Assignment 4c: Reflection

1. Who is your classmate, what is the component category, what is the name of the choice?

My classmate is Jen and the component category is 3a World Cities: San Francisco vs. Los Angeles.

2. What is something similar this classmate said about the choice?

Jen and I both had similar stereotyping for both cities. We both felt that many view Los Angeles as a city full of beauty: beautiful people, beautiful weather, and beautiful sources of entertainment. As for San Francisco, we both felt that many believe the bay area is a city full of carefree hippies, because of its 1960’s “love era”. We also had the similar idea that others contain the preconceived notion that San Francisco’s population is saturated with nothing but gays and lesbians.

3. What is something different this classmate said about the choice?

When listing the similarities and differences of both cities Jen and I had different points. Jen’s differences included the weather, city size, and entertainment industries. My differences consisted of culture, structural features, and transportation. Jen’s similarities of the two cities focused on their artistic heritage, diversity, and history. My similarities touched upon coastal location, topographical location, and specific climates.

4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? For example, you went in thinking one idea, your classmate had a different idea. What new idea emerged from this process?

I felt that among these comparisons, my ideas were more specific and Jen’s were much more broad. I think that she approached the assignment with a more generalized outlook and my thought process involved a more detail-oriented analysis. When I completed this assignment I believed that my method would allow me to learn more about each city. However, as I reviewed Jen’s assignment I began to realize that by focusing solely on the detailed aspects of both cities, I was left without a basic knowledge of the cities’ background. My reasoning “epiphany” emerged from engaging in a blogging “dialogue” with my fellow classmate. This follows Paulo Freire’s belief that every student should be free to talk about anything in the classroom. He believes that dialogue encourages an open and welcoming atmosphere, which is key to a comfortable learning environment. Freire also states that disagreement is normal and something to expect and can be a motivation for reflection and a source of growth. I feel that by learning more about Jen’s ideas I have put Freire’s theories into practice. I believe this will ultimately benefit my future intellectual assessment processes for it helped with the expansion of my original ideas.