"It must be nice to have summers off, and have all of those vacations and to get paid for it all." This statement is one that I hear a lot when I tell people about my chosen profession. It is also the one statement that infuriates me so much because they have no clue what it means to be a teacher! Why shouldn't they view the profession like that though, when even the government views teachers as "failures." This week's readings have been about Neoliberalism and their view that "what is private is necessarily good, and what is public is necessarily bad."(Apple, pg. 38 ). This statement is so far from the truth, that I don't even know where to begin.
I want to ask the government officials who are promoting neoliberalism, to come to our schools for a week. Not a day, because things can be made to look good in a day, but over a week they will get to see what their "policies" have done to great teachers. Due to the NCLB Act we have amazing teachers who used to do creative, thought provoking lessons, which weren't always, "curriculum driven" but were a valuable part of a child's learning process, now afraid to "let go" of their curriculum. Teachers who were allowed to be individuals in how they could teach, and still get the needed curriculum out to the students, afraid that they will be let go or reprimanded if their students do not pass a test with a "4" or a high "3". In fact, I know that there are some teachers in our school systems who actually do "working snacktime" instead of letting the kids have 10-15 minutes without instruction in their day! Can you even imagine the impact on these children? With the way that some families are functioning lately, school can be their only time to have positive social interactions with peers and adults, and we are now so obsessed with "teaching to the test, or having to get our curriculum in" that we are forgetting that these students, are children. For the teachers who give the students working snacks, what about the valuable lessons we could be giving them on life during that time? Such as, "you are important to me, and I want to know what you did last night for fun? " or "what do you think about ....?" Just getting the students to talk to each other in a less restrictive environment, is such a vital concept to develop, that we lose those lessons, when we are forced to "teach to the test." Perhaps in spending their week with a school, they would get to see that their policies are partly enabling the destruction of our society, more so than they believed that they are aiding in our society with their ridiculous standards.
The fact that the neoliberalists are stating that, "nearly all public institutions are sucking the financial life out of this society,"(Apple, pg. 38) infuriates me even more. They are lumping so much into that statement when they say this. What about the parks, and museums that people can go to to engage in learning? Some are free, or at least affordable so that everyone can benefit from them. Looking at and studying artwork from a well-known artist, can inspire someone to do something with their life, or just to enjoy looking at something of beauty. How about the transportation system? This system helps people get from place to place, whether it is work, or pleasure. I do recall hearing somewhere that we should be using public transportation more and using less resources to drive our cars everywhere. If private companies took over all of the public sphere, then I honestly do not think that the neoliberalists realize that they will be taking away the very essence of America. "The Land of the Free..." would mean nothing if everything begins to be sold to the highest bidder.
"For the neoliberals, the world is a vast supermarket." (Apple, pg. 39) This statement proves that they would like to sell everything to the people willing to pay for them, but they are forgetting that they are then going to be aiding in "a massive transfer of social wealth from middle-class, working-class,and low-income people to the extremely rich" (Lipman, pg. 47.) Do we want this philosophy in our school systems, and other public spheres? Can you imagine what a school system would look like if teachers have to conform to whatever the company owners want them to teach? How would colleges accept students who come from so many diverse education systems? They would not be able to judge how a curriculum prepped these students, without a system in which there was some control over, or some kind of standards.
I ask the neoliberals to go back into their memories and pull out what made some of their favorite teachers stand out in their lives. I bet that they would name the teachers who were kind, caring, had fun with what they were teaching, were creative, made them feel like they were special, etc. Wait? Aren't I describing what the majority of teachers are nowadays too? Teachers battle so many small things, that I want to know why these neoliberals want to throw more into the daily battles with these policies? Let us teach, and let us do this to the best of our abilities. We are educated individuals who went into teaching to help children, and we do this in a time that isn't always easy. Do not impose even more ridiculous standards like 100% of our students passing a test. I also want to ask these neoliberalists if they could handle a high bar set like that in their profession? I think that deep down these people know that this is an impossible goal to make people obtain, so that they can then say that we "failed". This way they can't take ownership for what they created, or for the fact that we are dealing with human beings, and as far as I know, human beings are never 100% perfect.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
"It takes a village to raise a child."
