This artifact is a reflection on a presentation I attended by Tim Wise. The presentation focused on social, racial and economic inequality in America and how that has an impact on many things within our country. This presentation impacted me so much as a person and future teacher since it made me more aware of all of the different injustices my students could face and the diversity I will have in my future classroom. This artifact fits under standard #9: professional learning and ethical practice, since this reflection demonstrates how I am continuing to learn and attend presentations to help me adjust my way of teaching. This is only one of the presentations that I have attended throughout my college career but it was also one that stuck with,
B.2.a. Within this video, the teacher took her students on a field trip to observe citizens and gauge how the rights showed individualism in America. It made them aware of stereotyping. This supports students learning about cultural diversity by showing how others were treated in history. In student reflection forms, students wrote about how color should not matter when interacting with others. People can be a good person even if they aren’t religious or believe the same way as themselves. The teacher taught the students that everyone is different and that we need to look for and identify the good qualities of others. This was an effective way to teach the students because they became more aware of the way they acted toward others.
A CLASS DIVIDED Thirty years ago Jane Elliott taught the third grade in the white, Christian community of Riceville, Iowa. The day Martin Luther King Jr. was killed she planned an exercise that wouldn't just show her students what racism is - rather, it would give them first-hand experience of what it felt like to be oppressed for something out of their control. Elliott divided her class by the color of their eyes, marked them with armbands and proceeded to treat one group as if superior in capabilities to the other. The superior students performed better than they ever had before, while the inferior students' performance dropped. The next day, the third graders traded ranks and their performance reversed in accordance to their
Jane Elliot’s, “A class divided”, exhibited a daring lesson being taught to an all-white class about the struggles people who are discriminated face through a firsthand experience. Through the use of vivid demonstrations and expression of wording, Jane Elliot made a powerful stance establishing how discrimination is not okay and affects people’s capability to succeed.
I chose to read the article “Leveraging Conflict for Social Justice: How “Leadable” Moments Can Transform School Culture” by Enrique Aleman, Jr. The article discusses how an elementary school principle implements her vision of success within a school district that has a diverse group of students with low socioeconomical status. She envisions an environment where faculty, staff, students and parents are working together to create an idyllic school atmosphere. Whenever conflict manifests itself between key stakeholders the principle capitalizes on the instances as “leadable” moments associated with social justice. This case describes how a principle is tested by a teacher’s response to racist and bigoted language, and the implications surrounding the parents and district concerns regarding diversity and equal education opportunities for all students involved (Aleman, 2009).
Reynolds illustrates how there are a variety of different ways social justice can be taught, and explains how each teacher has a different way of implementing the same ideas. She provides examples of lessons a child might learn and the biases behind it teaching social justice. Reynolds is concerned with the age range of teaching social justice and when is considered the appropriate time. New teachers are now getting taught how to teach social justice within the class room, and the curriculum is changing to include aspects of social justice. Reynolds states how social justice is a branch off the bigger question of “who gets to decide the best
Over the course of my analysis I learned a great deal about this artifact using each method individually. However, I believe the biggest impact of this analysis comes from looking at the findings of the two types of criticism combined.
The artifact I uploaded to demonstrate my proficiency in Standard 4 is a budget summary I completed for EDG 541: School Business Administration in October 2015. This project required me to develop a budget presentation for my school when dealing with the issue of a 5% increase in funds but a 15% increase in the student population. As a result, I had to analyze what was necessary to support student learning, how I could reallocated funds, and where I could make budget cuts so that a balance budget was developed. The specific feedback I received to develop my understanding further was to think more creatively with staffing to help with budget constraints and alway ensure the school’s budget aligns with the school’s vision. This artifact shows
Throughout the semester we had the choice of presentations to watch- each one focusing on something different, but equally important in today’s world. Joseph Pearce spoke of his past as a White Supremacist and how
One of the classes that I enrolled at Seattle University that introduced me to social justice was UCOR-1640 Paradise Lost: Social Problems. This course explored the social justice of basic institutions and social structure of America. In addition to social justice, the course reflected on the origin and nature of American values and character structure and problems. This course strongly emphasized the importance of the concept diversity at Seattle University. A diverse environment improves the students learning experience because it is going to teach them how to accept and deal with people with different backgrounds. Moreover, it is going to prepare them to how to be active in a multiethnic society such as the US. During this course, I was
“I won’t learn from you” is a classic and powerful group of essays written by Herbert Kohl. The first three chapters “I won’t learn from you”, “The tattooed man”, and “Excellence, Equality, and Equity” all explore ideas that students are more in charge of their learning than most individuals believe. With these theories, students and teachers can help improve each other in every way. Kohl writes a variety of humorous stories, lessons on teaching, and inspirations to be a teacher to any child, regardless of their race, gender, religion or abilities. He addresses serious issues in the public school system, such as reforming to the demands of the school district, adapting the curriculum, and the many pressures as an educator. Kohl helps the
Weissman and Ms. Cox must undertake is to seek recognition of that there are injustices in the world and what is taking place in their school is happening throughout the world. As graduates of urban high schools, they must be extremely aware of the inequities that urban schools and minorities in these schools deal with. Additionally, they should continue to recognize that “privileged” majority has done nothing to correct the injustice at their school. Therefore, in seeking recognition of the injustice in their school they must educate their students, families, teachers, administrators, and community stake-holders that this is cycle of inequity has gone on for decades; if not, centuries. In order to bring about this awareness, Mr. Weissman and Ms. Cox must arm themselves with research, historical information, and data regarding the injustice in their
Thus far the discussions of how race, culture, and socioeconomic status plays a role in education has been a very enlightened one. Up until now I really have never thought about how many things play a part in the education a child receives and how a teacher’s career is also impacted. Like many others I assume, education is something that we all receive and never think about it in great detail. For me going to school each day was just a routine and the end goal was to graduate high school and go onto college, always thinking that it was that easy for all others. Not until now have I discovered that it is not that easy and that there are many obstacles in the way of a good education.
Earlier this week I participated in a professional development based on a study of A Framework for Understanding Poverty, by Ruby Payne, Ph.D. According to Payne, the first of nine interventions helpful for raising achievement among low-income students is to build relationships of respect. Many people in poverty feel helpless, and lack of respect may trigger defensive behavior for people living in survival mode. Conversely, respect for the individual brings a sense of power (Payne, 2008). Naturally, respect is the element of character that I chose to apply this week.
To completely cover the questions of what materials helped me understand the class theme of social justice, and how the understanding might impact me as a future teacher I had to choose two very different things. Both of these things came to my mind instantly, when I thought about this reflection, as being both an eye opener and a turning point for me. Both things came from the Supreme Court and Capital Building tour. The first thing that helped me to better understand the class theme of social justice was the history script with Helen Gougar and May Wright Sewall. The second thing that ultimately greatly impacted my course as a future teacher was the intern from IUPUI.
Over the last eight weeks, we have visited and deeply discussed many topics that surround social justice in the classroom. These topics have ranged from social justice in the world to how to create a socially just classroom and everything in between. In class, there has been a few times where it has been uncomfortable because the topics can bring out many opinions in the room. Many people in the room shared their opinions, including me, which brought up many other discussions. In this essay, I will be discussing our navigations through the social justice issues that classrooms face by talking about the key points of our class throughout the last eight weeks.