Blog #10

 Abolitionist Teaching

Lucas McElroy

            In the video with Dr. Love, we learn about the "Abolitionist Learning" method of teaching. This is a set of  practices and approaches to teaching that focus on restoring humanity for all children in schools. It is the practice of pursuing educational freedom for all students. Love describes the current educational setting as an "educational survival complex," one that is built on the suffering of students of color in which they are never educated to thrive, only to survive." This teaching method is going to look different in different schools, as kids need different needs based on their demographic. One of the approaches she uses are non-traditional educational curricula such as Hip Hop based education, critical media literacy and pop culture. Many teachers who use this method take inspiration from the abolitionist era, which is where this gets its name. During the abolitionist era, reforms were made to free and equalize African Americans in the United States, which is something that needs to happen for young African American students in the United States school systems in today's society. 

Question: Have there been any acts passed to reform education specifically to help people of color? 

Link: https://abolitionistteachingnetwork.org/

Blog #9

 Blog Post #9

Lucas McElroy

    1. One article that stood out to me was the Jonathan Cozal article. What was meaningful to me was the explanation of the racial divide with wealth in New York. The white population household income is significantly more than the Hispanic and black population. The Hispanic and Black populations average household income in Mott Haven is $7,600.

    2. Another article that was meaningful was Patrick Finn's Literacy with an Attitude. It was meaningful because it focused on the different outcomes of students depending on where they lived. It shows that your life is dependent on where they go to school. 

    3. My last point is from our first ever article. The quote was from Rodney King and he said "Can't we all just get along". That was one of the most meaningful quotes I read. This resonated with me because we should all just be able to get along no matter what our differences are.

Blog #8 Sex and Gender Based Systems

 Sex and Gender Based Systems 

Lucas McElroy 

Sex and gender systems are the set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed sexual needs are satisfied. It is very important in todays society that all different genders are respected, especially in the school systems. Students need to be able to feel comfortable in school and be able to express themselves to make them feel truly comfortable in their body. There are many different acts and laws that ensure that this happens. For example, FERPA makes sure that students records are kept private. This is especially important for transgender students, as if they choose other students or even faculty do not need to know that this student has decided to go through a gender transition. In 2011 Title IX was extended to make sure that LGBTQ students get the same rights as other students. This includes the school taking immediate action in solving harassment cases against these students, in the same way they would any other student filing a harassment case. In the video the book "They, She, He, Easy as ABC" is read. This book is child friendly and teaches the different pronouns and the importance of using them so others feel respected. The book goes by every letter in the alphabet and gives different examples of pronouns and genders for each letter. The book also gives adults a good opportunity to explain the pronouns in a fun, easy way for children to understand. It is important that people learn how to respect pronouns and the way others want to live their life at an early age during school, so that they treat everyone with respect and will not have issues in the future. 

Comments: Back when I was in school I was never informed on the different genders and pronouns. Seeing that there is a book that is child friendly for children to learn is amazing.

Hyperlink: https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns/

Ability Based Systems

 Ability Based Systems

Lucas McElroy

The basic definition of ableism is the discrimination in favor of able-bodied people. The Albeist assumption is that people with a disability need to be fixed, and that the disability defines the person who has it. America is a country built upon being normal. When someone with a disability walks into a cafe, it can be hard not to stare. Most people wonder how this has happened to the person, and feel bad for them but at the end of the day this is only causing the person with the disability to feel worse about themselves. The treatment of disabled people in America's school systems is one of the worst displays of how disabled people are treated in our country. One of the most convincing arguments was about deaf students. It makes the most sense that these students would be taught ASL, as it is made for the deaf and hard of hearing to be able to communicate with others. This sadly is not the case. Deaf children in todays school systems are told to lip read what others are saying and speak to them. This can be demoralizing for these students, as they can not even hear what they say so they are more self conscious. It has been proven in studies that deaf children receive a lower level of education simply due to the fact that their version of language is not used for them. There is a lot of room for growth in the education of students with disabilities. The first step is realizing that trying to make them learn the same as students without disabilities simply is not going to work. With a little hard work, and educators who are specialized in different disability teaching, disabled students would be achieving the same level of education as everyone else, which is something they deserve.   

https://study.com/learn/lesson/ableism-public-schools-forms-examples.html

      

Bilingual Teaching in Schools

 Bilingual Education in Schools 

    Reflection - In looking at the two sources of bilingual education I realized that there are two sides to the story. On one hand you could try and help students who do not speak English thrive in school and feel more like their peers. On the other hand there are students who are not able to take on their true culture and represent that while they are at school simply because they are in a new country where they are forced to learn a new language. I see both sides. I believe it is important the students who do not speak English learn to in the school setting, as English is a top language in the world, however they should not have to give up their native language and culture to learn this. Often times students will forget some of the heritage because they are so focused on learning this new language in school to get the good grade and to fit into their school and with their peers better. In the videos the teachers incorporated their students native language into their English teachings, so the students are not totally giving up their culture. This also helps these students have a starting place. Starting with their native language makes them feel more comfortable and slowly incorporating more and more English is the best way for them to learn. For these students the educators must also keep in mind that this a complete culture shock and that it is also their job as an educator to keep their students feeling safe in their classroom. 

Hyperlink - https://www.renaissance.com/edword/bilingual-education/#:~:text=Bilingual%20education%20is%20a%20term,outcome%20goal%20of%20the%20model.

Literacy With an Attitude Patrick Finn

 Literacy With an Attitude

By: Patrick Finn

    Throughout the passage Finn writes about how Jean Anyon studied fifth grade classes throughout New Jersey. The classes ranged from executive elites to working class. In the working class classrooms the teachers were younger and just handed out work without explaining why the students needed to do it.  The students were given the work and expected to do it the teachers way and if they did not they would receive a bad grade. Teachers also talk lowly of their students. Which does not inspire them in the classroom. The middle-class school was more based on the understanding of the books and the definitions in the books. The classroom was focused on getting the right answer and that was how you were graded. In the affluent professional schools the teachers cared more about the students creativity and personal development more. Teachers would rarely give direct orders and students focused on being imaginative. In the executive elite schools their knowledge was academic, intellectual, and rigorous. These students were taught how to go about life and succeed and how to achieve an "elite" lifestyle. The second chapter of this passage is aimed to show you how growing up in different communities can pave your future.

Comments: How can a state or country find teachers for different working classes to teach all students equally?

 

Video Analysis Links

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HGsgOZw3iHdJq1qEnLCu8AyPoTzTO2uwq7Guw9teRxU/edit - Precious Knowledge

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCmokT3iCEFQbnw5f6vdRN6LiXFwoCKIk6aU62mE89Y/edit - Classroom Tour

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15MC-Q3UBgqbuPfiabzsQj4_tgJM0VAWNFcORoG8PH7A/edit - Teach Us All