I started on this journey of Education 311 only a
few short months ago, and this week it is coming to a close as the semester
ends. The class was an area for me to absorb crucial information in order to
become an educator, as well as build my critical thinking skills, and lastly,
my writing skills by creating this blog. I was very lucky in that the classroom
space was influenced mostly by the students, grounded in our readings and
discussed further to better understand the different objectives of the articles
and books we read. For me personally, there are a few different areas that I
found to stick out more than others. Some of these areas include literacy
knowledge and previous backgrounds of a student, the reading gap and
conversation gap. Moreover, ideals that are expressed through Lisa Delpit and
Allen Johnson, dealing with classism and racism. Whether society wants to
acknowledge these privileges and oppressions on stereotypes or not, they are
still very much in existence.
My favorite article of the semester was one written
by author Victoria Purcell-Gates, entitled "...As soon as she opened her
mouth!" The article explains how the literacy knowledge, or lack there of,
effects children that are in poorer areas of the country. Reading is considered
to be second nature for most us after about third grade, but for Donny and his
mother Jenny, that wasn't the case. Jenny grew up in the Appalachians and was a
high school drop out, along with her husband, in which neither one of them
never learned to read. So presumably, their son Donny was put in the same positions
because Jenny simply did not have the language or skills to do so. What Donny
lacked going into first grade was language concepts- relationships between
letters, words, reading, writing and speaking. The mothers lack of education
puts Donny in a position that he cannot be exposed to language concepts, and
therefor struggled when entering the school system. Early exposure to language
concepts are very important in toddlers so that they can start to construct a
vocabulary and mimic actions of speaking and interacting with those around
them.
From my own personal experiences, my mother and
father read to me every night before bed, and it really constructed the
building blocks necessary for me to continue on in school. Donny didn't get
that, so what happened to Donny? As most teachers do, they just passed him on
to the next grade level without recognizing the fact that he couldn't read or
write by third grade. Not only was Donny blindly pass around, but the
administration was not taking action to help Donny. Donny was already put in
the system as an illiterate child because his mother and father were considered
to be illiterate. The best part about this article, however, is that Jenny
fully recognized the fact that Donny still didn't have reading or writing
skills, and it seemed that she was the only one who noticed. She seemed to be
the smartest person in this whole situation because she saw that Donny was
being put on a path for him to drop out in the future. A path where he would
not learn basic skills, and just fall into the work force within the lower
class and even poverty class.
Throughout the passing of Donny from first grade to
third grade, Jenny had tried her best to express to the administration that he
was not at a third grade level in education, even though he was put in a third
grade class. Jenny kept receiving letters in the mail from the school, even
after she had told them not to send them to her (it's been established that she
can't read!!!). What really made an impact for change was when the author,
Victoria Purcell-Gates, came to talk to the administration. Funny how someone
in a position of power is listened to very openly, when on the other hand,
Jenny simply said that she did not want letters sent home and they blatantly
disregarded her. It was at that time, when Purcell-Gates interjected, that
Donny was moved back down to second grade. Although Jenny lacked the experience
and education compared to the author, she should not have been ignored by the
administration as a credible source. Being Donny's own mother, she was able to
see first hand that he was headed down the same path she had gone, not
Purcell-Gates, but Donny's mother. So why is it that when a complete stranger
steps into the picture with a degree, she is given credit without any
question?
Classism affects children in additional ways, which
includes the reading gap, role model gap, and conversation gap. These ideals
rely heavily on the parents of the students. It is said that kids with
wealthier parents are read to more often than kids whose family live in
poverty. This is in part to the fact that a parent is uneducated and can't read
(such as Jenny), but also, the parent in a poor family is said to have more
than one job, or a job that requires shifts that are not the typical 9am-5pm.
When a parent is away working, they aren't able to spend as much time with
their children and read to them, as opposed to a wealthier parent. Parents need
to be role models for their children, so that the child can see their parent
engaging in actions of conversation, reading, and writing. Toddlers are so
absorbent and pick up on signs and routines of the parent/parents in daily
life; sort of like a monkey see, monkey do.
