Conclusion
One thing this article does not mention is the role of parents in feeding their children healthy food. through providing for underprivileged neighborhoods and instilling programs to help children receive better nutrition, we still can't exempt parents from their responsibilities. We have to hold them accountable for the raising of their kids.
Discussing access to quality food acrossneighborhoods and sharing their own challengesto accessing healthy food
Addressing the nutrition issue amongst underprivileged students is so refreshing to hear because it is something that can actually be accomplished. Providing better infrastructure (public transit) to grocery stores, including nutrition classes in school, equalizing the spatial justice for all races-these are things that can be done instead of just 'fix the school system.'
hysical and Emotional Safety
I love how schools focus on the lowest tier of Abraham Maslow's needs. Childern can't learn on empty stomachs or when feeling fear or insecure.
Tardy Sweep
I find it interesting that the policies of the Tardy Sweep, the benefits from it, nor the reasons for the instillation were mentioned in the article
George H. W. Bush issued the first presidentialproclamation that designated November as NationalNative American Heritage Month
What does having a specific month to focus on various cultures but not white teach students about that culture. That it's not a culture? That 'every month is white history month'? This is damaging and perpetuates dominant white culture in the minds of students.
Who does this story belong to?
In a world where we are trying to share our cultures and include more diversity in our education system, it seems counterproductive to ban 'others' from experiencing and learning about a culture that is not their own.
motivation, perseverance, good old fashioned hard work, and thewillingness to take risks, fall down, get back up, and do it again”
If this is such an inspiring quote from a mentor for black children, why do we so often teach that 'hard work will make you successful' is a harmful sentiment to reiterate to underprivileged students? Citing Jean Anyon and Joel Spring
Education as a great equalizer for whom
Education is not meant to be an equalizer. In order for it to make things equal for children they would have to give to the underprivileged and take from privileged which is ethically wrong. Education's purpose is to provide for the needs of the students whatever they may be as best as they can. Unfortunately, after a day at school, some children go home to inadequate living conditions and struggling families and those are areas that the school can't fix.
For too long, Black girls are told to read liter-ary texts with characters that have White skin andnon- kinky hair. There needs to be a (re)centering ofBlack girls’ voices in ways that challenge the ideathat “even Cinderella is white.” Black girls mustbe exposed to and seen within the subject that theyare learning while also given the opportunities forcounternarratives and resistance to injustice.
Too often in articles and studies do researchers talk about how black girls need mentors that look like them but saying that their only difference is 'black skin and kinky hair' is putting them in box and getting them to focus, yet again, on personal appearance as girls are always forced to do.
We discuss how Blackgirls can engage with literary texts through counterfairy tales (CFT) as a resistive literary strategy toreclaim Black girls’ narratives and to be reflectiveof their experiences.
Do you feel like Disney has done a good job of incorporating other cultures into their stories or just appropriated them?
even homeschooled my ownchild for three years
Removing ourselves from the problem does not fix the problem and as teachers, we never can remove ourselves so it is crucial to get parents involved in our schools enough to help us change them.
youth are writers.
I love this simple statement and it's truth. Too soon do our students stop writing because they think that they are not good at it but it is like art, everyone can do it with practice and what you have to say or express is important.
Each year the market is flooded with prob-lematic books that publishers market to classroomteachers, but there are also gems worth reading. Atmy website, American Indians in Children’s Liter-ature (https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com)
What a great resource. Very helpful!
Another book that I love to use is Two Old Women
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Two_Old_Women/ZTwPAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1
A middle grade teacher doing a uniton lyrics in pop music might consider using EricGansworth’s (2013) If I Ever Get Out of Here. Itis tribally specific, set in the present day,
I would love to read this. I haven't heard about it before, but love the Beatles.
Assuch, Smith is writing from her personal knowl-edge of Muscogee families and communities as theycome together to help a child prepare and partici-pate in a ceremonial dance for the first time.
I think it is important to have a diverse representation of cultural voices. Furthermore, it is important that those voices are a direct and accurate representation of the culture.
The key ideas are to choose books thatare tribally specific (that name a specific tribalnation and accurately present that nation), writtenby Native writers, set in the present day, and rele-vant all year round, keeping Native peoples visiblethroughout the school year.
When selecting any book or literature regarding a specific culture, it is always a good idea to follow these suggestions.
While Native people share some of our ways pub-licly in the present day, there is a great deal that wecontinue to protect from outsiders.
The protection leads to preservation of their culture, language, and customs. This reminds me of other cultures in America that do the same in the name of preservation.
We Can Do Better: RethinkingNative Stories in Classrooms
I like the suggestions they offered. These are simple ways we as educators can be intentional with how and what we teach.
Choose books by Native writers.
Choose authors that are Native if you want to teach about Native culture. This should be the case for all cultures, using books that are written by authors of that culture that has first hand experience with it, is the best way to teach it. This is the definition of literacy.
Another problem is the “myths, legends, andfolktales” books that are marketed as Native. Theyare ubiquitous and mostly written by people who arenot, themselves, Native.
Another example of "Americanizing", these books and authors are not Native American, not saying they shouldnt be able to write about their experiences but the main books being published about Native American culture are by Non-indigenous authors
the larger culture needs to unlearn andrethink how the identities of Indigenous peoples arerepresented and taught
Alluding to my last annotation, America needs to teach indigenous culture. Not just say Native American, Because this just Americanizes their culture and beliefs. America forces their standards and beliefs onto other cultures.
MostNative people prefer to name their specific tribalnation because being specific helps non-Nativepeople learn that we are far more diverse than whatthe terms “American Indian” or “Native American”evoke
It shows more respect for their culture if you address them by their actual tribal name. I feel like just saying Native American is a way of "Americanizing" their culture.
Use books by Native writers all year round.
In the same way we would not want to limit Black literature to only February, we should be inclusive of Native stories all year round.
Each year the market is flooded with prob-lematic books that publishers market to classroomteachers
One positive recent change is Teachers Pay Teachers is now enforcing more strict guidelines about Thanksgiving activities to avoid further perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
Therefore, focusing on the local context empowerstribal nationhood within the states of origin ratherthan focusing on politically constructed holidayslike Thanksgiving
It's important to support the counternarrative that all tribes are a monolith and the same. This was something I myself did not understand for a long time simply because I wasn't exposed to this idea. Diversity for diversity's sake is not helpful. Intentional diversity that is relevant to students should be the goal.
movements toreplace Columbus Day with Indigenous PeoplesDay.
Not only replace the name of the day but what is taught. Columbus should still be taught, but the truth of what he did.
I ask teachers to rethink literature usedto teach children about Indigenous peoples
It is important to also rethink how they are using this literature. What history/message is it telling?
When teachers useThanksgiving as the vehicle for their instructionabout Native peoples, they are inadvertently locat-ing Native lives in the past.
Utilizing books by Native People and about Native people only around Thanksgiving and to discuss Thanksgiving is not the best way to teach Native stories in the classroom. Native writers can be used all year and does not need to be limited to Thanksgiving. As well, dressing up and reenactments feels very inappropriate and it feels like there are so many more options and ways to bring these stories into the classroom besides this.
Therefore, the larger culture needs to unlearn andrethink how the identities of Indigenous peoples arerepresented and taught
This is key, and should be teachers' goal to create awareness because everything has a direct impact on our lives and the development of our society. The way we treat the environment affects tribes and their quality of life. For example, deforestation and the exploitation of soil directly reduce the life expectancy of indigenous communities and with them, the nation's history fades. It is a cycle or a chain that, if one of the parts is deteriorating, the entire system will stagger.
(re)presenting
I am curious to find out why they chose to write the word this way. Representing indigenous communities and/or presenting what?
The key ideas are to choose books thatare tribally specific (that name a specific tribalnation and accurately present that nation), writtenby Native writers, set in the present day, and rele-vant all year round, keeping Native peoples visiblethroughout the school yea
This guide to picking inclusive native stories is important and can be used across all races and groups of people. It's important to choose specific stories that demonstrate and reflect authentic depictions of cultures our students may be unfamiliar with.
Critical Indigenous literacy forefronts the his-torically marginalized treatment of Native stories—and by extension, Native people
This is totally important. I always think about the ways that literature can be intersectional. By studying how Indigenous individuals reclaim and critique mainstream narratives of their community, non-indigenous folk can better understand what appropriate and uplifting representation of this community looks like.