As an educator, you hope that you connect with your students enough that they want to continue the learning process while they are outside the classroom. Hopefully, this doesn't have anything to do with homework! This would be the ideal situation. We forget that we have students in our classroom who go home and speak fluently in languages other than English. These are the students who may not receive help on their homework from parents or older siblings, not because the parents are disinterested, but because they do not know the English language well enough to engage in that aspect of their child's life. The example of "Nan, a Cambodian elementary school ELL whose parents were not literate in any language." was very touching because she could handle projects and work that she could do at home, because, "[she] was able to draw on her existing artistic and performance skills to compensate for her limited English, whereas at school she was not able to access them fully." (Hanenda, p. 338). I find this story so compelling because it just touches on the creativity, and resourcefulness that these children have to use to learn the English language or to just be good students. In Nan's case I wonder, if her classroom teacher could help combine her artistic skills to help enhance her classroom work and help her to become more fluent in English. If her teacher did this for her, then perhaps she would connect with the part of Nan's learning style that would enable her to become a better English learner or even just a better student who looks forward to learning.
In my title I mention "It takes a Village to raise a child." I think some of our schools forget what a resource we have sitting outside of the schools just waiting to be tapped into! When I took Curriculum Development for the Administrator last summer, Professor Hammond would mention how the Indian culture uses their communities to help with educating their students. Everyone takes part in the schooling of the students. They have a vested interest in all of the children, not just their own. What a wonderful experience it must be for those children to know that so many people care and how exciting it must be to learn, when you know so many people are pulling for you. Hanenda touches on a similar concept when she mentions that " working class Latino families have similarly pointed to the existence of an extended network of support, noting that Latino families often engage in collaborative literacy activities in public spaces, such as the kitchen or the living room, and involve parents, siblings, cousins, and extended family members" (e.g., Volk, 1997;Volk & De Acosta, 2001). What an amazing resource for the children and also for the members of the whole family to be able to learn from each other. They are able to practice literacy in their language and I wouldn't be surprised if they also get the chance to practice speaking and using the English language too.
Other cultures or communities do similar things, such as the "Bangladeshi community in London's East End" (Hanenda, p.339). In these families "outside the school, the children spent an average of 10-18 hours per week attending formal literacy classes. Some of this time was spent in Bengali classes that were offered either in the community centers or in neighbors' homes so that they could learn to speak, read, and write Bengali." (Hanenda, p. 339). These students were now learning literacy in another language, not just English. I wonder if these students are taking some of the skills that they are using to learn this other language back with them when they get into their classrooms? In some Korean and Chinese communities they offer classes and schooling to "not only help children to learn their heritage language and cultural values but they also provide a forum for sharing core experiences of being a Chinese or Korean American." (Hanenda, p. 339). These classes are a great way for people in these communities to gather and learn and keep their culture alive. They get to talk to one another and keep their cultural values from disappearing. Another point to make about the Korean and Chinese communities is that they have "formed a sophisticated system of supplementary education, including literacy in heritage languages and English." (Hanenda, p.339).
I also wonder if these students are then making connections and using their language skills that they are learning in these supplementary classes to continue speaking to their friends who they are meeting in the classes. Maybe they are texting to them by phone, or emailing on the computer, or even talking to them on the phone. They might even be doing this in their own language, or in English. If they are communicating and being able to do so with their friends and community members, then isn't that a great way of opening up the mind of a student being a continuing learner? If these students are comfortable practicing literacy in their own language, then I wonder how we can tap into this energy? What a wonderful learning community we could establish if we could embrace the community based literacy learning. Hanenda mentions "it is equally important for teachers to reflect what it means to help students to become literate and, on this basis, to create learning environments where students feel safe to express their ideas in a developmentally appropriate manner and to engage in critical discussion of substantive issues by using reading and writing as told for thinking." (Haneda, p. 343). If these students are comfortable enough or feel safe enough to practice literacy learning outside the classroom, then we really need to look at what makes them feel this safe and comfortable. As educators our goal is to make our students lifelong learners, so if we could tap into this excitement of learning and being literate in a comfortable situation, even if it's in "another language", then isn't this when we have done our job correctly? Getting students and their families to be involved with each other and to learn skills that could help them learn other languages is an amazing concept! If we could make these students feel as safe and comfortable inside the classroom, then think about how much more effectively we can teach them. Having a "village raise the child" might be the perfect solution to making the entire community literate and help everyone learn from each other.
In my title I mention "It takes a Village to raise a child." I think some of our schools forget what a resource we have sitting outside of the schools just waiting to be tapped into! When I took Curriculum Development for the Administrator last summer, Professor Hammond would mention how the Indian culture uses their communities to help with educating their students. Everyone takes part in the schooling of the students. They have a vested interest in all of the children, not just their own. What a wonderful experience it must be for those children to know that so many people care and how exciting it must be to learn, when you know so many people are pulling for you. Hanenda touches on a similar concept when she mentions that " working class Latino families have similarly pointed to the existence of an extended network of support, noting that Latino families often engage in collaborative literacy activities in public spaces, such as the kitchen or the living room, and involve parents, siblings, cousins, and extended family members" (e.g., Volk, 1997;Volk & De Acosta, 2001). What an amazing resource for the children and also for the members of the whole family to be able to learn from each other. They are able to practice literacy in their language and I wouldn't be surprised if they also get the chance to practice speaking and using the English language too.
