Gendered Learning

In one of this weeks articles, Elizabeth Ellsworth talks about learning experiences in relation to places of learning and the embodiment of learning. Ellsworth’s outlook on experiencing education was interesting and new to me. She suggests against teaching for only curriculum outcomes and stresses importance on experiencing learning in a personal way, which is not something that can be easily assessed. I really like this idea because I think it is much easier to learn and really absorb what you are learning when you are experiencing it rather than just being lectured at. Many, if not all of my most memorable school experiences in relation to learning were experiential and involved different pedagogy than just sitting in a traditional classroom setting. Although a lot of my classes were “AP” classes so this was not something that I was able to experience regularly since our main focus was a specific test. I think it is important to get away from “normal” ways of learning if we want to be proactive in new and progressive ways of thinking.

In the second article (Loutzenheiser) we see “How Schools Play Smear the Queer”. This article was really eye opening in terms of suicides and other issues among the homosexual, bisexual, etc. community. I really agreed with the section of this article that talked about how we are very sure to not be racist or use oppressive racial stereotypes in our classroom even if it does not line up with our true beliefs, but for some reason it is not the same with gender and sexuality issues. The article blamed this mainly on not wanting to upset the religious community which doesn’t seem to be a huge problem where we live. So why does it still happen here? Our population does not have as huge of a homophobic religious following as somewhere like the states, but gender and sexuality issues are still pushed to the side and not addressed.

I think that making “life livable” is an interesting term. Shouldn’t our goal to be to make life more than just livable? Especially for groups that are traditionally marginalized I think that it is probably time that homophobia takes a back seat to acceptance and equity. I think it is very important to bring in gender and sexuality topics into our classrooms along with all of the other racial and anti-oppression subjects that we have been talking about. I think that if you’re going to be an advocate for social justice I don’t think you get to pick and choose which social justice issues you get to include. For example, you may believe strongly in certain issues but if you are going to be fighting for a more present role for Treaty Education in all classrooms, then you need to also include other social justice issues.

Treaty Education

Treaty Education is a subject that needs to be taught regardless of the skin colour it is taught to. In terms of being taught to classrooms with little to no First Nations people, this is still important because all people are treaty people. We all live on this land and therefore you do not need to be a First Nations person to take part in Treaty Education. Teaching about the content and perspectives of First Nations people in this context is also important because it teaches for understanding and may help in creating a more accepting group of citizens.

The term “We are All Treaty People” is important in terms of the curriculum because it reinforces the importance of incorporating Treaty Ed into all classrooms. Since there is only one curriculum for Treaty Ed outcomes it is important that teachers find a way to shape those outcomes to fit with their subject matter. It also calls to a higher societal level where we are teaching students to combat racism and become accepting and educated citizens.

Learning from Place

I really like the concept of decolonization and the idea of curriculum as place. I was first introduced to the idea of “place” in my outdoor education course last year. We had an assignment where we had to choose our own personal outdoor place and were simply told to go and spend time there and jot down what we noticed, what we thought about, what we felt, etc. This assignment seemed kind of strange at first but after I actually started going to my place and spending some time just sitting outside it really changed my perspective on the outdoors. I felt so calm and so free from everyday worries. Things like grades and homework and other stresses seemed so unimportant and small. This idea of place is really another way to observe the world. Some people may value this way of thinking and importance instead of the culture of work, school, appearances and such.

I think as a physical education minor the idea of place can easily be implemented into teaching. It is probably one of the easiest subjects to include outdoor education in so even doing a “place” assignment similar to the one I did would be beneficial for students to broaden their ways of knowing. Many young people nowadays don’t have the opportunity to experience connections with the outdoors. However, some children like the examples from the article may have this experience of traditional ways of knowing and this would be a great opportunity for them to thrive and even share with other students what they know.

As an English major I think that this subject could get into more of the theoretical ideas behind place and decolonization. Reading articles like the one assigned this week could be beneficial for students to understand the concepts behind traditional ways of knowing. You could also do a similar place assignment and have the students express their findings through writing. Whether it is poetry, essays, or even just jot notes.

Preparing Teachers for Crisis

In this weeks article Kevin Kumashiro takes us through another story about oppression and common sense and what this means for schools. I really liked Kumashiro’s story in this chapter because it shed some light on the typical misbehaving student and showed them to be something that isn’t defiant – just different. I think Kumashiro’s honesty on how he was frustrated with these students made the story really relatable and showed how important it is for teachers to reflect on their own practice and not just encourage students to do the reflecting.

