A few days before Halloween, the teachers at Clairmont School in San Jose, California, organized a pumpkin-decorating contest. This was only the second week of our 6th grade team-teaching assignment, and we wanted to keep in the spirit of the event. We asked our students to brainstorm how they wanted to design our class pumpkin. All but one student voted to turn our pumpkin into an "Evil Joker." We looked at one another, shrugged our shoulders, and wondered why an Evil Joker was so popular. Then Miguel handed us his sketch. We suddenly realized that we had planned to turn our class pumpkin into a gang symbol.
Maintaining the Silence
Several weeks before our teaching assignment at Clairmont School, we attended a special faculty meeting. Concerns about rapidly growing gang activity on campus prompted teachers to ask for more information about their students' possible gang involvement. Following up, the principal asked police officer Hector Rodriguez to share information about gangs that operated within the school community. In a serious tone, Officer Rodriguez began with a list of grave statistics. The room fell silent as he told us, For every 10 kids who join gangs, nine do not graduate from high school. Seven out of 10 gang members end up dead or in prison by the age of 20. The average age that a kid joins a gang is 11 years old.
We moved restlessly in our chairs. The teachers around us seemed uncomfortable, too. Teachers who did not live in the school community were unaware of neighborhood life. They shook their heads in disbelief. Although no one knew whether actual gang members were on campus, we speculated that it was possible. Evidence of tagging, hand signs, symbols, and drawings on students' binders and homework made teachers uneasy.
- NO graffiti.
- NO hand signs.
- NO block writing (it might resemble gang tagging).
- NO symbols.
- NO street clothes (students must be in uniform).
Teachers were told to read the list to their students. Thus, without any attempt to understand the students' views, the policy officially sanctioned and promoted silence.
Some teachers believed that these rules would solve gang-related problems by limiting or eliminating any discussion about gangs. They failed to understand the danger of such a policy. Although teachers believed that they were helping and protecting their students, they were actually suppressing the students from sharing their world. They silenced them.
Problem Posing
Standing with Miguel's sketch of the Evil Joker, we regained our composure and asked students, "Why can't we do this?" Some replied in a sing-song voice filled with disgust, "Gang-related, man." They sounded as if they were repeating a mantra that they had heard a thousand times. But we saw an opportunity to use Paulo Freire's problem-posing method as a way to engage students in dialogue and to help them examine and question their world. By identifying the school policy on gangs as problematic, we created opportunities for critical dialogue.
Problem posing is not lecturing, but presenting situations to students with sketches or photographs. These photos and sketches must, according to Freire (1970), represent situations familiar to the individuals whose thematics are being examined, so that they can easily recognize the situations (and thus their own relation to them). (P. 95)
Individuals often take for granted that these representations are truths. Through problem posing, we can "demythologize" our assumptions.
The Evil Joker provided an example of how our students' assumptions about a gang-related object masked some unexamined myths. Problem posing encouraged students to unveil the myths and to think more critically about their social context and the role that the Evil Joker plays in it. Prohibiting our students from having a dialogue about an object that is already obvious to them denies their reality. To begin our dialogue, we first asked students to write in their journals and to reflect on what happened.
With Manuel's sketch taped to the front board, we asked the class to think about why decorating our pumpkin as an Evil Joker might be problematic. At first, students seemed confused and resisted writing. Maria asked, "I don't get it. What do you mean by a problem?" Pedro muttered, "What, it's not a problem, just because some people think it's gang stuff." The students didn't see the representation as problematic because they had learned that gang life was necessary in their community. Gangs determined what they wore, what music they listened to, and what friends they could have.
Then we held a class meeting to discuss what students had written in their journals. Keith immediately volunteered to read: "We can't do anything anymore because everyone thinks it's gang related." Students nodded their heads in agreement. We asked whether anyone had anything to add. The room filled with excited and frustrated voices. Students' body language immediately changed. Some boys slouched in their seats, crossed their arms across their chests, and stretched out their legs, assuming a "gang" posture. Others sat up, backs erect, hands waving in the air, telling their version of what the Evil Joker represented. A wall of silence crumbled.
During the conversation, we created a space for students to share views by "acting as sympathetic observers with an attitude of understanding towards what [we] see" (Freire, 1970, p. 91). We listened and rephrased what we heard students say. When we said, "It seems that most of you are upset because you feel that no one is listening to you," they nodded in agreement. We encouraged them to share more stories. Interested in what they had to say, we wanted students to have a place to share ideas.
In turn, they began to sense our sincerity. Allison wrote in her journal, "It was a good talk yesterday. I think the teachers are interested in what we say." Jesus wrote, "I think it's cool how we got to complain and somebody finally listened to us tell our part of the story. Usually they ignore us." Trusting us, many wanted to share their thoughts. Keith said, "The cops don't even listen to us. One cop was rude and said, 'I wasn't born yesterday,' when we tried to tell him things." From their point of view, neither their teachers nor the principal listened, and the police didn't understand. Gang members, however, would listen. This insight provided us with a window into our students' everyday world.
Students felt not only that no one listened, but also that the school viewed them as gangsters. Sylvester said, "It's not fair to us kids. Everything the teachers see, they think it's gang stuff." Marcos explained: I think the administration keeps telling us it is gang related so that we join a gang. Ya. That's what they want, to see us join a gang so that they can say, "I told you all of these students are in gangs." It's all a setup.
Faith wrote in her journal: I thought yesterday's class meeting was a very important one because it was mostly about gangs. I couldn't believe that all it took was a picture to bring up this matter.