Other cultures or communities do similar things, such as the "Bangladeshi community in London's East End" (Hanenda, p.339). In these families "outside the school, the children spent an average of 10-18 hours per week attending formal literacy classes. Some of this time was spent in Bengali classes that were offered either in the community centers or in neighbors' homes so that they could learn to speak, read, and write Bengali." (Hanenda, p. 339). These students were now learning literacy in another language, not just English. I wonder if these students are taking some of the skills that they are using to learn this other language back with them when they get into their classrooms? In some Korean and Chinese communities they offer classes and schooling to "not only help children to learn their heritage language and cultural values but they also provide a forum for sharing core experiences of being a Chinese or Korean American." (Hanenda, p. 339). These classes are a great way for people in these communities to gather and learn and keep their culture alive. They get to talk to one another and keep their cultural values from disappearing. Another point to make about the Korean and Chinese communities is that they have "formed a sophisticated system of supplementary education, including literacy in heritage languages and English." (Hanenda, p.339).
I also wonder if these students are then making connections and using their language skills that they are learning in these supplementary classes to continue speaking to their friends who they are meeting in the classes. Maybe they are texting to them by phone, or emailing on the computer, or even talking to them on the phone. They might even be doing this in their own language, or in English. If they are communicating and being able to do so with their friends and community members, then isn't that a great way of opening up the mind of a student being a continuing learner? If these students are comfortable practicing literacy in their own language, then I wonder how we can tap into this energy? What a wonderful learning community we could establish if we could embrace the community based literacy learning. Hanenda mentions "it is equally important for teachers to reflect what it means to help students to become literate and, on this basis, to create learning environments where students feel safe to express their ideas in a developmentally appropriate manner and to engage in critical discussion of substantive issues by using reading and writing as told for thinking." (Haneda, p. 343). If these students are comfortable enough or feel safe enough to practice literacy learning outside the classroom, then we really need to look at what makes them feel this safe and comfortable. As educators our goal is to make our students lifelong learners, so if we could tap into this excitement of learning and being literate in a comfortable situation, even if it's in "another language", then isn't this when we have done our job correctly? Getting students and their families to be involved with each other and to learn skills that could help them learn other languages is an amazing concept! If we could make these students feel as safe and comfortable inside the classroom, then think about how much more effectively we can teach them. Having a "village raise the child" might be the perfect solution to making the entire community literate and help everyone learn from each other.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
What is worth knowing?
After reading E.D. Hirsch Jr.'s Chapter on Literacy and Cultural Literacy, I was reminded of the arguments that I have been having lately with my own children. My Mother-in-law and I have touched upon these areas during the stressful time of night called, homework time! Very often we will discuss how come they (the grandchildren) do not know a particular subject or particular way to solve a problem. Very often we will say, "when I was in school we did ______ or we were taught this way and it worked!" These arguments with the kids or discussions with the kids, are usually followed with the kids saying, "we don't learn that anymore" or "we don't do it that way anymore." Very often I wonder "why not?!" As a parent I have a very different view of what the kids should know, and what I don't think they need to concentrate on as much. I liked that Hirsch stated "Preschool is not too early for starting earnest instruction in literate national culture. Fifth grade is almost too late. Tenth grade usually is too late." (Chapter one, Pg. 17). I like the ages he chose because I happen to have a tenth grader, a sixth grader and a second grader all living in my house. Perhaps we are so busy worrying about what the kids need to know, that we are forgetting that we should add in, by what age should they know these items? We've all seen those commercials on television where your 9 month old can be fluent in a different language and your baby can learn to read by age 4 months. Perhaps they are onto something!
E.D Hirsch Jr. then came up with a list of "What Literate Americans Know." As an educator, I can't even imagine what a difficult task it would be to decide upon what is the most important topics for kids to know. Can you imagine the faculty meeting in which you have all of the disciplines sitting together and coming up with one list of the most important things for the kids to know before they graduate? It would not be a very civil meeting! In order to make that meeting worthwhile, the administration would have to have each department come up with a list of items the kids should know by the end of their course. At that point they could combine some departments to cross reference their lists, and then eventually the lists would all be compared and edited. It would still be a difficult task, because we are only one school/school district. Imagine having to decide which words are the most important to know across the country? Region? World? This would be a daunting task that would have many heated debates. I also think that as soon as the list was close to being done, the whole list would need to be edited because new and improved items would need to be added into the list. I don't think that this list could ever be completed, or it would need to be edited every year.
