On the one hand, I cannot manipulate. On the other hand, I cannot leave students by themselves. The opposite of these two possibilities is being radically democratic. That means accepting the directive nature of education. There is a directiveness to education which never allows it to be neutral
I love how this quote, and it feels like this section beautifully describes the responsibilities of an educator, or at least in contrast to the responsibilities reflected in a banking model. It reminds me of an obligation I have to be self-actualizing for the sake of my students, to be self-aware, reflective, and considerate of how I am framing everything, understanding the power of education as an institution. I can't manipulate, but I also can't leave kids without support. That does mean radical democracy, radical in the sense that even in roles where power dynamics have been historically so rigid, and even with children, and especially with the oppressed, we must find ways to break hegemony and share the role of generating knowledge in a radically democratic way.