This difference in howNative and Christian creation stories are treatedprivileges Christianity, perpetuating institutional-ized racism that keeps in place the ideologies of asociety that is predominantly Christian.
I think it goes to say that most people reading this article will know/recognize the story of Noah and the story of Genesis even if they themselves are not a devout Christian. This shows just how mainstream and normalized these stories are. While on the opposite end, unless you yourself are are indigenous or well versed in indigenous literature you probably don't know about "The story of the Milky Way" or "Beaver Steals Fire."
ouknow, like, what you [Phillip] be talkin’ ’bout. They think we don’t do any good,like we not smart. Like, we dangerous ’cause we Black or we criminals ’cause weBlack. Then put being male on top ah that. We get labeled ’cause ah who we are.”
It's not just damaging to a student or just a person, but the persistent regurgitation of this belief ensues a greater bridge to cross in order to develop a counternarrative that can be healing as well as a means towards equality.
the Black male college students in Harper’s (2009) composite coun-ternarrative challenge the assumption that Black males are not high academicachievers. Harper’s composite counternarrative, a response to the scholarly focuson Black male academic underachievement, is based on interviews with 143 Blackmale college students from across the United States. It highlights that althoughtheir “experiences are often overshadowed by the master narrative that amplifiesBlack male underachievement, disengagement, and attrition” (Harper, 2009, p.708), countless Black males who are academically successful also encounter racism
What is astounding to me, and "surprises" me every time, is that all these stereotypes or assumptions about races, ethnicities, citizen status, gender etc. are or can be easily debunked, yet persist. The furthering of counternarratives is vital in combating the perpetuation of these stereotypical ideologies.
two dominant,competing models of literacy—the autonomous and ideological. The autonomousmodel, which views literacy as a set of discrete skills, “disguises the cultural andideological assumptions that underpin it so that it can then be presented as thoughthey are neutral and universal and that literacy as such will have . . . benign effects”(Street, 2003, p. 77). On the other hand, the ideological model understands literacynot as neutral, but as “always embedded in socially constructed epistemologicalprinciples. It is about knowledge: the ways in which people address reading andwriting are themselves rooted in conceptions of knowledge, identity, and being”
Personal and individual perspectives frame the ways in which we view literacy, understand literacy, and the way we are able to communicate our own literacies.
public education and theneed to provide opportunities for people to actively participate in a democratic,multiracial, and multiethnic society. As DuBois (1902) reminds us, “Education mustkeep broad ideals before it, and never forget that it is dealing with Souls and notwith Dollars”
Providing opportunities is much more important than the pursuit of standardized student instruction.
get blamedon Black youth rather than on the structural inequalities endemic to US society
this is so powerful!! These are all things out of students' control. This also reminds me of the over-representation of bilingual students in special education.
“Education is the great equalizer
Education can only be an equalizer if it is given the same to everyone. Unfortunately, this is not the case within CPS. The resources are vastly different from school to school.
Our narrative process of listening to, documenting, and analyzingtheir stories allowed us to access rich layers of data about how they voiced andstoried their experiences in the world.
This allows students to connect at a higher level, by hearing and analyzing and digesting each others stories. This to me is the best way of getting students writing juices flowing and allowing them to get to know one another creating a safe learning environment.
Thus, it is important for literacy scholars to consider what literacy meansand represents, and how and for what purposes young people engage in literacyevents in relation to out-of-school time and space
It is hard for students to engage in literacy and writing when they dont relate to the topics they are writing about. It is way easier for students to engage in. Teachers should invite students to write about something they are passionate about.
Education is the great equalizerin a democratic society, and if people are not given access to a quality education,then what we are doing is creating an underclass of people who will challenge ourvery way of lif
I do believe everyone should have access to education and the opportunity to learn. Those who dont have access to a full education are at an extreme disadvantage, they dont have the same opportunities of success in society because they dont know as much as the next. I also believe the more people that are educated the better it is for society as a whole
Secondly, in the design of learning spaces and opportunities, educators mustrecognize the power and potential of student achievement in their communities
This is what we should mean when we are told to build relationships with students and get to them as whole people. Educators should be trying to learn with students about the students are capable of beyond the classroom
when they experience school as a place where they are regularly bombarded withstandardized tests, we have to wonder:
It can feel like a never ending cycle. Students face various factors that make learning difficult. They perform poorly on a test. Schools demand more testing in a doomed effort to "support" learning, and students care even less about these tests. Schools opt for testing instead of supports like SEL activities and staff that could help students cope with external factors that make learning difficult.
autonomous model presentsliteracy as a set of skills for decoding and producing printed texts, whereas theideological model conceptualizes literacy—or, rather, literacies—as connected tomultiple modalities and forms of communication.
In order to be a comprehensive reader a student must go through and "pass" both models. I don't think its one or the other but instead one before the other.
Additionally, we are also aware that public education has not lived up to its fullpotential—as a great equalizer, a leveler of the playing field—for the very peoplewho need it the most. Urban public schools that serve a large demographic oflow-income students of color are often on the chopping block when it comes toreceiving adequate funding to renovate facilities, modernize technology, replaceoutdated books, hire teachers early, and ensure that all students have access to afull-time staff of nurses, therapists, and counselors.
The whole idea of education as the equlizers in the face of actual education inequities is super intriguing, and one that was deeply explored in the podcast "Nice White Parents" published through Serial - super interesting, in-depth look at how schools in NYC change depending on who's looking into sending their kids there. Here's the link: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/12/922092481/podcast-examines-how-nice-white-parents-become-obstacles-in-integrated-schools
schools are under-funded and over-challenged”
I couldn't agree with this statement more - this feels really accurate - especially after covid. We are still being pushed to hit test numbers and high scores and crazy challenges that are impossible to meet with limited resources and students who need so much extra support.
“Education is the great equalizerin a democratic society, and if people are not given access to a quality education,then what we are doing is creating an underclass of people who will challenge ourvery way of life”
Yes! I totally agree with this. I know a lot of people both outside and inside of education critique this quote and I understand why. However, I do genuinely believe that an education based on critical literacy, where students, know how to read the world is a powerful one. Public education changed my life not only figuratively but literally.
Additionally, we are also aware that public education has not lived up to its fullpotential—as a great equalizer, a leveler of the playing field—for the very peoplewho need it the most.
Yes! A very valid critique and realistic way to look at our educational system as it currently stand. I would not be helpful or progressive if we ignore the elephant in the room.
(1) interrogate their racial-ized experiences inside and outside school, and (2) produce counternarratives topopular assumptions about Black youth from low-income urban communities
This is a very interesting way to look at and analyze literacy in the real world or outside of the classroom.
In addition to viewingliteracy as cultural, as critical, and as a social practice, Neuman and Rao (2004)contend that “literacy also involves engaging with and creating a range of texts,building on the languages, experiences, cultures, and other assets of students, andcommunicating and expressing understanding in multiple ways” (p. 7). This typeof communication happens individually and with other people.
Yes! I totally back up and will push content based skills. Yes, students should know the fundamental skills of knowing how to read. However, these should be reenforced and utilized to critically examine the power structures they are faced with.
airy tales wereselected because they represent a set of narrativesthat most young children are exposed to in earlyliterary interactions or through educational chil-dren’s programs. Together the model represents theinteractions between fairy tales, counternarratives,and oral storytelling from which Black girls andother culturally and linguistically diverse learnerscan extend or adapt the traditional narrative to bet-ter represent their experiences and cultural funds ofknowledge.
I currently teach a reading enrichment class for K and 1st graders. We only cover fairy tales, fables, folklore, and myths. This makes me think of readdressing my books and creating a more diversified look at the stories I use...though many books at this age group are cartoon characters and fictional settings.
reclaim literary spaces by retellingclassic stories from the perspective of nondominantgroups of learners.
This reminds me of the ideas of "white washing" history among so many other aspects of this ideology. Through retelling a classic story, through the lens or perspective of nondominant groups, adjusts the lens and experience for all cultures.
iteracy instruction should be re-sponsive to students’ identities (e.g., race, ethnicity,gender expression, age, appearance, ability, spiri-tual belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic sta-tus, and community environment) and languages/dialects as they affect students’ opportunities tolearn.