Based upon this thought, I tried to come up with the words/phrases that a student would need to know in order to be literate in Family and Consumer Science by the end of taking my 7th grade class:
Anemia, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Beverage Glass, Calorie, Carbohydrates, Calcium, Chocolate, Chocolate Powder, Decision Making, Dessert Fork, Dessert Plate, Dessert Spoon, Dinner Fork, Dinner Knife, Dinner Plate, Dry Measuring Cup, Etiquette, Fat, Flour, Fiber, Fruits, Ginger, Herbs, Ingredient, Iron, Labels, Liquid Measuring Cup, Macronutrients, Manners, Measuring, Measuring Cup, Micronutrients, Minerals, Napkin, Nutrients, Nutrition, Osteoporosis, Paprika, Protein, Rainbow of colors, Salt, Salad Fork, Sodium, Soluble Fiber, Sugar, Tablespoon, Teacup, Tea Glass, Teaspoon, Values, Vanilla, Vegetables, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Water, Water Glass...
At this point I have decided since this is only the first two units in my curriculum, that this is going to take a lot longer to write than I thought that it would take! I am going to say to you the reader, keep watching, this list will get longer as I edit it and add to it. I have to look at all of the class material and decide, which is the most important for the students to know. As I was going through the list for my class, which is only a class for ten weeks. I started to think of what Hirsch had to go through just to do one column of his own list, and I can't even imagine what knowledge base he must have in order to narrow down the generations of topics that he did to get his list for "What Literate Americans Know". I now know why you probably can never answer the question, "what makes a person literate?" Especially if you are basing this answer upon one person's view of what items should make this list. In short, being literate, or culturally literate, must mean different things to different people.
E.D Hirsch Jr. then came up with a list of "What Literate Americans Know." As an educator, I can't even imagine what a difficult task it would be to decide upon what is the most important topics for kids to know. Can you imagine the faculty meeting in which you have all of the disciplines sitting together and coming up with one list of the most important things for the kids to know before they graduate? It would not be a very civil meeting! In order to make that meeting worthwhile, the administration would have to have each department come up with a list of items the kids should know by the end of their course. At that point they could combine some departments to cross reference their lists, and then eventually the lists would all be compared and edited. It would still be a difficult task, because we are only one school/school district. Imagine having to decide which words are the most important to know across the country? Region? World? This would be a daunting task that would have many heated debates. I also think that as soon as the list was close to being done, the whole list would need to be edited because new and improved items would need to be added into the list. I don't think that this list could ever be completed, or it would need to be edited every year.
Based upon this thought, I tried to come up with the words/phrases that a student would need to know in order to be literate in Family and Consumer Science by the end of taking my 7th grade class:
Anemia, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Beverage Glass, Calorie, Carbohydrates, Calcium, Chocolate, Chocolate Powder, Decision Making, Dessert Fork, Dessert Plate, Dessert Spoon, Dinner Fork, Dinner Knife, Dinner Plate, Dry Measuring Cup, Etiquette, Fat, Flour, Fiber, Fruits, Ginger, Herbs, Ingredient, Iron, Labels, Liquid Measuring Cup, Macronutrients, Manners, Measuring, Measuring Cup, Micronutrients, Minerals, Napkin, Nutrients, Nutrition, Osteoporosis, Paprika, Protein, Rainbow of colors, Salt, Salad Fork, Sodium, Soluble Fiber, Sugar, Tablespoon, Teacup, Tea Glass, Teaspoon, Values, Vanilla, Vegetables, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Water, Water Glass...
At this point I have decided since this is only the first two units in my curriculum, that this is going to take a lot longer to write than I thought that it would take! I am going to say to you the reader, keep watching, this list will get longer as I edit it and add to it. I have to look at all of the class material and decide, which is the most important for the students to know. As I was going through the list for my class, which is only a class for ten weeks. I started to think of what Hirsch had to go through just to do one column of his own list, and I can't even imagine what knowledge base he must have in order to narrow down the generations of topics that he did to get his list for "What Literate Americans Know". I now know why you probably can never answer the question, "what makes a person literate?" Especially if you are basing this answer upon one person's view of what items should make this list. In short, being literate, or culturally literate, must mean different things to different people.
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