s approach is also tailored to the
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adult learner, which was this group’s audience. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Septima Clark were some of the influential leaders and organizers educated at Horton’s Highlander Folk School during the civil rights era. (Plyes, 2013) The merit of these individuals as a result of their education also contributed to the group’s decision to utilize Horton’s approach. Implementation of Horton’s Model of Intervention Horton’s transformative model of adult education was primarily implemented during the formation of the questions that were asked for this intervention.
The questions were formatted in a manner that provoked conscious raising though self-reflection and social analysis of Black individual’s political involvement in America. The questions that were asked to entice self-reflection were: Are you registered to vote? Do you plan on voting in this upcoming presidential election? Do you vote in local elections? and Do you know your hometowns mayor?. Each question was followed with “why or why not? ” to foster dialogue. The questions to facilitate the participants’ social analysis of Black American’s political involvement were as follows: Did you grow up in a household that encouraged political awareness and involvement? and What are your feelings about the Black Lives Matter
Movement?. The question regarding the Black Lives Matter Movement was not only beneficial for the participant to analyze the social environment pertaining to Black American’s political participation, the question also served as insight to the facilitators as to whether or not the Black Lives Matter Movement was a deterrent to Black individuals political involvement. The facilitators had hypothesized that the Black Lives Matter Movement would have a crippling effect on the total number of participants. The group decided to not have the intervention lead by any one speaker but for each group member to act as facilitators and guide the conversation of the intervention participants. The group made this decision based on Horton’s belief that dependency on authority was antithetical to freedom of thought and expression. (Pyles, 2013) Horton emphasized that getting students to talk about their lived experiences in the world would give them ownership of the knowledge gained, building confidence and leadership skills that transcend into other areas of their lives. (Pyles, 2013) Horton also believed that the activity of a circle of learners whose experiences and problems were being discussed would develop the learners confidence and that this activity would place more control and responsibility in the leaners hand by allowing them to learn from their own experiences. (Pyles, 2013) Summary of steps used to Implement Horton’s Model of Intervention and the Challenges Firstly, the group decided that the intervention would be organized as a “think tank” like setting. It was decided that the think tank intervention would open with a short film featuring local Black individuals answering the intervention questions to ignite conversation amongst participants. Post the think tank intervention, an opportunity to register to vote and/or sign up for the political science club would be made available. Miscommunication amongst group members was solely responsible for the think tank intervention setting and partnership with the political science club never coming to fruition. In turn the group resorted to hosting the intervention at a pop up table in the School of Social work building. After the intervention setting was decided upon, the set of questions that was to be asked on the short film and at intervention site was developed. The questions were designed to guide the participants in the direction of Horton’s model of self-reflection and social environment analysis. The challenge that ascended while developing the questions was the choice of wording and phrasing. The questions were crafted to not offend participants but provoke thought, which was a tedious experience. After the set of questions were developed, the group decided who would participate to answer the questions on film. The group’s intent was to pick Black individuals that would give provokingly honest answers to the questions asked to entice conversation at the intervention. While choosing individuals, the group began to question if the responses on the film would deter the mission of the intervention. In the instance a participant or all the participants on the film answered the questions in a way that diverted away from the goal of getting the audience more politically active, the purpose of the intervention could potentially derail. Once individuals willing to participate in the film were secured Ms. Crumbley was allotted the responsibility of conducting the interviews with the selected individuals since she was already filming some Black artist in the area for a separate project. Next, the interviews for the short film were conducted. The challenges that occurred during the interviews can be attributed to minor technological difficulties such as lighting and wind noise disrupting the film sound. Lastly the film was to be edited by Ms. Crumbley and presented at the date of the intervention. The challenge the came about during this step was at the fault of Ms. Crumbley. Ms. Crumbley did not make separate consent forms for the participants to allow for the film to be shown for the purposes of this project .The consent forms for her preexisting project left no room for the film to be used for anything other than its original purposes. Since moving forward with showing the film for this intervention was viewed as being unethical from the group members Ms. Crumbley found two videos on the Internet that worked that aligned with the purpose of the intervention. The presiding challenge that infiltrated every step in the process was miscommunication or no communication between group members at all. The unfortunate circumstance of communication completely changed the intervention and ultimately lessened the impact of the intervention.