To speak honestly, it often is more difficult to "do" this. It often is a lot more work to cultivate a diverse library of literature or collection of works to use in a classroom, making the task undesirable to many educators. What is readily available, is the dominant culture tests that are relied on time after time, even thought they are inaccessible to many students.
In consideration of this fact, we assert thatBlack girls as an identity are upheld to stereotypicalconnotations of what it means to be Black, female,and a “Black girl” that manifests itself in intricateways. Literature has the power to oppose or upholdstereotypical depictions of Black girls and women.Thus, we propose authentic and affirmative narra-tives to (re)center Black girls’ voices as literacies ofresistance in English education.
We have to find ways, through literature, and other means, to empower and banish the current narrative and depictions of Black, and more specifically of Black females. Literature starts change.
Consequently,these forms of literary work are often not includedwithin English education or are seen within aWhite superiority framework, are misguided, orvoid the significance of race, racism, and sexismin literature. Exposure to these narratives is at theheart of educational equity. These literary works af-firm Black girls and expand the perspectives of allstudents.
Isn't it our responsibility as educators to address inequity and provide space for all students? Exposure and accessibility is the first step to moving toward a socially responsible classroom for all.
The CFT modelencourages these girls to take traditional fairy talesand rewrite the narrative from their perspective
I love this! After reading linguistic justice I wonder what language is being used in these fairy tales.
When the only images that Blackgirls see of themselves in the classroom are rootedin their dehumanization, it sends messages of dis-affirmation and educational neglect that may neverbe emancipated.
This is such a powerful truth! it speaks volumes about systemic racism.
Black people have experiencedand are currently living in racialized terrorizationthrough policing, mass incarceration, and sur-veillance of their bodies
It's so sad that policing begins in the early elementary years. This connection reminds me of the school-to-prison pipeline which studies the connection between minority students ending up in prison from our public schools.
White-only curriculum, cultur-ally biased literary texts, and pedagogical standards,
This aligns with the text we read in this class Linguistic Justice which studied how policing the black language was modern-day segregation.
Black girls mustbe exposed to and seen within the subject that theyare learning while also given the opportunities forcounternarratives and resistance to injustice
Black girls need to be given the same opportunities to learn and to excel as their counterparts. We also need to fight against the narrative of the inferiority of the black community. we need to fight against stereotypes and that are constantly thrown on us. but the school system needs to give us the chance to do so
When the only images that Blackgirls see of themselves in the classroom are rootedin their dehumanization, it sends messages of dis-affirmation and educational neglect that may neverbe emancipated.
Reiterating my previous annotation, Black girls are only taught that they were and are still treated inhumanly. They are always neglected and shown less love and attention than the rest. The school curriculum needs to do a better job of connecting to the black community
When Black girls’ identities, ways of learning, andleadership capacities are symbolically bonded bychains through a White-only curriculum, cultur-ally biased literary texts, and pedagogical standards,Black female students are in fact experiencing nor-malized racial violence.
There is no curriculum geared toward the black community especially for young black girls. they are one of the most marginalized communities. It is a form of slavery but of the mind. Being shown that they dont matter constantly through school curriculum is awful and needs to be changed.
Persistent societal images that negatively por-tray Black women and girls have contributed tonormalcy and the mosaic of Whiteness as pure andinnocent while Blackness is seen as inhumane orrepresenting death. Black girls are often character-ized as Jezebels, Sapphires, aggressive, or sexualizedto the point that they are deprived of having any in-tellectual currency and curiosity
The worst part is that black women are treated the most unfair in society. they arent seen as smart, beautiful, and pure, when in fact they are all of those things. Societal stereotypes set these false representations of the black community, and try to diminish our equality
For 20 minutes, my students were deeplyengaged in changing Goldilocks into someonethey could culturally relate to, as well as in fulfill-ing the academic objectives of the lesson, beforesharing their CFTs with the class.
I think another way of engaging students in the process would be having them generate some visuals either before or after writing the text. Then they can also practice supporting details with evidence and students can use more of their skill sets.
Ap-proaches including restorative English education“employ literature and writing to seek justice andrestore (and, in some cases, create) peace that reachesbeyond the classroom walls” (Winn, “Toward”126). Likewise, Black girls have used methods in-cluding writing institutes focused on telling “her-story,” sister circles, and theater to challenge Whitefemininity supremacy in texts (Muhammad)
It's important to recenter Black girls in literary texts and also larger movements. Black women were leaders of the #MeToo movement and were at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Making connections between fiction and real life can further empower young Black girls.
. These stories oftendepict a white male or female protagonist or reflectcultural traditions representative of the dominantgroup.
Even stories and movies that feature characters of color do not feature them as entirely human. Disney is especially guilty of this. Read more:
reclaim literary spaces by retellingclassic stories from the perspective of nondominantgroups of learners.
My favorite retelling of a classic white story is Anne fo West Philly. This graphic novels tells the same story but adds the background and nuances of a brown girl from west Philadelphia.
Persistent societal images that negatively por-tray Black women and girls have contributed tonormalcy and the mosaic of Whiteness as pure andinnocent while Blackness is seen as inhumane orrepresenting death. Black girls are often character-ized as Jezebels, Sapphires, aggressive, or sexualizedto the point that they are deprived of having any in-tellectual currency and curiosity
YES! I appreciate that Young, Foster, and Hines address what image femininity is based on and how it is most associated with white women. My juniors are currently analyzing Black feminism in Sula's Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God In launching this unit, my students reflected on their understanding of feminism and how it compares to Black feminism.
Englishlanguage arts provides a space for Black women andgirls to express themselves or to find solace in theshared lived experiences of Black women and girls.However, this is impossible if the texts used to ed-ucate Black women and girls are void of their livedexperiences, beliefs, and cultural norms
Selecting texts that are reflective of student identity is key to being a good teacher. Students learn best when they see themselves and their experiences in the texts that they are analyzing in the classroom. These texts allow students to make meaningful connections and engage in deep conversations centering the lives of the characters and the adversities that they may have to overcome.
we recog-nize literary texts can demonize or eliminate Blackgirls’ racialized and gendered experiences and are aform of racial literary violence
This section aligns with a previously discussed content that covered the topics of literacies and literacy education and how to cultivate social justice and healthing through literacy education and practices. It particularly relates to the Chapter 5 of the book 'En Comunidad' written by Espana and Herrera. In this chapter the authors describe the many ways that literary texts chosen for school curriculum can impact our students' lives either positive or negatively. #CI45022
Black girls are often character-ized as Jezebels, Sapphires, aggressive, or sexualizedto the point that they are deprived of having any in-tellectual currency and curiosity.
Although my schooling experience was outside the US, I have read a lot about this topic. Several authors discuss and dismantle the reality of the black population and their struggles within the education system. Author April Baker-Bell makes emphasis on this topic in her book Linguistic Justice. In my opinion, it is our task to help our students understand the dominant narratives and create opportunities for our students to create counter narratives.
When the only images that Blackgirls see of themselves in the classroom are rootedin their dehumanization, it sends messages of dis-affirmation and educational neglect that may neverbe emancipated.
This example discusses more about the modern weaponry of system racism. It's so important that Black girls see themselves in the classroom in a positive way, like in their literature - as main characters!
Persistent societal images that negatively por-tray Black women and girls have contributed tonormalcy and the mosaic of Whiteness as pure andinnocent while Blackness is seen as inhumane orrepresenting death.
This is an interesting take on how cannon literature portrays white characters vs black women characters. I remember reading an article that examines the whiteness of the fantasy genre and it had a very similar critique that these authors are mentioning.
Black girls are still experiencing slav-ery through more modernized weaponry that hasadvanced beyond shackles and chains.
Yes! Whenever people discuss racism, especially those that argue for a color-blind or neutral stand on it, I feel like they fail to mention how complex systemic racism is. Yes, outwardly calling an individual racial slurs is a manifestation of racism BUT "modernized weaponry" for racism is a lot more subtle. Like for example, the lack of black girl characters in literature OR the devaluing of BIPOC stories.
