Blog Post #8 RI Laws and Policies + Video

 

                                           Blog Post #8 RI Laws and Policies + Video

Argument - Both the reading and the video have similar arguments in that they both aim to create safe and free environments for all children, bypassing any type of discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, or race. Both the reading and the video take different approaches in that the reading focuses mainly on the legal aspect, as in creating specific laws making it illegal to discriminate against students based on these factors. These laws include, Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination against anyone based on these factors, or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in any educational program that receives federal funding. The video takes a different approach, instead of telling us discrimination is wrong upfront and making it illegal, the video focuses on teaching WHY discrimination wrong. It takes a teacher forward approach, using a tone that would be used for children, to make sure that people of all ages can understand the point they are trying to get across. This cannot be said for the reading due to its complex nature.

I Think both of these pieces are important and work hand in hand with one another. One one hand, it is important for us, especially as inspiring teachers and youth development workers, to understand the laws and history of laws against discrimination. It is important to look at the progress made, especially for those who are in the LGBTIA+ community who have made recent strides in laws protecting their rights. However, the video is almost as important as the reading because when having these conversations, especially about gender identity, it doesn't need to be all about government. It is important to humanize these conversations, and not make people in the community feel any different than people who are not. At the end of the day, gender identity is not just a government issue. It is a human issue, and it centers around how people treat one another. The video highlights this facts, and attempts to teach people how to better understand this issue by using a soft and teaching tone, which I think it very important. 

Comments - I think the video is very interesting because it can be taken in many different ways. On one hand, it can be taken as a video just for kids, where someone is trying to read them a book with a nice meeting. It is easy to brush this video off as just another children's book reading. However, I think it is more complex than that. I think this video is equally important for adults to listen to. The world is rapidly changing, and because of that, I give some slack to the older generation for not fully understanding things like gender identity and certain people using different pronouns, etc. However, this does not exclude them from having to educate themselves. People can argue that it is too difficult to keep up with the times, but that is why videos like this are so important. It shows that complex ideas can be taught in a simple manner that everyone can understand. I do not feel like this video should just be limited to the children demographic and can be very helpful for the older generation that may be struggling to understand new terms and ideologies. 

HyperLinks - https://www.waterford.org/education/equity-vs-equality-in-education/

Blog Post #7 Hehir and Examined Life video

 

                                                       Hehir and Examined Life video

Argument - The main argument of both the reading by Thomas Hehir, and the video, examined life, is to show and explain the difficulties that people with disabilities can face, whether that is in the classroom or daily life. The reading focuses mainly on the classroom aspect, sharing stories from different people, showing multiple instances of ableism and how it affects people with disabilities in schools. While the video focuses on one person Sunaura Taylor, who has disabilities herself, sharing her stories and how people treat her affects her daily life. Both point that it is the people around them, and the thoughts and assumptions people have of people with disabilities that are the root to these problems and are what needs to be changed in order to solve this issue.

The reading by Thomas Hehir shares stories from different people to drive home his point on the struggles of people with disabilities in the classroom. One in particular was found in the section called, The Education of the Deaf, where Hehir explains the process and struggles that deaf and blind people went through to get their education. It is explained that when education for this group started, ASL was used in the classroom which educators would use sign language to communicate with their students. This worked for students and showed the educators were willing to learn in order to help their students. However, later in the 19th century, Hehir explains that oralism set back this movement, and students started to learn by lip-reading. This can be seen as an example of Delpit's culture of power in which able bodied people are more accepted than those who have disabilities. This is an instance of educators trying to mold their students into learning how to be more able bodied, rather than the educators learning how to teach them correctly. This is a theme echoed throughout Hehir's reading in which this idea of trying to "cure" or help these disabilities is the wrong way to go about it, rather celebrating these differences and finding ways to unite able bodied people with those who have disabilities.

Comments - While watching the video, there was one moment that stuck out to me the most. That was when Sunaura talked about her struggle of learning how to ask for help. I never thought about this problem, but for some people with disabilities, it can feel like they are being a burden when asking for help. It is a stigma in our society that anyone asking for help, including people who are homeless or those with disabilities, are somehow lower than us. She talked about how she started to understand that asking for help is not something that should be looked down upon. This is something that I agree with. We all have moments that we cannot handle all on our own. There are going to be times where we need extra supports. Asking for help should not only be not looked down upon, rather celebrated and accepted that you were able to analyze your situation, and have the courage to understand this is not something that can be done alone.