Different Interpretations
The following journal entries represent opposing views on the Evil Joker: The picture would be a problem because I think that gangs use the joker as a symbol for them. I'm not really sure what it means and if it's anything good or bad. . . . I do know the first thing that comes to my mind when I look at this: gangs.I think it's not really a problem. These days, grownups think every bad thing or picture is gang related. This picture is not a problem. If it was written on our school wall, then I would think it's gang related, but I don't see it anywhere. When I see this picture, I think it's a pretty good drawing but not gang stuff.
When we asked students to respond to powerful questions, they were challenged to reflect on their lives and to engage in dialogue. Freire (1970) explains that through dialogue, we can name the world, and in naming the world, we can change it. At this point, our students began only to name their world. They did not have a language to fully describe their experiences in school. Engagement in dialogue leads to the development of what Chet Bowers (1987) calls communicative competence, or an "ability to negotiate meaning and purposes instead of passively accepting the social realities defined by others" (p. 2).
Only when students bring their experiences and stories into the classroom do they have an opportunity to examine their beliefs.
More Dialogue
Another opportunity for dialogue arose when one of our weekly student magazines identified one of "the most important themes of student experience" in a feature article titled "Gangs: Who Are They and How to Avoid Them." We decided to read the article aloud and pose questions. The article stated, "Some gang members share special hand signs, graffiti symbols, slang words, or tattoos." We asked, "How many of you know hand signs for gangs?" Every student raised a hand. We asked students to share hand signs and to tell us how they learned them. In this way, we unveiled the silence. Bowers (1987) claims that when the social phenomenon around you "is made explicit and examined in a critical manner, [it] loses [its] traditional hold" and this creates a space for change (p. 6). Sitting quietly, eyes glued to the magazine article, students read, Gangs are recruiting members at younger ages than ever. Although most kids join at age 12 or 13, kids as young as 8 are becoming recruits.
We asked, "How many of you have been approached by gang members?" Again, every student raised a hand. As students shared their stories, they demonstrated trust and respect for one another. Such dialogue, Freire (1970) believes, produces a "climate of mutual trust, which leads the dialoguers into even closer partnership in naming of the world" (p. 72). They listened to one another and engaged in a dialogue that was important and meaningful to them. Our minds raced to keep up with their stories.
Through their journals, they revealed how gang activity is woven into their world. Paula wrote: I know a lot of stuff about gangs because my cousin's friends are in a Red Rag. I know that gang is bad. Last week when I was walking home there was 10 people and they were in gang and they are Red Rag. They ask my friends if we want to be in a Red Rag but we said, "No." Students had a sense that gangs might be bad, but without the language or opportunity to critically examine such issues, they saw gang life as a fixed entity that they could not avoid. Ngan wrote: My cousin told me that once she was walking home from school, this guy come up to her and ask her if she is in a gang. She said no, and that guy said to join the gang, because you gets lots of money and you would be protected by the gang. She said she will think about it, but the gang doesn't let her go and keep on asking her. Gangs dominated our students' worlds by intimidating them and then offering money and protection.
Keith used his journal to share his attraction to gang members and their way of life. Exposing how gangs have penetrated his worldview, Keith wrote, "Every time people keep on telling me how bad gangs are, it makes me want to more and more join a gang." Freire (1970) explains Keith's feelings, stating that the more those invaded are alienated from the spirit of their own culture and from themselves, the more the latter want to be like the invaders; to walk like them, dress like them, talk like them. (P. 134) Keith was beginning to identify with the gang members (or invaders), rather than with his own culture.
Pedro, the class clown, shared his story with us during recess. We asked what he thought about our class discussions. Looking down at his feet and fidgeting with his hands, he said, "It doesn't really help because it's like a religion—it's not gonna go away. And not everybody is bad." For the first time, Pedro set aside his goofy grin to discuss something serious with us. We tried to understand why Pedro thought that "not everybody is bad" by asking, "Do you know anyone in a gang?" He nodded. Delicately, we asked, "Are any members of your family in a gang?" Pedro replied, "Yeah. My uncles and cousins."
Pedro unveiled his feeling of hopelessness when he described how his family members were involved in gangs. As Freire (1970) writes, Hopelessness is a form of silence. . . . Dialogue cannot be carried on in a climate of hopelessness. If the dialoguers expect nothing to come of their efforts, their encounter will be empty and sterile. (P. 73)
Pedro, like most of our students, described his world as a fixed entity. For Pedro and other students to liberate themselves from the myths of gang life, they must, according to Freire (1970), "perceive their state not as fated and unalterable, but merely as limiting—and therefore challenging" (p. 66).
Phung's Story
Later that afternoon, more students revealed the fear and violence that had been silenced in school. Phung, whose primary language is Vietnamese, raised his hand while he gazed down at his blue pants. This was the first time he had ever volunteered to speak in class. Eagerly, we asked him to share his story. The class quieted. Struggling to put together complete sentences, he spoke about his clothes—the "school's required uniform." Not long ago, a group of boys cornered Phung at the neighborhood park and beat him up because of the color of his school uniform. The color of the uniform is that of a gang that is a rival of the gang that dominates the school's neighborhood. Therefore, the students must wear clothes that make them targets for the local gang.
By conquest, the gangs recruit members through intimidation. But ironically, the school uniform became a means of conquest from both sides. The gangs manipulated students on the basis of the colors that they wore. The school, attempting to bring a manufactured sense of community by having all students wear the same uniform, put students at greater risk of gang violence. But administrators failed to change the policy because they would have to expose a poor decision.
Unless dialogue continues as part of the solution, the problem will remain. We must create opportunities for students and teachers to discuss real issues in their lives. Through problem posing, teachers and students step closer to critical thought and action. As Ira Shor (1992) realized, "What students bring to class is where learning begins" (p. 44).
