The school I am volunteering at is a fairly newer school with some advanced technology in the classroom but not as much as the middle school I attended a few years ago which was not a diverse, urban school. The classroom I have been in has a lot of behavioral issues, so it is setup to control the attitude of the students. The desks are more spaced out from each other all facing the teacher’s desk and there is also a restitution desk for the child who is chronically misbehaving. The classroom is decorated with rules and guidelines for the kids to see at all times so that if they misbehave they know the consquences. The older grades in the middle school are on the top floor and the youngest grade on the lower floors. The kids all have lockers in this school but are only allowed to go to their lockers twice a day; once when they get there and once at lunch. I believe they do this to control any fights during school hours. Also, all the teachers are in the hallways when they change classes to prevent fighting. My first day in the school there was a fight between two 8th grade girls in the hallway during the period change even with the teachers in the hall. Almost all of the kids in this class have behavior sheets that have to be filled out every day by every one of their teachers to try to tract and improve their behavioral issues. I feel this school is designed to prevent major events of misbehavior and fighting but also promote respect and trying their best based on the way they run their school in and between classes. I feel most of the teachers there including the one in my classroom do not support a critical democratic pedagogy. I feel this way because the behavior of most of the kids in the classroom makes it difficult to try to give them any sort of import in the direction of the class. Also, since these 8th grade children are already 3 years behind in reading and writing skills Ira Shors philosophy will not work. I also got that response from the teacher in the classroom. This is a very diverse class that has somehow been passed through prior grades without learn the necessary skills to build to be successful in later grades. I think this school also values improving their skills to pass the standardize testing each year. The teachers have to dedicate a significant amount of time to try to prepare the kids for these tests when they are 3 years behind what the test is asking them to comprehend. Sadly, little time is left for critical thinking and questioning which results in these kids not being able to prepare to live in a democratic society. This school seems to be underfunded in critical teachers because of standardize tests and behavior issues that disrupt the flow of the classroom. Lastly, the school and the teachers want only the best for their students and I can tell that from being in this teacher’s classroom for only a few weeks. This school works hard to help these kids but just do not have enough time or money to make a big enough impact.
Friday, November 13, 2009
question 1
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Louis,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am working within an elementary school and not a junior high school I had the same initial thoughts about the differences within these diverse, urban schools. Computers are extremely old and run slow if they even run at all. These children are not presented with the same opportunities as other children who aren’t living within these areas. It is a good experience for anyone to go into these kinds of school and really see what is going on.
Many children in this area have behavior disorders because of one reason or another. Behavioral disorders can arise for a number of different reasons, either they don’t understand the material so they just give up and start acting up, or they grew up in a household were it didn’t matter how one acted, lastly it could be deeper, an issue that would normally be treated with medication but maybe their families can’t afford them. So having so many of them in one class makes things very difficult for a teacher no matter how good of a teacher one really is. The way Louis describes what is going on within the school, makes me feel like they are trying to create a positive learning experience for everyone, while being in a safe environment, so they will have the opportunity to learn more and be successful in the future.
The school sets up rules to avoid confrontation. The principal has teachers in the halls during all class switches and for locker breaks. This is all proves that the school is cooperating in trying to limit the fighting. Teachers within their own classrooms take the responsibility of separating the student’s desks as much as they can within the usually small classrooms. This may not seem like it does much, but now the students will not be able reach their classmates desk to throw things off of them or just to aggravate them in another way. Everything is done with the intention that the students will have less distractions and be able to focus more on the task at hand.
While reading your post it really had me thinking about Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer’s article: In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning. The idea that you weren’t used to working within these kinds of situations/condition, and was taken a little back at first but then you were able to see the plus of it all. It’s teaching you the reality of what you could be faced with within the classroom at one or many points within your career. The school and yourself, during the times you are there is all about working with the students to try and perform change, trying to make things better for them within school grounds. You could have easily turned right back around after the first day, saying that this career wasn’t going to be for you, but you didn’t. You stuck it out and have learn so much from it while giving these students a little more hope because there is now almost two teachers in the classroom and not just one.
Hi Louis,
ReplyDeleteI love that you are thinking about the application of Shor's critical pedagogy. I encourage you to reconsider your dismissal of this in light of their language delays. After all, Freire, the architect of problem posing, first instituted this way of teaching with adults who were illiterate. I understand the pressures. I believe, however, that students would be more likely to be invested in texts/discussions that were rooted in their lives and the application of social justice principles.
Dr. August