BH&H

The Many “A’s” of Advocacy

It was so great to dissect the reading from the BH&H book in groups today. I really enjoyed the process we went through because it allowed each of us to have time and space to share our thoughts and perspectives.

I extrapolated many different summaries of thought from my group’s discussion of the reading. I can sum up these points with three words that all, conveniently, begin with the same letter: transformative teaching and life-changing multicultural education is built on the foundation of awareness, attitude, and activism.

First of all, it is our job as teachers and humans to be aware of the “-isms” around us. We need to face the sharp, uncomfortable truth that people face prejudice every day (whether they are the receivers or deliverers of it)- that people’s realities may look very different from ours. When we are aware of the issues in our community, our classroom, and ourselves, we are better equipped to address these systemic failures.

It can be a painful process, but awareness is not enough. Our awareness must affect our attitude (I am really on a roll with this!). We must take the truths we have learned and allow it to shape our views and approaches to the world and its inhabitants. We need to invite it to change our minds and hearts.

The concluding step in this process calls us to be activists in our households, classrooms, and all other places in our communities. It is not enough to walk into the classroom with a really neat lesson that highlights different cultures and encourages student inquiry from multiple perspectives; we must be active in our communities and lead this celebration of culture while fighting against injustice. We should be able to answer this question from our students: “This is great and all, but what do you do to fight these issues? What can I do?”.

It is not an easy, three-step process, but these thoughts have helped me solidify some key attributes of an educator who fights for transformation in the classroom. It is the only way to expect our students to also be citizens who have an awareness of the issues, are problem-solvers with the right attitude, and are activists in the world.

Tear Down to Build Up

The highlight of our small group discussion for me did not come until the last person shared their takeaway message. And I was very happy to hear that it was one of hope. We are going to be on the forefront of educational change, which means that there is a huge opportunity for us to make a difference within our classrooms and extend it to the communities around us. Class stratification, racial discrimination, sexuality misunderstanding, and oppression of the “others” has been imbedded into so many different facets of society that it can be difficult to totality of negative impacts that they have for all members of the community. On a more positive note, all forms of social oppression have been built or constructed by some person or group of people, and, as being constructed, they can be broken down and rebuilt into a system of equity and equality. And that gives me hope.

BH&H Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed the class presentations and discussions on “Beyond Heroes & Holidays”. The small groups gave everyone a chance to speak out equally and respond in an organized way. I enjoyed examining a small fraction of the article in detail while absorbing aspects of other parts of the article.

Our discussion delved into the core of racism and other “isms” that face our education system. In order to teach in a multicultural curriculum, we must look at our underlying beliefs and ask ourselves how we can address these issues in the classroom. I’ve learned that these issues go a lot deeper than classroom differentiation… we need to cultivate these differences in our own classroom culture in addition to being active in our school and hometown communities. Because these issues are evolving, students are changing, and our fight for equality is institutional, we should strive to always find a better solution.

Two of the new wall words that resonated with me the most were “uncomfortable” and “white privilege.” Uncomfortable was a word that my group came up with and represents how we should always be uncomfortable as teachers. Discomfort shows ability to remove oneself from their own cultural perspective to see another, the obligation to be active and an advocate for your students, and changeability. To me, “white privilege” is the social and systemic benefits I experience in the society in which I live. In order to get every student to the same educational goal, students need to be given an equal classroom experience. By acknowledging our own privilege, we will begin to understand the barriers our students face every day.

The Ice Road of Cultural Insensitivity

In January of this year, a large group of Army National Guard officers of high rank, including the overall commander of the Army National Guard (based in Washington, D. C.) visited the small village of Napaskiak, AK, near Bethel. Their ostensible mission was to deliver various awards, recognitions, and commendations to local veterans, but it was widely whispered in the area around Napaskiak that their true mission was to observe the customs surrounding Slaaviq, the Yup’ik Orthodox celebration of Christmas. Whatever their real intent, they made known that they would be arriving on a certain day in Blackhawk helicopters.

However, when the day arrived, there was a bit of a squall and and windstorm. So, rather than come in helicopters, they chose to drive up the river in these heavy monstrosities:

They came, did their awards presentation, went to a house for the meal portion of Slaaviq, and then decided to leave.

