So... we are now over half way done with the first term of our Master's Program. It is so crazy to think that we will soon be in the classroom, working on implementing, and not spending all day with our cohort! WEIRD! What is that going to be like? I think back to the interview where we had a Q & A section with old residents and the one thing they all kept saying was... "It will go by fast. You will learn so much and before you know it, it will all be over and you will be graduating." I remember sitting in the Q & A thinking... yup! Sure, sure! That is what everyone always says and sometimes it does actually fly by and other times, it seems like it will never end! All I can say is, SO FAR... it has flown by. I have really enjoyed getting to know my cohort and entering into intensional, deeper conversation with people who all hold different stories than myself. I am really excited for what is to come and not just meaning our dance parties, or barcrawl, or Friday gatherings, or potlucks, but the whole thing; classroom stories, long nights of preparation, needed vent sessions, and then graduation! What a year we have before us.
On another note, I wanted to throw out the idea of gender equality and see what everyone thinks. In class today I brought up the fact that our reading touched on the idea that the roles of men within the household are very significant. I think we all can agree that men, especially fathers, are super important and drastically change the outcome of ones life when they are present or not. I know from personal experience that not having my dad around drastically changed my life. I can testify to growing up in a primarily single-parent home with my mother and sister and noticing a void. This is not to say that my mom didn't provide, build things, do yard work, fix the car, cook, clean, help with homework, etc. but to recognize that I acted out to capture the attention of guys. I can pin point situations that occurred when all I wanted was the approval and attention of a man because I didn't receive it from my own dad. My dad and I struggle through our relationship to this day, and would this have happened if he would have been present in my life? I can't say for positive, but I am pretty sure!
Gender equality looks different in many different realms for example:
- Within the Work Place. Do men and women get equal pay and equal opportunity? Do we have jobs that are pretty specific to a gender whether we verbally label it or not?
- Within the home. Do we value one parent over the other? Is a mother's role more important than a father's or vise versa?
- Within the school system. How important is it to have male teachers and mentors? Do men primarily teach math, P.E., and science within the middle school and high school, if so... why?
- Within the government. What is it going to take or will it ever happen that we have a woman president?
- Within sports. Is it for a woman's own good not to play in the NFL? Is it simply that spectators don't place as much value on female sports as they do on mens?
What do you think? Are we, as America, stalled in gender equality, have we successfully completely the task, or are we somewhere in the middle? I don't know if there is really a right answer to this and I recognize it is all bias and based off person preference. With that said, our own history and stories play into our views and opinions on this topic as well.
So... WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Starts with VALUE!
This week was a really good week for me. I am not sure if it was a good week because we had half days Tuesday/Wednesday and no class on Friday or just because I felt productive and engaged this week? I am enjoying our classes so far and I think one of the main reasons I enjoy them so much is because we are engaged in conversations that I had in undergrad, but more in depth. I love learning about different cultures and groups of people because I learn so much from them! I often feel like I identify with other cultures on a deeper level than I do with the "average white American" for many reasons. The lens at which I see the world through is extremely different than the "average, white, female, American" because I have been given the opportunity to travel. I have lived or visited a handful of countries like Ecuador, Thailand, Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico, England, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia. I have been able to see others cultures and the reality of their lives. As an educator, I have learned about their systems and the way in which they treat their people and their youth. And then I was raise in America. I was raised in a middle-class, predominantly white neighborhood, by a single-parent. If I had to define the lens in which I see the world, I would say it is pretty messed up! haha.
With that said, being able to see other cultures and lifestyles first hand have played into my ability, teaching strategies, as well as passion for education. When looking at the umbrella of Education, America is barely sheltered from getting wet. We (as in Americans) value and see education in a completely different sense than most other countries around the world. In America, it almost seems like we think we "deserve" education rather than seeing it as a privaledge and a gift. I define the word "deserve" as: to merit, be qualified for, to be worthy of, or have a claim to (reward, assistance, punishment, etc.) because of actions, qualities, or situation, and I think that is wrong. One of the main reasons I believe US students perform relatively poorly on international tests of academic achievement, relative to other countries is because we value education much different. Education in America is about what WE, individually, can get; it't about ME and my child; it's about teachers performance; and more than anything, we don't often take ownership over our own short comings and situations. Now... don't get mad at me and jump to conclusions but if we really look deep into ourselves and our situations, we do not value education for the great body and we don't work very hard to earn the results we desire.
