Saturday was one of our last free days in Lima, and to no surprise we spent it eating and shopping. We walked to a nearby mall and spent a few hours there. It was almost identical to malls back home. Once we worked up a hefty appetite we headed to Tanta, a famous Peruvian restaurant. We tried many local dishes and even ordered Anticucho, also known as skewered beef heart! After a long day of shopping and eating, we walked back home for a quick siesta before heading out to Mira Flores. In the evening, we walked around Mira Flores checking out new restaurants and bars. And now it is Sunday morning, officially our last free day in Lima (wow the time has really flown by!) and we are all resting up before another long week. On Friday we wake up really early and head on a flight to Cusco. We will spend 10 nights in Cusco and then our time is Peru is almost over. Our Sunday consisted of going to Barranco to enjoy the beach and, of course eating. For lunch, we were to a very popular spot called Burrito Bar where we all ate burritos the size of a newborn baby. Lunch was followed by walking around the neighborhood, going to the beach, and eventually ending up at Blu for gelato. All in all, we had a nice day off before the long week ahead of us. I do think that there is a lot of politics in the field of education and that that can lead to ethical implications as well. I do not think that teaching is ALWAYS political and ethical but can have pieces of each. For example, in the article by Alan Blinder, one can see how teaching can become political and even life altering. This is a drastic example, but it shows how teaching can become political and lead to questions of ethics. In the case of Atlanta, it was unethical for the teachers to cheat and create false scores on the exams. I think for pre-service teachers as well as anyone, this means that one should think before they act. Ask yourself these questions: Is this ethical? What are the implications? What are the repercussions? This will hopefully help one to see whether it is ethical or if it may turn into something political. The classroom does not function in isolation, there are pressures coming from all around; parents, administration, the state, the students, etc. These pressures do effect how one may teach and can change pedagogical decisions. For the most part, I do agree with Brighouse’s moral and political aims of education, but I can also see where the aims turn into a political issue and can become a race for competition and proficiency. Teachers should teach their student to be autonomous, be contributing members of society, enriched and flourished with their interests, democratic citizens, and cooperative in groups. As pre-service teachers, we need to be aware of the system that we work in and that there will be political and ethical pressures pushing down on us, but I do not think that it always has to be this way. It means that we need to be aware of this and pay attention to what is going on around us, and work in a way that is ethical and benefits the students and their education.
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