Over the course of five chapters, the author uses a number of sources, both primary and secondary, to show how the National Negro Congress employed numerous political strategies, and allying itself with multiple organizations and groups across the country to implement a nationwide grassroots effort for taking down Jim Crow laws. Even though the National Negro Congress was unsuccessful in ending Jim Crow, it was this movement that would aide in eventually leading to its end years later.
Hazel, M. "Change is crucial in a person’s life." N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2008. .
This political shift materialized with the advent of the Southern Strategy, in which Democratic president Lyndon Johnson’s support of Civil Rights harmed his political power in the South, Nixon and the Republican Party picked up on these formerly blue states and promoted conservative politics in order to gain a larger voter representation. Nixon was elected in a year drenched in social and political unrest as race riots occurred in 118 U.S. cities in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s murder, as well as overall American bitterness due to the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and the extensive student-led activist opposition to the Vietnam War. The late 1960’s also saw the advent of several movements promoting Black Nationalism to unify the African-American community through the efforts of Black Power, most notably the formation of the Black Panthers in 1967 who were dedicated to overseeing the protection of African-Americans against police brutality and the support of disadvantaged street children through their Free Breakfast for Children program. During this time, black power was politically reflected through the electorate as the 1960-70’s saw a rise in Black elected officials. In 1969 there were a total of 994 black men and 131 black women in office in the country, this figure more than tripled by 1975 when there were 2969 black men and 530 black women acting in office; more than half of these elected officials were acting in Southern States....
This project has helped me in a way to make a decision on how important this upcoming election is to my heritage as a black man and to take full advantage of this opportunity.
Du Bois urged African Americans to involve themselves in politics. Gaining this power would be essential to immediate beseeching of rights. Political association would prevent blacks from falling behind because "when the Negro found himself deprived of influence in politics, therefore, and at the same time unprepared to participate in the higher functions in the industrial development which this country began to undergo, it soon became evident to him that he was losing ground in the basic things of life" (Doc I). Du Bois also directly challenged Washington when he stated "that the way for a people to gain their reasonable rights is a not by voluntarily throwing them away and insisting that they do not want them" (Doc E). W.E.B. Du Bois goes on to criticize that "that the principles of democratic government are losing ground, and caste distinctions are growing in all directions" (Doc F). All of these political demands are comprehensible but Du Bois desired a radical change; "Negroes must insist continually, in season and out of season" (Doc E). This is close to nagging, which was surely unfavorable among primarily white politicians. The effectiveness of perpetual complaining would steadily decrease. Washington avoids political involvement which in general is a neutral action neither promoting nor causing defacement of the Negro population.
First, I began imagining who and what events have formed my politics of location. Most obviously, I am a black young woman in the United State of America. I have lived to witness the first black president get elected into office and run two terms. Although a significant victory for people of color, it seems long overdue as slavery ended December 6, 1865 on the day the 13th amendment of the Constitution was ratified. Its now been more than 100 years later. As a young, black person I was inspired to believe that the sky was the limit for
The second group, a national forest fire-starter service explored how to reduce fatalities. The third group, a school district, explored how they could improve in holding high expectations of their students who were English Language Learners. These three scenarios illustrate how the immunity-to-change practices can begin to build upon, and go beyond, the focus of individual improvement. The chapter goes on to share the efforts of two other companies: a professional service firm and a medical school. However, the major factor in bringing about success in immunity-to-change as it relates to groups is that the individual members in the group must first seek to diagnosis as well as eliminate their individual immunities to change.