HyperLinks - https://blog.planbook.com/classroom-ableism/

Blog post #6 Rodriguez and Teaching Bilinguals videos

 

                                                Rodriguez and Teaching Bilinguals videos 

Argument - Both Rodriguez and the videos share a similar argument in which they argue that having multiple languages in a classroom will not only help your students that speak multiple languages, but will enrich their learning experience when they see their teacher making an effort in including their culture into the lessons as well. They challenge the idea that English should be the only languages in the classroom. Both, but more specifically the videos understand the difficulty that comes with teaching children in multiple languages when you only speak one. However they offer ideas and methods on how to break down this barrier that educators can have with their children and try to connect them in the classroom. 

This idea of English should be the "main "language in American classrooms is highlighted in the Rodriguez reading when he explains his time in school as a child. He shares a story in which he has trouble answering questions in school, since his main language was Spanish. He explains that he was discriminated against and sometimes punished for the use of his own language. This transpired into him having this idea of a "public" and "private" languages, in which he believed that English was the public one and should be the only one used in classrooms. That is what makes the videos so important. It shows a shift in the way of thinking in the classroom. Not only is Multilanguage students accepted, they are celebrated. Their understanding of two languages is seen as a gift not as a burden on the educators. It shows that the pressure is not on the students, but rather the educator to try to include these student's culture into the lessons, rather than excluding them. 

Comments - The part that I found most interesting was the videos. I found that the tips and methods they showed in the videos were more helpful than I first thought they would be. One in particular was in Episode two in which the teacher tried to integrate Spanish into her lesson. When giving directions, she asked the students who would be comfortable in doing those directions in Spanish, like when finding a quote, who could write that quote in Spanish. There was another example in which students were given a body and were asked to color which body parts they could say in English, and which ones they could say in Spanish. Both of these examples are very important because they are two instances in which the teacher included Multilanguage students. It would be much easier for the teacher to just give these students two separate worksheets, one in English and one in Spanish. However, she made an effort to unify the students, and rather than isolating certain students, she made each student work on the same assignment, which I believe is very important.   

HyperLinks - https://online.tamiu.edu/articles/education/why-bilingual-education-is-important.aspx

Blog Post #5 Literacy With Attitude Finn

 

                                                     Literacy With Attitude: Patrick Finn

Argument - The author Patrick Finn argues that teaching the concept of justice, more specifically social justice should be taught in schools through the form of literacy. Throughout the story, he alludes to the concept of dangerous literacy, which to my understanding is literacy that challenges the status quo, and says things that most people will not want to hear. He argues that these types of literary works are important to be brought into the classroom to try to break the ice in getting comfortable talking about these difficult concepts that need to be brought up.  

This is highlighted when Finn talks about his time as a professor to graduate students. he explained that these students were older than your typical students. This meant they had their own political opinions, so when he introduced this "Dangerous Literacy", there was pushback from students on both ends of the political spectrum. However, I think this is important because it sparks conversation. Even if you do not agree with these literary works, bringing them up will spark some type of conversation, and having these uncomfortable conversations in a safe space like a classroom, can help break the barriers to such an uncomfortable topic that many people do not want to talk about. Having a diverse group of ideas in an educated environment can help people to understand perspectives, which is why the idea of bringing up these dangerous works are so important in the classroom. 

Comments - The part that stood out to me the most is when he talked about what he learned most from his teachers. He explained that his teachers taught him to not feel superior in any given situation. Do not question people's intelligence and motives so much that you do not listen to their stories. This stuck out to me because it is something that I agree with. there can be tines where you think that you know everything about a topic. However in most cases, you don't know what you don't know. The only way you gain knowledge is by listening to others, especially when they are talking about personal experiences. No matter how educated you are, you are never more educated than someone with first hand experience. It is important to give those people the spotlight in certain cases, and to try to learn from them. Shutting off people who are trying to share their story is not only doing a disservice to them, but to yourself as well. 

HyperLinks - https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/dangerous-reading