Liberation Praxis: Participation & Inquiry; "Revisited"

I would like to start off by acknowledging that I am using Jocelyn's blog for my (late) post on Ira Shor's article, "Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change". I was fascinated by everything that she wrote on her blog and the quotes chosen were absolutely fabulous. I will be using some of the quotes she posted and adding quotes from the original piece and then writing about the connection between the two. So here it goes!

1. August’s “Creating Safe Spaces: “Our role as teachers is to create a safe environment in which students can express opinions and most importantly, generate their own language materials for learning and peer-teaching” (Shor, 43).

      -"...teachers, school administrators, and college professors create an atmosphere in which

      difference is not only tolerated but expected, explored and embraced, students will be more

      likely to develop perspectives that result in respectful behaviors."

What both Shor and August is saying is that if there is a safe environment for a student; that in any other circumstance feels foreign to it, where they are embraced and made to feel like they are just as special as anyone else, they can be more successful and respected in life. When a safe space is created the individual(s) can be comfortable to be themselves and know that they will be accepted for who they are. I believe that this can not only be tied to August, but to Kliewer as well.

      -"Its not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We are all here-kids, teachers,

       parents, whoever- it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and

       that's what learning is."

In Kliewer's piece he tells of a teacher that had a boy with down syndrome in her class that loved to dance along to his books and she let him. She did not shut him down and tell him, "that's not what we in school", instead she let the other students in the class learn another way to interpret books through this child. She created a safe space for this student and his classmates enjoyed what he had taught them and stated that they would have never thought about interpreting books in that way. Not only did the boy feel safe within the classroom walls, but other students learned to be respectful and understanding of his different learning style.

 

 

2. Collier’s “Code-Switching”: “As writing teachers to Afro-Caribbean students, they taught the community idiom, Creole and standard English simultaneously. They did not install white English as the preferred idiom in the classroom. Instead they developed bilingual literacy and a political awareness of the relationship between the dominant and the community languages” (Shor, 48).

      -"Be aware that children use first language acquisition strategies for learning or acquiring a

      second language"

 

What Collier is suggesting is that when a child is learning English as their second language they use their first language in order to better understand what they are learning. I have witnessed this first and can say that by using a child's first language to learn English, they children are better able to comprehend and remember new concepts. Shor also includes the fact that when a teacher uses these valuable learning tools, students feel respected and develop a better respect and relationship with the teacher and the environment they are in. This concept can of course be tied to Kohl.

      -"Not-learning tends to take place when someone has to deal with unavoidable challenges to her

      or his personal and family loyalties, integrity and identity."

 What Kohl is acknowledging is the idea that if a child feels as though something about themselves has been threated, disrespected or taken away from them, they will refuse to learn based this outside attack on their being. When this happens you have the "I won't learn from you moment" and in the end it is the child that suffers the most from this.

 

 

3. Delpit’s “Rules and Codes of Power”: “Most kids like the sound of their home language better…we talk about why it might be necessary to learn standard English…asking my students to memorize the rules without asking who makes the rules, who enforces the rues, who benefits from the rules, who loses from the rules…legitimates a social system that devalues my students’ knowledge and language” (Shor, 53).

      -"If you are not already a participant in the cultures of power, being told explicitly the rules and

       code of that culture makes it acquiring power easier."

What Delpit is saying is that there is that there are rules and codes of power embedded into our society, in order for anyone to be successful in this world they must adhere to the rules and codes. However if you were not born into the culture that has the power to make these rules then you must learn them. Then it becomes the teachers job to teach these rules and codes of power to their students in order for them to be successful beings in the world that they live in.


In conclusion: After trying to digest the piece that is Shor because it is a lot to process, this being due to the fact that there are so many connections to the articles that we have read throughout the entire semester. This of course making it the best one to end our wonderful class off with. :)

 

Monday Night Football!