Edward Lindeman is thought by many to be the founder of contemporary adult education. His work in the area of adult education included the writing of articles, books, public presentations, assistance in the collegiate system as a lecturer of social work and as an associate pastor in the church (Brookfield 1986). Lindeman and Martha Anderson traveled to observe and analyze the German Folk High School system and the worker’s movement. Consequently, Lindeman and Anderson’s comparative research lead to the breakthrough of the German perception of andragogy. Their studies define andragogy as the “true method of adult learning” (1986). In 1968 at Boston University, the initial use of the term “andragogy” to attain prevalent notice of adult instructors occurred when Malcolm Knowles who at the time was an instructor of adult education, presented the term via journal article. In his 1970 book publication, he defined “andragogy” as the art and science of helping adults learn. The concept of self-directed learning, or SDL, maintained below reveals Knowles’ definition of SDL:
One theorist that is relevant to this study is Malcolm Knowles’s theory of adult learning. Though Malcom Knowles may not be the first one to introduce adult learning, he was the one that introduced andragogy in North America. (McEwen and Wills 2014). Andragogy means adult learning. The core concept of Knowles’s Adult learning theory is to create a learning environment or awareness for adults to understand why they learn .Knowles developed six main assumptions of adult learners. Those assumptions are the need to know, self- concept, experience, readiness to learn, orientation to learning and motivation. (McEwen and Wills, 2014)
Diversity, we define this term today as one of our nation’s most dynamic characteristics in American history. The United States thrives through the means of diversity. However, diversity has not always been a positive component in America; in fact, it took many years for our nation to become accustomed to this broad variety of mixed cultures and social groups. One of the leading groups that were most commonly affected by this, were African American citizens, who were victimized because of their color and race. It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s during the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place yet, it is the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools. Integration in white schools played a major role in the battle for Civil Rights in the South, upon the coming of independence for all African American people in the United States after a series of tribulations and loss of hope.
Behind the civic engagement are several causes. These vary with the purpose and cause of the engagement. In most cases though, they are meant to ensure that all participant receive meaningful service and experiences. This has been there since time in memorial. Stokely in his Black Power, campaign called for the empowerment of the minority blacks (Carmichael, 1969). He called out for them to come out in might and demand their inherent rights. The former American President, William Jeffrey Clinton in 1997 released the One America in the 21st Century initiative (The President’s initiative on race, 1998). He was of the vision of an America not divided by their racial difference, which he opinioned to be one of America’s greatest detractors to being the ultimate tread-stone of diversity. The theory was also evidenced in Sheri Tepper’s book ‘The gate to Women’s Country’ (Tepper, 1990). In the book, the theme was promulgated in several ways. Amongst them were policies towards self-preservation, civil rights and the freedom of choice amongst others.
Hase, S., & Kenyon, C. (2000, pg 2) suggests that we should now be looking at an educational approach where it is the learner himself who determines what and how learning should take place. This form of learning is called heutagogy. Heutagogical “the study of self-determined learning,” (pg 2) this “approach recognizes the need to be flexible in the learning where the teacher provides resources but the learner designs the actual course he or she might take by negotiating the learning,” stated by Hase, S., & Kenyon, C. (2000, pg 2, 6). With this form of learning adults are accountable for their own learning with a little bit of assistance from a facilitator or instructor. Adults can utilizes not only the aptitude to be self-directed but also their competence to incorporate their everyday experiences in to their
Transformational leadership is based on self-interest, inspirational, and motivation that it is used to communicate with others. This type of leadership focus on a long term vision for the company, and it creates the values of the firm. Usually employees in the firm are influence by the company leader’s beliefs and values. On the other hand, transformational leaders use power to manipulate others and transformational leaders tend to focus on self-interest on the decision making process. Transactional leadership is more like a supervision performance where the leader ensure that employees are working correctly, and employees are meeting the expectations of the company. Transactional leaders control the employees rather than influencing moral
Voting rights was one of the number one issues that black people had to face because those who were in charge of the voting poll made it hard for black folks. For example, they ...
In relation to social transformation I have gathered materials that focusses on programs provided for ‘refugees’ living in New Zealand. The purpose of my findings are based on the societies support for ‘refugees’ in terms of human security and directions of life before settling in their new destination. There are stories about ‘refugees’ that need to be shared and stories that need to be forgotten, because it can produce controversy within the society or the universe. But where can these ‘refugees’ go if the place they call home is unsafe or too risky for the lives of their families and for themselves. It’s hard enough to migrate into a new country, but it is devastating for refugees who have experienced the loss of homes and loved ones.