In regards to Kumashiro’s idea of “common sense”, good students are the kids who are compliant and are well-trained in the invisible norms in our society in terms of oppression. They don’t argue with any ideas as they understand that society is what it is. This is obviously problematic and teachers need to learn that they need to teach students to have a mind of their own and stress importance on thinking critically. If students of today are not taught how to be critical thinkers then our society is going to continue to be, if not increasingly become, more and more complacent. This kind of common sense teaching doesn’t leave room for social change and I really like that Kumashiro stresses so much importance on anti-oppressive education.

Although I do think there a couple of things that are missed in this chapter or are maybe just brought up in a different chapter. I think that this idea of anti-oppression education should be broken down in terms of subject areas because there is no way that this system of education is going to be abolished any time in the near future. Teachers cannot simply always do lessons on oppression – it has to be brought into other lessons and integrated into curriculum content. I think one way that this can be implemented is teachers always being mindful of oppression in the way they speak, the texts they choose, etc.

I also think that Kumashiro doesn’t give students very much credit in terms of thinking for themselves. He says that students do not come to school with a blank state because they are influenced by their parents, the media, etc. Which is true, yes. But as someone in the secondary program I am thinking about my future students as high school students, and when I think of myself in high school I know that I was able to have my own opinions about the world regardless of what I had been taught. So when Kumashiro talks about “correcting” what students have learned I think this is a problematic way to look at it. Many students are capable of thinking for themselves and probably already have their own opinions on the world, they just need to be given the knowledge in order to think critically and be a good citizen.

The Tyler Rationale

For reference, here is the basic steps of the “Tyler Rationale” that I will be talking about in this post.

1. Determine the school’s purposes
2. Identify educational experiences related to purpose
3. Organize the experiences
4. Evaluate the purposes

I had a really hard time connecting with this article (“Curriculum theory and practice”). I just don’t ever see myself teaching in this way or using this outline unless it became necessary. I think teaching is so much more about your specific students in a certain classroom and the culture of that classroom, not about processes and scientific steps.The Tyler Rationale is a behaviourist-based theory on how to deal with curriculum and teaching in a very scientific process. I think one of the benefits of the Tyler process is it leaves little room for error in terms of making sure you are meeting curriculum outcomes. This could be super helpful as a student-teacher when you are making lesson plans and aren’t sure how to properly structure the lesson. But in a real classroom this process seems like it would be a little far-fetched. The only way that this would work in a real classroom is if all students were the exact same and there were no things that came up to change the lesson. So basically, impossible.

In connection to my own experience as a student with curriculum I think that the Tyler rationale actually could have worked in some of my classes. I was in lots of Advanced Placement (AP) classes so all of the students were like-minded and very focused and interested in school. It was a very non-typical group of students and I think the Tyler rationale was basically based around the idea that all classrooms would be like this. But even with an AP group, lesson plans still need to be flexible and leave some wiggle room even if to just allow for more discussion or debate or whatever it may be. In a normal classroom there is such a huge range of learners and levels and the Tyler rationale leaves no room to adapt to the classroom culture.

Common Sense In The Classroom

In Kumashiro’s article “The Problem with Common Sense”, he sets the stage with the usual North American classroom. A structured routine, set subjects, seating plans, set hours, and even a set number of walls. He describes the unspoken hierarchy of teachers at the top and students at the bottom. Teachers hold all the knowledge and are supposed to pass on that knowledge to the students. Kumashiro takes issue with this set up. He says that these things have become so common place that questions are never raised.

I more or less agree with what Kumashiro is saying in this article. I think the question should ALWAYS be raised of “who decides what should be taught?”. We should always be challenging ourselves to not settle into what is comfortable. I think the point Kumashiro makes about how schools are “supposed” to be neutral on issues such as oppression and exclusion. He says that schools do not feel the need to place importance on challenging oppression, that schools tend to take a neutral stance on social issues and that there is no social commentary. I think that this is a point well made and I completely agree that schools do need to take a bigger stance on bettering the future and teaching young minds acceptance. But I do think that he is generalizing a bit because I know there are lots of programs and groups in place throughout the school system that encourage acceptance and anti-oppression. I think we are already taking a step in the right direction, just maybe not a big enough step. Although I do agree with his point I think that schools should get a little more credit for the work already being done.

