"Empowering Education"
Ira Shor


In this reading the Shor argues that education is politics and that curriculums should promote the students questioning their education. That instead of the you listen an take notes while i tell you approach it should be engaging and peak their curiosity.
I am so happy that i chose to do my service learning at The Met school because here i get to witness this first hand. First of all the Students are not seated in the standard institutionalized setting. They are seated in a circular formation that way they can all see the teacher without difficulty and can have meaningful discussions about what is being taught. As i observe the advisor/ teacher do a lesson i see how interesting the students are and how eager they are to participate. I wondered what the secret to her method was but as time went on i noticed that this came from respect. Respect given to and from each other. she taught but at the same time acknowledging their questions and concerns. if they have a problem withe way something is being taught or if they have suggestions about their lesson plan they have a discussion about it and if it is reasonable enough she will find ways of implementing it in future plans. That is why The Met school is a so one of a kind, because the students are able to question their education it has lead to a whole different way of teaching and learning there. Definitely what i'm hoping to encounter when i enter my classroom as a teacher.

“Citizenship in School: Re-conceptualizing Down Syndrome,” 

Kliewer

In this article Kliewer argues that disabled students are segregated from their non disabled peers and, as a consequence, miss out on many educational opportunities. The movement to merge the education of children with and without disabilities is based on the belief that communication is built on one's ability to listen deeply to others. Success in life requires an ability to develop relationships and form a “community” and, because we don't have complete control over our interactions, we must “work with others.” John Dewey believed that schools must serve as a site where children develop commitment to each other as well as a sense of self-direction. Some schools have a goal of placing children with down syndrome in the same classrooms as their peers and accepting all students as citizens. It tells the story of Shane Robbins who puts “citizenship” into practice. For example, she listens deeply to each student and maintains a focus on the individual needs of each student in her classroom. She did not, however, interpret a child's nonconformity to developmental theory as a manifestation of defect. Previously, schools took a narrow position when defining and judging student intellect but, today, there is a push towards broadening that approach. Schools must recognize themselves as places where the three R's are posed as “problems, challenges, problems and opportunities.” School personal must also expand their vision of what constitutes valued patterns of learning. Citizenship and respect, according to Borgan and Taylor, also require recognizing an individual's ability to think and a realization of each student's individuality. Classrooms that have accepted all children as citizens who are thoughtful, creative and interested learners with personal identities have removed the image of community burden attached to down syndrome. All students receiving equal opportunity and school citizenship rejects the idea of a gap between normality and down syndrome. While this article specifically focuses of accepting students with down syndrome as citizens in the classroom, other oppressed groups face similar challenges in the classroom as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFQpqigIcOY

http://www.ndss.org/Resources/Education/Implementing-Inclusion/

Social Justice Event
"From belly dancing to burqas"

On November 12, 2014 I attended a seminar held by Dr. Afshan Jafar. The topic of the seminar was "from belly dancing to burqas". The whole point of this seminar was to clear up any misconception, and to eliminate the stereotype of Muslim women. One of the neat things Dr. Jafar did was to have us write four things we think we know about Muslim women. It was astounding to hear the similarities in everyone's answer. Some of the more common words used were oppressed, shy, beautiful, covered, submissive, traditional and shy. What was even more surprising was to know that we all had incorrect preconception. The message she tried to get across was that Muslim women are not as timid and oppressed as they are portrayed to be. That just like any other group there are different degrees and levels to their belief. From the conformist to the nontraditional. 

The Muslim religion is considered to be a very patriarchal one. So it was interesting to find out that a lot of these women were not force or expected to dress and behave in a certain manner. Instead, they choose to do this out of pride and respect for what they believe in. She thinks that the fallacy we have of Muslim women is based on ignorance and media coverage of their way of life. Media such as magazines, TV, Internet etc. and her purpose was to try to set the record straight. 

This seminar was very informative. I learned a lot about the muslim religion and I also learned that unfortunately I was guilty of doing the same things such as generalizing and stereotyping a certain group of people just as others do when they look at me based of my ethnicity. Thanks to this seminar this is not the case anymore and I will try my best to do that with everyone and everything going forward. 

Three course readings I'm reminded of by this seminar are: 

1. The Wise video where he said at some point in our lives we are all guilty of judging a person based on what they look like. 

2. Christensen's "Unleashing the myth that binds us" where she spoke on the role of the media and how it brainwash us to think and react a certain way and 

3. McIntosh's "White Privilege" that touched on women's rights in society.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqMi5iWpTQs

http://submission.org/Misconceptions_about_Women.html

"Tracking: Why schools need to take a new route"
Jeannie Oakes

In this article, the author Jeannie Oakes argues that the education system need to take measures in order to have successful heterogeneous classroom instead  of the controversial homogeneous ones. a heterogeneous classroom  is where children of approximately the same age are placed in different classrooms in order to create a relatively even distribution of students of different abilities as well as different educational and emotional needs. They think that in order for this to happen it needs to be implemented in the school curriculum at an early stage because by the time the students get to middle and high school it will be too late. They believe this is the case because at the high school level sorting, standardizing and competition is already grounded.



