In contemporary educational situations there are occasions where students fail to speak their mind for fear of saying something which is viewed as incorrect. This fear of being chastised is detrimental to all involved. When students feel they cannot speak their minds they often become passive learners in class. For them, education is transformed into the banking system of education where ideas are merely bits of knowledge to be deposited and retrieved in order to pass a test because they feel they cannot question the ideas represented in during class. However, the student who loses his or her voice in the class is not the only one affected. According to Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980), children progress through four cognitive developmental stages by assimilating or accommodating new information to fit their schemata; mental concepts used to help organize and interpret information encountered in the world (Santrock 2003, p. 121). Without exposure to new information different from the beliefs already held by a student, their cognitive development could be slowed due to a lack of new information to interpret and assimilate. Furthermore when views in the classroom are silenced the educational system serves to reinforce the culture of the hegemony because only the mainstream views are discussed and those on the margins are left to perish. As renowned scholar and cultural critic bell hooks stated at her October 28th, 2004 lecture, "Cultures of Belonging: Beyond Domination", at SUNY Geneseo, "The culture of the complacent aids the culture of domination" (bell hooks, 2004).

Foremost in the area of creating classroom communities and the educator who has influenced my own pedagogical views the most, bell hooks has been concerned with this issue for some time. While only her newest book, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope (2003) directly deals with the creation of a classroom community, her previous work has dealt worth the underlying issues which make the creation of a classroom community difficult. In Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope, bell hooks (2003) directly related the inability to create a classroom community to issues surrounding racism, stating that "...when the reason [for a student not discussing his or her views in class] is interrogated it usually is shown to cover up the fear of conflict, the belief that saying the wrong thing will generate conflict." (p. 128).

Thankfully this sort of classroom situation can be avoided. The opposite of the dominating classroom is the classroom which is viewed as a community; one in which students know that they are free to speak their minds without the fear of being unnecessarily chastised. One very important way to form a classroom community, as discussed by bell hooks is for educators to show vulnerability in the classroom. Here, vulnerability involves what ideas and views you are willing to listen to and try to understand (bell hooks, lecture on "Cultures of Belonging: Beyond Domination", October 28th, 2004). If an educator shows this vulnerability to all students while attempting to form a classroom community, those present will see that teachers are willing to be open about different opinions and feel that the students' views are important and relevant to the classroom discussions. This bidirectional communication, or give and take as it is sometimes called, is an important aspect of teaching recognized by the psychology community as authoritative. In his book Adolescence(10th ed.), John W. Santrock describes this style of teaching as a teacher who: encourages students to be independent thinkers while still monitoring them as they progress, maintains a give and take relationship with students, and shows a caring attitude towards them while maintaining a sense of limits when necessary ( p. 404). Everston, Emmer and Worsham showed in their 2003 study that students who experience authoritative learning strategies are active self-regulated learners. Helping students become self regulated learners is important because it is a sign that students are fully engaged in their learning experience and thinking critically about their progress and goals. Directly opposed to beneficial authoritative strategies are authoritarian strategies which restrict autonomy and the discussion of ideas. A classroom which utilizes authoritarian strategies redirects the educational process away from its goal of personal growth for students and becomes the banking system of education.

Experiencing a classroom community is an awe-inspiring event for teachers and students alike. Once this has been achieved, the teacher becomes less of an authority figure or moderator and more of a fellow learner in the community who assures that all views are expressed equally. The happened in an INTD 203 class at SUNY Geneseo which met October 29th, 2004 to discuss the lecture bell hooks had given the previous night. After prefacing the discussion with her thoughts about the lecture the professor reserved the remainder of the class time for the students to discuss their thoughts. With some hesitation at first, the students spoke their minds seemingly fearful of being contradicted. When a student did offer a contradicting view, they often finished their thoughts with either an open apology or one using their body language. Some might argue that these concluding apologies were a sign that the class was not truly a community (because the fear of possible conflict was still in the minds of some students), it is important to note that this is the beginning of the formation of a classroom community. The beginning of a classroom community is, of course, the most fragile time in its development. It is as though the students involved were ice skating for the first time; they want to step out on the ice and begin flying around the pond, but the first steps are always shaky. Thankfully, with practice comes comfort. By the end of the class, not only had most students spoken, but a majority of the class volunteered to stay afterwards to continue the conversation. The effects of this specific class meeting could be seen throughout the remainder of the semester. Compared to the beginning of the class, more students were speaking up more frequently.

The question does arise, though, of what to do with a class where outside factors (i.e. low socioeconomic status, high rates of crime and violence, low value seen in education etc.) make the learning atmosphere less than conducive to creating a classroom community. The answer here is a simple one, an educator can use love as a tool in the classroom to overcome harsh conditions. In this sense love means an educator's attention to and care for their students as described by bell hooks at her lecture, "Cultures of Belonging: Beyond Domination" at SUNY Geneseo (October 28th, 2004). While all educators should love all of their students equally it is important to note that love is a universal human experience and can affect people across socially created structures therefore helping to overcome them. Love can be associated with the vulnerability mentioned earlier in that when educators exhibit love towards their students, they open themselves up to being vulnerable because of their care about the students' physical and mental well being and therefore care about what they think. Hence, when educators show vulnerability in a classroom, they are exhibiting a characteristic of love.

It is important to note though that love is merely a starting point in the classroom, an initial gate which must be opened in order to begin the process of creating a classroom community. By making the school a focal point for the community, teachers and students can override many outside influences which may make it difficult to create a community. If educators and administrators engage the community in the school through programs such as after school activities involving local volunteers, they increase the worth of education in the eyes of the community by demonstrating the positive effect it can have. This increase in the value of education through engagement can make students more willing to share their views during classroom discussion.

This process of increasing the value of education often times does not happen in urban school districts where the students need it the most. Due to poor funding, students in urban school districts typically have to attend school in a decrepit building, with overcrowded classrooms and underpaid teachers who feel powerless to do anything for their students. It is no wonder then, that these students might not see any value in education and choose to drop out of school. In these sorts of schools it is hard to feel anything but sadness for the students who, if given the chance, could rise and become anything they choose in life. This is where love (to continue with bell hooks' terminology) is needed the most. Love is free, all it costs is a conscious effort on the part of the teacher, but it can do wonders in a situation like the typical urban school district. If a school district found enough teachers who were willing to be open and love their students, and enough volunteers to fund after school programs for everyone in the community, that district would be transformed from a depressing place which serves to devalue education into a learning community where education is highly prized.

Though many people today may be cynical about the power of love, it is very strong as a transformative force and can begin the important process of creating a learning community within classrooms. Today's educators need to examine any method possible in order to achieve an open environment for discussion in their classrooms. If classrooms fail to achieve this openness, they become a machine replicating the dominant culture (bell hooks, lecture on "Cultures of Belonging: Beyond Domination", October 28th, 2004), shifting the outcome of education away from helping students develop into mature members of society who are able to think critically of their world.

References

Evertson, C.M., Emmer, E.T., & Worsham, M.E. (2003). Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers

(6th ed.). Boston, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon.

hooks, bell (2004, October). Lecture on "Cultures of Belonging: Beyond Domination". Presented at SUNY

Geneseo, Geneseo NY.

Santrock, John W. (2003). Adolescence (10th ed.). Images of Adolescent Development (pp. 121-163) New

York, New York: McGraw Hill.

Santrock, John W. (2003) Adolescence (10th ed.) Schools (pp. 387- 425) New York, New York: McGraw Hill.