The Student Voice and Cooperation Paragraph

Jessica Brunelli

M. Williams

English 1A

2 September 2013

The Student Voice and Cooperation

In the transcript for The Passion Project by Skye Ontiveros students give there opinions of how children conform to the harsh demands of family and society, and in doing so let go of there passions. The students give examples of different ways the school system could keep kids from falling through the cracks. They express the importance of the student voice and stress the influence a teacher has over the student. A narrated portion of the transcript speaks to the power of cooperation. It is suggested that the chemical reaction the brain has when it is cooperating with others is pleasurable, and there for, could cause a student’s learning rate to accelerate. When students have the confidence to open up to there piers, the skills to organize there thoughts, and have acquired the ability to think critically, the student can then “bounce off what’s going on in your head and help interpret it...it starts to fester more thoughts...like that domino effect,” Ontiveros, Skye. Interviw with Samira. The Passion Project. Print.  In the article, It Takes Two, many examples are given of how cooperation is a part of nature. According to Fortune, of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences "We found that the brain of each individual participant prefers the combined activity over his or her own part" Johns Hopkins University. "It takes two: Brains come wired for cooperation, neuroscientists discover." ScienceDaily, 6 Nov. 2011. Web. 2 Sep. 2013. In order for cooperation to occur students must want to participate. Students must be excited about the material they are being taught. Teachers have to respect the student voice in order to entice the students in the material. Without listening to and considering what students have to say teachers wont hold the students attention. Students who feel comfortable speaking up in class gain confidence and are able to cooperate with others in both school and there future careers.