. When the only images that Blackgirls see of themselves in the classroom are rootedin their dehumanization, it sends messages of dis-affirmation and educational neglect that may neverbe emancipated
Again talking about the modern weaponry of systemic racism...this is one subtle but powerful consequence of modern day slavery.
Therefore, if students are never presented with pos-itive visions of their own lived experiences in thestories they read, there is a need for them to createtheir own stories through the use of counternarra-tives in writing instruction
Yes! Allow students to reclaim and retell their own narratives!
A lot of [my students]think people are obese because people can’t put down afork . . . [In this unit] we do research about things likegenetics . . . [to counter that notion].” In addition to theinformation about the availability of healthy food in theircommunities, this challenged the idea that obese and/oroverweight people are just lazy: they may be respondingto larger forces outside their control.
It's always interesting for a student to challenge their own thinking and questions the things that may be thought of as "absolute truths". Growth and understanding, empathy even, comes from these realizations.
Kara also provided her students with research andnews articles that discussed the national disparitybetween predominantly White and predominantly Blackneighborhoods
Though this acknowledgment may be traumatizing for some students to learn, it is often necessary to understand the dominant culture/language and know why disparities exist.
Thisassignment positioned students as experts with insiderknowledge about their local environment (Machado,Vaughan, Coppola, & Woodard, 2017)—knowledge thatoften differs from outside perspectives.
Through agency there is empowerment. Why shouldn't a person be considered an expert of their own community and space?
Explorations of urban literacy have attempted to extend“the focus on literacy from school-sponsored practicesand events . . . to situate and resituate literacy acrosspolitical and educative conditions and situations thatinvolve children, youth, and/or adults of color” (Kinloch,2011, p. 2)
Literacy theory approaches the political spectrum, but never quite encapsulates it fully. There exists a need for curriculum to reach beyond the walls of a classroom and for students to see their writing and voices have an impact.
Malcolm’s complex description of his city accountsfor both violence and kids playing on swings.
Good example for students, as they can also identify themselves as Malcolm's experiences. There are many cities in which violence is an everyday thing.
“How can we as people stop obesity inBlack neighborhoods?” Malcolm identifies some of thesocial consequences found at the intersection of race andobesity when he writes, “Most people that are obese arenot treated fairly and can’t do certain things. This is notonly cause your[sic] . . . obese but also because you areBlack.”
This is great evidence of the impact of this project and the extend to which critical thinking can be developed through our students products. The fact that Malcolm is now able to ask himself such question, demonstrates that he is now able to see further and be aware of the problematic that surrounds the community.
provided her students with research andnews articles
Personally, I was not exposed to academic articles or research news articles when growing up for school assignments. This practice of exposing students to such materials are definitely highly valued resources that can help develop critical thinking and open students' to various means of communication and expression is something I would do as well.
Her students built on their urbanliteracies, including reading their worlds throughpersonal reflection and neighborhood examination.
Getting to know our students better and allowing them to explore their own worlds are key and the starting point for change. Being aware of our surroundings helps us to identify what changes need to be made and find ways to counter the narratives.
“totally out ofcontrol”). Kara acknowledges the reality of her students’lives but also helps them develop urban literacies toreposition the South Side of Chicago as a place to whichviolence has been systematically done—by denyingaccess to basic necessities such as healthy food—notmerely a place where violence occurs
In the unit that I am currently teaching to my freshmen, my students engaged in learning about redlining and how it is present in Chicago today. Students were able to grasp the understanding of how the system has done a disservice to BIPOC and the neighborhoods that they reside in. Being educators in "urban" areas makes it important for us. to address the reality of social issues and how it impacts our students.
About the impact on her students, Kara told us inan interview, “I think this helps them with their criticalconsciousness. I don’t think they’ll walk away saying‘I won’t eat McDonald’s anymore,’ but I want them tobe able to challenge social structures, I want them tounderstand systemic racism, and I want them to be ableto see themselves as change agents.” These examplesdemonstrate Kara’s efforts to help her students criticallyexamine place and see themselves as actors in creating a“consequential geography” (Soja, 2010, p. 1), particularlyof the spaces they call
This is so important for students to recognize, for Kara to engage her students in this type of curriculum and teach them the power behind rhetoric. This makes me think of Linda Christensen and how she also actively engages her students into being active agents for change.
These examples resonate with Kinloch’s (2011)concept of urban literacies, including communityknowledge that may not be valued in schools or as part ofthe official curriculum. Kara’s pedagogy of spatial justicerecognized and valued the work her students do everyday to make meaning from their surroundings, as well asempowered them as actors able to interpret and perhapseven to change the places they inhab
I appreciate how she has her students engage with their communities/habitats. Recognizing where students come from is important to establishing great relationships with them.
omething that a person may begenetically predisposed to and unable to “just stop”without intervention
I love how well-studied this was. It didn't put blame on just the person for "choosing" to be fat or is just "lazy". Instead, it examined why people can be obese like genetics, where they live etc.
Reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Pollan, 2006)and watching the documentary Super Size Me
Multiliteracies! A documentary and a nonfiction text. Love to see both!
“fighting for the rightto the city”
This reminds me of gentrification. The people of color fighting to stay in their neighborhoods as it continues to get whiter and more expensive.
Spatial justice can be understood as being premised onthe idea that “justice, however it might be defined, hasa consequential geography, a spatial expression that ismore than just a background reflection or set of physicalattributes to be descriptively mapped”
This definition still seems confusing. What I'm getting from it though is justice is more than where you live on a map? Or it is talking about how where you live on a map can effect your justice. This reminds me of the way our schools are funded. Even though they are all Chicago Public Schools the resources are vastly different on the north side compared to the south side.
These responses allowed students to position themselvesas agentive actors in the complex network of local andglobal dynamics contributing to food quality, obesity,and equity in their neighborhoods.
An extension idea is to interview current grocers who are provided quality food.
I won’t eat McDonald’s anymore,’ but I want them tobe able to challenge social structures, I want them tounderstand systemic racism, and I want them to be ableto see themselves as change agents.
Also avoids fat shaming. We can only control how we look so much. The issue is not are you skinny or fat, but what does access look like and what can you do about it?
Thisassignment positioned students as experts with insiderknowledge about their local environment
Also positions middle school students as smart and capable of handing multiple truths. Raising the bar and helping students achieve.
Spatial justice can be understood as being premised onthe idea that “justice, however it might be defined, hasa consequential geography, a spatial expression that ismore than just a background reflection or set of physicalattributes to be descriptively mapped” (
I can see this totally relating to how schooling is founded in Chicago. It always seemed crazy to me how different your schooling experience, school choices, and school funding is dependent on where you live...to the point where people feel obligated to lie about their address.
Kara addressed the foodindustry and obesity through a critical lens examiningrace, power, and place
Yes! This reminds me of project that I did during my undergrad years at UIC where we examined food deserts.
Throughout this unit, Kara asked her students to makeuse of their knowledge of their own neighborhoods,positioning them as experts about the places theyinhabit.
Yes, students are experts in their own field and we can learn from the multitude of literacies they bring into the classroom.
“A lot of [my students]think people are obese because people can’t put down afork . . . [In this unit] we do research about things likegenetics . . . [to counter that notion].” In addition to theinformation about the availability of healthy food in theircommunities, this challenged the idea that obese and/oroverweight people are just lazy: they may be respondingto larger forces outside their control.
Such a powerful idea to instill in students. Often time, especially with marginalized students, they are often told that they have the ultimate control over everything (they choose to fail, they choose to be poor, they choose to continue the cycle of violence, they continue to be addicts) when in reality there are complex systems of power working to make sure students don't succeed. I think this study goes beyond obesity and BMIs, it teaches students to be critical of the systems they live in.
ara’s pedagogy of spatial justicerecognized and valued the work her students do everyday to make meaning from their surroundings, as well asempowered them as actors able to interpret and perhapseven to change the places they inhabit.
This reminds me of seeing students as makers, and recognizing that students are people with their own lives, identities, as well as funds of knowledge. It is important that we empower our students in the classroom.
Finally, Kara invited students to participate incomposing counter narratives through their culminatingproject: a position paper in which they synthesizedinformation throughout the unit and proposed ways toaddress obesity in the African American community.