The main point of this article is to eliminate oppression in schools and maintain an inclusive school environment. I think the ways that Kumashiro wants to implement this change are great, but I would have loved a couple more examples. He says some things like we need to educate to understand diversity, we need to educate for acceptance, and we need to challenge societal norms. I think this is great and I believe that this is already starting to happen in schools. There are lots of groups such as the Gay Straight Alliance and ACT that are doing great work in battling oppression. But I think what Kumashiro is trying to say is that these things need to start happening in the classroom. I definitely think that it is our responsibility as teachers to not get comfortable in what Kumashiro labels as the “common sense” and to break through and start changing and challenging the norms.

I will end with my favourite quote of the article – “Anti-oppressive education is premised on the notion that its work is never done.” (Kumashiro)

Twitter in the Classroom Presentation

Here is the link to our Google Doc from our Twitter in the classroom presentation!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CLdkgm6aibNkKD50kGbQgMkS3CQkgnj8rrr9DuyUEr4/edit

Final Teaching Reflection

Overall I had a really positive experience in the classroom this semester. I was lucky to be in a very well-behaved classroom at a really great school. Starting out I was really nervous but by the last week I felt really comfortable in the classroom as I got to know the students better. In terms of one of my goals to work on classroom management, by the end of our field work I felt like I had improved on my management skills. I feel my biggest problem was not knowing the students well enough to manage them efficiently. But as time progressed and I got to know the students better I felt that I was able to successfully get and keep everyone’s attention and I feel that they respected me more and more as they got to know me as well.

I had the opportunity to teach a variety of different subjects this semester (Math, English, Outdoor Education, Science) and I felt reassured that English is the right place for me. Sometimes when you’re stuck at school and getting hammered with essays and not-so-great grades you start to feel like maybe you should have picked something else, but being able to actually teach the subject that I’m passionate about felt really natural and I felt the most comfortable teaching English. That being said, it was also a great learning experience to teach subjects that I wasn’t as comfortable with. This was a good experience to get more variety in my experience with the curriculum.

In terms of the curriculum, I feel that this semester gave me a good basis of knowledge of how to search and utilize the information in the curriculum. But, I think I have more to learn in terms of going more in depth. I didn’t really get a chance to teach progressive and connected lessons since our subjects were pretty randomized every week so I think it would benefit me to learn more about how to plan for units rather than just individual lessons.

In terms of my lesson plans, I felt as the semester went on I started to get more vague in my plans. But I still feel like I have a much better grasp on how to plan a lesson than I did at the beginning of the semester. In all of my previous ECS classes it was all just theory so it was good to get some actual practice in.

After this semester I actually feel like I have had some real valuable practice in teaching.  I still have a lot to learn but I now feel that I have a solid bases of understanding.

Last Day!

So today was my last day in the classroom. I feel like I was just getting close with the students and now I’m already done! For today’s lesson I decided to do a game again because they really enjoyed it last time. We played “Mafia” which is a pretty common classroom game. Each student gets a certain role and they secretly kill people off until either the mafia or towns people won. This went over pretty well and I caved when the class asked if they could play a second time. This actually worked out really well though with the timing because this was probably my best class for time management, even my co-op commented on it. After the game we did a mini lesson on persuasive writing (in the game they have to persuade the class not to kill them, fyi). Then I gave them a list of prompts to choose from or they could choose there own argument and I had them write a persuasive paragraph. The students then read their arguments to the class and tried to convince us of their argument. It went really well and my co-op said that I seemed really comfortable and handled the class management really well. Woo! Ending on a good note is good.

Stay tuned for my more in-detail final reflection of my experience in the classroom this semester.

English is My Forte

Yesterday’s lesson went really well. I taught English for an hour which is the longest lesson I’ve taught so far. I started out with a game called the “Dream Game” which the students were pretty into. We were able to take our time since I had more than half an hour for once. I then went into a mini lesson about descriptive writing and we did some examples on the board. Eventually they went off and did their own descriptive writing with objects around the room. I told them they should move around and look at different things but no one really got out of their chairs until I told them they had to. At the end I had them share and they were a little less willing than usual but I don’t know why. The students who did share had really interesting stories some of which were really deep. One student wrote about an old lady in a classroom full of dead kids… deep stuff.

Next week is my last week and I actually have no idea what I’m going to do. I have a half an hour again so it can’t be too long. I think I will start with some sort of game again since that was really effective last time. Am I allowed to do a game every lesson? Oh well.