I'm Only Bleeding: Education as the Practice of Social Violence Against Children(10 Counterpoints)

I'm Only Bleeding: Education as the Practice of Social Violence Against Children is an examination of the violence that education presently practices on our children. Using a paradigm steeped in object relations theory and its resulting psychoanalytic practice and in recent research in the burgeoning field of neuroscience, the book examines the growth of the child's psychological self and portrays the destructive effects that the idea and practice of schools and curriculum have on that development. This book explores the construction of the idea of the child as a product of adult needs and the schools as a place where children may be confined until they may be considered socially useful.

About the Author :
The Author: Alan A. Block is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education; School Counseling; School Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. His scholarly work is in curriculum theory and reading/language arts instruction. He has taught in the public schools for eighteen years and at the University for another seven years. His two young children are occupants of the school system. Dr. Block has published two other books, Anonymous Toil and Occupied Reading and numerous articles and book chapters.

Review :
Alan Block's dazzling inquiry into the purpose and practice of contemporary schooling is disruptive, challenging, informative, fascinating, aggravating, and unforgettable - in other words, it is right on target. He holds a mirror to our experiences as students and as teachers, and he shows us in detail the ways in which the denial of idiosyncrasy, uncertainty, and ambivalence is in fact a denial of life itself. He illuminates the banality of violence and oppression as it is enacted in the everyday, articulates the pain and conflict of our actual encounters with school, and points to a possible world characterized by discovery and surprise. 'I'm Only Bleeding' will unhinge a lot of readers - it unhinged me - allowing them to imagine a world fit for all children, a place of peace and justice. (William Ayers, University of Illinois at Chicago) Alan Block is a visionary who has both feet firmly planted on the ground. He has written a passionate indictment of the theater of contemporary schools where children become actors alienated from their own bodies and creative potential. Decrying that psychological violence perpetrated in these settings, he insists that we strike the set - packing away forever the fixed curricula, universal standards, and intensive surveillance through which we discipline our children. Drawing on the object relations theory and the existential realities of childhood, Alan Block demands that we honor the right of all children to play, to dream, and to the free use of their imaginations. Everyone concerned about the future of children and childhood should read this book. (Jonathan G. Silin, Graduate Faculty, The Bank Street College of Education) 'I'm Only Bleeding' is a powerful indictment of the system that controls our children. It is about what is tragically wrong with our educational system and the violence it perpetuates. Most importantly, it is a plea to all educators to create respectful and just classroom communities. As a teacher educator I will give my students the opportunity to 'walk through' this book as they envision their own classrooms - communities that hopefully allow all learners the freedom and safety to actively learn. (Nina Zaragoza, Florida International University)