Excellent way to shift towards the end of a unit. This allows students to be makers, meaning that they can be critical consumers of their environments and promote or propose ideas on how to change their environment.
counter narratives through their culminatingproject: a position paper in which they synthesizedinformation throughout the unit and proposed ways toaddress obesity in the African American community.
Great follow up assignment, this is something that allows the to propose their ideas on how to change their environment. another activity that allows them to have a voice and engage in the assignment
Throughout this unit, Kara asked her students to makeuse of their knowledge of their own neighborhoods,positioning them as experts about the places theyinhabit. In one of the first activities of the unit, studentswrote and performed spoken word poems abouttheir neighborhoods (e.g., important/noteworthyintersections). However, they also complicated negativestereotypes of the South Side
Poetry another form of literacy that these students probably wouldnt ever have thought to explore but because she invited them to write about something they knew or identified with. they were able to enjoy it.
Kara addressed the foodindustry and obesity through a critical lens examiningrace, power, and place
Kara used this as a way to connect the students current environment. examining how race, power, and location can has a connection with food quality.
Kara cultivated her students’ urban literacies byencouraging them to draw from their local knowledgeof self, culture, and place; to critically situate their localknowledge in broader sociopolitical contexts; and to craftcounter narratives.
I like this idea by the teacher to invite her students to write about their perspective of their reality. this allows student to connect on a personal level. Collaboration between students promotes the most academic acheivement.
as a place to whichviolence has been systematically done—by denyingaccess to basic necessities such as healthy food—notmerely a place where violence occurs.
Framing a neighborhood as a victim of violence despite being a source of violence is so powerful and helps readers shift their mindset and almost redefine their understanding of the word.
Kara addressed the foodindustry and obesity through a critical lens examiningrace, power, and place
This is really a unique way to allow for students to make the necessary connections between un-seemingly related aspects of society.
“How can your voicesgain support from the university community if that’sa group missing?
This is a concern all students have, and it is evidently the result of years of not feeling listened to, nor valued. Schools should be the first place after their homes where they can feel that their voices matter.
For ourchildren, literacy determines their ability to engagethe world as citizens, as intellectuals, as workers, andhopefully as artists, filmmakers, and writers of thenext generation” (xi). Students’ determination led topolicy-changing and identity-affirming actions
The need or motivation for change can come from a variety of inspirations. The goal is to exactly this, to be able to engage in the world around us. It's incredible to be part of the growth of a student who will be working in the world one day as a productive member of some sort of profession, using the tools we were able to share with them.
This was largely driven in my beliefin changing conditions through nonviolence, civildiscourse, and— if necessary— civic disobedienceto change conditions
This would also give students the voice, the tools and the clear panorama of what can be done to change what is wrong in the system. By doing so, the teacher is creating agents of change.
The feeling of voicelessness creates a senseof internalized powerlessness for students in theirschooling and preparation for learning and success.
This reminds me to author Angela Valenzuela's uncovering internalized oppression piece, in which she describes how not being able to express herself, not being understood at school built up a sense of internalized fear, oppression and powerlessness. Students' voices should be heard and the opportunities to express themselves should be given in classroom spaces. In this way they are not only heard, but also, valued.
They sought to tell a counternarrativeby applying the methodical five steps of criticalpraxis found in Freire’s critical pedagogy. As such,they cultivated a healthy relationship to power andbegan their project by working within their edu-cational system
The persistence and determination of these students comes from the empowerment they received through the project created. It's inspiring to see such willingness to want change and to be consistently passionate about a cause.
The students’ persistence in thequest for change was a long labor that sometimesappeared to wane, but was then amplified when theymet a supportive group of leaders within their SanJoaquin Valley area civic communities.
The greatest achievements come from overcoming a challenge and a realization that change can happen with a continued pursuit. It is always helpful to have a support system as well.
“If you treat students more professionally,then they are likely to act more professionally.”
I totally support this statement. Our students can always teach us something new as they hold the truth from an honest and innocent perspective. They should be treated and valued as holders of knowledge; expectations should be high as they are a reflection of their environment.
Freire’s concept of reading theword and the world together applied to the readingof a dominant, oppressive narrative along with theneed for a liberating counternarrative to tell moreabout young people experiencing the name of thetardy policy through their eyes and perceptions.
It's one thing to know learn about and be aware of the dominant narrative, but it is a whole other thing to address and engage with practices to evolve the counternarrative in your classroom.
d participants to study and name areality inconsistent with what might be consid-ered the norm or pervasive otherwise. A recurrenttheme of this body of work is that the narrativeand counter-narrative should be captured by theresearcher, experienced b
I appreciate that there are many scholars and educators that push for educators to consider adding a counter narrative for every dominant narrative that they have to teach. However, when will we completely abandon the traditional literary canon and finally engage student in a curriculum that is entirely made for them?
Tardy Sweep (see Figure 1).The students’ concern stemmed from the connota-tion to refuse and trash. Mainly, the students voicedtheir opposition to the policy as a “problematic text”in need of being confronted as voiced by Morrell (6).Students’ awareness of their absence of voice andagency in naming and making a policy further mo-tivated them into describing the situation and thepossibility of addressing it through Freirean crit-ical praxis, a methodical process for transformativechange.
This is a clear example of how the school-to-prison pipeline occurs within schools. Most often its' students that identify as BIPOC who are being given these excessive tardies. I know of many schools that also engage in giving students suspensions for every few tardies that aren't served, which lends back to how BIPOC students are being oppressed in schools.
The feeling of voicelessness creates a senseof internalized powerlessness for students in theirschooling and preparation for learning and success.
and this sets them up for how they will behave as an adult. Always feel like what they have to say is not important. This is amplified by our minority students.
They noted the differences presented in the poemand novel chapter, and they wanted alternate waysof wording that would be less hurtful and punitive.
I would have loved to see examples of this or know what the original hurtful and punitive language was being used. It's so sad the our students are realizing this and how embedded it is in our literature.
“If you treat students more professionally,then they are likely to act more professionally.”
This is so important with any grade! Our students all bring their own experiences and we need to give them the space to share their thoughts. Adults often feel as if kids don't know any better.
I would learnthat the incarceration rates increased at an acceler-ated pace then and to the present. As a high schoolstudent, my choices and world shrank more as myfriends abandoned their studies
This reminds me of the school-to-prison pipeline. The national trend where youth are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal legal systems.
I see firsthand how important it is to engagestudents in creating news and making historicalpolicy change with the accessible critical thinkingand rhetorical literacies in our communities.
I think it's important to create space like this within a school and not just outsource it to community spaces. Students should know their voice matters in every space they exist in especially when they send so much at school. Youth is not excuse to stop listening.
Literacy, well at least critical lit-eracy, is fundamentally tied to the realization of ourfull humanit
Part of developing literacy in young people needs to be rooted in dismantling white supremacy. All students deserve have their humanity see and honored. Otherwise the oppression Freire wrote about will continue.
If you treat students more professionally,then they are likely to act more professionally.
I think this is so important at the high school level. Students need to understand the why behind rules like being on time. If the only thing they hear is being on time is important you don't get a tardy pass, what are we really teaching?
The students responded with surprise thatother people, professional adults, would actuallylend their voice of support for the project.
More students need to physically hear that some adults are on their side and will support them.
3. Rigorous Aligned High- Quality Instruction4. High Expectations and Success for All
I really appreciate the attention being brought onto rigor and high expectations. I feel that sometimes instructors practice restoration policies in a way where they expect the bare minimum from students.
“experience transfor-mative learning that changes their lives and opensdoors of personal, academic, and civic opportunity”(Mirra et al. 2).
And what better place to practice this than in a school environment.
“Why are they trying to sweep us like we’regarbage?”
This is interesting. I never thought about the connotative meaning of hallway "sweeps." In our school we still implement these simply to try and get students to class.
Step 1: Identify a problem.Step 2: Research the problem.Step 3: Develop a collective plan of action toaddress the problem.Step 4: Implement the collective plan ofaction.Step 5: Evaluate the action, assess its efficacy,and reexamine the state of the problem
Steps are always helpful, I remember reading about this method somewhere in the past before. YPAR follows identifying a problem, research, collective plan, implement, evaluate.