This is when the reading gap starts to become
prominent, due to the fact that a child's previous experience is going to be
different for each individual child (Rothstein). Some children could be read to
every night, practice building vocabulary, or even learning to write. On the
other end of the spectrum, there are children that have had none or very little
experience. It is the schools job to recognize that all children learn
differently and come into a school with specific previous knowledge that is not
aligned with another child.
Lisa Delpit also expresses that children in schools
need to be taught how to act white in order to gain the same privileges
bestowed upon Caucasian students. People of middle-class or higher,
receive a better education due to their dominate power over other classes.
Society views a white, middle-class student as more of a priority over students
that are in poorer areas and/or of a different skin color. Delpit is a black
woman herself, and she has to continually justify what she says because as a
black female she gets questioned as to whether or not she can be viewed as
credible. Why does society find it appropriate to water down all different
races and ethnicities so that the white, middle-class privilege still
remains?
A multicultural education was also highlighted
during this Spring semester. Multicultural curriculum includes race studies as
well as its history so that students can get a better understanding of who they
are and where they came from. For example, there was a documentary showing
students in a Tuscon, Arizona high school that were forced to let go of their
Mexican American program. The program was pushed to extinction because the
class was believed to encourage the students to hate America, resulting in the
government saying the class is now illegal. But of course, guess who was behind
the workings of trying to shut the Mexican American studies program down? You
got it, a white, middle-class male.The superintendent of the high school pushed
for these classes to be shut down, however, he did not make any actions towards
the African American studies. Although the superintendent never went to visit
the classroom first hand, he gather information purely by hearsay, making him
believe that the program was promoting students to be anti-American.
Statistics showed that the students enrolled in the
program raised their grades and created an overall higher percentage of
graduating Mexican Americans. To me, that sounds like a great program to
incorporate in the school due to its effectiveness on the students. The
students stated that they felt more accepted by the school as well as feeling
more comfortable with which they form a better understanding of their cultural
history. Granted, this would not be the same case for schools up north or maybe
in the mid-west, but implementing programs for race and cultural studies seem
to be positive for the most part.
The Arizona school created curriculum that was
geared towards their students specifically, much as early childhood educators
do with their children coming into the system with all different levels of
predisposed knowledge. I think that is one of the most important thing a school
can do- adjust to their students and community so that every person has a sense
of involvement. Tailoring education to individual needs of the student’s steps
outside of that "cookie-cutter" education. No two people learn the
same way, or at the same exact rate.
This class taught me a lot of different
perspectives relating to an education system, that before hand, I would have
had no idea related. Ideals of hierarchy, privilege, politics, multicultural
education, gaps, and of course, our 'isms,' are all linked to education in some
way or another. Recognizing positions of power and privilege is the first step;
the next step is to actually make changes accordingly. Changes are necessary so
that we don't have students like Donny being passed on to each grade if they
truly aren't learning anything. If our education system is truly setting the
students up to only achieve what their parents achieved, then isn't it time
that we create school systems that DOESN'T perpetuate the system? There isn't
one end-all-be-all answer to these issues, but there are actions that can be
taken in order to help bring about change. A student should be oppressed
because he or she comes from a poorer family, is black, or lacks previous
experience compared to others. That's why the role of a teacher is so crucial
in co-creating students that will be prepared to be influential, powerful
members of society.
Most are probably under the impression that
"we should treat everyone equally," but on the contrary, it is not
that at all. Treat each student as an individual, not just another face in the
crowd, not just another name in the roster, not just another low-grade student
to pass on to someone else. Being a teacher, for me anyways, is a position that
goes above and beyond for the child so that they can become writers, readers,
speakers, and then further down the road- critical thinkers. I am an early
childhood education major, so for me I see that as the building block years. If
I am not doing my job right, then it will only get harder for the student and
teachers down the line. As we discussed in class- no one claims that they want
to be "an ordinary teacher." The real challenge is actually following
through with that claim. So five, ten, or even fifteen years down the line, the
teacher could give up on that, but I don't want to be that educator. I hope
that I can take all of what I learned from Education 311 and carry it with me
every year, until I retire even!
Stay beautiful
