SEVENTH TASK

How do you think we could empower our Colombian students to critically spot fake news?

Nowadays, most of the people have access to the internet so they can read every local, national or international news. Of course, it is good, but what it is not so good is the number of sources that show false information. The big problem is that people are taking this information as true. Then, only one person can share this information with many other people. Everybody starts to believe that the information given in these fake news is real. Due to it, professors should empower Colombian students to think critically and know when a news or event is true or false. Students need to develop these critical skills since they are in primary school.

Colombian professors can empower students by:

1. helping them to develop their critical skills. As Brookfield said in his lecture, professors should help students to think critically about everything they read, listen or speak. They need to know how to understand and interpret the information that they get in different sites. Professors can help students using the strategies given by Brookfield such as exposing them to read some material about their context and make them reflect on it, encouraging students to speak and give their opinions, and giving students material to be prepared for debate.

2. encouraging students to think critically, as Giroux said in his lecture, students should critique everything and do not take every single piece of information that they get as absolutely true. The role of the professors is really important in education in terms of making a change in the students' mind in order for them to become aware of their reality around them. Each person needs to raise their voices to make a real change. The professors should give students strategies to make distinctions, to inference, and to comprehend.


3. letting students talk, participate and think. According to Ira Shor. Students should be active in the classroom. professors and students need to have a mutual dialogue. Students have the right to talk and give their opinions about a certain topic without being afraid of what the professor thinks. Professors cannot impose any idea or argument. Students are free for having their own point of view.

SIXTH TASK

"Where is the OUtrage? Critical Pedagogy in Dark Times"

Taking into account the lecture given by Ginoux. The critical pedagogy has a big role and responsibility to make a change in education.  Education needs to be seen in a different way by critical thinkers, pedagogues, and educators. It is necessary that each person start to worry about social issues like education. People need to defend public education and universities having strong arguments to show to those larger corporate and market-driven forces that the education is a really important aspect in a country. But, the bad situation in the public spheres is increasing every day because time goes by and those large corporations are taking the money from the institutions of democracy to invest it in others fields.

The major problem with the education today is that teachers are not helping to develop critical thinking in students. They are not preparing them for life in terms of reflecting on social problems and problem-solving. Teachers make students learn about topics that they need just for a subject or some knowledge to be evaluated through paper-pencil exams. It has brought problems to students since they are being easily manipulated. Teachers have to empower students to defend what they think or believe.

Each person needs to raise their voices to go against everything that wants to create these social classes which every time are stronger and divided the society between those ones who are rich and the ones who are poor. The inequality is bigger and there are more adults, young people, and children who are going through difficult situations due to economic factors. We have to do something to defend the rights of each person. Everybody needs to understand that society needs a change and together we can contribute to do it.

FIFTH TASK

STEREOTYPES

There are many stereotypes about Colombian people, and most of us are really tired of listening to them. Since many years ago, people from different countries have had a wrong image about Colombians and even Colombian people believe that these stereotypes are true. We are surrounded by stereotypes and we tell and listen to them many times that they become part of us. Time goes by and these stereotypes get stronger and more credible.

Stereotypes are divided into two, we can find bad and good ones but unfortunately, the bad ones are the majority. The stereotypes classify people according to their characteristics, personalities, nationalities, behaviors or ways of thinking.

In Colombia, there is a large number of stereotypes that defined some groups of people like in other countries. people around the world have stereotypes about Colombians which are annoying to listen to them such as that all the Colombians are drug dealers. I think that people who believe it are wrong because they cannot say something about an entire country just because a minority of people do it. Another stereotype which I really hate is that every Colombian is on drugs, but some investigations show that there are more people who consume drugs in other countries than in Colombia. Some years ago, I found one of the most ridiculous stereotypes that foreigners have about Colombia. It was that there are guerrillas and paramilitaries everywhere in Colombia. They are afraid of coming here and being kidnapped or murdered because according to their opinions Colombia is the most dangerous country. Finally,  a stereotype that I have heard is that one about that football is the only sport that Colombians are good at. I can say that they are totally wrong because, in Colombia, we have excellent athletes from different sports such as Nairo Quintana, Mariana Pajon and Caterine Ibarguen. 

A stereotype about Colombians which I think it is just a myth is the one about that everyone is a professional salsa dancer, it is not true. There are many people who are not good at dancing in our country. We also can find stereotypes for people from different regions in Colombia. For instance; people believe that "opitas" are lazy. costeños are happy, they are considered to be cool people but also they are thought to be lazy and corrupt. paisas are known to be very social people. But I think these stereotypes are not right because we cannot say something in a general way because there are many people in a community with different personalities, custom, ways of thinking.

To sum up, I think stereotypes are not a good way to classify people into different groups since each person has different characteristics. Due to it, most of these stereotypes give a wrong image of a person or a country since they are not true. Unfortunately, these stereotypes are stronger now. Finally, one of the difficult issues about stereotypes is how to deal with them. We need to be patience since people are not getting the right information. So, we have to share the real information about us as a Colombians.

FOURTH TASK

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

The critical thinking skills that I found in the opinion column"Should Chimpanzees Be Considered ‘Persons’?  are:

Description

"chimpanzees can recognize themselves in a mirror, communicate through sign language, pursue goals creatively and form long-lasting friendships"

Agreement

"In response, the Nonhuman Rights Project is taking a bold position: It is arguing that if every being must be either a person or a thing, then Kiko and Tommy are persons, not things. I agree, and many other philosophers do, too"

Explanation

"The idea of nonhuman personhood might seem confusing at first since we tend to use the terms “human” and “person” interchangeably. But they are not equivalent. “Human” is best understood as a biological concept that refers, at present, to a member of a particular species, Homo sapiens. In contrast, “person” is best understood as a moral and legal concept that refers to an individual who can hold moral and legal rights"