Book Review: Critital Teaching and Everyday Life, written by Ira Shore

I chose the book Critical Teaching and Everyday Life which was written by Ira Shore; I  heard his name mentioned in a prior graduate class I took at UNCC two years ago, and I was intrigued to learn more about his theories.  I should preface this review by noting that I just recently re-entered the workforce.  I have been working as an adjunct at a community college for three years.  Prior to this, I was at home with my three children and filled in occasionally with sporadic part-time jobs; I dabbled in education as a second grade TA at a private school in Charlotte eleven years ago. I have also worked as a substitute teacher in elementary and middle schools in Cabarrus county.  I grew up in Charlotte and attended both private, as well as public schools.  Please note that my undergraduate major was in Business Administration and English - not education.  My career focus was in banking, insurance and advertising.  I consider myself an outsider to the education profession, to say the least!

Now here is the caveat---my educational roots were planted  back in the 1960s to early 80's and a lot has happened since I was a 'traditional' student!   Currently I am classified as a 'non-traditional student' at UNCC - whatever that means.  I hope to complete my graduate degree by next spring after having lived a parent/student/teacher's life for the past four years.   Now that you have some background about me, let me share my thoughts on Shore's book.

Ira Shore's book titled  Critical Teaching and Everyday Life was written in 1980, yet it reads with surprising relevancy.  I found passages, indeed - sentences, that provoked deep reflection.  Shore writes with political passion and after having read his book, I am even more aware of the power of the classroom.  I have chosen to share some of these passages that resonated with me. 

In Chapter One, page 2, Shore explains the why of education: "In a vast American frontier dotted with cities, New World Utopianism emerged from cheap land, no kings, an expanding economy, and the possiblities of a public school system.  Great expectations were applied to education: to democratize, equalize and stabilize an unsettled society."    Wait a minute...you mean to tell me that the creation of schools had a very different ulterior motive than  to educate?  This hit me like a mack truck!  

Shore introduces the phrases "greenhouse college towns" versus "warehouse community colleges"(7).   What a keen and weighted analogy to describe these two very different educational resources.  He goes on to explain, "The career curricula of the two-year colleges is a paper replica of the job market, and thus habituates students to the shape of their future occupations."(7)  I find myself questioning my role as an adjunct at a community college. Indeed, what can I do to facilitate critical thinking within this environment?  Do I even agree with Shore's term "warehouse community college"?

Shore continues to pave a path towards the importance of liberal studies as a means to intellectual freedom versus dependency on corporations.  Personally, I have always known the value of critical thinking, yet Shore describes it much more eloquently than I ever could in the following passage found on pages 28-29: 
 
 A liberal arts education offers workers the verbal and philosophical practice to become leading
 factors of dissent.  Therefore, liberal arts is viewed contradictorily by worker-students because
 their humanities education has less than no value in the marketplace; they can have their intellectual 
 development held against them.  Liberal studies facilitate self-growth.  So to get a job, raise or
 promotion, workers zero in on the technical and informational skills which impress the boss or
 supervisor.  It's fair to say critical knowledge.... will not help you make it through the job market.  It
 is a leisure to read art and history.

A personal note:  I live and vacation with engineers; this is both a challenge and an enlightening binary lifestyle - if you will.  My experiences have made me keenly aware of the truth within this passage. Shore's insight strikes a cord deep within me - a cord entwined with years of experience with feelings of inadequacy over my choice of degree - my pursuit of knowledge - my low pay in the job market because of my lack of  'technical expertise'.  I confess that I have allowed my thoughts to veer to 'less than' or 'inadequate' where my liberal arts education is concerned. 

Yet Shore does not fully embrace liberal studies as THE ANSWER.  He reminds us: "Another obvious issue in liberal studies is the elite, white and male character of its canon and teacher corps.  The 'great tradition' of the master's tools has denied the critical thinking of women and minorities.  This highlights the issue of politics of discourse"(30). 

It is here, with the phrase "politics of discourse" that Shore dives in with some very clever and interesting alternatives to education.  He focuses on community colleges because this is where he teaches, yet his ideas would work across all educational stratas.

I encourage you to read this book.  IIra Shore's ideology stems from Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and theorist of critical pedagogy who died in 1997.  I plan on introducing some of his ideas into my demo at the Summer Writing Institute in hopes of providing new and interesting alternatives to our perceptions of instructors/facilitators/students. 

Perhaps Shore and Freire might have closed my blog with "Power to the People!"

Until then...happy reading trails!