In other words,I understood that Freire’s concept of reading theword and the world together applied to the readingof a dominant, oppressive narrative along with theneed for a liberating counternarrative to tell moreabout young people experiencing the name of thetardy policy through their eyes and perceptions
This reminds me of how we could shift voice into classrooms. This would also be framing of the students counter-narratives as something valuable with knowledge
The effects of the collective plan of action be-came evident when the school principal and staffmembers responded to their book publication andsubmission for review.
I love this. This encourages the students to speak up and help them realize they do have a voice, because they were recognized for their efforts.
The feeling of voicelessness creates a senseof internalized powerlessness for students in theirschooling and preparation for learning and success.
This is powerful because alot of minority youth dont feel like they have a say so or can make a difference in the community, because they feel like they dont matter. this is stereotypes society places on them, this is why allowing them to write about their reality helps them resist this perspective on themselves
My awareness of students’ love of literatureand writing, ranging from poetry and short storiesto young adult literature, guided me to select textsthat could extend the conversation to texts abouthumane treatment.
This is great because she is choosing articles and readings that best suit her current classroom. She is actually picking something that her students are interested in to further the conversation and allows them to engage in.
I began to learn about how systems worked againstworking communities
the people who are most affect by the system is the minority community. Black and Latinx communities always get the short end of the justice system. They are always guilty until proven innocent, and rarely the other way around
perception is truth.
“If you treat students more professionally,then they are likely to act more professionally.
I think this is so important - even with my young elementary school students I see this. Sometimes people will come in and talk with them like they are younger than they are and I have had students that have said "stop talking to me like I'm a baby". They want to be treated with respect and they want to have a voice. I have found that my students are most successful with their plans when they have a voice in them!
began holding free writingworkshops at local community organizations and publiclibraries.
These workshops had a great turnout rate. I wonder what the workshops looked like. Was it an open free write space? Were their prompts? What supports did students have when writing? What levels were the students writing at?
validate the writing practices that young people alreadyengage in
I like that it is validating what youth are already doing. It does not try to teach them but instead focuses on what they already do well. Another reason why teaching to our student's interests is so important!
I define radical youth literacies asways of knowing, doing, writing, and speaking by youthwho are ready to change the world
This in an odd way reminds me of the early controversies with Kanye West. What he says seems to be so sideways but it's his truth. With the exemption of his recent antisemitic comments which clearly just spread hateful messages.
while there are others that remaininvisible and are deemed less important.
This reminds me of a student who only enjoyed writing raps. I changed all of his assignments to be a rap. We need to value our student's interests.
I wanted tocreate spaces where youth writers define, understand,challenge, and use writing in and out of school and wherethey are critical ethnographers of their own writing lives.
This should be the goal for every school, to encourage writers to be the best they can be, so they can be elite writers outside of the classroom as well. you do this by challenging them in the classroom and inviting them to write about something personal to them
I knew that the commonlyheld view of Black children as nonwriters and nonreaderswho were disengaged from learning was false. Thiswas a dominant misconception, however, because ofthe power given to writing and other literacies that areschool sanctioned and assessed. Parents and communitymembers understood writing to be the timed writingtasks for standardized exams or the demonstration of theconventions of writing on school assignments
The stereotype behind the black community is black students arent good writers. we as educators dont work hard enough to help defeat this stereotype. we should be encouraging students to write as much as possible, to give them a chance to be great
“undergroundwriters. . . . When you see these studentswalking down the halls, you would neverknow that they were writers.”
this reiterates what I was describing in my last annotation. Schools should know if.a student is a genius of a writer. The school isnt getting the max potential out of each student, because schools dont take the time to get to know their students or the opportunity to display their writing skills
n school you kinda contradict yourselfand you kinda like, you know, coverup some stuff, like you kind of hideyourself in school but when you’re outsideof school, it’s like you open yourself up.You unfold everything
This is the exact opposite of what school should be. the classroom should be a place that students feel like they can be themselves. I was the same way. No one really knew who I was or my true personality was, or even what I came from or dealing with. You wont get the most out of a student when they have this mindset.
me, writing is like breathing. I need itto survive.”
This is super powerful. I have some students that also use writing as a coping tool. Often times when they are frustrated, they will request to write in their journals.
“undergroundwriters. . . . When you see these studentswalking down the halls, you would neverknow that they were writers.
We as educators need to see and acknowledge the talents of our students, that are not tied to academic, rigorous tasks.
The main focus of WritingOur Lives is to celebrate “radical” youthliteracies and intentionally work to challengedominant narratives about who is and canbe a writer.
Shouldn't we be consistently revising our definition of who a writer is or can be? Do all writers have to adhere to a specific lexicon or language? Can't we rethink and redefine the definition of what a writer is?
T]he moreradical a person is, themore fully he or sheenters into reality so that,knowing it better, he orshe can transform it.
The "radical student" is normal. They ask questions and aren't afraid to interact with others in the world around them. They are learners who will frequently look for opportunities to learn through others and through experiences.
I knew that the commonlyheld view of Black children as nonwriters and nonreaderswho were disengaged from learning was false. Thiswas a dominant misconception, however, because ofthe power given to writing and other literacies that areschool sanctioned and assessed
Any preconceived notions regarding a certain gender, race, or ethnicity is damaging. Parents and community members have to move beyond conventional ways of teaching to widen the accessibility of a writing curriculum.
I gavevoice to my lived experiences and reimagined my lifethrough writing poetry and fiction. I also saw writingas a way to access greater opportunities. I was a skilledessayist, and my writing won many competitions andscholarships toward my higher education. Like many ofthe youth writers I meet, I, too, credit everything that Iam now to writing.
Writing is extremely personal and authors speak constantly about the inspiration coming from families, homes, and communities. It also is a gateway to academia and greater, more broad, academic opportunities that many students never thought possible.
Parents and communitymembers understood writing to be the timed writingtasks for standardized exams or the demonstration of theconventions of writing on school assignments, which isnot unusual given the national focus on standards andtesting and on preparing young people to be college-and career-ready.
Though there should be time and focus to prompt spontaneous writing, isn't there room for working toward academic writing conventions? Shouldn't there be room for learning writing for the purpose of being career and college bound? Wouldn't there have to be?
digital literacies, which is especially important giventhe ways that social issues are communicated in digitaland online spaces. Youth writers in the workshopsare encouraged to post their ideas and thoughts ascomments on websites featuring essays and news storiesabout current events. They create blog sites wherethey contribute articles raising awareness about socialinjustices and inequities and offering solutions to theproblems.
Digital literacy has become an increasingly important skill explicitly taught in my school. It should also be noted that digital literacy also involves the deciphering of reliable media, messages, and communications. We encourage seeking out the source before using digital information as "facts" or "truth"
It is paramount that youth writers learn aboutand witness the writing processes of everyday writers intheir lives and communities. We all write. Teachers havean opportunity to bridge community literacy practiceswith school expectations
In order to align school expectations with with literacy practices within a community, standards would also have to be addressed, the curriculum we use would have to change, and the writing practices we showcase would need to change from the top down.
A critical literacy meansthat students probe who benefits and who suffers, howdid it come to be this way, what are the alternatives, andhow can we make things more just?
This is an important and interesting way to examine text. Through whose lens is this written in?
When I stopped attending to test scores and startedlistening to the music of my students’ voices and seeingthem as “more than a score,” I increased my capacity toengage them.
Connecting with our students is vital! A healthy rapport is absolutely needed with all and each of our students.
error of the department that hiredme—was to see these students as “disadvantaged” insteadof seeing their brilliance.
this! it's easy to look at the wrongs but our kids come with so many advantages we just need to listen to them!
Their test scoresguided our work.
This is so frustrating. As a SPED teacher data is at the forefront of what I do but it completely misses the bigger picture. Our students are more than just numbers. A one-hour test is not a true reflection of a student as a whole.
Students have writtenimaginative stories set in nightclubs where jazz greatscame to play and their grandparents met and fell in love,cafés that once held the laughter of Black voices, or thebasements of an elder’s home where neighbors organizedto protest urban renewal.
This allows students to think more deeply about their identity and where they came from even if its fictional. You get and idea of what their perspective is on their heritage and their background. And its a topic that they are interested in and will think deeply about
After students write, we arrange the desks in a circlefor a read-around. The read-around is the living roomof our classroom. During this time, every student readstheir piece. As students read, we laugh, cry, and createcommunity, but we also teach and learn from each other.If I had to choose one strategy as the centerpiece of myteaching, it would be the read-around. It provides boththe writing text for my classroom and the social textwhere our lives intersect and we deepen our connectionsand understandings across lines of race, class, gender,nationality, and sexual orientation.