For example, when I was working in Zambia, I had a boy who talked 4 miles to school because he could not afford to go to the government and he was offered a spot at our community school. FOUR MILES... can you imagine? We don't even make our kids walk four blocks, why? Because we don't have to! We know that if we complain or decide that we don't like that choice, there are ways around it. For my Zambian student, he knew there were no other choices. It was either walk to school because that was his way to succeed and better himself or don't, and identify your own future selling vegetables or staying in the village barely able to scrap by. On the less extreme side of things... I worked for Charles Mumba. Charles and his wife Margret had seven kids and Malawo is the youngest. Malawo is in 11th grade at a government school where she pays to attend, she wears a yellow and blue uniform everyday, she walks to school, she has to be all natural during the school year (meaning no relaxer, no make-up, no extensions, no shown piercings), and she attends extra lessons to supplement her schooling. Her school is one of the better schools in Ndola but the education is still not up to her parents standards and so she attends extra lessons from 3:00-7:00pm Monday thru Friday. This means that Malawo is doing some sort of school work/activity from 7:00am-7:00pm Monday thru Friday! WHAT!?!? Can you imagine? I surely can't unless it is basketball or softball practice, which I enjoy! Finally, I am often reminded of the Jewish culture when I think of excessive studying and hard-working. Orthodox Jewish people send their children to Hebrew class most mornings before school. In this Hebrew class, the students study the Tanakh from cover to cover. They memorize, read, test, and study so that they can re-sight the Hebrew Bible by memory. These parents and students realize that it takes countless hours of reading and studying to be able to perfect this. I don't often think they want to study for hours on end, but they know what the end result is and they strive to be the best.
Friday, July 19, 2013
What American Dream?
Question: Do American public schools have a responsibility to "compensate" for students whose out-of-school experiences aren't as rich or enabling as the experiences of other students? Why or why not? If so, what are some of the ways they should compensate? If not, how does this affect your understanding of the American Dream?
Answer: Who conducts or identifies the American Dream these days? Who believes that there is one dream for all people? I often find myself wondering who fed me the classic lines of "The American Dream" growing up because it was not modeled nor did it come close to the life I was living. I can vividly remember thinking that the American Dream looked like one of the last scenes in the movie Major Pain. The part where Major Benson Winifred Payne has a dream that he marries Dr. Emily Walburn, a teacher at the school, and they adopt of have children of their own. The clip in the movie shows them grilling behind their cute house, with a big yard, surrounded by a white picket fence. A "bad guy" comes to try to kill the Major and he saves the day and everyone is SOOOOO HAPPY! Movie Review Isn't that the ideal dream? A happy family, with a stable living environment, whose lives are happy and safe? Well.... it sounds nice to me but the truth is not always so.
The more I learn about the world and our different cultures, I begin to realize that we all have different vantage points. We all see situations and circumstances differently based on the the lens (the way we grew up, where we grew up, family situation, schooling, race, age, gender, etc) we have inherited. I use the word inherited because we did not ask to be born to the parent or parents we have nor in the situation or circumstance that we find ourselves in. With that said, we all have different ideals and values. We all see the good and the bad of our world differently and therefore, how can there only beONE "American Dream"? How is it that ONE dream can satisfy and mold to fit millions of people with different lenses?
All this to say, One Man's Study suggests that there is no significant link between a school's resources and student achievement after controlling for demographic factors. In conclusion, this suggests that the school environment is more important than that which is outside. I do not exactly agree with Eric Hanusheck's interpretation of the data but I do agree with the outcome that the school environment is more important from a teacher's perspective. As a teacher, we cannot control that which happens outside of school. We cannot control the home life of our students nor the choices that are being made, but we can and will control the environment within the classroom. With that being said, it is our job as a school to provide all that is necessary for our students to succeed! I believe that we should be allowing opportunities for students to encounter and experience new things that they may not be able to outside of the classroom. In a perfect, "American Dream" kind of world, all our students whether rich or poor, would be experiencing the same things and receiving the same quality education! But then we are quickly diverted back to real life and the understanding that sometime, most times, life is not fair. Things are not equal and the "American Dream" does not exist for more people! In this case, I do believe it is our job to compensate for those experiences and opportunities.Some ways in which I see our schools compensating for these experiences are through field trips. I believe field trips are great ways for students to encounter new things outside of their personal bubble. Another way of compensating is through the use of technology. In our world today, technology can do crazy things. I think we need to invest in our teachers to use technology to its fullest. We can skype with people from different countries; we can use google Earth to show close up visuals of other parts of the country/world or google docs to communicate via pen pals; we can research topics to become more aware and informed; we can create a virtual experience for students as if they were there, in that specific place! I personally do not know a lot about technology but know that it can be a life changer in the classroom!