In the spirit of Monday night football here is a picture of a high school football team that allowed a boy with Down syndrome to play with them for a bit during a football game. Now this is a school that recognized this child's passion and didn't hold him back from it because of his "handicap".

 

Oh and... GO PATS!

 

Schooling Children with Down Syndrome

When people in our society think of Down Syndrome they have this preconceived idea in their head and looks a little something like this:

 

People see the stereotypical look of people with Down Syndrome, but fail to see the unique individual behind the "flattened nose and face, upward slanting eyes and widely separated toes."

 

In Christopher Kliewer's article Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome, he challenges the preconception of what its like to be a child with Down Syndrome and the linear teaching model that goes along with it. No matter the level of academia of a child our education system promotes this linear approach, however it is extremely unsuccessful in the life of a child with Down Syndrome. The system does not celebrate a child's uniqueness and the different teaching opportunities that they can bring to the classroom and the students and teachers within it. This idea can be attributed to the inclusion of the community within the lives of a child with Down Syndrome. So in other words, "We have got to learn to get along as individuals and as citizens." This concept can easily be brought into the classroom by including children with special needs in to a "normal" classroom, which has proven to increase intellect.

 

In the example that was given within the text, a teacher named Shayne Robbins used a passion of Isaac's (a child with Down Syndrome) to use as a lesson and activity in class. Isaac loved the book Where the Wild Things Are, and they re-enacted the book with using their own script, back drops and costuming. (Not to mention they addressed gender roles when female students wanted to play the main character Max) With one simple activity Isaac could feel included with his school community and they learned important lessons too!

 

This sense of community can be established in four ways according to Christopher Kliewer:

      1. A belief in one's ability to think= rejecting the idea of "narrow interpretation of mathematical and linguistic characteristics when defining school citizenship [and] multiplicity of knowledge"

            *this can be done in the following ways*

                  a. logical mathematical thinking

                  b. linguistic capacities

                  c. spatial-representation intelligence

                  d. musical intelligence

                  e. kinesthetic intelligence

                  f. interpersonal intelligence

                  g. intrapersonal intelligence

 

      2. A belief in one's individuality= students not being grouped and categorized based in ability

 

      3. A belief in the reciprocity of the relationship="acknowledging students with Down syndrome as thoughtful, creative learners with personal identities that distinguish them from all the other people"

 

      4. Defining social place: a shared location=giving children the sense of community and family that the can have a connection too.

 

Essentially what this entire post/summarization of what Kliewer has to say is as such. In order for students with Down syndrome to do well, they need to feel included within the classroom as an individual, not the "mentally challenged" one of the class. This can easily be done by looking past the "symptoms" and looking at the individual, after all it is just an extra chromosome.





 

 



Promising Practices: An Interesting Experience

When I was thinking and mulling over my experience at the Promising Practices conference it occurred to me that it wasn't at all what I had expected it to be. In my mind we would be sitting in on the sections about how to teach in multicultural environments, quite like our classes and lessons in FNED 346. I had an expectation that I would be able to learn how to teach art and photography (based on the sections I chose) and I would have the great epiphany, much like the one I had during my first week of class. However, this was not the case. In fact I was thoroughly disappointed by the entire day.

My disappointment started at the morning panel, or debate/political campaign, as I would like to call it. The panel consisted of white, higher status group leaders or university presidents and the Mayor of Providence, Angel Taveras. The topic of discussion was about the opportunities that lower income, impoverished students have at their disposal. Of course the topic of poverty doesn't go without the inclusion of race. It was pretty clear early on that the majority of the panel stuck together on the one singular idea brought up by Angel Taveras, that "your skin color isn't an excuse, that you can overcome anything if you put your mind to it." This concept was backed by Angel's story of triumph and perseverance to get where he is now (told multiple times I might add). What went through my head immediately was, "it may not be an excuse, but it is a reality and you had opportunities most do not, so what are you going to do about it?"

