"How come there are no brothers on that list?"

Kathy Jervis's article, "How Come There are No Brothers on That List?" reminded me very much of the environment of the classroom I was in for my field experience for Currins 100. I was paired with the teacher of my college night class and had an amazing experience because he was so concerned with the issue of race and getting his students to talk about it. He never shied away from it with his own 4th grade students (even though he was white and they were all black) and forced the issue at night when the college students got together. He was able to have these discussions because no ones opinion's were considered right or wrong so long as what everyone said came from a good place. As long as no one was intentionally trying to offend someone their voices were allowed to be heard. Of course, things were said that others thought may have been ignorant, but the person wasn't faulted for these views simply because they hadn't had the opportunity to expand their world view and see things from a different perspective. Having these discussions allowed us all to expand the way in which we thought about the issue of race and hear many voices different from our own from people who have had vastly different experiences from ours. This article helped to reinforce the lessons I learned in Currins 100: that students want to talk about race and it is definitely a conversation worth having.

Education as a social activity

In chapter 28, McLaren talks about education and knowledge in terms of social functions and social constructions. This reminded me a lot of the issues we talk about very often in my English Education classes. Specifically we are always talking about how reading is a social interaction. Many people would think reading is an activity to be done alone and in isolation, but we have discovered that reading is very social especially when discussion takes place around a text by many people who have read it. I can see how many people would think knowledge and education in general are things that reflect individual pursuits. Besides being social in terms of friendships and peers, schools and education can be a social pursuit by a group of many people seeking a common goal.

While I think the focus of the article, how we have socially constructed ideas about education and knowledge, is a worthy focus, I get a little tired or reading and talking about it only in these terms (although this again is worthy if we are to challenge the status quo). It is draining on my mind and sometimes very depressing to think about how our schools are run currently and how they really should be run and the amount of time/work it is going to take to get us to a better place. Again, it is texts like these that will help us challenge the status quo and tackle these issues when we get out into the real world and in real teaching positions. If many people read and buy into these theories we will change the educational system and that is very exciting.

Shades of Gray

One thing that bothers me about the way that, frankly, most conservatives speak is that they tend to view issues and the world in black and white without being able to see any shades of gray. They seem more likely to generalize and this affects the kind of policy and world view they are likely to put forth. I was reminded of this when reading Chapter 25 in the text. When Macedo quotes the passage from Lukas about the racism that African-American students faced in Boston Public Schools, I was disgusted and depressed. Still, conservatives aren't likely to put much weight on this part of the story and would rather focus on the fact that many African-American students drop out of school and see a lower level of success when compared to their white, suburban counterparts. These issues all seem to be about which part of the story to you give the most attention and relevance. Conservatives tend to look at the symptoms of problems rather than the cause (this is an idea I stole from an earlier section of this book). Instead of thinking about WHY some kids may be dropping out of school, they only look at the fact that kids are dropping out of school. (From the earlier section of the text) Instead of thinking that someone may be driven to steal because they are poor, they would rather say there is something inherently wrong with a specific group of people. In this conservative mindset there are no shades of gray and people can only be judged by generalizations or the actions of sometimes a small, isolated few. It frustrates me that people aren't willing to dig deeper when discussing and debating these issues and would rather allow a story they saw on local news make up their opinion of an entire group of people.

Structuring Children

"School rules govern and regulate children's bodily, linguistic, and emotional expression" (pg. 311). I couldn't agree with this statement more, and to be frank, I think it sucks. In my student teaching placement, I am finding that middle schoolers are forced to act and behave a certain way and it is all very authoritarian. For example, when they're in the lunch line it must be silent and they must be reading the book they are forced to carry with them. No noise, in the hallway or the classroom, is permitted. I think this practice goes against everything we know about the way children develop and need to act socially. Teachers have a tendency to want to subdue every physical or verbal emotion that children of this age need to express and that is a bad habit to get into. Middle schoolers need to move, talk, and interact amongst their peers and keeping them in a military-like, highly structured environment is simply bad for their development. Why do we feel a need to project adult and corporate behavior on children? Why not let them be kids while they still can be? I think, as future teachers, we all need to remember what we were like at this age and cut kids a little slack. If we do, we will be more likely to form sincere bonds with our students and have a better chance of engaging them with the academic stuff we'd like them to be interested in.