Language

Within the school system the issue of bilingual education has become a touchy issue for many. This has resulted in the linguistic background of many students being marginalized as being unimportant and problematic to their very educational futures. The problem with this is that by simply forcing these students to learn English and depriving them of their own languages, they not only may not fully understand English due to the issues relating to the meanings in their own linguistic background, but it also forces them to deal with injustice from which their trust in the system itself may never return (377). I feel that bilingual education is a necessary aspect of a decision to become urban educators as we need to offer opportunity to the fullest, and this can only be done by allowing students to utilize their own linguistic background in order to grow i their knowledge of English, as well as the other subjects, to move towards their fullest potential.

The misconceptions that drive inequality

In our current school society boys are often seen as being instigators and trouble makers due to established stereotypes. However, those who are African American tend to be treated with resentment and hostility, which has caused some to question their place in the educational system. Our practices of labeling students and tracking them has resulted in the achievement gap and has widened it in some cases based on skin color. African American Males are either seen as criminal (320) or as an endangered species (323), something which has hampered their educational abilities. The thing is that our status quo is something which needs to be reexamined as it currently is discriminatory and simply wrong in how African Americans are treated in the education system.

African American males are not in fact the "naturally naughty" people which labels have described them as, rather it is the issue with our system which has caused them to be seen in such a way. We must as a society attempt to change these misconceptions in order to grow and eventually offer the same educational opportunities to students regardless of color or creed or language, a daunting task, but none the less a necessity.

Restrictions of Education

Overall I thought that the readings for this week were of great importance as educators in an urban environment. In Particular, I was interested by the Enora Brown article and how it dealt with institutional practices which to this day restrict the educational opportunities of many within society. The everyday racial divisions which occur in our society range from a difference in textbook and supply ability due to funding all the way to institutionalized forms of security, which depict students as criminals within the school environment. These differences have caused students to not be able to obtain an education that meets the standards of other schools even within the area, this is especially true under the restrictive funding of No Child Left Behind, but I wont get into that now. The thing is that in order to bring about reform in the educational system, we must find a way to remove these institutionalized differences within schools that are often based on a students race and economic status. Also how can we as teachers best open our classrooms up to be a forum through which students can voice their opinions on these issues?

Social Action

In our group we are researching the concept of how as teachers do we motivate students to become socially aware, and hence active within the real life issues that plague them on a daily basis. My own personal research has led me to a strategy of using critical reading in conjunction with classroom discussion in order to build the context behind these issues, and then using what they have learned in the classroom to move outside the walls of class, and take the information out into the community. By removing the learning process from the confines of a classroom, I feel that students can obtain a better understanding of the everyday situations that people are forced to undergo, and accordingly provides them with perspective of the problems within society.

Following the process of going out into the community, the students can then return into the classroom setting, and share their personal experiences, gaining further insight from the experiences of their classmates, creating a community aspect to the learning activity, and also allows students to share their own personal beliefs about how we could possibly move towards a solution of the problem in question. This I feel is a very important action and would potentially lead to a more involved aspect of a curriculum by getting a point across through actual action.

Community and Understanding

This week, my attention was caught by the piece entitled Turning Points. This piece caught my attention as it not only because it points out the issues that the youth of today are facing ranging from the choices and pressures that adolescents face to the very social fabric of the times in which they live having become less defined, but also because it focuses on a plan for action that can be undertaken by teachers in order to attempt to assist students during these times of change. In particular the strategy suggested in the article of creating communities of learning struck me as this is a policy I wholeheartedly believe in.

            The concept of a community of learners is based around the idea that a stable, respectful environment in which all voices can be heard is a means by which students can achieve intellectual achievement and personal growth. The concept extends outside of the classroom with students taking what they have learned in the classroom back into the community where they can practice it in their own households and neighborhoods, thus furthering their education. The community of learners is a basic concept which can allow students to think critically as well as outside of the box due to the open nature of discussion, allowing students to obtain ideas and personal preferences from others, which in turn can make them think further about their own ideas and principles, perhaps leading to a learning experience, and change to occur within society over time.

Bashing Teens: The Impact on their Education

In Reading the chapters for this week, I was particularly interested with the piece by Mike Males, and how it depicts the media as being a primary assailant to the character of teenagers. He depicts a society in which the media is quick to blame and pass judgment on teenagers, even using its means of spreading information as a scare tactic against teens. I feel that in many ways that this is an accurate portrayal, because as Males says, our society is quick to pass judgment on teens, even labeling them as predisposed to mass amounts of violence. People are quick to pass judgment and hand out consequences, because they feel that teenagers have “lost their way” and thus need reformation, while no blame is placed elsewhere.

            I feel that this is part of the reason that teenagers are distant at times, because they do not know who to trust due to scare tactics such as with sexual education and STD’s, and school shootings. This has made them more difficult than ever to fully reach as an educator. Youth bashing is something, which seems to have become more and more accepted within “adult” society, as many are more than willing to jump on an anti teenage bandwagon. These practices are part of why this age group has become at times difficult to reach within the classroom as teenagers may not feel a part of society due to restrictions placed on them, and accordingly we as educators must work to break down walls and foster dialogue and communication to reach them better.

Adolescence and a shift in teaching strategy

In my reading of Saltman, I came across a statement that caught my interest, that being that “the meaning of adolescence is different in different cultures and at different times”. This is a comment of particular importance to me as a future history teacher because of the overall impact that the times and society play in the role of developing meaning in general. The issue is that past definitions as to the meaning of adolescence, and hence the methodology of teaching those of the adolescent age needs to adapt and shift over time. This is an important issue in our modern education system as the teaching of such topics such as the social sciences has not been fully adapted to the modern times and society, with the use of the if it is not broken don’t fix it philosophy.

            This is an interesting issue as the previous definitions and methodology as to the teaching of adolescents may not be adequate to fully prepare the youth of today for future educational endeavors or for adulthood in general, and hence we must in fact reexamine how we define adolescence as well as how we teach our students to bring about change. The overall issue remains that times will continue to change, as how do we as educators keep up our standards to meet the ever changing needs of our students, while still making it possible to ensure proper education for everyone?

The issue of Globalization in Education...

In the Introduction of the Brown and Saltman textbook, the interesting topic comes about of Globalization when it comes to the education of middle school students. This is an interesting topic to say the least, because at first glance it may not be overly obvious that the issue of Globalization plays a role in how students are educated. However the connections are at points quite obvious in that the function of a public school system is to prepare workers to meet demands of work within our society. Global forms of education are described as being essential to the future of society as they can be used as a medium to present core values and essential goals such as democracy, freedom and equality to a new generation, in the hope that society might be improved worldwide.

         I feel that this is a very important issue in today’s educational framework, as war, prejudice and violence continue to be everyday realities throughout the world, not just in conflict zones. Global factors in education can be used to present new ideas to students that they might not repeat our own errors, and could move to better society by getting involved, and being up to date on current issues as well as the core subjects such as Science and Math. However this overt control over the educational system worldwide may in fact be used incorrectly for the wrong reasons, such as a means to indoctrinate the masses with the rhetoric of a nation, from which they are unable to ask questions as to why things are out of fear, thus making the issue also problematic.

The overall question is, to what degree should outside influences be allowed to have control over our educational system, and how much is required to ensure an equal and proper education for all students? Further, have the proper adaptations to curriculum been made in light of the current information age as our world “contracts” due to technology and communication allowing today’s students even greater access to global information, which can be incorporated into teaching methods.