Culturally Responsive Teaching/What to look for in a classroom

 Reflection: Even though the Alfie Kohn chart is not that long of a read I still found it very interesting. In this piece is goes over various aspects of classroom decoration and atmosphere and talks about the good and the bad. When reading it I found myself thinking back to a lot of my classrooms that I had during my time in school and saw a lot of similarities in what the author described as good or bad classrooms and the relation to my own teacher's experience. When I began to start thinking back on my favorite teachers, I was able to see many of these classroom decorations coming into play. I originally only thought about my elementary school teachers because I thought that was where you see more decorations but as i thought more I realized my favorite High School teachers had many aspects of these factors too. One of my favorite teachers in high school was a law teacher. His class always had all these worksheets and other activities done by students decorating the wall. Photos of past students and current students were on the walls Even though his class was in a lecture hall he was always moving around and interacting with students, which added to his classroom presence. Even though it was a larger classroom there was stuff relating to the subject all over. I can see this piece connect directly to my own learning as I found my favorite teachers had these types of learning environments. When it comes to learning the environment that you learn in can play a drastic role in your education and I think its very good to understand that and be able to cater to the students.  

Here is another article which gives its own take on the perfect classroom.

Troublemakers

Quote: "Understanding supposedly broken children as miner's canaries focus our attention on the toxic social and cultural conditions of schools that threaten and imperil the hope of freedom." 

Explain: When reading the preface, I liked and better understood the reading by the author using this example. When reading this passage, I think the use of a canary to describe children and their learning environment is very impactful and helps me to better understand the reading. The canary was an incredibly good way to show off how schools can be the problem when it comes to such a delinquent new learner such as an elementary student. These young students are creative thinkers and are very impressionable so when schools try to force them to certain thinkings this can hurt them similarly to the delicate canary. The children who are “acting out” like the canary are indicators that something is off within the school.  

 

Quote: “I chose these four children carefully. In school we generally identify the most pleasant, most complaint as our leaders. But if being a leader means doing exactly what one is told, we should wonder what it means to be a follower.”  

Explain: This quote stood out to me when I was reading. This quote is very interesting in the way it provokes many thoughts. I found myself questioning what schools are here to teach students. Not to be leaders themselves but to show that following rules and being obedient is what makes a good person instead of challenging various aspects of society. It makes students compliant to authority and instead of challenging thinkings, students see the “good” students just do exactly what they are told, and this aspect of school produces even more followers than true leaders.  

Here is another article talking about the need for true leadership within schools.

The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

The piece The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies writes about the ethnic studies of today and how many students are expressing interest but schools won't provide these classes. When reading this piece I was able to connect it back to last weeks reading regarding the four I's of oppression. This is a prime example of institutional oppression. The history of the people in power is being represented and taught while the cultures and history of the minorities aren't. This shows the culture in power representing themselves more when it comes to the education of children and not allowing the minorities a way to show their history and cultures in the classroom. “For example, although White fifth graders believed that the Bill of Rights gives rights to everyone, about half of the Black children pointed out that not everyone has rights. While Black children were beginning to articulate a sense of racial oppression,”. This is a great example used in the texts showing that institutional oppression of certain history. Curriculum of schools are created by the people with power and don't do a good enough job of representing other cultures and the minority. Throughout the text the author uses many examples of students wanting to learn more about their own culture or other cultures but schools don't offer them. Allowing schools to intergrade ethnic studies as shown in this paper will be able to allow better teaching and learning and also begin tapping the glass on this form of oppression in schools.  

Attached here is a paper going over the positive effects of implementing ethnic studies in schools.

The Four "I"s of Oppression

The Four "I"s of Oppression is a piece done by the Training Resources for the Environmental Community or TREC. The piece talks about the four different types of oppression and how each works and where they are rooted in our society and ourselves. There was a video that went along with the reading that also does a great job of giving examples and better explaining the four “I”s. One point the author makes about institutional oppression can be seen today and the idea of “tapping on the glass” is seen as institutions are starting to stray away from. One example is the practice among many colleges of requiring a minimum college entrance. The author says “exam score from successful candidates; numerous studies have demonstrated that scores do not predict academic success and at best reflect class privilege.” We see the “tapping on the glass” as colleges are starting to see the problem in forcing students to submitted their SAT or similar test before being accepted. This is a small change in a larger institutional problem of oppression and even though a lot of colleges still do require these scores we can some progress being made in the right direction. These different forms of oppression are deep seated in the minds and institutions of today's society and many steps are going to have be taken before we are able to overcome them all. One more deep-seated problem is in the way we view even our own children before they are born and the video talks on this issue. All of the different I’s are all around everyday and the article and video do a great job of bringing these problems to light and make us as readers really think about it whether it be a group discussion or just reflecting on our own experiences.  

Here is another article talking about the four I's.