Empowering Education ~ Shor

I think that this was a great article to wrap up the semester with. Not only did it really tie everything together but it left us all with so much to think about. 

Shor describes empowering education as "A critical democratic pedagogy herself and social change; it is a student centered program for multicultural democracy in school in society. It approaches individual growth as an active, cooperative, and social process, because the self and society create each other."

This relates to so many topics and authors we have already discussed. This makes me think of Rodrigues due to the multicultural democracy, as well as Christensens' Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us in the thought of seeing everything for how it truly is. Shor makes the point that students and teachers need to work together to make a curriculum and learning environment that benefits the students in the best way possible. I think that this is an amazing perspective and idea. Imagine a curriculum where students learn not only what they want to but what they feel will best suited to them. What could be better than a mutual understanding between teachers and students on why they are learning what they have to sit in class for everyday. 

I don't know about the rest of you but I do not feel prepared for the real world yet. I don't know how to handle insurance, file taxes, pay bills, get a mortgage, or any of that! Why didn't we learn these valuable life long skills in school? They say high school trains you for the real world but it doesn't. All it does is make you memorize (not learn) info for a short time to do well on standardized testing to make the school and the state look good. Pardon my language but its crap. The way that Shor says the education system should be set up is a fantastic idea in my opinion. I want my future students to excel in LIFE not just on their SATs. 

Rant over. But here is a little more info on my rant...

Talking Point: Did you feel/ do you feel ready for the real world yet? Or are we all just lost young adults who are going to have to struggle to find our own way? 

(Referring to the lack of knowledge gained in high school) 

Quick Little Thing

I meant to mention this in my previous post but of course forgot to. RIC actually has clubs that do a lot of work with students with dissabilities both physical and mental. One is called Active Minds, and the other is Advocacy and Beyond Club (or ABC for short). If you are very passionate about topics like this then I highly encourage you to get involved in student life and this is a great way to let your passion show! 

Citizenship In School

In this article "Citizenship in Schools; Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome" by Christopher Kliewer, it talks about the integration and acceptance of people with Down Syndrome in schools. While reading this article I felt many emotions that just made me want to change the world. The author talks about accepting all disabilities (hate that word) and that is exactly as it should be. From a personal standpoint, being gay was actually considered a mental disability and in the DSW manual.

This topic is so important and so prevalent in todays society, that it is a shame it is ignored. The author argues that children with Down Syndrome should be allowed to be a part of the same classroom as children without the disability (hate that word). Even though a child with this condition may learn differently from others it does not mean that they should be shoved in the basement of the school where they can't actually live their life. One thing that Kliewer said that I found to be very true is that we need to focus on shattering the stereotypes and negative connotations that are put onto this. Children are born unbiased, it is how they are raised and the environment that they grow up in that shapes who they become. If we can teach kids to accept full inclusion and understand the disability (still hate that word) then acceptance will show and a better learning environment for everyone will come from it. Having Down Syndrome or anything on the Autism Spectrum Disorder does not make you any less human than any other person, and this is what society needs to fix today.

Kliewers argument is one that needs to be heard around the world. We need to try and make an equal classroom citizenship for all students. If we can not break the stigma then we are not creating the best education for everyone. Lets make disabilities abilities.

Talking point: In your High School did you notice inclusion in the classrooms and equal learning opportunities and environments? Or was there a designated room that nobody really knew about?

Literacy With An Attitude

I'm just saying that this piece really stuck out to me. I find that they way this article talks about the way a teacher can run a classroom really makes one think about the future and how we want to be as educators. When the author, Finn, talks about the discipline and busy work in the classroom and not focus on the content and the education it is scary to think that teachers operate that way. It is like treating it as just a meaningless job and not a passion. You are teaching the future generation and educators need to realize how important that is.


I will admit I struggled with this blog a little more than usual. The content seemed lengthy and a little dry but I did notice some connections to the other articles we have read. On the contrary though it is the opposite of my service learning. My service learning teacher is very interactive and proactive with the students. He seems to go out of his way to have a positive creative learning environment, unlike Finn did in his classroom. This also reminds me of Delpit with the rules and codes of power. Finn did not teach, in my opinion, the correct aspects of power to his students. They learned a dictatorship compared to just respecting adults and elders.

Instead of the usual YouTube video I thought I would post a link to pinterest about creative teaching ideas.

Talking Point: What kind of teacher do you want to become? Traditional and educational, or fun eclectic and new age?

Pecha Kucha update

So this Pecha Kucha is a made up word........  Just kidding it is actually really interesting. So far I've been focusing mainly on narrowing down my topics and really trying to focus on what I want to talk about. I figure that if I can nail down the topics and then the pictures and content of the slides will follow suit. I have some quotes that were hanging in picture frames in the teachers lounge that I want to use as slides.... So this will be a long project but i'm excited, I'm looking for a risk to take.

Brown V Board Of Education

So obviously we all know how this was a pivotal turning point in American History. The Brown Vs. Board of Education was one of the most important cases involving education ever made. This is such an important topic that everyone having a job in the spectrum of education should be aware of it. From teachers to commissioner of education this case should always be known.

This case and the articles and videos we watched showed that it expressed the idea of Separate but not Equal. This was after the war so everyone thought that segregation would be over and all would be well in the world. Sadly this was not the case and it was still not possible for African Americans to truly live the American Dream. So this happened by Brown bringing his daughter to a all white school and being denied over and over again. Finally the Supreme Court decided to take the case, and the trial begun.

They way that the trail went was that they were originally losing in the beginning but one of the jurors died bringing in a new one. This one new how he was going to vote and convinced the others to vote along with him.

Coming from the 21st century and a very liberal member of society, I find it essentially repulsive that this ever happened. Learning about this history is so important because it shows us how far the nation has come, and still how far we need to go. They way that I, and i'm sure many of us, was raised was to be accepting of everyone and not judge based on skin color. Having to imagine that this ever happened was horrid. Thankfully the Brown family thought to fight this, which reminds me of the Johnson article and how you have to speak outright about what is wrong.

Talking point: Does anyone else think that history is repeating itself just in different ways? 

Unlearning The Myths That Bind Us

Don't we all dream that our life is like a Disney movie? Daring quests, endless romance, finding true love, and... stereotypes? Who would have thought there would be sexism and racism in our favorite childhood movies? I knew that some of the older movies could get rather politically incorrect but this article was a real eye opener.

As soon as I ready this article I immediately thought of this video I stumbled upon last year. This A capella youtube singer did a piece on how Disney tales all end in lies. It shows the reality of hat would have actually happens i these Disney Movies took place in real life. It was like how the Johnson piece says we need to talk about things straight forward and realistically. He brought this sense of realism to what we grew up loving. Just like what the article explained.

A big problem is that Disney movies set unrealistic standards for society. Both the princesses and princes. They are always skinny and very fit, nothing is ever wrong with them physically or mentally, maybe just some funny little quirks. Even the boys have unrealistic standards.

This video takes a twist. It starts with princesses talking about how they need a man and can't function without one. Then a girl dressed as Elsa from Frozen bring out the powerful we don't need a man mentality (totally true).

I am still in love with Disney Movies. I will belt the ENTIRE Frozen sound tract like its my job... But I may have a different view on them now.

 Talking Point: Can you make a relation to the article to your favorite Disney movie? Just looking back I thought about the song in Peter Pan "What Makes The Red Man Red" which is extremely racist towards native americans.