Lots of wisdom shared in class today. I appreciate you diving into the hypothetical and examining some of the foundational pieces of creating classrooms from an "uncovering cultural practices" point of view. Being "intentional" has no guarantees but at least we can be explicit in explaining our beliefs and expectations (if need be) when we know we have them! Since we did not have much time to share in the big group, here are the essentials distilled from the articles you shared.
- You don't have to leave values/viewpoint at the door; you can't impose them either.
- Politics is embedded in education.
- Tourist curriculum vs. anti-bias MCE
- Racism (not necessarily negative) is inevitable. SO taboo of acknowledging and discussing race should be broken down (including "white shame")
- Don't always look to minority students as teachers/examples
- What children bring to the classroom (cultural heritage, values) good and bad
- Me pockets and paint swatches
- Persona dolls
- teachable moments = taking time to create a language of respect
In acknowledging that social /cultural differences impact our students we render an intentionally welcoming and actively anti-bias community just as important as the academic practices and processes we will teach. Given the enormity of this task, we must partner relevant activities with anti-bias pedagogical practices. These are the things that transcend "this curriculum" or "that project." These are the more subtle manifestations of value and belief that create the very fiber of our individual classroom communities.
Think of the classroom we have established in ED 561. Imagine doing "I am from" the first day of class before we had established trust. Imagine reading Delpit before playing with progressive ideas first for yourselves, or how your writing/sharing may have changed if you always "had" to share. What if we never established risk as a core value in learning and growing? What if you could never lean on the support of a group but participated in all of our activities as an individual? What if I never acknowledged when an assignment or activity was hard, never took questions, never participated in anything myself, never expected anything from you, never allowed for conversation, never made quiet space, never allowed for reflection or written responses to support participation? These practices in our classroom all stem from my core belief that teachers must honor, protect and make space for all voices to engage in the classroom. Not everyone will feel these small examples have impacted our classroom the same way, but in intentionally working from a pedagogy of how I believe people learn best at least I can be transparent when asked and engage in analysis thoughtfully rather than defensively.
All of the above (and many more) are important concepts and practices. Still, we know in our heads ( if not always in our hearts) that we have to let go of perfection, pick a few focus points at a time and give ourselves permission to let some things go. That said, think of the following activity as a philosophy "phase 2" exercise - a partner to your five ingredients conversation. Again remember, NOTHING is set in stone. You are (and hopefully will always be) an evolving educational theorist and practitioner. These are simply the thoughts you carry now.
Think of the classroom we have established in ED 561. Imagine doing "I am from" the first day of class before we had established trust. Imagine reading Delpit before playing with progressive ideas first for yourselves, or how your writing/sharing may have changed if you always "had" to share. What if we never established risk as a core value in learning and growing? What if you could never lean on the support of a group but participated in all of our activities as an individual? What if I never acknowledged when an assignment or activity was hard, never took questions, never participated in anything myself, never expected anything from you, never allowed for conversation, never made quiet space, never allowed for reflection or written responses to support participation? These practices in our classroom all stem from my core belief that teachers must honor, protect and make space for all voices to engage in the classroom. Not everyone will feel these small examples have impacted our classroom the same way, but in intentionally working from a pedagogy of how I believe people learn best at least I can be transparent when asked and engage in analysis thoughtfully rather than defensively.
All of the above (and many more) are important concepts and practices. Still, we know in our heads ( if not always in our hearts) that we have to let go of perfection, pick a few focus points at a time and give ourselves permission to let some things go. That said, think of the following activity as a philosophy "phase 2" exercise - a partner to your five ingredients conversation. Again remember, NOTHING is set in stone. You are (and hopefully will always be) an evolving educational theorist and practitioner. These are simply the thoughts you carry now.
For this weekend's blog, please choose 3 statements/phrases/positions "essentials" if you will that are becoming part of your core teaching philosophy specific to the social justice/ diversity conversations of the last several class periods. You could use something from our class list (see above), or go back to the articles to pull from those ideas, or borrow a "thesis" or statement from Delpit or other writers that may have resonated with you OR come up with your own statements you feel you could and would defend. Choose ideas you feel you could authentically stand on and briefly explain each of your 3 points.
You could finish any of these sentences or create your own.
I believe a classroom needs
I believe teachers can
I believe children deserve
I believe classrooms are
The classroom is a place
In my classroom I value
You get the idea.
As with the Delpit blog response, please print a copy to put into your portfolios.
Have a great weekend and thanks for welcoming Bekah so warmly today,
Zalika
You don't have to leave values/viewpoints at the door; you can't impose them either.
ReplyDeleteI believe its important to have your own values/viewpoints and hold your own beliefs with a certain sense of pride. These values make individuals who they are, and a teacher who is confident in their core values is a good example for students. I also believe however, that these certain values should not be imposed on the children, and children should understand that they can also hold values/viewpoints in confidence without imposing their views on others.
Racism (not necessarily negative) is inevitable. SO taboo of acknowledging and discussing race should be broken down (including “white shame”).
I believe a classroom needs to be an environment in which issues such as race (which can be very emotionally charged) can be discussed. It should be a safe environment where this issue should be tackled and hopefully changed. [from my personal experience as well, I grew up in a very mixed group of people with people of all sorts of color, and never really thought about my own race until I had a TA position at Benson High School in which I was a minority, and for the first time I felt a strong sense that I was different. It was something I had never really discussed before growing up probably because of the mixed races within my school, but it is something that at some point almost everyone will encounter, and somehow being ready for it is probably a good thing]
Me pockets and paint swatches
I really liked the idea of me pockets. I loved the concept that children could build their identity and share it with others. It also helps other children see each other as individuals rather than people of a certain culture, race, or nationality. I think it is a great way to teach kids that these factors such as culture or race are important aspects to who someone is, but that it is part of an identity, and not the whole identity in and of itself.