Social Issues In Education

Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Urban Activities and Teachers are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart By: Ginwright, S.  Domains of successfully teaching African American students: Focus on academic success and facilitates intellectual grown  Cultural competence or helping students appreciate and celebrate their culture as well as celebrating other cultures Sociopolitical consciousness that focuses on applying learning to real-world problems Developing skills to identify the root causes of problems in their lives and address them.  Acknowledging that young people are more than knowledge, skills, and behaviors.  Relational Teaching: Building caring relationships as an educational strategy Educators need to question how their own internalized racism effects the ability to form relationships with students of color in their class.  Building real relationships sometimes requires you to be vulnerable with your students to help them relate to yo...

Note to Educators: Hope Required When Growing Roses in Concrete By: Jeffrey M. R. Duncan-Andrade Hokey Hope: If urban youth just work hard, pay attention, and play by the rules, then they will go to college and live out the American Dream. This kind of hope ignores the lis of inequalities that impact the lives if urban youth. Mythical Hope: Believing that a single event can provide the healing for long term suffering. An example is Obama being elected means racism does not exist anymore. Mythical hope denies the suffering by celebrating individual exceptions.  Hope Deferred: Misinterpretations of research. Instead of blaming the victim, they hope for a change of a future reformed society. Teachers offer this hope by asking their students to set their sights on a distant future well being, which is often highly unlikely. When students realize this, their hope is deferred.  Critical Hope: A committed and active struggle against the evidence to change the inequali...

Stay Woke & Mighty Times Watching both of these documentaries you can't help but notice many similarities. Although time has passed these movements have very similar messages.  The first would be the impact that young people have on these movements. In "Stay Woke", you see young people using the tools available to them to make the the movement come alive. They use social media to broadcast the message. People from all over are aware of what is going on and are able to participate and share their voice. In "Mighty Times", the young people use what was available to them at the time to spread their message, the radio.  The second similarity I noticed is the violence that is occurring towards black lives in both videos. You see injustice today the same way it was years ago. It makes you realize that although people think "we have come so far" , there is still a lot of work to be done to end this violence.  The next similarity would be ...

Disability Studies in Education: The Need for a Plurality and Perspectives on Disability By: Susan Baglieri, Jan W. Valle, David J. Connor, and Deborah J. Gallagher Incrementalists and Reconceptualists Inclusive Education Debate "It is not that people do not vary or differ from one another in sometimes very noticeable ways, but to call or think of some of those differences as “disabilities” is to make a social judgment, not a neutral or value-free observation." It is what we make of these differences that matters If the definitions of a disability can change then they are a product of judgment. May vary from state to state, or district to district.  Co-teaching and modifying/accommodating instruction "We labor away at trying to fix or remediate the students rather than altering the teaching and learning conditions in the classroom." UDL - a way to approach all teaching situations useful to all teachers.  All students posses a unique set of strengths an...

Race Ethnicity and Education By Subini Ancy Annamma, David Connor, and Beth Ferri Segregation is attempted to be justified by proving inferiority and lower intelligence of African Americans. Conducting studies of skull sizes, brain development and claiming that black bodies are "more primitive" and considered a sub-human species. Disproportionate number of non-dominant racial groups referred, labeled, and placed in special education. The categories of learning disability, intellectual disability, and behavior disorders all rely on subjective judgement of school personal rather than biological facts.  "Racism and ableism are normalizing processes that are interconnected and collusive." Racism and ablism - Built into the interactions, procedures, discourses, and institutions of education. More students with learning disables entering college - a majority are white and come from wealthy families. Line focusing on what children with disabilities can't do...

How To Become Batman Hosts: Hanna Rosin & Alix Spiegel This podcast is arguing that if people change their expectations then blind people will be able to see. It is an extreme example of a concept that I have always been fascinated by: enabling. Throughout the podcast you learn about Daniel who is a blind man that taught himself echolocation as a child. His mother allowed him to experiment with the world around him. She banished her own fear and raised him like a seeing child. He was allowed to climb trees, walk to school, and even learned to ride a bike. Thinking about this as a seeing person seems so unlikely. Your first thought is probably "I would never be able to ride a bike without my eyes!"  Daniel believes that these expectations are what hold people back from achieving all that they can.  When you break this down to a smaller, less extreme example it is easier to see the effects and understand. If someone does everything for you, you never learn how to...

Schools punish the students who have the greatest academic, social, economic, and emotional needs.  Minorities most likely to be suspended and expelled. "Not the best thing for the student, but the best thing for the school." Schools inability to meet the needs causes students to be disciplined - not addressing the reason behind the problematic behavior. School punishments are consistent with how adults are punished in the US. Students lose incentive to comply with school rules - cycle of punishment Functions of schooling - sorting, socializing and social control Removing a child from school is a punishment when they most likely require mores schooling. The true factors of misbehavior get ignored. Sorting out the "bad apples" so that others can learn - only students whose behavior will change by being suspended is those who care about school.  Removing trouble making students - new trouble makers emerge. Teachers with low expectations and unmotivated - h...

