The Conclusion

I feel written out. Drained. Wordless. And still I keep writing. How do you tell when you’re done with something that doesn’t end? While I hit many of the resources from class that I wanted to, I didn’t get to all of them or as deeply as I wanted to but I do think that I need to wrap this up, however, temporarily as this state may be. There are still many discussions to be had and thoughts to think. In a few words, I am impressed with the depth of the book’s issues but felt that the ending somehow cheapened it, made it less satisfying somehow. I think that it is an excellent choice for teaching, both in my class and in the classes of my students because of the issues that can be explored through this text. There are almost too many so that I would hope that they wouldn’t lose the very important aspect of race in favour of something “easier” like poetry or mothers that could be separated out in order to safe-ify teaching. Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson from this book and for my proposed teaching- Blackness is central to this book- don’t overlook it as we often overlook our own privilege and the inequities of our social system. When you don’t look at race, you deny something that is very important to many people, including those we meet in this book.
How has my experience as a reader changed? I’ve questioned more, I’ve thought more about it, I’ve realized the importance of not discounting race and experiences of Blackness, I know some words to talk about these things and some theories theories to relate issues of multiculturalities to. But I think have a lot of thinking to do and, even better, talking about this book to share my experiences and the gain from listening to theirs. I think my perspective is starting to shift to better ways of thinking that can help me work toward an equitable, multicultural reality in my classroom and maybe in the world.
How would I teach this book differently? And I could really write an essay on each one except that I feel like I’m repeating myself instead of travelling someplace new. Regardless, I do look at the issues differently, talk about them differently, and consider my words differently. But there is always more to learn and more to think and to be able to grow I have to admit that and work toward it.
And on a truly final(ish) note, I think this format really works to wildly explore ideas without having to structure them- alternative format seem better for exploration rather than recitation of knowledge. This is all Maxine Greene stuff, which works really well both for the book and discussing how the Dialectic of Freedom plays out through the major issues it addresses and how this project has gone. Releasing the Imagination is definitely on my to read list- maybe this summer. In any case, putting thoughts into words is still structuring, journaling like this is just maybe a less artificial structure?