What are you going to do about it? A pretty straight forward and simple question I think and yet it was never answered. No matter the format or who the question was being directed toward, it was still danced around and never answered. Much like what happens during political campaigns. This can be tied to what Mr. Bogad said in class today. That it all comes down to the "vote for me" aspect of being in office, rather than actually doing something to make a difference. It is a way in which politicians talk as though they answered the question, and not indicating a solution, that way they don't have to take action. As Nick would say....

"What the hell does that mean?" It means that so many Americans are getting tricked into thinking that progress will be made, but in actuality nothing gets done. So in other words, the entire panel was pointless except for the face that I was provided with breakfast and coffee.

In regards to my sessions all three were yet again, a disappointment. Being someone who is extremely interested in art I took every "artsy" session available. The first two involved programs where the orators had been involved in or conducted their very own volunteer service. The first was s project to brighten up a school cafeteria by having students paint a mural about the town's history on the walls. Great. Awesome. I love it. There was community involvement and learning all rolled into one, nothing could be better. Well except one thing. The project only occurred one time and there was no program that continued from it and I don't know how to do something like this by myself. My second session left with the same  feeling of "wow great program, but how can I accomplish this myself?" And my last section was an exhibit of photography. How it was helping the community I have no idea. So that begs the question, why did I drag my lazy behind out of bed at seven o'clock in the morning?

Well, although it seems as though I have just b****** for about three paragraphs (which I guess I have), I did get something useful out of it. I realized that not everyone has been privileged to the education I have received in FNED 346. They don't know that saying "race shouldn't be used as an excuse", is just their power and privilege talking or that Collier says "stop talking and start doing". Although people may not know these things, it is up to me an everyone else in the class to educate them. Which is why I believe it to be beneficial for us, as a class, to write a letter voicing our opinions about what was said in the conference. Overall, the entire day was not at all what I expected and yet there was still something to say about it and that seems pretty good to me.

When did I become considered old?

I had a child in my service learning ask me if I had any kids because I was probably a really great mom. My first though "awwww....but when did I become old enough to be considered a mom?"
Just wondering if anyone had any similar experiences?

Class Theme

 
I feel like this is something that can be connected to everything we have learned thus far!

Between Barack and a Hard Place.





It is know to most Americans that the schools of the United States have been racially desegregated since May 17, 1954. This is due to the court case of Brown vs. The Board of Education and a team of dedicated lawyers and concerned citizens and parents. Although it is official that the schools within  the United States are desegregated the reality is, that it is simply untrue. Based on what Bob Herbert states in his article Separate and Unequal, he would agree with the above statement. In truth, "Schools are no longer legally segregated, but because of residential patterns, housing discrimination, economic disparities and long-held custom, they most emphatically are in reality. " So in other words, despite the fact that there was a law passed desegregating schools, the segregation still continues. This is due to the income of families and the concentrations of poverty within one area, where all the children attend the same school. If there is a break on the concentration it is proven that the impoverished children do far better in a school with a higher income of residents in the surrounding community. By integrating some of the poorer students into a wealthier school it allows the children to achieve greater. It is my belief that Tim Wise would agree with this method.

What leads me to this conclusion is his idea that although Barack O'Bama is a inspiration for people of color to look up to, but should not be a limiting inspiration. He believes that people of color should not conform to the standards set by O'Bama, but instead lead their own unique path to success. By following their own way, in an environment that promotes a positive learning experience, children can have their own type of success.





What the election of Barack O'Bama has done for the people of color in the United States, as well as for our history, is substantial, but as Americans there needs to be a recognition that there is still more to do. It is easier to deny that racism still exists or put it on the colored people of the nation, saying that they use it as an excuse (a view seen by Mayor Angel Taveras of Rhode Island), but the reality is the stereotypes white people still carry is holding our nation back. As soon as we can let go of our past history and realize there is more work to be done, we will still be in a nation where racism and prejudice still exist.