Education in Politcs

    While reading the article "Education in Politics", three quotes stuck out to me. The first quote stated, "People are naturally curious. They are born learners. Education can either develop or stille their inclination to ask why and to learn." This quote reminded me of all the stories I have been hearing about my peers experiences teaching in their classrooms. Many of us have encountered teachers saying not to worry about a certain student because they are a waste of time and will not succeed. This student is going to realize that no one cares about their education so why should they. They will not want to learn and this will effect their education for the rest of their lives.

     The second quote that stuck out to me stated, "If the students' task is to memorize rules and existing knowledge, without questioning the subject matter or the learning process, their potential for critical thought and action will be restricted." This reminded me of a history teacher I had in high school. He would stand at his podium in the front of the room and read from his notes and you had to copy the notes word for word and in the format he had. He had his notes in an outline form and that is how he taught his class. "Roman numeral one... Letter A... etc" Then we got tested on these notes. All this class consisted of was memorization and I hated it. It was either you knew the material or you did not. There was no room for question or even creativity.

    The third quote that I liked stated, "To take participation into an empowering terrain, I would add that the more involved the student, the more he or she wrestles with meaning in the study." This quote reminded me of myself in school. The subjects that I actually enjoyed, I would participate, ask questions, and answer questions. In these classes, compared to classes I would just sit in and take up space, I would do so much better in.

Social Justice Event- Shirley Wilcher

     I attended the Social Justice Event with the guest speaker Shirley Wilcher who is the Executive Director of the American Association for Access. She is an activist for Affirmative Action. During this event, she gave us history and background information about Affirmative Action. She even told us personal stories about her experience with race and being a woman of color.

      Affirmative action is the support of people in the same group who lack an advantage of obtaining success due to their culture.

      During this event, Shirley Wilcher shared a personal story about her experience with racism. She is a very successful woman of color who has had many accomplishments in her life. Sadly, she still gets judged by the color of her skin. She was trying to grab a taxi on the side of the road and when she went to get in, the driver drove away. She had not done anything wrong, but because of the color of her skin, it did not matter how successful she was and her social and economic status.

    This topic reminded me of 3 course readings: -White Privilege
                                                                             - S.C.W.A.M.P
                                                                             - Indian's Father's Plea
It had to do with white dominance in today's society. One example of Affirmative Action is to prevent the white culture to feel that can over power other races and their success for the future. Affirmative Action is not just about race. It is about any culture or group of people who are different from the "norm" of today. This can be an example of the LGBTQ community. Here are 3 links that connect and better explain Affirmative Action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saIVafSC38k

http://www.understandingprejudice.org/readroom/articles/affirm.htm

http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/affirmaction.html


   

Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

      

     The first quote that stuck out to me was from a teacher at a small school was taught a young boy named Isaac Johnson. Her quote starts, "It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here- kids, parents, teachers, whoever- it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's what learning is. Don't tell me these kids are being set up to fail." This quote made me actually have faith in society for once. More people and teachers need to have this kind of attitude especially towards kids at a young age. The younger the child, the more they will follow the example they see and the attitude they have towards them. Isaac and the other students will now have a better chance to succeed because someone actually believes they can succeed.

     The second quote that I liked and that I could relate to was "I don't tend to see Down Syndrome as something. If you look at those three kids running around the room, they are incredibly different from each other. They are different in terms of what their bodies are like, how they best communicate, what they are like socially, their interests. And with those three kids in the room it would be hard to say 'This is how you should teach kids with Down Syndrome'.  They are not all alike." I worked with a special ed classroom my senior year. There was 2 students in the class with Down Syndrome. They were two very different students socially, academically and in all other aspects. One student could speak pretty clearly and the other student needed you to give him 2 options and he would choose the hand that corresponded with the option he wanted. The first student I talked about was on the swim team while the other student would not be able to work as well on a high school sports team. You could not in any way teach these two students the same way just because they both had Down Syndrome.

Literacy with an Attitude

Here is a quote that stuck out to me while reading the article "Literacy with an Attitude". "I was from the working class and I knew how working-class and poor kids related to authority. They expected people in authority to be authoritarian, and I gave them what they expected. It was an an exhausting job, but my classroom was nearly always quiet." This quote reminded me of "The Silenced Dialogue". It had to do with class instead of race. The kids knew what they had to do and did not question the authority of the teacher. The students never made a sound because they knew the teacher meant business. He stated how he was more there to teach them about control and discipline more than the actual criteria.

 The second quote that stuck out to me was "Teachers rarely explained why work was being assigned or how it was connected to other assignments. Work was often evaluated in terms of whether steps were followed rather than whether it was right or wrong." This quote stuck out to me because it made me think of how in highschool I had teachers like this and hated every minute of the class. Most of the time, the work felt like busy work to pass the time and not to connect it to future experiences. This class actually has meaning to the work we do and reflects the opposite of this quote.

 The third quote I wanted to share was "The dominant theme in the middle-class school was possibility.There was widespread anxiety about tests and grades but there
was a pervasive belief that hard work would payoff." I feel this is true in middle class schools. Students in low income schools usually do not get the credit or attention they deserve from authority and role models. They feel if no one believes in them, why should they work hard and have goals. This is a very sad reality that happens all around us.

Becoming Something Different

Here are three quotes that stuck out to me while reading "Becoming Something Different" :

 "For example, Corson (1991) has argued that ELLs have been systematically marginalized in school because of language domination, a process by which the dominant culture not only fails to recognize the value of linguistic diversity but also circumscribes the use of students’ first languages." This quote reminds me of McIntosh's "White Privilege". English becomes dominant in schools and any other ethnic groups needs to conform to this language and culture. I feel like I see this in the school I tutor at because most, if not all the teachers, that teach the ESL students only speak English. They ignore the students' other languages and cultures and just focus on English.

"Esmé’s parents were Spanish dominant, and although her mother had taken some basic English courses through community education, Spanish was the language of their home. Her parents helped her with homework as much as they could, even though her father had little formal education himself, and they attended meetings at school, although her father’s work schedule limited his attendance." I really liked this quote because it reminded me of the school I work in. The teacher tells me that a lot of the students' parents are very involved which helps a ton. These students need the extra support not only at school but at home. As long as the parents are making an effort, the child will make an effort as well. I was glad to hear that this little girl's parents made the most effort they could give.