hongkongteacher:

Freire’s concept of “false generosity seems appropriate here. After quitting his job in an urban school with marginalized students due to the difficulties he encountered, the teacher in the article comments: “I want to be one of those teachers that kids really like and listen to and learn from, and you can turn a kid around.”

Instead, he could have tried to be one of those human beings who likes to listen to and learn from his students, to let himself be transformed and turned around by the struggles of his students so he could struggle with them in solidarity.

Lesson for us all: leave paternalistic attitudes and oppressive fantasies at the door.