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. 

Kevin's FNED 246 Blog

                                                     The silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit

In the silenced dialogue, the author talks about how the "culture of power" has such a big impact on today's education. When I was reading this, I began to think of how my teachers may have treated me and my classmates in the past. The author goes over several experiences when teachers and students come across cultural differences and how privilege and power can have an effect on somebody's education. A teacher can have a big impact on your learning especially due to the fact that they are always around you and your classmates. The author recommends teachers to try and get closer with their students by listening and thinking of a better way to connect with them. Delpit keeps bringing up the idea of power and tells us how unfair it can be to us. The author does a good job of talking about how the hard conversations need to be talked about and acted upon instead of just ignored due to the fact that somebody is going to feel a certain way or feel disrespected. Delpit talks about the "culture of power" and how the people with more power don't actually realize how privileged they are and do not think about it. However, it is opposite for the people who have less power and more privileged as they are always thinking about how much better and more fortunate the one's with more power are. Having a teacher that is learning new things in the classroom and being able to adapt and change for their students is what makes a teacher easy to work with. While reading this, I was able to make loads of connections among the same topics of privilege and power connected to the reading by Alan Johnson. Both of these readings are similar in many ways but also at the same time they are different. 

Attached Here is a link to more information of how to be a better teacher in a multiracial classroom and how to adapt and change to help better your students learning and understanding. 

This picture that I chose here are showing how all of the people are different in this picture but they are still all equal and should all still be treated equal. They all look different and are all different in certain ways but they should still all be treated fairly and the same. 

Kevin Crowe

Reflection on Privilege Power and Difference by Alan Johnson

Reflection: In chapter 1, the author talks about the idea of how social systems create advantages for some individuals or groups while also disadvantaging others. This chapter talks about what it is like to be privileged and how it affects certain people in today's society. He talks about how these advantages and disadvantages are not the result of people's actions but are placed in larger social structures and organizations. He also talks about the importance of understanding and acknowledging these certain patters that keep on happening in order to solve the problem of social inequality.  When I was reading this, one thing that I found very interesting was the diversity wheel chart. This chart shows how different things can affect the privilege of a person. The author discusses certain forms of privilege such as race, gender, and class and how they add up to create life experiences of either advantages or disadvantages. As I was reading this, I really started to think about how my life could have been different if I was to recognize the advantages and disadvantages people had to go through due to being privileges. A big question that I have is how different things in your life change based on how privileged you are. I ask this because if you are more privileged than somebody else in any way, then you are going to have an advantage over them. Same thing goes for being disadvantaged, if somebody else is more privileged than you will be at a disadvantage.  The author made me think about reflecting on my life and thinking about my place and how privileged I am. Attached Here is a link that brings us to learn more about how race and children affect our lives every day. Many people seem to avoid these conversations and discussions when brought up because they feel as though some sign of disrespect will be taken. This author does a really good job talking about the stuff that people avoid daily and do not want to talk about. This just goes to show the problems we live through in our society.