Since research have shown that "academic ability is not unchangeable but developmental and grows throughout childhood." it is unfair to place those considered to be academically inclined in the same classroom. with better resources, teachers, curriculum and smaller classes than the ones considered to be less talented. This promotes inequality because the less talented students are not truly given a chance to show what they are truly capable of. this holds them to a certain standard. A stigma that will follow them throughout the rest of their education life, Which will dictate their attitude towards school and in the long run, their level of success.
I'm reminded of the movie "Freedom Writers" which we watched in class this week. one particular scene i remembered was when the staff in charge of the distribution of the books didn't want to give them to the students she considered to be less than. She didn't think that they would make good use of the books. That the students would only rip and lose them. however, when this same group of students were given new books paid for by the teacher. they were excited about it, they took pride in it, they actually read the books and showed the school and community what they were capable of if they were shown interest and not being stereotyped or held to a certain standard.

"Becoming Something Different"

COLLEEN M. FAIRBANKS
PENNY MASON CROOKS
In this article the authors Coleen and Penny did a study on girl named Esme from the sixth to eleventh grade. the purpose of this study was done to see how the education system is helping or failing students who are of a different culture and if/when/how these students are conformed over time by the interactions that school entails. they believe that school practices decides a students' path and at time limits their potential.



 Esme who was a Latina student went through several changes. both academically and socially. Esme was a english language learner and instead of putting her in the appropriate class for this she was placed in a remedial reading class from the sixth grade through some parts of high school. this can be seen as the school limiting her. Just because she wasn't able to read and write the english language fluently  it doesn't mean that she was incapable of performing at the level of the other students. there was just a communication barrier. Esme considered this to be helpful at the time because it helped her to read and communicate the english language better. which in returned helped her to come out of her shell because she was always intimidated when it comes to taking part in class due to the fear of embarrassment. However, after becoming more fluent she began to find her tasks monotonous and tedious. she also found this type of class in high school to be more disruptive. she would get distracted by the commotion caused by her classmates when she was trying to concentrate on her work. this  depletes the quality of her education because she didn't belong there to begin with. some students might be deterred by this and may not want to return to school. luckily, Esme knew the value of education and continued with her studies.

Tim Wise
"Between Barack and a hard place"

This presenter Tim Wise, argues that we are predisposed to certain beliefs and ideologies which causes us to subconsciously discriminate against others. These discriminations include but are not limited to: racism, gender inequality, sexual orientation etc. However, his presentation mainly focused on the problem on racism. He thinks we have been exposed to racism from childhood onwards. That this is not something we were born with rather it is something learned. We learn this because it has been institutionalized. this institutionalization stems from stereotypical beliefs that have been instilled in us. He spoke about being treated differently from his black schoolmates. that because of privilege they were graded and punished differently. They had different expectations of him and others of his race over those who are black or of a minority group. This differential treatment caused a strain on the relationship between him and his black friends. Not because they grew weary of each other but because of the structure of society.

Unfortunately, these types of behaviors don't stop there. It can be seen in so many different place in our society and on so many different levels. Places this can be seen are: the police forces, healthcare center, banks, investment firms, money markets etc.
He thinks the only way we can start taking steps to fixing this problem is by acknowledging that racism exist. That at some point or another we discriminate. knowingly or unknowing. This he thinks will lead to an open and honest conversation that is needed to truly address this troubling issue.
As i listen to wise i am reminded of Mcintosh "white privilege and  Jane Elliot's "Brown eye-blue eye experiment" which also speaks about racism and the privilege of one at the disadvantage of another.

Here is the link to a funny video that i think relates to racism and privilege.

https://screen.yahoo.com/white-000000112.html

In the Service of What?

By Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer


In this document the authors Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer  argues that service learning is important in our schools and the community. They believe that the selfless concern for the well-being of others while doing service learning, will help students develop social sensitivity, with the hope that their values and beliefs will be transformed while doing so. This they believe will  build character and help to prepare students for the world ahead. However, though these are great attributes for one to posses they think that it should go much deeper than just that.
Kahne and Westheimer thinks that when service learning is done it should cover moral, political and intellectual domains. From the moral domains the students will give charity and while giving this charity they learn to care about what it is they are doing . They're not just doing just because it is the right thing to do but over time will care about the individual/ individuals they are working with and their circumstances. From the political domain those providing the service should look at it as their civil duty. That "volunteerism and compassion" is a way of giving back to the community and that this demonstrates citizenship.For the political domain students need to also look at the cause of the depravity for the less fortunate and the ways in which society on a whole can address and improve said conditions. Finally, the intellectual domain should bring forth experience based-learning. it promotes interdisciplinary learning and it encourages students to do more critical thinking.