Praxis is a term that is difficult to define. Praxis is reflection and action upon the world to transform it in order to serve interests of all human beings. Reflection and action are not separated in time, space and agency. Only praxis transforms reality for the benefit of the most disenfranchised. Conscious praxis is a critical and systematic road to human agency by enhancing human capacity for creating and recreating the natural and social world, even though we have a relative autonomy (Freire, 1986).
What does praxis mean to you? What do you think it will mean in your future practice? Prof. Lopez
I personally believe that praxis is a term that educators take a long time to fully develop since this is a full-scale concept that involves many different aspects. I believe praxis represents all those actions that we as educators must carry out during our professional career. Praxis is the human activity that we carry out with the best of our abilities in order to transform the natural and social world around us. As educators we must transform the lives of our students in order to serve all of their interests. Even though praxis and practice are related, they are not the same. Praxis goes beyond what our practice fully means. I consider praxis to be synonymous to transformation since it involves reflecting and acting upon certain situations. Through our professional careers as teachers, we must remember that we have to do more than ‘teach’. We must go beyond our practice and show our students all the truths that lie in the world. We must influence their lives in a way that when they become professionals themselves they too can influence and change the world that revolves them. In my future practice, praxis will mean a great deal especially if I want to be the best teacher I can be. It will take a lot of experience and hard work in order to finally reach this stage, but I know that by giving the best of my abilities I will be able to reach new highs and transform the lives of everyone around me in a positive way. Reaching the praxis is not something that is done overnight and takes years of constant dedication. I might not know where I stand years from now or what goals I will have accomplished, but I do know for a fact that after analyzing this concept a little more I will give my all as soon as I start teaching. I found a quote that I believe best fits what I think praxis means. “Praxis" means not only to try, but also to penetrate, to fight, to give in, to win, to lose, to kneel down, to get up, to accept the struggle and fight to the very last breath...” ― Kyriaco Lazarides What do you believe praxis to be?
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I agree and we as future teachers must be fully aware of the responsibilities we will have by being able to help our future generations. Those students would not stay small forever.
DeleteWe will acquire our praxis by learning from them and from our experiences. Achieving this process takes time and determination, a lot of professional improvement must take place along with self-evaluations. We must constantly try to achieve our best and try to keep pushing ourselves farther every time.
For me Praxis is a concept that comes from within the teacher. It is interwoven with beliefs, morals, knowledge and ethics. Being a teacher is more than just depositing information on our students. I personally don't believe on the "bottling of information", doing that is not acquiring actual knowledge as it is easily forgotten.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, teachers' praxis develops during time. It is carefully crafted and molded according to the events and experiences teachers go through. To be honest I do not have a praxis yet, I have a vague essence of what it consists, but the experience and time will help me develop it. As a future teacher I will use reflection and critical thinking in order to develop my own praxis and help students along the way.
I completely agree. The teacher's role should not be only to provide information to the students. Being a teacher involves so much more. As teachers we must ask ourselves, What is it that I want to achieve? How can I transform the world of my students? How can I take my students to become reflective and critical thinkers?. Our praxis takes time to fully develop. We will have to face many obstacles, but once we actually achieve that ultimate professional goal we will feel complete satisfaction.
DeleteI agree with you.... Praxis takes a long time to completely achieve, but if you are a teacher that believes in engagement and transformation for benefit of the most disenfranchised you will achieve your praxis. :)
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DeleteElvis, I agree with you. "bottling of information" is not the same than actually making the student learn the lesson. For an educator to obtain Praxis, one must acknowledge and reflect on their practices and become critical cognitive thinkers.
DeleteI agree with you, most teachers do not care for how much is the student learning and the way they give class is to make the student "bottle up" information that he will immediately forget after taking a test. We should go an extra mile to make students acquire more knowledge to make them become critical thinkers
DeleteI share both your opinion and sincerity since my Praxis is yet to be fully developed. However, we can all agree in the fact that it takes time and experience to develop it. Nonetheless, I consider important for educators to not only deposit information but to test that new knowledge gained by the students. Our students are not merely recipients of information; they are capable of much more than that. We have to emphasize and teach our students about values, ethics, morals, tradition, and many other qualities to living a healthy and happy life.
Delete“In Marxist philosophy, the "praxis'' usually refers to that projection of human beings on the surrounding world in order to transform it.” For what I could understand, Praxis is how the educators carry out the lesson to the students. It does not only mean to fill up their brain with information and, but they have to engage the student and keep them motivated into the learning process. Besides, it is a reflection in which the educators think of the process and activities that were made in the classroom with the students.
ReplyDelete-Paola N. Tubéns Toledo
I agree with you, praxis is not just a teacher filling up the brain of the student, but is also changing the life of that student. Is a way to transform, to change, to build, to create. We as future educators should evaluate the way we are going to carry out a lesson in a positive, educational and inspiring way, to make students become reflective and critical thinkers.
DeleteI like how you mentioned the definition of Praxis according to the Marxist Philosophy because the key element here is without doubt, transformation. I totally agree with your premise because to truly reach that main goal and focus that Praxis involves we must be able to transform our students through education.
DeletePraxis, for me, is the seed that an educator plants in a student so that it can flourish in critical thinking and creative ideas, to change not only the student life but also all his surroundings. Is the way a teacher makes the student grow in a personal way, opening his eyes to make him see the things that are happening to the world, and the possibilities that he has to change it. Education should not be just entering a class, and seat in a chair to listen to a bunch of information, that the student will only remember for a test and then forget. If an educator does that, then what is he really teaching? The students will leave with their brain empty on to the next class without having acquired any kind of knowledge. I’ve always wanted to work in something that would help me change a little bit the world, or in a place where I can change the life of a person, this being said, that’s why Praxis it’s important for me, and I will definitely be a teacher who, doesn’t only try to change the student academically, but also personally.
ReplyDelete"I’ve always wanted to work in something that would help me change a little bit the world, or in a place where I can change the life of a person..." This thought is what motivated me to choose being a teacher. Many times we complain about the society in which we live in the criminals and all the plagues that are haunting our society. I believe in education as a way of reforming and making people change towards a better living. Therefore we as teachers have a very important task and we do have a lot of power. Developing a proper Praxis will help us achieve our goals and in the way transform and help our students.
ReplyDeletePraxis to me is transforming everything around me. Get the best out of my students. It's our motive and goals as professional educators. Praxis includes theory, politics, wisdom, and the abilities to create art. When we achieve praxis we will have the capacity for creating and recreating the natural and social world around us. We as teachers have to find out what is holding back the learning. Change our methods of teaching to achieve better learning. Being engaged to teaching wanting change and making it happen. That's praxis to me!
ReplyDeleteTo me, praxis involves the process of learning and acquiring knowledge and wisdom along the way. As beginner practitioners, it is impossible for us to develop our own praxis right away because it requires experience. Praxis develops from the word “phronesis” which means wisdom and intelligence. Therefore, I infer that it is a process in which we acquire wisdom and apply the knowledge which we already possess. However, it is also an ongoing process to change your perception of the world. Like knowledge, you do not stop learning or transforming it. As teachers, praxis involves a strong bounding relationship between student-teacher and teacher student because we are supposed to be able to touch their lives and influence their perception of the world surrounding us. We have a very powerful tool and we must be aware of it and use it with responsibility, this is praxis to my interpretation.
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