Chapter 1 Racism still exists, maybe not all of the ways are obvious to those who are not paying attention. Stereotyping, hate crimes, housing discrimination, prison population Taught early on - misinformation being taught or not being exposed to diverse groups. Segregation still exists. Prejudice views being taught early on by what you are told, what you see in the media, and what you aren't told. "Prejudice is one of the inescapable consequences of living in a racist society" Internalized Oppression: internalizing stereotypes about a certain group. "We may not have polluted the air, but we need to take responsibly, along with others, for cleaning it up." Viewed as an individual rather that a member of a racial group. Belief in a just world - racism contradicts this notion. Active/Passive Racism - More antiracists  Racial Identity - language Chapter 2 Who am I? - Who the world around me says I am. "Their inner experience and outer circum...

"I Am Not Your Negro" Filmmaker: Raoul Peck The filmmaker tells the story of race in modern America with connections to the past. He makes the point that racism still exists and hasn't changed much. He tells his story and experiences and allows the audience to see and hear his perspective of the world around him. In the film we hear him say that growing up there was no one resembling him on the TV screen and the ones who were, he couldn't relate to because they were pretending and not portraying the real world he was living in. The heroes on TV were white which was a reflection of power. One line during this part of the documentary stood out to me: "Every face you see is white - you assume you are too.  You think you fit into your home, until your told that you don't." This statement is so sad and really reinforces the innocence of children and the idea that hate is taught and not something children are born to know and realize. Everyone want...

Precious Knowledge Building on Strength   by Ana Celia Zentella A Critically Compassionate Pedagogy For Latino Youth   by Julio Cammarota and Augustine Romero The film "Precious Knowledge" is arguing that some students have a dysfunctional relationship with the school, not with learning. Studying early childhood education we were always encouraged to teach to each individual child. Every child has different interests and learning styles and in order to make learning most effective it is important to be familiar with your students and teach to their needs. This stood out to me while watching the film. At no point in the clips of the classroom were they teaching hate or putting down another group of people. They spoke about facts and related it to education. These teachers found ways to connect with their students and relate to them on a personal level while teaching them about their identity. The results were clear. The students felt empowered and they were ...

Deculturalization and the Claim of Racial and Cultural Superiority by Anglo-Americans By: Joel Spring &  The Indian Boarding Schools By: Michelle Bollinger These two articles discuss how one culture with power can form a belief that other cultures are inferior to them. They come up with ways to justify their beliefs and execute plans to eliminate and assimilate cultures. Schools often become a large part of this process. The following are quotes that stood out to me while reading each article. "Under the direction of white, Christian leaders, savage Indians could shed their barbaric ways and assimilate into white society and become civilized." The mindset of this quote is true racism. Believing that one way of doing things is better, or the right way to do something and forcing others to lose their identify. Throughout the article you see how a group of people become powerless to people who have means, which in turn gives them power. Even though t...

What Counts as Educational Policy? By Jean Anyon The author of this article argues that in order to make actual changes, there must be a reform of polices first. There is proof that poverty works against students in urban schools ability to develop and achieve. With even just small amounts of support, it is proven that students living in poverty can achieve higher levels. Some suggestions that the author provides to remove economic barriers include: Legislate a higher living wage Create jobs that offer career ladders Tax wealthy families and corporations to pay for these investments Integrate segregated housing  Create public transit routes so low-income urban residents have access to jobs in suburbs. The author argues that "polices like these would create a social foundation on which high-quality schooling would rest". The Full Cost of Incarceration in the US By Matt Ferner This article outlines the social costs of the effects of incarceration. ...

In Sickness and In Wealth  Filmaker: Larry Adelman This film argues that wealth equals health. Throughout the film they show research studies that prove people with higher income and less stress have better health and live longer lives. A quote that stood out to me in the beginning of the film was: "Social conditions are more powerful than genes." It took watching the rest of the film to truly understand the meaning behind this statement. It is clear that higher income families have access to better food, opportunities for education, and financial security. After the film showed brief interviews with the members of different parts of the community, one thing stood out to me: stress. The CEO of the hospital lives in a nice house where he has access to good food and has the time to prepare healthy meals, exercise, and spend time with his family. Although his job is stressful, the power he has gives him the ability to manage his stress. The man who also works at the ho...

Hi my name is Jessica Rosace. I teach Kindergarten at St. Rocco School in Johnston, RI. I have been a teacher for 8 years and graduated from URI in 2010 with a bachelors in Early Childhood Education. I have also been working as a seller on a website called Teachers Pay Teachers. I create and sell unit plans and other teaching materials. The extra income from this site has allowed me to pursue my masters degree!  I am currently in my first year as a grad student at RIC studying reading. This is the third class I have taken so far and I am looking forward to the interesting topics we will discuss!