Well, by the time they were ready to leave, the winds had calmed down, and the Blackhawks had come. At this point, the commanding general and the delegation from the East Coast decided they wanted to go back down the frozen river in the heavy transport machines, rather than fly. The local Alaskan guardsmen all got into the Blackhawks, knowing that the river had been deemed unsafe multiple times in the previous week. Those from the East Coast were incautious and oblivious to the potential danger. They did not understand the terrain. They put their lives in danger needlessly, and all the Alaskan guardsmen knew it.

I think this is actually a good illustration of what a teacher who doesn’t practice Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) is like. Being insensitive to the local student population, just like the East Coast generals were insensitive to the conditions of their environment and the advice of the local servicemen, a teacher who does not practice Culturally Responsive Teaching flirts with disaster. Not understanding his own biases or the worldviews of his students, he may offend or wound them through racially or culturally insensitive language and actions. He might unintentionally reinforce racist or sexist stereotypes unconsciously, injure the self-worth of his students, and close down future potential learning opportunities for his students, as they adopt the view that their teacher doesn’t understand them and doesn’t have anything relevant to say. Even worse, they might adopt the view that members of their teacher’s race can’t speak to them.

Obviously, on an individual basis, such outcomes are fairly unlikely. The effect of eschewing cultural relevance is most likely a simple, ineffective lesson, which, in isolation, is not the end of the world. But if the teacher goes down the ice road of cultural insensitivity often enough, at some point, he’s sure to go through the ice and create real problems for himself, his students, and his students’ future teachers.

BH&H Group 3 Highlights

Discussing with the group broke down the pages we read into four concepts: uncomfortable, activist, fragmentation, and transformational.

If we as teachers feel uncomfortable with the way the system is working, we should be striving to change it and if we feel comfortable with how things are, then we missed something and need to revise.

We as teachers are activists in the classrooms, striving to be inclusive of everyone’s cultural backgrounds.

We need to avoid fragmentation, fighting over whose “problems” are more important; including and accepting all cultures’ problems as important will result in better equality in representation in the classroom.

Finally, a transformational paradigm should permeate through the curriculum, schools, and classrooms to be inclusive of all.

The activity was a great way to divvy the work among the groups to retrieve a coherent image of the readings.

Photo credit.

I will incorporate “the final word” protocol in my classroom. I feel like it is age appropriate for high students. Also, many times students do not complete the assigned reading at home. Therefore, giving students class time to read the material will be effective for classroom discussion. I also liked how the activity is scaffolded from individual reflection to small group reflection working up to a small presentation to the entire class. This method will allow students to build upon their ideas with one another on both small and large group scales.

Some of the main points I heard reiterated throughout the classroom discussion regarding the content from BH&H were transformation, inclusion, self reflection, and advocation. I think we all agree that multicultural education is paramount when working toward inclusion. In order to become fulling transformative, we must first reflect on our own biases and become aware of how we relate to others and vice versa. By doing so, we are beginning to break down barriers that divide us by becoming in touch with our likenesses instead of our differences, but also appreciating everyone’s differences and personal stories. Advocating for both our students as well as ourselves as educators working within the laws that govern education as a whole will continue our pursuits in transforming our society through effective multicultural education.

BH&H reflection

I really enjoyed our section in the BH&H readings we had to share in the little groups today. We were section 8: The True Colors of the New Jim Toomey. My favorite part about this section of the reading was the wonderful examples of transformation the teacher had in her classes. I think there is something to be said for the message she was able to get across and the work the students put into it. The overall encompassing idea I got from the reading was, “In order for students to truly appreciate the story of the other they must first have a sense of themselves as people with stories, with voice, with awareness of rootedness. They need a sense of belonging or pride associated with family, place, particular relationship, heritage, experience, competency, or struggle.” This idea is key for all human beings and not just in the classroom. I feel like our multicultural ed class is really bringing this point to light as well.

Another part in this section talks about activities the teacher had the students do. It was something similar to our “object” sharing we had in class last week. The teacher in the article, and Angie, created a safe place and then wanted the students to feel like they were being heard about something they feel passionate about. I think this simple message can go a long way. I remember my junior english class for this same exact reason. Everyone in my class had to bring a song that they felt connected to and wanted to share. We didn’t have to explain why we picked the song, just that it had to mean something to us. During class, he played all of our songs….One after another. When it was my turn for my song to be played, I was anxious but excited at the idea that someone might understand me just a little better. And that I didn’t have to express what it meant to me in front of the class. The assignment afterwards was a reflection-type writing about any song you heard that day. I loved this activity and it all goes back to feeling like my passion/voice was heard.