I love this, I know we have done similar activities in our classroom. I feel that this builds a safe learning environment wear everyone feels safe to share and express themselves. these are the the environments of higher educational achievement because the students can communicate with the teacher and their peers effectively.
I bring in students’ lives in two ways. First, the unititself is about their lives and the unfolding narrative ofhow racial inequality, displacement, economic disparity,as well as resistance and resilience are currently playingout in their neighborhood. And second, I ask themto write a narrative about a time their homes werelost, stolen, or restored.
I think this is powerful, because this allows students to express what may be going on in their home environment. this allows them to connect with each other and allows the teacher to get an idea of whats going on and how you can relate to them. this also allows them to write about something that they can relate to and want to talk about
I stillhadn’t created classrooms that matched the classroomin my imagination, where students read, argued, andwrote passionately. I moved in the right direction when Istopped believing that I was the one who knew and theywere the ones who needed to know. I became curiousabout what I didn’t know
As an educator, you have a plan in your head that you want to execute. A plan that you think will benefit every student but the reality is nothing goes according to the way you picture. Teaching is about adapting to your classroom the different personalities and backgrounds of each student
I was tired.
This statement speaks so powerfully to teachers. I recently read a book for another class that talks about hoe the biggest problem in schools is actually just the demoralization of everyone involved in them; students, teachers, and admin. The constant change and requirements to implement new programs and execute test prep just sucks the energy out of teachers and decrease their effectiveness and interest in their job. "So Much Reform, So Little Change" by Charles M. Payne
“Ifyou add up all of our ages, we have hundreds of yearsof experience dealing with homes
I love this thought. I teach student who are growing up in homes and societal times very different than from what I was exposed to. It is so interesting, but sometimes heartbreaking, to listen to a child's perspective about something based on what they are familiar with. I definitely think we learn more from our children than what we can teach them in a year and so we need to intentionally create time/exercises that allow them to learn from each other.
Then I overcorrected. Instead ofan all-white lineup, I taught almostall African American literature,which was an improvement, butstill problematic. When one studentin class tallied up all of the races inclass and suggested I teach by thepercentages present, I realized I hadonce again erred. As an Asian American, she wantedto be included. And then there was the graduate whoreturned and chided me for not preparing her with any“traditional” literature
Trying to appease the masses. As educators we have to learn how to modify our curriculum so that it's reflective of our students' identities and the skills that they must know going into college. I appreciate how transparent and honest Christensen is in reflecting on what she did right and what she did wrong when making adjustments to her curriculum. Based on her text "Reading, Writing, and Rising Up," Christensen was able to successfully implement those changes into her narrative writing units, by having students access texts reflective of their identities and writing their own.
She unravels the myth that gentrification improvesneighborhoods that didn’t have much to offer: “There issomething good here. And not just because more whitefamilies have moved to this side of town. There’s alwaysbeen something good here. People just have to open theirminds to see it” (p. 98)
Having high expectations on our students' abilities can make a great impact in their lives and future academic decisions. Empowering them through meaningful lessons and critically relevant pedagogy not only can help youth blossom as agents of change but also, allow them to believe that they can also make art out of their personal stories. #CI45022
When they wrote, they had spellingerrors and grammar issues, despite—or because of—theWarriner drills or my lack of knowledge about AfricanAmerican Vernacular English, but their logic andevidence spun circles around me.
The value of voice and authentic language is unmeasured. The importance of educators recognizing various vernaculars of languages used is undervalued. Slang and the use of phrases within dialects of a language have value and meaning, they should be recognized in academic settings as well.
After students write, we arrange the desks in a circlefor a read-around. The read-around is the living roomof our classroom. During this time, every student readstheir piece. As students read, we laugh, cry, and createcommunity, but we also teach and learn from each other
Authors España & Herrera (2020) in their book En Comunidad, stress the need for knowing our students histories and to take informed stances against injustice. This section of the article depicts España and Herrera's point when they state that celebrating students production by allowing some space for them to share them, helps fight racial inequality. #CI45022
s the effect that uncritical consumption of mainstreammedia narratives of Black people can have on media consumers and Blackyouth
School-to-prison pipeline! This is exactly how it starts and continues.
Hill’s critique was put out via Twitter,whereas Houck’s was broadcasted on national television.
Interesting point. Which message had the potential tor each more people? Which message was mass distributed quicker and louder?
has no respect at home or on the street, and that’s why she actedthe way she did”
How can he assume this based on an incident that happened at school? Based on a video he saw. He does not know the student or even the whole situation he is examining. He feels so comfortable making these assumptions because of the stereotypes and the way Black people are portrayed in society. He's also victim-blaming the student.
White school resource officer.
Here begins the problem. Why do we need resource officers in school? What message does that send to students? Who are they there for?
Even the most well-intentioned educators avoid thistopic in their classrooms for fear of misspeaking, sounding racist, not havinganswers, or causing more harm than help. We acknowledge that engagingin this kind of work requires courage and confidence, but as educators, wemust understand that we will not always have the answers.
Even annotating this article makes me feel a bit vulnerable or weary to see responses.
Rather, our notion of healing refers to a process whereby teachers usecurriculum and instruction as a kind of “catharsis, a letting out of emotionsthat become painful or even dangerous if they remain internalized” (Mor-rell, 2008, p. 169).
Social Emotional Learning has been discussed across educational platforms for years. This type of learning can be helpful and therapeutic to staff and students. The goal is always to walk away with just a little more than you came in with. It reaches beyond the walls of the school and acknowledges that we are all human, we are all emotional beings, and we are can be the healers of our own problems or pains. It also helps us to realize that we are not alone in feeling, or struggling, or needing more.
Look how they [police officers] lined up.They ready to kill us!They ready to kill us!And guess what?I’ma die for what I stand for
Students of color already know and feel how they are perceived by the larger populace in which they live. It is unfair for a school or teacher to perpetuate these views and stereotypes. The damage has already been done, however, through the mass medias and these biases exist and we educators have the great task to reprogram or uninstall the doubts that many students of color already feel. Not to "save them" from it, but instead to neutralize the playing field so that they can be educated in a space that they feel a part of.
In 1992, hooks pointed out that weare socialized within a racist mass media that convince Black people thatBlack lives (and Black life) are not complex or worthy of sophisticated criticalanalysis and reflection. This systematic racist representation is evidenced byFox News commentators, who blamed gangs, schools, and the welfare systemfor the Baltimore uprisings (Giroux, 2015) instead of examining the systemicracist violence against Black people who—like activist Fannie Lou Hamer—are “sick and tired of being sick and tired” (Brooks & Houck, 2011, p. 62).
This mass media perspective and constant dialogue contributes to greater population forming a distorted and dangerous opinion of other races, ethnicities, genders, religions, and sexual orientations. The fear, anger, or other preconceived emotion felt by many does exist, that sense of fear or anger is real, but it was carefully concocted by the news outlets to sell the papers and gain listener/viewers. This long developed story exists because it is allowed to exist and thrive in society without question.
has provided a counterspace for Black perspectives insocial media; however, it alone cannot dismantle racial violence and counterthe damaging narratives that mainstream media outlets continue to writeabout Black youth and other people of color. Weagree with Morrell (2008) that it is critical foreducators to prepare all youth “to critique thesemaster media narratives [and provide youthwith] the skills to use new media technology astools in the struggle for social and educationaljustice” (p. 158).
It's important to me, as an educator, to give my students the tools they need to successfully develop their own opinions using reliable sources (and knowing the difference, reliable vs. non-reliable) in order to accurately articulate their voice and thoughts.
Johnson (2015) suggests that within mainstream media, young Black victims,particularly Black boys, tend to be presented as guilty adults. Black youthand children are hardly ever portrayed as victims or labeled as “children” inthe media in comparison to young White victims and suspects.