I do not believe it is fair to use the term "responsibility" in the question above. I would hope that teachers would long to introduce their students to new things and allow them experiences like everyone else. I think there is a lot of pressure on teachers to do this, do that, work on this, don't forget that... when in all reality, teachers follow a curriculum and structure their lessons accordingly. If there was free reign and no standardize testing, I would say we all have the responsibility and owe our students the service to do so but.... until that day comes, we need to do what we can and be the best teachers we can be! ;o)
Answer: Who conducts or identifies the American Dream these days? Who believes that there is one dream for all people? I often find myself wondering who fed me the classic lines of "The American Dream" growing up because it was not modeled nor did it come close to the life I was living. I can vividly remember thinking that the American Dream looked like one of the last scenes in the movie Major Pain. The part where Major Benson Winifred Payne has a dream that he marries Dr. Emily Walburn, a teacher at the school, and they adopt of have children of their own. The clip in the movie shows them grilling behind their cute house, with a big yard, surrounded by a white picket fence. A "bad guy" comes to try to kill the Major and he saves the day and everyone is SOOOOO HAPPY! Movie Review Isn't that the ideal dream? A happy family, with a stable living environment, whose lives are happy and safe? Well.... it sounds nice to me but the truth is not always so.
The more I learn about the world and our different cultures, I begin to realize that we all have different vantage points. We all see situations and circumstances differently based on the the lens (the way we grew up, where we grew up, family situation, schooling, race, age, gender, etc) we have inherited. I use the word inherited because we did not ask to be born to the parent or parents we have nor in the situation or circumstance that we find ourselves in. With that said, we all have different ideals and values. We all see the good and the bad of our world differently and therefore, how can there only be
All this to say, One Man's Study suggests that there is no significant link between a school's resources and student achievement after controlling for demographic factors. In conclusion, this suggests that the school environment is more important than that which is outside. I do not exactly agree with Eric Hanusheck's interpretation of the data but I do agree with the outcome that the school environment is more important from a teacher's perspective. As a teacher, we cannot control that which happens outside of school. We cannot control the home life of our students nor the choices that are being made, but we can and will control the environment within the classroom. With that being said, it is our job as a school to provide all that is necessary for our students to succeed! I believe that we should be allowing opportunities for students to encounter and experience new things that they may not be able to outside of the classroom. In a perfect, "American Dream" kind of world, all our students whether rich or poor, would be experiencing the same things and receiving the same quality education! But then we are quickly diverted back to real life and the understanding that sometime, most times, life is not fair. Things are not equal and the "American Dream" does not exist for more people! In this case, I do believe it is our job to compensate for those experiences and opportunities.Some ways in which I see our schools compensating for these experiences are through field trips. I believe field trips are great ways for students to encounter new things outside of their personal bubble. Another way of compensating is through the use of technology. In our world today, technology can do crazy things. I think we need to invest in our teachers to use technology to its fullest. We can skype with people from different countries; we can use google Earth to show close up visuals of other parts of the country/world or google docs to communicate via pen pals; we can research topics to become more aware and informed; we can create a virtual experience for students as if they were there, in that specific place! I personally do not know a lot about technology but know that it can be a life changer in the classroom!
I do not believe it is fair to use the term "responsibility" in the question above. I would hope that teachers would long to introduce their students to new things and allow them experiences like everyone else. I think there is a lot of pressure on teachers to do this, do that, work on this, don't forget that... when in all reality, teachers follow a curriculum and structure their lessons accordingly. If there was free reign and no standardize testing, I would say we all have the responsibility and owe our students the service to do so but.... until that day comes, we need to do what we can and be the best teachers we can be! ;o)
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Back in America!
Back in the US of A! What a feeling. To top it all off, in the last three weeks I have returned from Zambia, moved to Chicago, and started grad school. So far so good but it has been a bit chaotic. I am getting my Master's in Urban Education and for the last week we have just scratched the surface of stereotypes, hierarchy in education, culture related to culture, and statistics that affect the outcome of student success. All this information has been super interesting and a rather easy transition because I have been dealing with the same sorts of questions in Africa, but obviously on a different scale.
