Kevin's FNED 246 Blog

 For my blog #6, I am going to be using connections from What to Look for In a Classroom by Alfie Kohn.

Growing up as a kid, I was very fortunate to have such a good education and a good learning environment. I had good connections with all of my teachers and my friends, and I really enjoyed going to school. This was really easy for me to connect to, and I feel as though I had the "ideal" classroom. Kohn stated, "chairs around tables to facilitate interaction". I could really connect to this because growing up as a kid and even now in our class, I feel as though there is more interaction when we are all close to each other at the same table rather than sitting in rows or by ourselves. Kohn then goes on to say the location of the teacher should be "typically working with students so it takes a few seconds to find her." I thought that this was really important, and it stood out to me the most due to the fact that the teacher is interacting with the students one on one to help them get a better understand and learning. I also liked how Kohn talked about how the teacher should be respectful and welcoming and should have a eager to demonstrate and teach the students what they are doing if they don't understand. Attached HERE, you can see more details and find more information about what an effective teacher's classroom should look like. In class, I would like to talk about how important it is for all students in the class to contribute to the conversation and to feel welcoming. I would also like to talk about the things in a school that attract the students into wanting to learn more and the certain things that makes them want to show up. 

Attached here is an image of what it seems to be an elementary class and you can see how decorative the walls and the room is in general which causes the students to be more attracted to it. You see posters, a lot of toys, a colorful carpet and several colors that all draw attention to young students in a classroom. You can also see how there are several chairs at one table, so the students are facing each other and forced to talk to each other more rather than sitting by themselves. 

Kevins FNED 246 Blog

 For my Blog #5, I am going to be using quotes from both the preface and the introduction from Shalaby, Troublemakers. 

Preface:

Quote: "As an educator and a human being, then, I understood school to not only be a place where young people must be treated as persons but-more important-a place where they can learn, together, how to skillfully insist on their right to be treated as free people"(xvi). I picked this quote because I liked how the author used the word together and talked about how everybody can learn but learn together as a whole. I also liked how she then added how they have a right to be treated as free people and that they are there to get an education and learn. I also liked this quote because she states as an educator and human being which gives us a good point of view on what her opinion is like and what she believes school should be like.

Introduction:

Quote: "I was in charge of asking the questions and he was in charge of answering them. I was the adult, the teacher, the leader. He was the child, the pupil, the follower. We were in a school. All of these facts added up to a clear and singular conclusion: I had power over him, and his success relied on his ability and willingness to accept that"(xxvi). I picked this quote because it shows the power in a classroom that we all live in our everyday life. These roles were normalized in a classroom, so it was what was expected to happen in a classroom. She goes and talks about how she is the "leader" and how he is the "follower" and that they were in a school and whatever she said had to happen. I also like how she states, "I had power over him" and she just basically says that how he succeeded relied on him accepting that she had less power. 

Reflection: I really enjoyed reading this and even though it was kind of a long reading, it was my favorite reading so far. I think that this reading compares a lot to what we discuss in class when we talk about the power in the classroom and how the teacher is the one who has the power and students are the ones that are supposed to listen and follow the directions the teacher said. Attached HERE are the different types of power that happen in a classroom between teachers and students. 

This picture that I used shows how the red person in the middle represents the teacher and has the most power and all the yellow people around the red person represents the students aand how the listen to the teacher. 

Kevin's FNED 246 Blog

                         The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

    I decided that I am going to use connections for my blog #4. The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies talks about how these schools will not provide the classes for the students who are showing their interest. To me, this piece was very easy for me to connect this to the past readings due to how similar they were. I was first able to connect this to the four i's of oppression. The oppression that stood out to me that I was easiest to connect to the most is institutional oppression. Institutionalized oppression happens when social and written rules, laws, regulations, curriculum, media images and privileges who allow a dominant group as a whole to benefit at the expense of a subordinate group. The people in power are being shown and taught whereas the culture and history of the not so privileged aren't.  This shows the culture in power due to the fact that it is not allowing the non-privileged people to show their history/cultures and where they come from in a classroom. 

    The picture that I have chosen is a picture of how so many people can be affected by one person. In this picture, I imagined that all of these people are in a classroom and the person in the middle is the teacher and that all of the people around the teacher are the people who are affected either positively or negatively in the classroom. Attached HERE talks about how to become a more diverse teacher and the importance of accepting different diversities and cultures in a classroom. A point that I wanted to bring up in class was a connection that I had between the video we watched last class and the reading The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies. In the video, it talked about how students from a school in Tucson, Arizona where the students got their ethnic studies taken away from them. The students finally felt comfortable in their environment for once as they were learning on how to grow as a culture. I could connect these two with each other because Sleeter talked about how respecting other people's beliefs and where they come from are such important values and this is also shown in the Precious Documentary where the man claimed that they were threatening America, and they had no respect or beliefs. 

Kevins FNED 246 Blog

                                                                     The 4 I's of oppression

The Four I's of oppression are Ideological, Internalized, Interpersonal and Institutionalized. These can all be used in different ways and is in our everyday routine. For my blog #3, I decided to use quotes to help better explain the different I's of oppression.

Ideological Oppression: This refers to a set of beliefs, values, or ideologies on individuals or groups within a society. The quote that I used is "Ideological Oppression is rooted in value systems that allow people to dehumanize, exploit, or harm other individuals and groups." I chose this quote because it points out that these values, common sense, contribute to dehumanization, exploitation and harm. 

Internalized Oppression: This refers to the way people absorb belief systems that then contribute to feelings of false supremacy with themselves in relation to others. The quote that I used is "In white dominant societies, internalized oppression often expressed itself for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color..." I chose this quote because it shows how white people think they are the best and how they have more power than anyone they think is below them. 

Interpersonal Oppression: This refers to the idea of how one group or individual is better than another, both intentionally and accidentally. The quote that I used is "When expressed across groups, interpersonal oppression can normalize biased behaviors and violence." I chose this quote because it you can see the impact right away and it can make people feel diminished, exploited, attacked, dehumanized and that their safety is jeopardized, and their life may even be threatened. 

Institutional Oppression: This refers to a certain group or person being treated unfairly compared to others. The quote I chose is "As a policy and practice, test scores inequitably keep low income-particularly Black, Indigenous, or other people of color-students from accessing educational credentials and related job opportunities." I chose this quote because this clearly shows how there is an unfair treatment amongst certain groups of people that prevents them from getting educations and jobs. 

Attached HERE, you can find more additional on the four I's of oppression to help better your understanding.