Unfair treatment from the beginning, they see black children as adults, Trayvon Martin was a child, but the media tried to make him seem like he was a bad person. when in reality all he had was a some skittles and a drink, minding his business walking home. The media tries to find the worst pictures to make him seem like something he wasnt, and this is the case for the majority of situations that take place
Rather than seeing the girlas the victim, Houck faulted her for the attack, which is troublesome butunsurprising, given mainstream media’s coverage of brutality against Blackbodies.
Again the issue with media is that they portray black people as the attacker in every scenario. constantly feeding into the stereotype of Black people being the bad guy. you see it every time on the news, innocent people being harmed or killed but still being blamed for the situation
If that girl got out of the seat when she was told, there’d be no problem.But apparently she had no respect for the school, no respect for her teacher,probably has no respect at home or on the street, and that’s why she actedthe way she did”
It seems that the media portrays a view of African American students to the world without even knowing the extent of the story. feeding into stereotypes
Malcolm X warned in1964 that the press is irresponsible: “It will make the criminal look like [s]he’sthe victim and make the victim looks like [s]he’s the criminal”
In my Freshmen class we watch the movie "Walkout" and in the film the students that take part in a school wide walkout get assaulted by police officers. In the film they show a scene that reminded me of this. The media covered the student walkout and didn't show any of the police assaults happing towards children, they mention it, but they call it student violence. My freshmen students recognized how that is a tactic used to make the students look like the aggressors even though that was not the case. Link to review of film https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452703/
Black Twitter,
This podcast episode discusses how the hosts came to find and use Black Twitter to both meet people, and some of the pitfalls reporters fell into by only using Twitter as sources. It also discusses some of the anxiety around Elon Musk's recent acquisition of Twitter.
These same adjectives and verbal markersare not typically coupled with White people who engage in riots followingsporting events and festivities
This was extremely telling when the BLM and the George Floyd protests and the capitol riots to overturn the 2020 elections happened in within 6 months of each other. It wasn't just limited to Fox News.
George Zimmermanand Trayvon Martin in 2012; Darren Wilson and Mike Brown in 2014; andBrian Encinia and Sandra Bland in 2015.
Similar to how police hold the power in this interactions and their word is defaulted to the truth, teacher's words against a student's holds more weight. Statistically, more teachers are white, and the cycle persists in the classroom.
shows the girl sitting at her desk when the officergrabs her and tosses her around like a rag doll
Currently in my senior elective class we are actually reading about the school to prison pipeline, and the article that we are looking at make reference to this incident. Soon we will be watching a Vox video that references this as well. Video is here https://youtu.be/HoKkasEyDOI
Far more expan-sive than developing students’ emotional skills, English educators and thechildren, youth, and families with whom they work must help remake andrepair the world.
I love this! I love that it focuses on more than developing a student's emotional skills but also focuses on understanding a student's emotional state. Understanding the world we live in and how it effects our kids.
The nuances of a “safe space” for SEL in our classrooms requireslooking across social, political, and cultural factors for all members of aschool community.
This is an interesting and important point. A "safe space" is more than a cute comfy corner. It's an overall feeling and understanding of the who and what. What is it safe for and from what are they safe from?
teachersare generally not prepared to address the intersections of healing, politics,and emotion in today’s classrooms
We may not be prepared or have received formal training on this but it's a huge part of our job. This has also just been amplified after/during COVID.
Our field—particularly our expertisewith modes of communication—is uniquely suited for sustaining ways tohelp each other navigate the risks while holding ourselves accountable totake up the work. To be clear, we cannot untangle trauma from the politicsour nation has witnessed
I truly believe that our field is much, much, much more than just academic education. A school should be and was, at one time, a place for the community and a place for everyone to learn and grow. Our daily interactions with students, teach much more than just an academic subject. Schools are the place where students develop into the adults they'll be, they grow here, make friends here, learn to socialize and communicate with the outside world. Our job is not as a teacher...but when needed, a parent, a social worker, a guidance counselor, therapist, we become whoever our students need us to be.
n classrooms, testimony to experienceis always present, whether explicitly invited or authorized, as the bodiesof teachers and students tell stories of connection, disconnection, care,dismissal, belonging, and exclusion. Thus, as literacy scholars have argued,classrooms should be spaces of intentional invitation and opportunity forstudents to testify to and engage with their experiences and histories (e.g.,Cruz, 2012; Johnson & Vasudevan, 2012; Saavedra, 2011)
Students should be able to express themselves fully and engage in protective and healing discourse without judgment, teachers need to create that environment for students and provide perspective for students to fully understand why they feel this way, how they can heal from these feelings, and know that the support of the teacher is always present.
SEL must addresswhat it means to cultivate belonging in a broken world. Far more expan-sive than developing students’ emotional skills, English educators and thechildren, youth, and families with whom they work must help remake andrepair the world.
All stallholders are responsible for practicing ways of interactions that will foster an environment that promotes safety and wellness, especially for the students.
English educators need support in addressing the emotional dimensions ofteaching and learning in punctual moments like these, but also in the dayto day of classroom routines and relationships. Students—like much of theAmerican public—have questions, uncertainties, and mistruths that circulatearound them constantly.
Educators need more than just support, we need tools and even more personnel to handle the trauma students face and the emotions that are brought into the classroom daily. What are we to do with students who are so unfocused on academics, who are scared, who are suffering or maybe expressing their emotions through anger or worse yet, aggression?
a deluge ofinequitable policies, words, and actions continue to shape the tensions, fears,and contours within which classrooms exist today
The fear was one of the biggest problems we faced in our large immigrant population that made up the school. We did have parents and students who admittedly are here illegally and the fear or threat of deportation was very apparent. I had students too terrified to come to school, thinking that attending the public school was too risky.
recognition that teach-ers are generally not prepared to address the intersections of healing, politics, and emotion inclassrooms.
The election, the pandemic, the cultural changes, and the current events of the city in which we live...all have an effect on the students and their performance in the classroom. I will admit that I was not prepared for a lot of what I encountered throughout the last few years.
Healing is not a singular journeyof moving from hurt to being fully healed, but an ongoing path in whichattention to healing and critical youth development have to be made partand parcel of teaching and learning in classrooms
Healing is something we must promote to the students. not something that just happens overnight or even quickly. its something that has to be the primary focus of educators.
more than simply passing upa missed pedagogical opportunity. Rather, not discussing the social falloutafter the election is an act of denying the full humanity of students in schools
It may be okay to discuss what is going on in the country with your students and get them into discussion to allow them to form their own opinions about what is taking place. This can be used as a tool to encourage student collaboration. but teachers must refrain from forcing their opinions onto students
But at least we had our sup-portive networks; we know that for many teachers and teacher educators theexperience was the inverse of ours, with colleagues and families triumphantand very few sharing a sense of devastation.
People were very open about how they felt about the outcome of the election, teachers, educators, and parents all showed a clear opinion to the students about who should have won and whats going to happen to the country because of the outcome.
acknowledging our personal dismay withthe outcome of the election, even as we also recognize that some readersdid and, perhaps, still do support President Trump.
I think that teachers should not try to push their political views onto their students. Instead we should allow students to develop their own opinions and beliefs based on the information that they are given. I think this also encourages them to do their own research.
If teachers are to take up the taskof collective healing in classrooms, such work must begin by establishingtrusting relationships “within which the wounded of divided communitiescan engage in critical and productive dialogue” (
Building trusting relationships also mean that students can trust you to push back and say this is what I need or I can't talk about this right now. Similar to Dutro describes in the book *The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy * students need the opportunity to engage in this practice, but teachers need to mindful if students aren't ready or willing. Otherwise it might not feel like productive dialogue.
Testimony, Witness, and Trauma as a Lens on Healing
This whole section reminds me of the book we were reading this year in CI 450 "Vulnerable Heart of Literacy" by Elizabeth Dutro. As educators we need to make sure that we are using our classrooms as places of heeling trauma, and how this shouldn't just be us taking the time to talk about it in class, but going beyond it and intertwining assessments and activities in the classroom to be a form of heeling traumas.
The morning after the election, in triage, with bleary eyes and mindsfoggy in disbelief
This reminds me of the SNL skit that happened a few days after this election. A lot of people felt some type of way about the election results, but its always good to laugh about it to make us feel better. I know I've heard this before the idea that we have to laugh so that we wont cry. With that said here is the link to the video https://youtu.be/SHG0ezLiVGc