As I come back after almost 2-years, culture shock wasn't what I thought it would be. I don't feel like I have had any moments where I couldn't deal with the emotion or understand the struggle between the two cultures, or two lifestyles that I have been living for the last 2-years. I LOVED life in Zambia and at the same time, I LOVE life here in America. They are COMPLETELY different, and that is ok! I think the hardest thing thus far has been entering into a grad program that focuses so much on urban life and racial diversity for the following reasons:
1) I try not to compare "our problems" in America to the problems that we faced in Zambia.
2) Everything we talk about in class from profiling, stereotypes, and achievement gaps we faced in Zambia but on a much different scale. So it has been interesting to recenter myself and allow statistics to be different and realize that in America, we value things differently.
3) There is a different level of motivation and self-worth in America. Generally, people in Zambia are poor, but they have such a drive and motivation to be better. I had one student who attended my school who walked 4 miles each way just to attend school. He was very seldom late and he never complained about it. Education was a priority to him and his grandmother and he knew that was his only way to become a better citizen/man!
So, as we go forward, I am going to forewarn you that I may blog a lot about the comparisons and they struggle between understanding for me, because it is a real struggle! I don't EVER want to make Chicago problems, AUSL struggles, or American challenges seem less important or worthy, it is just difficult to wrap your mind around things when people in other parts of the world would "give up their life" to be educated. Long story short, I want to work in urban education because I truly believe that we need adults who are passionate about education, well-round and aware of other worlds to put life into perspective for our students through challenging, encouraging, and motivating environments. If there is one thing I have realized more and more through my experience and entering grad school classes, we are all more alike than different. People on every continent suffer the same struggle and fight the same fight but at a different level.
Some of us teachers will be working with ESL students who may experience culture shock. We may be working with students who get moved around every year or every other year; some of us may struggle to connect because of our personal stories or experiences so I have attached a few things I have been reading that may give some insight or things to think about. These readings are simply about culture shock and reengaging into a community that you are unfamiliar with. We, as teachers, will need to be able to assist in that transition process while understanding, or trying to understand where they are at!
ESL students and Culture Shock
Thought this was interesting
More in-depth with Culture Shock
Twalamonana! Stacey
As I come back after almost 2-years, culture shock wasn't what I thought it would be. I don't feel like I have had any moments where I couldn't deal with the emotion or understand the struggle between the two cultures, or two lifestyles that I have been living for the last 2-years. I LOVED life in Zambia and at the same time, I LOVE life here in America. They are COMPLETELY different, and that is ok! I think the hardest thing thus far has been entering into a grad program that focuses so much on urban life and racial diversity for the following reasons:
1) I try not to compare "our problems" in America to the problems that we faced in Zambia.
2) Everything we talk about in class from profiling, stereotypes, and achievement gaps we faced in Zambia but on a much different scale. So it has been interesting to recenter myself and allow statistics to be different and realize that in America, we value things differently.
3) There is a different level of motivation and self-worth in America. Generally, people in Zambia are poor, but they have such a drive and motivation to be better. I had one student who attended my school who walked 4 miles each way just to attend school. He was very seldom late and he never complained about it. Education was a priority to him and his grandmother and he knew that was his only way to become a better citizen/man!
So, as we go forward, I am going to forewarn you that I may blog a lot about the comparisons and they struggle between understanding for me, because it is a real struggle! I don't EVER want to make Chicago problems, AUSL struggles, or American challenges seem less important or worthy, it is just difficult to wrap your mind around things when people in other parts of the world would "give up their life" to be educated. Long story short, I want to work in urban education because I truly believe that we need adults who are passionate about education, well-round and aware of other worlds to put life into perspective for our students through challenging, encouraging, and motivating environments. If there is one thing I have realized more and more through my experience and entering grad school classes, we are all more alike than different. People on every continent suffer the same struggle and fight the same fight but at a different level.
Some of us teachers will be working with ESL students who may experience culture shock. We may be working with students who get moved around every year or every other year; some of us may struggle to connect because of our personal stories or experiences so I have attached a few things I have been reading that may give some insight or things to think about. These readings are simply about culture shock and reengaging into a community that you are unfamiliar with. We, as teachers, will need to be able to assist in that transition process while understanding, or trying to understand where they are at!
ESL students and Culture Shock
Thought this was interesting
More in-depth with Culture Shock
Twalamonana! Stacey
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