A Student's Response to Dr. Matusov’s article, “A Student’s Right to Freedom of Education”

• Main Author: Shonda Kitchen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2020-09-01
• Series: Dialogic Pedagogy
• Subjects: education; open education; freedom; students; teachers; authority
• Online Access: https://dpj.pitt.edu/ojs/dpj1/article/view/361

This essay is a commentary on Dr. Matusov’s article “A Student’s Right to Freedom of Education”, and it will reflect on Dr. Cresswell’s and Dr. Dyck’s technology-free classroom experiment as well as some of the thoughts and opinions expressed in Dr. Matusov’s article. In particular, this essay will examine and raise some objections to Dr. Matusov’s thoughts and opinions and argue for a more nuanced and tempered view of the nature of the student’s right to freedom of education. The technology-free experiment and Dr. Matusov’s objection to it will be explored and met with arguments in support of the experiment and the possible benefits of a technology-free learning environment. The remainder of the essay will largely consider Dr. Matusov’s thoughts on the student’s right to freedom of education and will offer arguments both for and against some of Dr. Matusov’s thoughts expressed in his article. Finally, an argument for a more holistic and structured view of authority and freedom in education will be discussed, using some studies on the Finnish education system as an example of one approach to improving education.